Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 101

Aurora’s P.O.V

I felt my heart thrash uncontrollably in my chest at his offer. Was he serious? The mere thought of going back to school itself was terrifying, but college?

I honestly never had any plans on going to college all my life. When we were still living at my father’s house, the only thought on my mind was to get the hell out of town as soon as I finished school and take Riley with me, so I could get a better job somewhere else, even if it was at a McDonalds or some other fast-food joint as a waitress or a cleaner, and hope that Riley had a better shot at a future than I ever did.

But now…with Caleb sitting in front of me, offering me a dream that had seemed impossible all my life…I didn’t know if I was capable of doing what he said.

Unconsciously, my hand went to my neck, the place where Caleb had marked me. The crescent moon shaped mark was now a permanent tattoo on my skin, but it was tiny, almost invisible to the naked eyes unless someone was paying close attention. But what it provided me was this constant feeling that I wasn’t alone anymore.

“Why didn’t you tell Riley you quit school?” Caleb asked suddenly, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“I’ve been avoiding telling Riley that I quit,” I swallowed past the lump in my throat, feeling suddenly vulnerable. “I didn’t want him to know that his sister didn’t even finish high school. He’s five, I’ll have plenty of time to tell him, but…I don’t know, Caleb. The last two years had been horrible; I hadn’t had the time to concentrate on school work since the debtors kept knocking on the door, and I had to start working at the diner. I had to teach Riley everything from scratch: how to read, how to write…and after everything, I just didn’t have time for me anymore. And now, my studied have suffered significantly and I don’t think I can get back my grades to finish school let alone get into college.”

I don’t know why, but opening up to Caleb felt natural. Safe. It felt like I could be myself with him without the fear that he’ll judge me for my weaknesses. Maybe it was a mate thing?

“I’ll help you.” Caleb reassured me, taking my hand to give it a gentle squeeze. “You don’t have to worry about anything else anymore, no debtors, no work and not dedicating all your time to Riley. I promise to be there with you every step of the way. We’ll get through this, Aurora…together.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” I frowned. “You and your heightened IQ and wolfy powers.”

Caleb’s eyes suddenly widened when he heard me say that, and before I could process what was happening…he burst out laughing.

“What?” I defended, even as my cheeks coloured in embarrassment.

But that didn’t stop the laughter. He all but fell back on the bed, clutching his stomach as he kept on laughing uncontrollably, the sound more amusing than mocking, and even though I felt embarrassed, I couldn’t help but smile at him either.

What was it? What did I say wrong? Did I say something stupid? Backtracking in my mind I tried to find faults in my theory but I couldn’t come up with anything. Werewolves did have higher IQ than humans…didn’t they? I mean…Caleb and all his friends were straight A students for crying out loud!

But as I watched Caleb finally try and catch his breath with a hand on his tummy, I realized that my knowledge about the supernatural was ever worse than my knowledge in organic chemistry and calculus, but it was a pleasure to watch Caleb laugh so openly.

The way his eyes sparkled, the way his cheeks creased and the way it all felt so natural, so wonderful to be in this moment, to be able to spend time with him like this.

“Wolves don’t have heightened IQ,” Caleb said finally, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes. “We have to work hard to get good academic results just like everyone else. Why would you assume that?”

“Because every one of you guys are straight A students!” I told him. “You, Jade, Caroline…”

“Well, you forgot Trisha, Mia, Cindy and Shane. Laura is an average student but those three are pretty much failing multiple subjects. The only reason they aren’t kicked off or failed is because our pack contributes a large amount to the school.”

My mouth dropped open in shock. “No! You’re kidding me!”

So…not only are those bullies failing, but they act all high and mighty thanks to their parent’s money? Why hadn’t I known about this sooner?

“Trust me.” Caleb shook his head with a smile still playing on his lips. “They are better fakers than they are in their studies. But never mind them; we were here discussing something important. I’m serious Aurora. I want you to go back to school with me. Don’t give your future away like this.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “You know, I was really liking you spilling tea on your own friends, but I guess that’s not on the table anymore.”

“I have something even better.” He grinned. “Facts about Werewolves!”

“Oh…” I blinked. “I thought Caroline told me about that already?”

“She merely scratched the surface.” He shrugged. “There’s still a lot you don’t know.”

“Really? Like what?”

“Werewolves don’t need the moon to turn into our wolf forms; we can turn at will any time we want.” He explained. “We also have good night vision, like most nocturnal predators and no, we do not eat raw meat…unless we are starving and there is no other option available. We have evolved with humans and gotten better with hiding our identity. And…wolves do live longer than humans. Our average life span is about a hundred and fifty years.”

The last part shocked me. A hundred and fifty years? Wasn’t that like…twice the life expectancy of a human?

“So…” I wasn’t sure how I was going to say it, but I knew I had to. “So…you’ll live on for about seventy more years…even after I’m gone? Does that mean you’ll have another mate?”

But Caleb shook his head, his expression turning solemn. “Wolves don’t live long after their mates are gone. It’s like…our will to live goes away with our other half. And we only have one mate in this lifetime. There have been exceptions, of course, but you need to know that we are scattered all over the world, so finding our second chance mate is pretty much impossible in this vast world.”

I felt my throat close up at the thought of it…Caleb having to live on for decades after I’m gone…or worse…

“A wolf mates for life. And once we lose our mate…we pretty much go crazy.” He shrugged. “Some of us would just go to sleep one day, and never wake up. Some go crazy with anger and pain and turn rouge, which means that we give into our animalistic instincts and lose our humanity, becoming killing machines without morals. And some of us go mentally insane.”

Shit! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. What he described was a fate worse than death…and he said it as if he had already accepted the fact…

Was this why he was reluctant to believe that I was his mate at first? Was this the reason why he had been so rude, so unwelcoming? I didn’t know…but now that I did, it made me suddenly weary as to what might happen in the future…