Professor Wolf - J.L. Wilder Page 0,3

thing. It was as if they were fairy tale creatures as opposed to living breathing people.

I’m so glad I’m not over there with them, she thought.

She turned her back on Omega University and made her way over to the residential side of campus, where Dormitory One stood four stories high. The next test would be meeting her roommate and convincing her that there was nothing remarkable about Cait. That she was just another beta there to expand her understanding of shifter culture.

This is going to be a long four years, she thought.

But God, was it going to be worth it! Just the feeling of being out from under her father’s thumb, away from the tight control of her pack...it was like coming up from underwater.

I’ll do whatever I want for the rest of the day, she thought. And no alphas will be able to stop me.

It was the most freeing feeling in the world.

Chapter Two

GRANT

“How are the new girls?” Jim asked.

Grant Larson held up two fingers, signaling the waitress to bring another round, and shrugged. “How are they ever?” he asked. “They come in here not knowing a thing.”

“You can’t fault them for it,” said his friend. “Look at the backgrounds some of these kids come from.”

“I can’t look at their backgrounds,” Grant said. “You’re the one who reads the student applications. You’re the one in the admissions department. I’m not allowed to look at those records.” He drained the dregs of his beer as the waitress brought two new bottles over. “Although I’m beginning to suspect that you’re just admitting everyone who applies.”

“Basically, yes,” Jim agreed. “If a girl wants to reconnect with omega culture, we’re not going to tell her no. That’s the whole reason the Council set up this school in the first place.”

“What’s amazing to me is how far these girls have drifted from the norms of omega culture,” Grant said. “They’re born into such a rich tradition, and by the time they get here...I don’t know. They’re practically human.”

“Got some difficult ones this year?” Jim asked.

“Nothing extraordinary, I guess,” Grant admitted. “It’s just that, by the end of a school year, I get used to working with girls who have been studying their true natures for nine months. I get used to really educated girls who understand their place in shifter society and embrace what they can bring to a pack. And then the new year starts, and I get a new batch of omegas, and it’s like starting all over.”

“Your class is one of the most highly rated in the school,” Jim pointed out. “You get consistently high reviews from your students. I’m sure this group won’t be any different. They just need some time to learn the way things work here at Omega U.”

“I hope you’re right,” Grant said.

“I don’t know why you’re worried,” Jim said. “It’s the same every year. They start out not knowing their place, and then they find it.”

“But there are always some who drop out,” Grant said. “There are always some who can’t make the adjustment from the life they knew into proper shifter life. Every time that happens, I feel like I’ve failed them. I’m not just a teacher. I’m a guide. It’s my job to help these girls find their way in the shifter world. It’s my job to help them find happiness.”

Jim nodded. “You do a good job of it,” he said. “You need to stop beating yourself up.”

“I just look at the incoming class and wonder which of them won’t make it,” Grant admitted. “They’ll never know how rich and fulfilling their lives could have been. It hurts each time I fail them.”

“You know that it’s possible that they’re still happy, right?” Jim asked. “I mean, I know they’re not living the omega life if they leave our school. But that’s not the only good life that exists in the world.”

Grant shook his head. “You’re a beta, Jim, so you can’t really understand this,” he said. “I know how it’s different for you. You weren’t born with a specific role to fulfill within a pack. Betas really are the closest things in the shifter world to humans.”

“Rude.” Jim flicked his bottle cap across the table into Grant’s arm.

“It’s just the truth,” Grant said. “I like you. You know I do. And I respect that you chose to come and work at Omega U when you could have gotten a job at Shifter U. We need more people to do that. Shifter U pays more,