Chapter 2 : Fated to my Professor

Astrid

I felt like a fool staring at Tristan so blatantly, but I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Back in the hallway, I was so flustered that I hadn’t really looked at him. I was too shocked that he was there. I didn’t think that I would see him again, and I never thought that I would see him here. Somehow, he grew up to be even more attractive than I remembered.

His soft, boyish features were sharpened into a strong jaw and defined cheekbones. He looked like he could be a model rather than a college professor. I understood now why most of the students in the room were female.

While he was focusing on getting the projector set up, a girl with long dark hair scurried from her table and sat next to me.

“Hi,” she said softly. “You looked lonely sitting back here alone.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I was really hoping that I would be left alone, but that wasn’t going to happen. Before I could respond, Tristan started to talk.

“I’m Dr. Tristan Ward, and I’m going to be your professor for this class,” he explained. He took his laptop out of his bag and walked to the podium. “Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to look over the syllabus. We’re going to go over the broad strokes together, but I’m not going to read the entire thing to you.”

He opened the syllabus document so that everyone could see it on the projector screen. His voice filled the room as he started to explain the basic structure of the class. Everyone was listening with rapt attention. Except the girl beside me.

“I’ve never seen you on campus,” she continued in hushed tones.

There’s no way he couldn’t hear us—his ears most definitely could pick up even a whisper, but when I checked, Tristan didn’t even look like he noticed.

“Are you a transfer student?” her voice flooded back in.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Yes,” I replied softly. “But I-I don’t think Dr. Ward wants us talking.”

That was a half-truth. Tristan kept speaking as if he were none the wiser, but that’s not why I wanted her to stop talking. I was here to study and that’s what I needed to focus on. I pulled a notebook from my bag alone with a set of colorful pens and a printout of the syllabus for this class.

“Advanced Engineering Analysis sounded like an intimidating class,” she pressed on. She was acting like I hadn’t even responded. “But Dr. Ward is so cute, so I decided to take the risk.”

“Do you need paper?” I asked pointedly. I was trying to hint to her that she needed to pay attention, but she didn’t seem phased.

“Sure, and can I borrow a pen?” she asked brightly.

I frowned down at my notebook as I carefully tore a page free. I passed it to her along with one of my pens. I couldn’t let Tristan be a distraction from my studies, and I wasn’t going to let her distract me either.

“Thanks,” she answered. She immediately started doodling little geometric shapes on the page. “I’m Lilian, by the way.”

“Please, pay attention,” Tristan finally spoke up sharply. “I won’t talk over you.”

I hung my head in embarrassment. His eyes were still on the projector screen, but his voice had gotten deep and he spoke with such easy authority that it was impossible not to listen to him. I cursed myself silently.

While I was slightly annoyed with Lillian for her inability to take a hint, my irritation was more so with myself. The way my heart was stuttering at the sound and sight of Tristan was embarrassing. It was like I was ten all over again.

I tried to ignore it. Tristan was attractive, but a childhood crush wasn’t going to get the better of me. Besides, I was in no shape to even think about a relationship. It’d only been a few days since I broke up with Charles.

The thought of him shattered the pleasant feeling that Tristan had evoked from me.

“This is a nice pen,” Lilian said quietly, breaking my thoughts.

I ignored her, but couldn’t help but be slightly thankful for the small welcomed distraction.

Tristan spent a while going over the syllabus for the class. It was pretty normal for the first day of class, but it could be super boring. Everyone was slouching in their seats by the time he finished.

“Let’s take a ten minute break,” Tristan started with a sigh. “Get up, walk around, and come back ready to focus.”

I couldn’t tell from his tone if he was annoyed or not. The class spilled out, but I chose to remain in my seat. When Tristian followed out of the room behind them, I felt my breath return. Was I holding it that entire time?

“So, what’s your name?” Lilian asked, plopping her chin into her hand that was propped up by her elbow on the table. I looked at her, not even noticing she had stayed too.

“Astrid,” I muttered.

“Oh, that’s a pretty name!” she said. “Where did you transfer from? Moonriver?”

I shook my head. I really didn’t want to talk to her, but she obviously wasn’t going to stop asking questions.

“No, I’ve been studying in the human world,” I answered.

“Oooo,” she replied in excitement. “What’s the human world like? Have you been there long? Do you have a boyfriend? I’ve heard that human boys can be fun.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“No, I… not anymore,” I answered, hoping that’d end the conversation. I didn’t need to think of Charles—not now.

But of course, she didn’t. “Tough breakup?” she asked.

I didn’t know what to say. I really thought that Charles was the love of my life. I put everything into our relationship, but I was clearly wrong.

“Ok, well if you don’t want to talk about the breakup, how about how you ended up dating a human?” Lillian pressed.

“We, uhm, worked together,” I replied, averting my gaze to my paper. “We became friends and after a while, he asked me out.”

“I see,” she answered.

It was quiet for a minute, and I truly thought that maybe she gave up—or that maybe I said something wrong. But then, she turned in her seat. When I looked up, her eyes were curious.

“Do you regret it? Or was it, like, worth it for the experience?” she asked.

I shook my head. “It was a mistake.”

The room fell silent again.

“Sorry, I’m being rude,” Lillian said after a moment. “So… what made you decide to get a graduate degree? I’m here because my mom said that I either have to get a job or take classes. I can’t find any jobs that I want around here and I don’t want to move, so I’m just taking classes for as long as I can.”

“Uh, well, the company that I work for is expecting an opening for a new Director of Vehicle Safety Engineering, and I was offered the job…but on the condition that I got my degree,” I explained.

Lillian’s eyes widened. “Girl, that’s super impressive!” she cooed. “That’s some boss shit, I love it!”

I nodded at her, but wasn’t sure what to say. I wasn’t used to people from the pack being so…nice to me. I was sure once she put two and two together about who I was, she’d become just like the others, but for right now, I was somewhat enjoying being a little normal.

People were returning to their seats already and Tristan trickled in behind, returning to the front of the room.

“I think we’re getting ready to start,” I pointed out.

“Right, time to focus,” she replied in a silly voice. She picked up the pen and started to draw again.

She hadn’t meant anything by it, but her questions made it impossible for me to stop thinking about Charles.

Burning anger twisted in my belly at the memories and I did my best to force them away. I knew that I would have to deal with the fallout when I got back home, but for now, there was nothing I could do about it. I had more important things to think about.

Tristan’s voice helped. There was something grounding about the cadence of his speech. I looked up at the projector screen and frowned when I didn’t recognize what I was looking at. How long did I zone out for?

“If there aren’t any other questions, I’ll take attendance and we can get going.”

I cursed softly. I was hoping that he wouldn’t worry about attendance on the first day. As long as no one heard my name, I could be just an anonymous student. As soon as my last name was read out, everyone was going to know exactly who I was.

I gripped my pen so tightly that I worried it might break. This was inevitable, I reminded myself.

People were going to find out that I was back and it was going to cause a stir. People were going to stare and whisper and gawk at me. I couldn’t stop that from happening, I just had to accept it.

My name was going to be towards the top of that list. Tristan was looking at the computer screen in front of him, reading from his roster. His voice was loud and clear as he recited the names. I listened with deepening dread as he read out the first three names. After each one, a voice called out in response.

“Astrid Fl–”

His eyes snapped up and he looked around the room. When his eyes landed on me, I saw them widen in recognition. There was a tense pause as we looked at one another. The moment his eyes met mine, a sharp, almost painful sensation pulled at the center of my chest. I could feel my cheeks flush under his gaze.

“Astrid Fleisher,” he said softly.

My heart skipped at the way he said my name. His voice was soft and smooth as velvet as he said it. I’ve never heard my own name spoken like that.

Gasps and whispers filled the room. I could feel everyone turn to look at me, but I didn’t take my eyes off of Tristan. The only sign that he was feeling anything about my presence here was the tensing of his jaw.

I felt my muscles tense in response, but I lifted my hand in the air despite the weight trying to hold it down.

“Here,” I said as calmly as I could. I could see Lillian’s astonished expression on her face out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t move my gaze.

I wanted to scream at myself for agreeing to come back. I should have known that nothing good would come of this.

My heart thudded against my ribs and warmth flooded my veins. Tristan’s sharp green eyes were fixed to mine. Was he just surprised to see me here or could he feel it too?

There was no denying or mistaking the sensation.

Tristan—my professor—was my mate.