Page 49 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Forty-Nine

M y students started to filter into class as I wrote on the board. Today was were breaking down the reading I assigned. This was my ‘what romance means in literature’. Once this one was done, we would head into our third classic book before tackling more modern romance in literature. I wrote the name of the book, Anna Karenina , the board, as well as each of the characters.

The bell started to toll as it turned one and I turned to my class. Most everyone was here and honestly, I was surprised by the lack of dropouts I had. I’d already been razzed by the other professors that my class size would drop dramatically now that I was mated. There had been a few but not as many as we thought.

“Good afternoon, class.”

“Afternoon, Professor Alford.” Their voices chimed back at me.

Leaning against the front of my desk, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Did we have any questions before we started today’s class? We will be going over your findings now that you all have finished Anna Karenina . You all have finished it, correct?”

There was an awkward chuckle that went through my students and I shook my head. A hand went up in the back and I leaned over a little. It was one of my more softer spoken female students.

“Miss June, what is your question?”

“I…um…I just…”

Motioning her stand up, she did and I could see her nervously wringing her hands together. “You can ask me anything. Don’t feel nervous. If I think it’s inappropriate, I just won’t answer it. We are in a romance class after all. There is going to be some level of awkwardness that we need to get over.”

Laughter rolled through the class and I smiled. She took a deep breath and nodded. Her head lifted higher up as managed to summon the courage.

“I was wondering…if you could…talk about your own experience.”

“Experience in?”

She cleared her throat. “Mating.” The class laughed and she blushed. “I mean…just…the romance. Not…the…mating…”

Burying her face in her hands, she fell back into her seat. I smiled, looking down at floor for a moment. Standing up, I walked over to the board.

“As much as I’m sure everyone is dying to hear about my romance, we have one that we have already read and need to break down. Unfortunately, I don’t think mine is nearly as telling as Anna and Vronsky’s.”

Someone cleared their throat. “I beg to differ.”

Turning around, Colton warned me about Hannah. He said she was part of the rumor mill and the reason partly why Ebony came after me on Christmas Eve. She also posted a scathing story about Ebony that got removed because her parents complained to the school about it. Hannah, however, looked raring to fight for getting some information.

“Explain your thinking, Miss Juarez.”

Standing up, she put her hands behind her back. “While your story might not completely reflect Anna Karenina , you are considered modern royalty. It was also uncovered that you are a perfect Alpha. One of five currently alive. Which puts you on a completely other level.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I do not advertise my designation or level because I don’t feel it’s necessary.”

“Sure, not for teaching. It is for mating though. I’m sure you have had a long line of requests and shifters trying to ask for your mark for years.” She was so excited that she was swaying back and forth where she was standing. “Yet, now you are mated. Which, we all know and love, but still. Outside of Colton’s wonderful personality, his is a Beta-1 wolf shifter. He comes from a bit of a name himself but not as much as you. Some, like Ebony Blackfell, probably don’t understand why someone of your stature would mate someone like him.”

My eyes narrowed. “Where are you going with this, Miss Juarez?” As much as I wanted to allow her to speak, my dragon was not happy with where she was going with this so far.

She laughed though. “I just mean…that it had to be love. Right? You are mating each other for the status. Others would have been better for both of you. Instead, you chose to embrace someone despite their background and lack of level, even being different shifters. That’s I think what Dee was getting at. You literally have a romance that defies what is expected of you, even in this modern age.”

The class seemed to break out in agreements as she shrugged. “I just think it would be relevant. Especially when looking at romance defying social norms.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I groaned. The class laughed knowing that she got me. I usually allowed my students the platform to explain their thinking. It was another reason Colton called me a pushover. This was exactly that. She wasn’t wrong but at the same time, I didn’t want to completely expose Colton and I.

Blowing smoke out of my nose, the class laughed. Holding up my hand, I put up three fingers. Everyone quieted.

“You have three questions you can ask. I will give you…ten minutes. You can ask me three questions about my relationship. No more. However, I will be grading the entire class based on the questions you ask.”

“What? How?” One of the few guys who decided to take this take yelled from the back.

I smirked and tapped on the board. “Because in three questions, I can decipher your true intentions on asking about my relationship. If I find that your intentions were simply because you were being nosy, I will make all of you write a full report on the next book we read instead of going over it like a review together.”

Everyone sucked in a breath. Dee raised her hand and I nodded to her. She stood up and brushed her skirt out.

“If we…if we have good intentions…like…we want to know…if it’s possible to defy expectations…”

“If that is the case, then I will let you all out early today.” I looked up at the clock and smiled. “Starting…now.”

The whole class exploded and everyone moved to the right side, huddling together as they talked about what questions to ask. Turning around, I grabbed my marker and set it down loudly on the desk.

“You are to write all three questions on the board before time is up. One marker is here, there is another on the board.”

Stepping to the side, I grabbed my phone and pulled my messages.

Colton

Before you ask

Colton

I already ate lunch

Marcus

Good. What did you have?

Colton

Aren’t you supposed to be teaching class?

Marcus

I am. They asked about us. So I’m giving them three questions to ask.

Colton

!!!

Colton

What the hell?

Colton

What is it any of their business?

Marcus

It’s my romance class. So, I mean…it is on topic.

There was a long pause before the next message. It made me smile and I wondered how red his face got when he read that. The three dots popped up before his message came through.

Colton

Still

Marcus

Don’t worry. I’m making sure they are good.

Colton

How?

Marcus

Because if they have ill intentions with their questions, then they have to write a report.

Colton

And if not?

Marcus

They get to leave early from class today.

Colton

You did that so you could come home early

Marcus

…

Colton

You…

Colton

I still have class

Colton

You don’t need to be home for that

Marcus

Maybe I miss you

Colton

You are so cheesy Professor Alford

Chuckling, I slipped my phone in my pocket. He didn’t outright say no, so that was enough for me. Dee and, surprisingly, Xavier came up. They started writing questions on the board. The students sitting down were telling them how to word it or if it needed to be changed to sound better. Honestly, this was pretty hilarious to see. Monday was always a hard day and so I know most of them probably wanted to get out early.

Looking at the clock, I started to count down. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…”

Dee finished her two questions and raced back while Xavier was hurrying and put the find question mark just as I got to two. He let out a breath and walked back to the seats. Walking over to the desks, I stood with my back to the students.

“How did the pressures of mating someone of equal standing affect your decision in mating? Such as if it stopped you from moving forward or declaring your intentions or if it pushed you to mark immediately.” I was actually impressed. “Second question is…Mr. Wilson, you need to work on your hand writing.”

The class chuckled but it Xavier let out a long sigh. “Will there be consequences to your decision in mating? And is it because of the hierarchy within the shifter community? Explain.

My eyes narrowed. “That last word is explain ? Mr. Wilson, I think we need to get you to hand write all your reports for the practice.”

“Sorry, Professor.”

Chuckling, I read the last one that Dee wrote. “Should love always be a factor in choosing a mate?”

Rubbing my chin, I frowned. They got me. All of these not only had to do with the current reading but it made sense to ask in a lot of classic romance novels. Sighing, I got up and started to clear the board.

“Alright. You all can leave early. Have a wonderful day.”

“Wait! You have to answer!” Dee was the one who said it, but the entire class started to agree.

Turning, I raised my eyebrow at them. “I thought you wanted to get out of here. It’s Monday. Monday’s are the worst.”

“Well yeah, but…we want to know.” Samual, one of the other guys spoke up. “We can leave after.”

Running my hands through my hair, I sighed as I stared at the questions. Walking around my desk, stepped up the stairs that made up the stadium seating for this classroom. Sitting down in one of the open sets just to the left of the aisle, all my students moved around and sat to look at me.

“The first question probably would be directed more toward my mate and not me.”

Everyone leaned in and a few of the squealed.

“My parents were very open and gave me the freedom to choose who I want to mate. They never pushed me to mate someone based on their or my standing. I have dated and gone out with many who did care and as Miss Javier pointed out, I have been requested many times for courting through the Council.”

I leaned back in the seat before continuing. “However, the same could not be said for my mate.”

“Colton.” Hannah jumped in, smirking.

“Yes, Miss Javier. Colton was worried about my status. To him, I was someone who was out of reach, no matter the level of feelings between us. His concerns and feelings were completely valid for someone who was raised by a prestigious family like the Fisher’s. His parents did not have the same feelings about mating nor did they give him the same freedom I was afforded by my parents.”

Xavier tipped his chair back and it fell loudly. “Did that make either of you hesitate to mark?”

“Contrary to the facts circulating…” I glared at Hannah and she looked away from me. “I did ask to court Colton before we decided to mark.”

The whole class gasped. “So you asked him and he said yes?” Someone asked from the sea of students to might right and I couldn’t see who.

I nodded. “It took some convincing but yes. It wasn’t smooth up to that point, nor was it smooth after that but I made my intentions clear and eventually, Colton accepted that I was serious in my intentions to take him. Despite how different we are.”

Kelly sighed. “That’s so romantic.”

“What about consequences?” Hannah asked.

Pulling up my ankle to my knee, I stared at the board thinking for a moment. “There will always be consequences to every decision you make in life. Big and small. Those consequences can be good and they can be bad.” I paused for a moment, my eyes narrowing. “I think that other may not accept my decision or even Colton’s decision to mate. Some of it may be in regards to the feelings that Alphas need to be mating Alphas and someone of my level should be only mating high level Alphas. However, I don’t really care what they think.”

The class laughed and I shrugged but I did let my face turn serious. “As most of you have seen online, some people seem to think they can dictate my life and will do so to the extreme. I can’t say for sure that we have smoothed out all the road bumps but I know that together, there isn’t anything that can’t be overcome.”

“And love?” Dee seemed to spearhead this question. “Do you think it has a place when choosing a mate?”

“Do I think it has a place in choosing a mate? I do but I don’t always think it has a place in choosing a mate.”

I swear the entire class cocked their heads to the side at the same time.

“If you decide to have a chosen mate, like me, you have the luxury of building a relationship with that person. Friendship, love, trust call all blossom under that kind of relationship because you have time to foster it. Help it grow.”

“It’s not the same with fated mates.” Xavier sounded sad.

I shook my head. “Unfortunately, time tends to be against you once you find your fated mate. It’s not an instant love connection. It’s not a perfect match either. However, despite that, love still has the opportunity to grow from that. Those matches, and the love that grows from it, tend to be the strongest type of love there is. My own parents can attest to that. Like every relationship, it takes time to build those feelings.”

Everyone was smiling and I chuckled, making a shooing motion. “Now get out of my class. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

The sound of moving chairs and shoes jumping the final step filled my classroom before it settled back into the quiet of the empty classroom. I didn’t move, staring at the questions on the board. They really got me with these questions. Part of me was expecting far more personal and dirty questions.

Pulling up my phone, I got up out of my seat and called Colton. It ran twice and he answered.

“I’m in class, Marcus!”

“Did you want me to bring anything home?”

He chuckled. “Did they get you?”

“Surprisingly, yes. They surprised me with the level of maturity in their questions.”

Humming, I heard his pen tapping against his notebook. “Can you grab someone some tofu?”

I stopped at the door, arm frozen as it held my bag in the air. “Excuse me?”

“Tofu? Spongy white block of…soy milk?”

“Colton, I know what tofu is. Why are you asking for tofu?”

He was quiet for a moment and I figured he was writing something down. “I don’t know. Making some crispy sticky tofu sounded good.”

Hanging my bag on my shoulder, I smiled wide. “Colt, is this your first craving you’ve had?”

“I…what…is…” He stumbled over his words for a moment. “I guess? I don’t know. It just sounded good. We have all the ingredients but the tofu.”

“I can pick some up. Anything else?”

Colton hummed for another moment. “Something to drink? Like watermelon juice?”

“Colt.”

“Yeah?”

I pushed opened the doors to the literature building and into the cold air. “I think your cravings are kicking in.”