My Werewolf Professor (13 page)

She sank to the floor.

And that was when she cried.

****

For a long time, Alessandro remained rooted in his spot, the devastating sound of Kassia’s tears ripping him apart.
 

He gazed sightlessly towards where Kassia had disappeared in the distance, knowing that he could go after her and maybe make things right.

But he didn’t.

Because maybe, just fucking maybe, it was better this way for both of them.

If her smiles had made him realize she was special, her tears had made Alessandro realize she was like no one else, and
that
he wasn’t ready for.

It was better this way.
 

He repeated the words in his mind, endlessly, using them to chase away the seemingly incredible picture of Kassia walking away from him with her back straight, her shoulders shaking, a picture of defiance and shattered innocence.

Other girls her age would have thrown a bitchy fit, would have called him names and sought to humiliate him the way he had deliberately sought to humiliate her, thinking she had betrayed him.

Kassia could and should have done any or all of those, but she hadn’t.

She had simply walked away.

And that was fine.

It was better this way.
 

He had existed all these years without Kassia, and he would go on living, would go back to enjoying his life the way he had when he had never known someone like her existed.

He did not need her because she would be his weakness, and she did not need him because he would only bring danger to her life.
 

And so it was better this way.

Better.

Safer.

Alessandro’s heart was devoid of emotion by the time he reached for his door and entered his office.

It was better this way.

He had to remember that.

MY WEREWOLF PROFESSOR 3

One week since My Werewolf Professor 2

You must never ever look at him.
The thought firmly plastered on her mind, Kassia lifted her chin, entered the dojo, and of course the first thing she saw was
him.

Professor Alessandro Moretti.

She desperately willed herself to look away, but she couldn’t. He captivated her without even trying. Unlike most martial arts instructors, the professor didn’t don the usual
karategi
for class. Instead, he wore a kimono, its white fabric making a stark contrast to his deep olive skin. Secured with a black obi, the kimono showed off the hard panes of his chest, now slick with sweat. It was terribly sexy – unfairly so, for someone in his position. The sight left her dry-mouthed even as her heart ached a little. She could remember the times she had her hand pressed on that very chest. And yet she couldn’t forget that another woman had surely touched him the same way, too.

In front of her, the professor moved in fluid motion, the loose soft cotton of his kimono flowing around his legs as he moved around the fighting circle, bending, twisting, and kicking while he took on three opponents at the same time. Kassia recognized them by face. They were some of the best students of the professor’s advanced class. Or at least they were supposed to be. The professor’s deadly, graceful dance reduced them into nothing better than stumbling novices. He knocked them down, one after another, without breaking a sweat or the smallest show of arrogance.

The bell rang, signifying the end of the class while the students groaned on the floor, unwilling to continue fighting. Applause broke out, feverish excitement rising from the professor’s crowd of female fans. When the professor helped his students up, the girls around Kassia gushed at his show of sportsmanship.
 

The professor and the students bowed to each other.

When the professor straightened, his heavily lidded gaze suddenly found hers.

Excruciating pain tore through her at feeling the professor’s eyes on her, and Kassia turned away in panic. The ache in her heart became heavier, like a knife twisting deeper inside her.

She could not get the professor’s face out of her head.

How can he look at me like that after what he’s done,
she wondered dully. The professor was playing with her. He had to be. He had been doing so from the start. So why, oh Lord, why was she still affected?

****

The students bowed in unison, stepped back from their sparring partners, and assumed their positions. Each pairing was given a tiny amount of space to fight in, and the mechanics of winning were simple: one only had to do anything he could to evict his opponent from his fighting space. In the years that Alessandro had been teaching ookami-kata, the rule had proven effective in encouraging his students to be creative and utilize as much as they could remember from his lessons.
 

Or at least he used to think it was effective.

Now, not so much.

Not when it was obvious Jacob was using the rules to his advantage, provoking Kassia into making unwise choices that allowed him to playfully cop a feel.

His temper strained against its leash as Jacob continuously employed a defensive stance, locking her body to his in a clinch every time she tried to take a swipe at him. Essentially, it was to counter her offensive, but anyone with fucking brains could see Jacob was only doing it to feel her breasts against his body.

His jaw hardened when it happened for the fifth time. Why didn’t Kassia complain? Why didn’t she look at him to put a stop to it? Jealousy consumed him, a dark fire that threatened to eviscerate his control.

The urge to change form burned inside him. He wanted to turn Lyccan so he could slash the boy down and let him know just whose woman he was trespassing on.

The fight – the seduction – continued. Kassia had again rushed in to attack, and Jacob waited until the last minute before bluffing her with an attack of his own. She retreated, lost her footing, and would have fallen out of the circle if Jacob hadn’t pulled her back.

Kassia flashed Jacob a smile of relief.
 

Alessandro wanted to snarl. Didn’t she damn realize Jacob wanted her to keep fighting so he could keep touching her? Inside the circle, Jacob had every right to touch her, and no one would blink an eye.

His heightened senses latched itself to Kassia, now attuned to every beat of her heart, every breath Kassia drew. He listened for any sign that she welcomed the boy’s advances.

And if there was,
his conscience demanded.
What would he do?
 

The answer didn’t bear thinking.

For the boy’s sake, Kassia better not show any fucking amount of interest in him.

Another minute passed. Jacob was letting Kassia take a few swipes at him, and Alessandro knew it was the boy’s intention to lull her into a sense of complacency. She was frowning with concentration, her gaze scanning Jacob’s figure for the best part of his body to attack. She completely missed the look of hunger in Jacob’s eyes.
 

But Alessandro didn’t.

And from there, it was easy to see what Jacob was planning.

Jacob making a move—

Kassia falling to the ground—

Jacob landing on top of her, his groin on top of her sex—

Not in this goddamn life.

Before anyone could draw another breath, Alessandro was there, standing right outside Kassia and Jacob’s fighting space.

“STOP.” His voice carried throughout the hall, and everyone froze.

Kassia, Jacob, and the pairs standing closest to him turned to Alessandro in shock and confusion, unable to understand how it was possible for him to cross the entire hall in a fraction of a second.

Jacob, his foot still mid-air, began to sway. He had been about to hook one leg around Kassia’s to take her down. But now, the plan was about to backfire.

Alessandro deftly stepped back as Jacob fell on his face. Behind him, the entire class struggled unsuccessfully not to laugh.
 

Alessandro wasn’t able to join in their amusement, his attention stolen by the sound of Kassia’s erratic heartbeat while her intoxicatingly sweet scent once again took possession of his senses.

Kassia was looking at him with brown eyes that hid everything, only to be belied by the feel and smell of her emotions.

Pain.

So much damn pain.

He didn’t need the power to read her thoughts to know what she was thinking. What she seemed to have been thinking every night, if the dark circles under her eyes were any indication.

She looked at him, and she did not see him.

She saw another woman.

Kassia looked at him, and she only remembered Melissa’s hand on his body, Melissa speaking coyly into his ear. She looked at him, and she imagined Melissa in bed with him—

The primal, savage Lyccan side of Alessandro wanted to roar at the pain in Kassia’s face. Honor meant everything to his kind, and what he had done to her – the
only
girl who had so easily gotten under his skin – was the greatest of dishonor.

He had made her believe in him, made her trust, made her hope, only – he had repaid it with betrayal.

Kassia suddenly turned away as if the mere sight of him flayed her, and Alessandro’s chest tightened. He had thought that Domenico’s fall had caused him the greatest pain, but now he knew it wasn’t. It was
this
– seeing Kassia hurting, and knowing he had been the one who wounded her so.

He started to say her name, but Jacob had stood up, breaking the line of sight between them.

Reality struck him, and his jaw snapped shut.

Nothing had changed.
 

He could not afford to be as weak as his older brother, and Kassia
would
bring him down. She wielded such power over him, even now, even just by existing.

Kassia was better off without him.
 

And he
was better off without her.

Alessandro forced himself to swing away.
 

“You’ve won yourself a reprieve,” he told the class. “The actual test will take place in our next class. You may resume practice without need of a fighting circle.”

No one had the courage to ask him what brought about the sudden decision. He felt their surprise and confusion, but he didn’t give a damn. Going to one corner of the dojo, he laid his hand open. It was his signal to the class that he was also open to questions. In a second, female students surrounded him, swallowing the sight of Kassia and Jacob.

And that
, Alessandro told himself harshly,
was how it should be
. He would not –
could not
– allow himself to follow in his brother’s footsteps, not when the honor and safety of his pack were at stake.

****

“What was that about?” Ellie demanded in a low whisper the moment Kassia reached her side. Out of curiosity and concern, she had joined the throng of fans outside the dojo, watching the fight inside through the viewing wall.
 

Everyone around Ellie was obviously in love with the professor, with the way they screamed at every little thing he did. When the professor spoke, the girls had swooned as the sound of his voice came through the hall’s speakers. When the professor crossed his arms over his chest in observation, all the girls had gone mad, flooding each other’s Instagram newsfeeds with the professor’s photos. And when the professor had moved with lightning speed – well, everyone had just about died.
 

Privately, Ellie thought the professor had been
inhumanly
fast but then, what did she know about martial arts? For all she knew, that kind of speed was normal for ass-kicking, heart-breaking ookami-kata instructors.

What she did know, however, was that she hadn’t liked having so many girls crushing on the professor. She had felt mad on her best friend’s behalf and had wanted to shout at all of them. The professor was
Kassia’s
first!