Chapter 57: You are scary

Chapter 57: You are scary
Willow

I lean against a wall, the sharp pain returning, prompting me to hold on to my chest. My eyes sting with tears and my knees wobble as if they are carrying the entire planet.

I find myself walking slower than a tortoise, the pain getting stronger.

“Are you okay?” A distant voice asks, followed by a hand on my shoulder and another one on my elbow.

“Let me help you,” the stranger says softly. She places my arm around her shoulder and puts a hand on my waist.

We take small steps to my room, the stranger patiently moving as slowly as I go. I hand over the keys to her and she opens the door. She helps me take off my shoes and get into bed.

“I’ll call the campus health services. They will get here in less than five minutes.” She takes out her phone.

I take a sharp breath and I close my eyes. “No, I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep it off.”

“I can’t leave you like this. I’m going to stay for a minute.”

“Willow? Willow?” I slightly open my eyes at the sound of a knock on the door.

“Willow!?” Leo bellows at the same time as I hear the sound of the the door opening.

“Hi, Freya.” Leo’s velvet voice fills the small apartment.

“Professor Brown?” The stranger exclaims.

Urgent footsteps move in my direction, and Leo looks down at me, his eyebrows furrowed.

“No, no, no!" He says, his tone panicky. "Let me take you to a hospital.”

“No! It’s just a little pain.” I try to protest, my chest heaving.

“I don’t care, I taking you!”

“Please, Leo. I’ll be fine.”

“Here,” he holds up a small bottle of about 15 milliliters.

“What’s this?”

“Just take it, but I still think you should go to the hospital.”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Say ahhh,” he slightly tilts my head, the amusement in his tone unmasked.

I shake my head. “When I get better...” Leo pours the sweetest-tasting liquid into my mouth.

My eyes immediately gets heavy. After fighting sleep for about five minutes, I give in and close my eyes.

“Thank you, Freya. I’ll stay with her. I appreciate this. How do you know each other?”

“Oh! We don’t, I saw her outside the building and I thought I should help her.”

“Thank you,” he murmurs.

“Of course, Alpha,” I hear a distant whisper.



I open my eyes and I come face to face with Leo, who is sitting uncomfortably on my bean bag, his large form making it look smaller. His forehead is creased and his eyes are on me.

I sit up, ignoring his pleas to be gentle. “You still here?”

He nods. “Come to my apartment and stay for a few days. I’ll take care of you and I’ll keep my distance.”

“How does one keep their distance while taking care of someone?”

“I'll try,” he shrugs.

“Why were you watching me sleep? What were you plotting?” I look at him in what I hope is my suspicious face.

He chuckles. His eyes light up, and I realize how much I missed the way his face came to life when he smiles genuinely. “I wanted to be ready to scoop you up and take you to the emergency room if anything happened.”

“You look much better yourself,” I point out.

“I feel light. I’m not lying to you anymore.” He exhales. “But I will always remember what I did.”

I nod, my chest feeling tight. My guilt reminds me that I'm a simp for forgiving him so fast. So, I decide not to tell him he should free himself from the guilt, and he nods back, his lips pursed.

“I called Chloe while you were asleep. She is on her way here.”

“You two seem pretty close these days,” I grin.

“Well, we dated,” he says dryly.

“Fake dated,” I roll my eyes. “And you tortured my sister."

He raises his eyebrows, and I slightly chuckle at his confused expression.

"She was your mate, wasn’t she?”

He blinks, his face blank.

“And you rejected her.”

“What are you talking about?” He gives me a tight smile. “Did Chloe tell you that?”

I shake my head.

“I hope Liam didn’t feed you crazy stories about rejection and mates.”

“You know, he said almost the same thing when I rejected him. He said something about you making me do it. So, what on Earth is going on?”

“Willow...” He holds my gaze, and I feel my control weakening.

“Don’t Willow me, and choose your next words wisely.”

“You are scary," his face remains stoic.

“How do you know Freya?”

“She is one of my students. Where are you going with this?” He asks calmly.

“I have never seen her in class.”

“My pharmacology class.”

“Okay. She called you Alpha.”

“She did?” He breaks eye contact. “Are you sure this medication that I gave you didn’t cause hallucinations? You were drifting off...”

“Don’t you dare even think about gaslighting me,” I interject.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” He chuckles uncomfortably.

“Am I crazy for believing in the existence of werewolves?”

“No,” he mumbles.

“Are you a werewolf?”

He nods slightly that it’s almost missable.

“And who else?”

“Liam, Professor Malino.”

“Professor Malino?” I gasp.

“Yes, then Lucy and Jeremy...”

“Jeremy the vampire is a werewolf?” I let out a squeal to irritate him. “Is he a hybrid?”

“Yep, he gets the best of both worlds,” he says wryly.

“Oh My God!”

“I don’t want to see Jeremy in my class ever again!” His jaw clenches.

“It’s not like that,” I chuckle. “You said I should interact with students.”

“And I specifically warned Jeremy not to interact with you.”

“I promise to keep my relationship with Jeremy private,” I raise my hands up.

“Do you have a crush on him because you think he is an actual vampire? I told you that vampires don’t exist.”

“But werewolves exist and you hid your identity. What if vampires are afraid of getting discovered?”

He makes an exasperated sigh. “I’m starting to suspect Eleanor Malino's medication.”

“What’s in the medication, anyway?”

“Herbs made by witches from her pack.”

“She is not from your pack?”

“No,” he shakes his head.

“So, how did you know I was in pain?”

“Professor Malino told me.”

“Is she a witch?”

“No,” he chuckles. “Lucy went to her crying, saying she needed something for Liam and she said Carkeek Park was a little too far.”

“So, she just gave her the herbs to give to Liam? She is a saint.”

He nods. “She is, that's why you liked her when you first met.”

“I suppose I have been a little judgy, and she helped me with Asclepius.”

“You accepted this werewolf story pretty fast. What if I’m lying to you?”

“You would be bored by now. You are not the type to tell stories for the fun part of it."

He grins.

"So are you really a wolf? What color is your fur?” I ask him.

“I’m Asclepius.”

“No! You are kidding!”

He shakes his head. "Haven’t you noticed our eyes?”

“I have. I always thought that it was weird. Oh no!" I cover my eyes with my palms. "I told Asclepius that I was in love with Leo.”