My Professor Is My Alpha Mate

Lila's POV

It's been a few days since Enzo had given me that painting and I hadn't said much of anything to him about it.

The painting was absolutely beautiful and captured every detail perfectly. It even had the outlining of my wolf shadowing behind me and we were surrounded with purple and blue flowers, bringing out the coloring in my eyes.

Upon further investigation, I found out that one of my coworkers had painted it per request of Enzo. This was only a copy of it; the real painting was going to be hung up at the art studio to replace the painting that was destroyed.

The officers were still trying to figure out who vandalized the art studio, but unfortunately, the camera system was entirely wiped clean.

My father was working alongside them and investigating things himself.

It was going to take them a while to figure out who it was, but in the meantime, I had to get ready for finals.

I woke up early this morning so I could cram a little extra knowledge in my head before our first round of finals.

"Are you ready for finals?” Becca asked as I joined her in the library bright and early.

"As ready as I'll ever be,” I told her, but I wasn't super confident; I hadn't had a lot of time to study this past week with everything going on.

But I knew I had to try the best I could if I wanted to move on to the next semester.

We began studying and we were soon joined by Brody.

“I'm nervous,” Brody admitted. “If I don't do well, my pack won't respect me when I become the Alpha.”

“You're going to be great, Brody,” I assured him. “Just relax and do the best you can. Channel your inner Alpha.”

He laughed and relaxed some.

Soon, it was time to get to class and start the finals.

"Open it,” she laughed.

I opened the box and gasped when I saw the most gorgeous combat shoes I had ever seen. They were white and pink; they were also bulky and perfect for all sorts of activities.

I rose my brows at her.

“These must have cost a fortune,” I said, eyeing her carefully.

"Pocket change,” she said with a shrug. “But it's my token of apology for all the shit I did to you. I really am sorry.”

“Really?” I asked, unsure if I believed her. After all, she was planning on running against me for the leader of the student council, an organization that I created.

"Yes, really,” she said with a grin. “I know I've been terrible to you, and I wanted to make it up to you."

“I don't know what to say,” I said, looking down at the shoes.

"Don't say anything,” she said with a wide smile. “Put them on and wear them for your finals today!" The excitement on her face made it almost impossible to say no. I took my shoes off and slipped the new ones on. They felt a little snug and they were very heavy, but they weren't terrible. They were actually kind of comfortable.

She clapped her hands together excitedly.

“They look so good on you!” She cooed

I smiled; they did look really good.

“Lila!” Becca said from the doorway. “It's your turn!”

I felt my nerves bubbling in my stomach; Sarah gave me a thumbs up.

“Good luck!” She exclaimed.

Becca looked suspicious, but she said nothing.

I went back into the arena where everyone was watching me.

My first opponent stood in the center, waiting for me to approach.

Enzo was watching me carefully, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the back wall. I don't know why this made me feel even more nervous.

“Are you ready?” My opponent asked, getting into his stance.

The first round was hand combat. Which meant no shifting and no using weapons. I lifted my hands to him and nodded. Soon, we were both fighting. I did a few of my signature flips and kicks in the air, causing gasping and cheering

I felt sweat pouring down the nape of my neck the quicker I fought. I managed to dodge most of his attacks.

I went to kick him in the face, but I felt a stinging sensation on my feet. I managed to fight through it and kick him though, but the pain started to grow worse the longer the fight went on.

This gave my opponent the upper hand for a moment and knocked me off my feet, but just before he was about to pin me with his foot, I spun out of reach and managed to get to my feet again. I did another backflip to get away from him but as my feet landed on the ground, I felt a sharp pain going up my leg, causing me to fall back to the ground.

Everybody gasped and then grew silent. My opponent was about to attack me once again. I rolled out of reach of him, trying to kick him but he grabbed my foot and yanked me so hard it nearly took my entire leg off.

This made me scream in pain; both my feet felt like they were on fire.

This only proved it.

Something was wrong.

these shoes were digging into my flesh.