My Professor Is My Alpha Mate

Lila's POV

“Miss Lila?” A nurse said, walking up to us, before Enzo had a chance to answer my question. “I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation. But Miss Rachel is asking for you. She just woke up and you're the first person she wants to see. She's calm now if you'd like to see her.”

I stood up quickly.

“She's awake already?” I asked

I wasn't expecting her to wake up this soon but the nurse nodded

“We only gave her a small sedative that lasted less than an hour. It was just to calm her and it seemed to have worked,” the nurse explained.

I glanced back down at Enzo who remained in his seat; he was staring at me with a darkened gaze. I could tell there was stuff he wanted to say to me; perhaps he wanted to answer my question. But he remained quiet and continued to stare at me.

My heart flipped in my chest, but I had to go see Rachel, so I turned away from him and went with the nurse to the backroom where Rachel's room was.

Rachel lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, with tears staining her fair features. I could tell it was taking everything she had not to lose control and start crying at that moment.

My heart squeezed painfully in my chest; I couldn't imagine what she must have been going through.

The amount of pain she must have been feeling.

I couldn't even fathom it.

The nurse left us alone and I wasn't really sure what to say so I sat down at her bedside and waited for her to say something instead.

“They won't tell me anything...” she croaked. “Last I saw of him he was crashing, and they were thinking he was going to die...”

“He sounds genuine,” I said in return.

She nods at my statement and then sighs.

“I was never the one who believed in mates and falling in love. It was clear what Ryan's intentions were and I thought of myself as broken and unlovable. I told myself that I didn't want a mate...” Her words struck a chord with me. It was like Enzo not wanting a mate. I wasn't sure if Enzo was the mate that I wanted as well, but when it came down to it, he was my mate and unless he rejects me, I don't think I have much of a choice in the matter.

My heart ached at the thought, knowing that Enzo doesn't have any desire to have a mate.

But then again, if Rachel had no desire to have a mate when she was younger, but then changed her mind, maybe Enzo would change his mind too.

Would it make me feel better if he did?

"What made you change your mind?” I found myself asking. “Why did you decide to give him a chance?”

“I admired his persistence for one... nobody has ever cared about me in that kind of way before. I was sitting with him after school, and he wanted to walk me home and I told him no. He started to ask me about my bruises and of course, I brushed him off... but then I broke down and I couldn't stop crying...”

"Oh, goddess..." I whispered sadly.

“The night before... my father almost killed me, and 1 was terrified to go home. I finally told him everything I endure at home, and he wouldn't let me return. He convinced his mom to let me stay there. I found myself wanting to do better by him. I wanted to be the person he wanted me to be. He became my best friend, and I was falling in love with him... but I was so broken and I knew I couldn't be that person for him. I continued to use it throughout high school and at one point I almost died again...”

She paused to gather her thoughts and I sighed.

“You had to go back to the hospital?”

She nodded once.

“Ryan told me that he couldn't keep doing this and his mom told me that she was going to kick me out if I didn't get help. She found this small rehab facility outside of town. I was afraid because I'd never been outside of our town before. I feared what would happen to me if I strolled too far from my comfort zone. As a bear, I'm vulnerable to attacks and I was worried that I would be victimized once again. But Ryan went with me to the rehab place... and he left me there.”

"What happened? You got clean, right?”

"Yes..." she said, but she sounded uncertain. “But I was the only bear there. There weren't many bears in that region and the rehab facility was made up of all werewolves.”

“So, you felt out of place?”

She was quiet for a moment longer, staring down at her hands.

“They did some terrible things to me there. I was tortured beyond belief. Even by the nurses there. They weren't sure how to help a bear because most of their treatments were for wolves... so they did a bunch of painful experiments on me. I didn't think I was going to live to see the outside world again. The only way I could survive was if I just stopped cold turkey. I wanted there to be nothing to treat...so they couldn't hurt me anymore...”

“Rachel, that's awful. I'm so sorry this happened to you. What kind of cruel place could treat someone like that...?"

She didn't answer my question; she was hesitant.

“I vowed to never go back to that region ever...” she breathed.

"Where was that place?”

She met my eyes and then her next words punched me in the gut.

“It was in Elysium..."