Twenty

Amira waits patiently as the students slowly flow out of the class at the end of the lecture so she can rush up to the front and bring Calix up to speed about her morning. Once the last student is gone she wanders up next to him.

      "Hey, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

      He stops her and pulls his chair out from his desk while sitting, motioning for her to sit on his lap. "You can tell me from here."

      She rolls her eyes and but plants herself firmly in his lap and opens her mouth to continue talking. He once again cuts her off by kissing her neck, going right for her weak spot and clings to her as if they haven't seen each other in days.

      "We just saw each other this morning, and we got more than enough quality time." She blushes and turns her face away.

      He nuzzles the side of her face. "It's not my fault, it's even more agonizing being away from you for even a second now."

      "Hold on a second." She pushes him away. "I have something I want to tell you–"

      She is cut off by a curt knock at the door and scrambles to get off his lap in case it is a student or another teacher. To her dismay it is Isaac who walks in, looking like he wishes he was elsewhere too.

      "Sorry to interrupt the moment, I need to speak with Calix for a second."

      Calix growls slightly, but reluctantly grabs her bag and hands it to her.

      "I'll meet you in the parking lot and we can drive back together." He kisses her forehead and pushes her toward the door, the air growing tense. What she has to say can probably wait but she is worried about leaving these two alone in a room.

      "I'm just here to talk, I swear, Amira. We're still at the school," Isaac says.

      She glares at him at walks past without a second glance, sensing the hurt and regret wafting off of him.

~*~

      "Make this quick. What do you want to say?" Calix asks, lounging back in his desk chair to calm himself.

      "You won't want to dismiss what I have to say so early, it's about our new werewolf sniffing around Amira."

      This does indeed catch Calix's full attention. "You found out something?"

      Isaac nods. "Malachi mentioned you were looking through record books of past packs that have settled here and a list of all Alpha names that have been recorded." He takes out a book from his backpack and hands it to Calix.

      "What is this?" Calix flips it open to a random page and sees a list of names written in smudged ink. "Where did you get this?"

      "My great-grandfather has always been a huge collector and one of his hobbies was exploring abandoned areas in the swamp, ones with signs of past pack activity. A lot of what he was able to restore were the books he found, and this was among his collection."

      Isaac takes the book back and flips to another page before handing it back.

      "This is the record of the Alpha names in the Greybane Pack dating from 1950-1999, about 20 to 70 years ago. Look at the names at the top," he says.

      Calix is surprised to see that just a little over 50 years ago, the Alpha family name was no longer Volkov. This is the era where his grandfather was supposedly the Alpha of the Greybane Pack, but it seems just before that there was another name, the Barlowe family.

      "What does this have to do with Evander?" Calix asks.

      Isaac flips the pages again and points further down another list.

      "These are the recorded names of the family members alive before the Barlowe family was dethroned and your family was recorded as the new Alpha family. The details and records of the challenge your grandfather made to Alpha Barlowe are written down in another book, you can have it if you want. But look here, Alpha Barlowe had a son at the time with his only family, a wife and one boy."

      Calix's fingers begin to tremble as he reads the names.

      Emilia Braith. 

      Evander Barlowe. 

      "What are the chances this is the same Evander; he is just using a different name?" Isaac asks.

      Calix dog ears the book and puts it down, running a hand down his face in exhaustion.

      "We can't be certain, but it gives us a place to start and an idea of what his intentions might be. What it doesn't explain is what his intentions are with approaching Amira, he made it a point to introduce himself to her first," Calix says.

      "That might have been an accident, and she is a pretty face with a bright energy, it's not hard for her to attract people in every manner."

      Calix chuckles. "I suppose, but it doesn't explain why there are strangers lurking around her home," he mutters.

      "What do you mean? When was this?"

      "Calm down, it has been dealt with. My Beta happened to run into a strange wolf while inspecting the outside of Amira's house, but her safety is none of your concern anymore," he growls.

      Isaac scoffs. "Oh, of course, she is safe and sound with you." He lets out a dry laugh. "Have you ever stopped to think that you are a danger to Amira? Her life was perfectly fine until you started attaching yourself to her, I can imagine she is being targeted as a weakness against you by the many enemies you keep. This is your karma."

      "I'll be quick to remind you that you have your own karma to worry about before you can concern yourself with mine." Calix grits his teeth, imagining Amira waiting for him outside to keep him from doing something stupid.

      "I was honest with her from the very beginning about how our relationship might turn out. I was young and stupid, I really thought she was going to be my mate and I could promise her forever, I made a mistake, and I will pay for it. I can at least say the love we shared was real and not being forced due to some mate bond."

      It's Calix's turn to laugh. "Sounds to me like things aren't going well with that new mate of yours. Am I right? Why else would you be here lecturing me about my relationship with the woman you tossed aside?"

      "She left me," Isaac says through clenched teeth.

      "Only because you finally told her the truth, not without my help, of course. She would have left you regardless, I just sped up the process and saved her the prolonged heartbreak you would've put her through." He stands to grab his jacket and pack his bag. "I'm leaving, you can do the same."

      Calix walks toward the door but stops when Isaac calls out to him one more time.

      "I spent five successful years with Amira without much sexual interaction. Can you really say anything will bloom from a bond formed solely on that? She is a human; a mate bond doesn't apply to her the same way it does us. How much longer is she going to stick around before getting bored?"

      Calix clenches the doorhandle and contemplates arguing, but he can't deny how painfully true his words are. He rips open the door and rushes out into the hall, toward the direction of the parking lot where he hopes Amira still is.

      He breaks out into a full run when he sees her still standing by her car, scrolling through her phone. She turns when she hears his footsteps.

      "What took you so lo–"

      Grabbing her face, he cuts her off with a firm kiss that leaks out the desperation and fear churning through his stomach right now.

      "I love you, Amira." He leans his forehead against hers and tries to catch his breath before saying it again. "I love you."

      Her mouth drops open as she looks like she struggles to think of anything to say.

      He kisses her again briefly. "You don't have to say anything, I just needed you to know. This isn't just based on sexual attraction and affection, from the moment I first saw you to now, I have come to truly love you whether we have this mate bond or not."

      Amira smiles softly and grabs his hands on the side of her face.

      "Okay," she whispers, kissing the inside of his palm. "Let's go home."