Alpha Professor

My lungs squeezed tightly, breathing accelerated as I tried to sprint on the sidewalk, receiving weird looks from the people around. As much as it made me want the ground to swallow me, I let it not affect me. It was my first day to class, and the last thing I should be worried about was the guy wearing an inside out shirt judging me.

The coffee in my hand made my already clammy palm wet, wincing at the water moisture touching my coat sleeve. Who allowed me to carry an iced coffee while on the run? Suddenly my best friend Allie's face flashed in front of my eyes.

Sharing a flat with someone you have known all your life is that they have known you all their life. The omega is like a mother hen, always making sure that I take my meals regularly. I turned my head towards the watch sitting heavily around my wrist.

Somehow I was only two minutes late; maybe class hadn't started yet. With that thought in my mind, I rounded the corner, and for a second, everything went blank. A gasp escaped my parted lips as I ran into a solid wall, the impact causing my glasses to clatter on the ground. My vision went blurry, but I realised the iced coffee in my hand went flying all over the stranger.

I reeled backwards, my backpack slipping off my shoulder while I squinted against the sunlight falling on my face. Placing my hand over my eyes, I tried to stare at the person in front of me—an Alpha. I sucked a sharp breath, trying to peer at him through my hazy eyesight. He was tall, easily an inch above, and muscular, with long legs that stilled in front of me.

"What the—" The rough drawl of his voice echoed in my ears, but he stopped.

My eyes fell on a sizeable brownish stain on the Alphas crisp white t-shirt, angry pheromones radiating off him. His scent also changed into something bitter and unpleasant as he started cursing.

"Do you have any idea what you have done? It's my favourite shirt!"

I blinked and returned to reality, trying to see something else from the twist of his lips. Typical. Due to the glaring light, it was impossible to see the strangers face, much less judge the expressions on them.

"I am—Oh moons, I am so sorry, mister. That coffee wasn't too cold, was it? It's just, you know, it is my first day of the class, and I was in a bit of a rush..." My speech faltered, fully aware of how jumbled words tumbled out of my mouth, flush sitting heavily on my cheeks.

"Save it!" He almost let out a low growl, sounding infuriatingly posh with that accent. And then more to himself, he murmured while fanning at the shirt, "Brilliant! I'll never get the stain out of this shirt..."

My eyes roamed around, and I remembered my glasses were still somewhere around. Bending down, I picked my new glasses off the floor only to see them cracked. I dropped to my knees, my heart sinking as there was a long jagged crack that ran along with the entire glass.

"Excuse me, mister..." I turned around but already saw the Alphas retreating back as he mingled among the crowd.

So much for holding him accountable. Not that he purposely crashed into me. A sigh escaped my lips as I tucked the glasses in the bag and pulled the old pair. The old ones were in good condition, except that they kept sliding down the bridge of my nose too often. But I did not have much of choice anyway.

Exhaling deeply, I stared at the path in front of me and started running again.

Looking down at myself, I smoothed a hand down my dark black shirt paired with a beige coat and jeans. Then I proceeded to pat the tangled and knotted hair that curled at the edges. I can do this. With that, I took a deep breath and pushed past the doors and stepped inside the class.

My mouth almost parted at the number of benches filled by students, mostly girls in the front row. I saw that the professor was not in yet, which made me sigh and rush towards the vacant seat in the back.

"Hi", A girl next to me nudged as soon as I sat down, her radiant smile almost infectious. She had her laptop already set up and the Korean manga tab on while the Translate page opened in another window. "I am Naya."

"Emma." I gave her a nervous smile while rushing to set up everything on the desk. "It's very crowded, huh."

I thought that only fifty students were allowed to take the class. Judging from the benches filled they were more than fifty of them.

Naya snorted, turning to me. "It's because of the Professor. The second years and art students are also sitting with us."

I blinked dumbly. "What? Is that allowed?"

"I heard the Professor is too nice to make them leave. Besides, the art students are here to ogle him for their inspiration, so he doesn't mind, I guess."

At that, my mouth opened and closed, loss at words. Talk about being narcissistic. Besides, what can be so appealing about a middle-aged professor? Before I could ask more questions, the door creaked open.

"Here comes the hotshot," Naya said in a bored tone.

I slowly turned my head, and all my prejudices about the middle-aged professor flew away. The man walking towards the podium was not in his mid-fifties or on the verge of balding. Nope. This Alpha was gorgeous and all too familiar.

My throat went dry as I took in the appearance of the man I had not seen in almost half a decade. He was tall and muscular, the crisp white shirt appearing familiar with two buttons unbuttoned and showing off his collarbones. The Alphas wide green eyes and full lips were framed by short brown hair curling at the base of his neck, a few strands carelessly falling on his forehead.

I was watching with my mouth hanging half-open, and it's only when Naya nudged my arm that realisation dawned on me.

"I guess you like what you see."

A cough spewed out of my chest, eyes bulging and my head reluctantly shaking. "N-No, I was just..."

"It's alright. I had the same reaction when I saw his picture this morning."

My brow arched at that.

"There's a huge hoarding in the hallway with his photo to welcome students. Good business strategy, don’t you think?”

Before I could take in Naya's bold comment, the Alpha cleared his throat. The Professor pulled his shoulders up, took a breath, fixed a beaming smile on his face. The loud chattering died away as he crossed the room to his desk, setting down his files and pulling out a board marker from his pocket. He scrawled 'Abel Leone' across the top of the board and then dropped the marker onto the desk, walking around and hopping up, so he sat facing us, legs dangling in front.

Professor Abel Leone introduced himself and told us about his educational background. He had a doctorate in English with his thesis based on the nineteenth-century Romantic poets. The Alpha, much to his pleasure, was teaching us about the same module.

"Now, why don't you all introduce yourself along with an interesting fact about you."

My breathing went shallow at that, a tiny ball forming in my throat, fingers wrung together in my lap. The thought of speaking in front of so many students had me squirming in my seat.

Blood rushed in my ears, heart pounding loudly as the Professor's eyes halted in my direction.

"Uh...hi" I cleared my throat. "I am Emma from Red Moon Pack and erm...."

The girls at the front were full-on giggling now, fingers clamped over their lips while gawking at me. Naya glared at them.

"Is something funny?" The Alpha asked stonily, crossing his arms against his chest and turning to them. "Fancy sharing it with the rest of us? Let us laugh as well."

They just shook their heads, lowering them meekly, though I could still see wide smiles pulling at their mouths.

"Carry on, Miss Emma," Abel spoke in a calm tone, eyes softening.

I swallowed, digging my fingernails into the palms hard enough to draw blood, but it also made me focus. Taking a deep breath, I met his eyes.

"I-I love poetry more than novels." I finished, embarrassment rolling off me in waves at how plain it sounded.

"Alright!" He hummed, clapping his hands together and gesturing for me to sit down. I did, almost collapsing into my chair, tucking my legs up and making myself as small as possible, cheeks bright pink.

"Miss Emma," Abel called out as soon as the class ended. "Please come see me in my office."

So what do you think? I have been crazily waiting to start this one!