“Yeah.” I scoffed. “Why wouldn’t you want all your pack to be comfortable?”
Caleb straightened in the chair. “I never thought of it like that. Our Alpha always said to keep our power under wraps, but if our aura leaks out, so be it.”
I shrugged. “Every pack is different. We all have our own way of doing things.”
Caleb opened his mouth to say something, but the door at the front of the room opened and an older man walked in. He walked to the whiteboard and grabbed a marker. “Good morning class, welcome to Math110.” He wrote his name on the board. “My name is Gamma Charles. I’m from the Aurora pack from Alaska.” He turned to face us in the room and he walked to lean against his desk. “Obviously, this is a math class. Why are you in math? Who knows, but it helps with computers.” He laughed at his own joke. “Let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves. I want your rank, your pack, and name.”
The room was silent until he pointed to a man in the front. I looked around the room and realized I was the only woman in this class. The first man opened his mouth, but the Gamma touched his lips and curled his fingers, making him stand up. He huffed out a sigh. “Gamma Cedric. Stonewall pack.” He sat back down and then the next man went.
Over and over, we went around the room until Caleb stood up. He tried to hold in his smirk as he turned to the teacher. “Beta Caleb. Cornwall pack.” He sat down and turned expectantly to me.
Gamma Charles widened his eyes a little as his gaze settled on me. “This is a surprise.”
“What is?” I took a sip of my coffee.
“You. We don’t have many females in this course.” I raised one shoulder as I stood. Everyone turned to stare at me. I cleared my throat, but Charles just smiled. “I ask for ranks, but they don’t matter here. We are all just here to learn.” I nodded.
“I’m Amy. And my pack changes. My father’s pack is the Silvermoon pack and my mother settled in the Oakenfang.” I smiled and went to sit.
“Rank?” Caleb asked. “I mean, if you have one.”
“It’s okay.” Charles waves his hand, dismissing me. But that kind of irked me, and Nix bristled.
“Sorry.” I smiled. “I’m an Alpha.” I dropped into my seat as the rest of the room froze.
“No fucking way.” One guy called out. I hid my smile behind my coffee cup.
Gamma Charles pushed up from the desk. “Amy, while I can understand that, what I said might have appeared dismissive. But lying about rank is prohibited here.”
“I understand Gamma Charles.” I placed my cup down and leaned back in my seat. Caleb, the poor man, was floundering. His mouth was opening and shutting without a sound.
“So, what is your actual rank?” An unranked man, Adrian, I believed, asked me.
I just raised my eyebrows and pursed my lips. “Alpha.”
“You have got to be shitting me.” Another man called out. “Alpha females are rare. Like super rare. Most Luna’s are Betas, or Gammas that mated an Alpha and rank up. But a natural female Alpha is basically unheard of.”
“Now, now.” The Gamma raised his hands. “Amy, I have to urge you to reconsider your answer. If you continue to push that you are an Alpha, then I will either have to command you to tell the truth or call the dean.”
“Okay.” I just nodded. “Either works for me.”
“Listen here, bitch.” One Gamma surged to his feet and rushed over to where I was sitting. “You’re making a mockery of this class by fucking lying to us,” He snarled as he leaned down into my face. “We all went through our ranks as requested. Why are you fucking lying?”
I just stared up at him. “I’m not.” My answer was devoid of the previous warmth. That went out the window when he called me a bitch.
Nix and Megan bristled at the term. He was equating us to the like of a female dog, and we were wolves. He grabbed my arm and squeezed. “Tell us your fucking rank, or I will make you.”
“How?” My voice dropped low.
He reeled back, almost letting me go. “How?”
“Yes.” I slowly stood. “How are you going to make me tell you my rank?” I bared my teeth, my last attempt at being nice.
Anger flashed in his eyes as they shifted, and I felt his weak aura lap at my toes. “Tell me your rank, mutt.” I could see the unranked wolves around the room start to show their bellies.
“If I were you Gamma, I’d learn to better focus my aura, so that you don’t affect the lower ranked wolves in here as you try to command me to do something.” He took a step back, dropping my arm and retreating.
“You don’t feel his command?” One of the unranked men asked softly.
