#Chapter 4: An Unexpected Hero

Partners were instructed to sit together so I gathered my things and went to Kade. With his boot clad feet kicked up on the seat in front of him, it was obvious he wasn’t going to move. Setting my stuff on the floor, I pulled out my laptop to take notes, then shoved my bag under the seat.

My computer was powered on and everyone was in their seats as the professor began the lecture. Clicking away and focused, I was diligently taking in all he said. The syllabus had already been emailed the week before so he expected us to be ready and dive in on day one.

I was ready but as Kade leaned towards me in his still slouched position I figured he wasn’t, or didn’t care to be.

Sighing, I tried hard to focus and ignore him. “So, my little bird is with Caleb, huh? How did that come about? He any good in bed? Does being his mate make that much sweeter?”

As he said that last part he leaned in closer and put his arm behind my chair.

Fed up, I turned to face the irritating man. Narrowing my eyes, which were inches from his, he made no move to back away. Instead his smile broadened.

“Mmm, I didn’t expect the famous omega mate of Caleb’s to be so interesting. If I had known how tempting you would be I would have paid more interest in who you were long ago.” He drew in a breath as though savoring my scent. “Too bad he has you on lock down.”

The mere suggestion made my skin crawl. “Well, that issue has rectified itself and we are no longer together,” I said in a snarky tone, then added under my breath as I turned back to my computer, “and it’s going to stay that way.”

Trying to refocus on the lecture, and ignore Kade’s stupid assumptions, I started typing again. Passing the course was more important than his teasing.

He leaned back and I didn’t have to look at him to know he had that stupid smile on his face again. While I tried hard to get the last bit of information for the day down in my notes, Kade said, “That’s an interesting turn of events. Care to share how it came about? From the tone of your voice it seems the decision was yours. Though, I’m sure he would never admit an omega broke things off with him, and his mate no less.”

A light laugh came out of him as I finished up and the teacher reminded everyone to be ready and seated next time or they would be docked points. When I turned to Kade he had this twinkle in his eye that suggested he needed more info on what had happened between Caleb and I. Ignoring him I turned my laptop to face him and discuss what needed to be done.

As I mapped out what notes I already had, and those I wrote in class that day, I showed Kade what he could do, which was much less than what I would take on. As I spoke his smile fell.

He said, “You’re seriously going to ignore me? Not going to give even a small hint at what went down? From what I was told you were smitten with him. Hung on his every word and move…”

He continued to speak but the more he did the more exasperated I became. He had always come off as someone who coasted through life. It must have been easy coming from a wealthy family and to be the strongest and most desirable Alpha around. He probably didn’t give a shit about the course because he could just tell the teacher to give him a passing grade.

“Look.” I cut off his stupid questions, “We are a team and need to pass this class, this very difficult class. Unless you have some magical way to do so, we need to work together to finish. I even promised an A+ so we need to work hard, I can’t do it alone so if you cloud do this part…”

This time he cut me off before I could even show him my plan. “You’re trying to give me orders?” He let out an energetic laugh. “Oh, that’s almost as good as finding out Caleb’s mate left him!” He continued to laugh.

Setting my jaw, I said, “You know what, never mind. I’ll figure it out.”

Stuffing my laptop into my bag, I threw it over my shoulder and left with Kade still laughing in his seat. I’m glad he thought my situation was so funny, someone had to. Grumbling to myself over how I ended up leaving one asshole Alpha just to be stuck with another one, I didn’t see Caleb waiting for me when I turned the corner.

“Well, if it isn’t my slut of a mate.” Caleb’s voice sent my heart into my throat. The tone made me feel as though if it weren’t for the people around he might have done harm to me right there. “You having fun now? You know Kade just tried to piss me off, right?”

Pursing my brow I took a step back, but he continued on berating me, “He's not interested in you. He has standards, like I do. If it wasn’t for that fucking mate bond I would have nothing to do with you. That bond is the only reason Kade is even talking to you. He loves to take what’s mine.”

Opening my mouth to tell him I gave even less a fuck about Kade or his motives than I did him, someone grabbed my hair and yanked my head back. Falling to the floor, I held my bag to my face as Olivia tore at me.

“You fucking bitch! I knew you couldn’t stay away from Caleb after he became mine! He doesn’t want you any more, you fucking Omega. Go back to the hole you crawled out of. No one wants you here.”

As I stood up, I could see a crowd had gathered around us, probably because of Olivia’s hysterics. Swiping at my hair, I tried to get it straight but she had made a mess of it, as well as my arms which had some sizable scratches on them.

Embarrassed and wishing I had long sleeves on that day, I hugged my bag and looked down. The day started so well. Now I had a partner that was a pain in the ass for the hardest course of the year, an ex who wouldn’t leave me alone in the same class, and his crazy new girlfriend ready to kill me.

“Looks like she’s going to cry again, just like when you left her and told her to fuck off, baby. Pathetic, no wonder Caleb threw you away.” Olivia sounded so satisfied with herself.

People were whispering around us.

Caleb watched me with an unreadable look in his eyes—complicated, heavy. For a second, I almost thought he might speak up, say something in my defense.

But a moment later, he just slipped his arm around Olivia’s shoulders and pulled her close.

I’d told myself my heart couldn’t ache for Caleb anymore.  

I was wrong.

Biting my lip, I looked back at the floor as the murmurings of the people around us grew. It wasn’t hard to grasp I was the clear looser in this situation. As an Omega, no matter who left who, I was the looser.

Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes trying to hold off any tears. There was a gasp of surprise from some of the people in the crowd. When I looked up again I saw Kade pushing through them. He stepped beside me and pulled me to him. The feeling of him against me was surprisingly comforting in a way, but I wrote it off as being glad someone was there to stand up to Caleb.

“Wow, Caleb. You didn’t waste any time trying to poach my partner, now did you? What, were you waiting here for her so you could pounce first chance you got?”

Caleb’s jaw clenched, but before he could say anything Kade guided me away from him, Olivia, and the crowd as he said, “From what box-bleached blondie there said, being with Lana should be the opposite of what you want.”

Once we were clear of the crowd, I stepped away and thanked him. “Don’t worry about the class work; I’ll handle it as repayment for this. I really do appreciate what you did for me back there.”

Kade chuckled. “I’m not worried about the work load but there is another thing you can do to repay me.”

He didn’t say anything else and after a few heartbeats, I sighed and said, “And, what would that be?”

Kade let out a small laugh. “Oh, I’ll tell you when the time comes.”

Looking up at him I saw a crooked smile on his lips and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Whatever. Thank you, really, but I don’t have time for your joke right now. I've got back to move.”