The room grew silent. I looked up from my computer to find a giant at the front of the room, writing something on the whiteboard. I looked around but everyone was solely focused at the front.
I closed my laptop and leaned in. I wanted to see who this was. The man straightened his back and I was surprised by the colour of his hair. The sides were shaved down, but the crown was a tarnished silver tossed in a topknot. Nix and Megan stood up and walked closer to the surface of my mind. Even they were interested in whoever this man was.
A deep voice that was slightly familiar rang out. “Welcome to Coding 101. This class will cover coding languages, building systems, and my personal favourite, laying the groundwork for security systems.” He turned to face us and I felt my stomach drop. He was gorgeous. He was the hottest guy I had ever seen. “My name is Alpha Rowan.” Alpha Rowan… my mouth dropped open as his eyes met mine.
King Alpha Rowan.
Chapter Nine
He stared at me as he smirked. “I can only assume some of you have put it together. Yes, I am that Rowan. And yes, I am the king. But no, you don’t have to call me King. I’d honestly prefer it if you didn’t. In class, anyway.” He winked and turned to his computer, turned on the projector, linked it and then turned back to us while everything finished starting up. “But there is one thing I have to do.” He released his aura, and it slammed into us. It was the first time I actually felt someone’s power enough that I had to fight to stay standing. He watched everyone drop to their knees, except me. I stood a fraction of a second too long. His eyes widened, and he pushed more power at me. I just winked back and dropped to my knees to keep up appearances. He gave a tiny nod in appreciation and walked to the front of the classroom. “Since I am here for this class only. Ido not want it to be known that I am here. For one thing, I do not want females throwing themselves at me, and second, I do this as my hobby. I enjoy it and it helps me connect with my people.” He opened his hands. “So I hope you all will understand why this is necessary. I forbid you from speaking of who I am to anyone else. Everyone in this program knows but can’t speak my name and you will be the same. Anything said in here stays in here. So we speak honestly here. Is that understood?”
“Yes.” We all chorused. All but me under his official command. I was just confused. He was the king. Why was his authority, his power, not affecting me? I shook it off and focused on my computer.
“Lets introduce ourselves and our ranks,” Rowan started. “I’ll start. I’m Alpha King Rowan from the Royal Lycan pack.” He looked around and then pointed to the next person. “Go.” And just like the last class, we went around the room until I was last. Rowan raised an eyebrow and flicked a finger at me, telling me to stand.
“I’m Alpha Amy. My father’s pack is Silvermoon and my mother’s is Oakenfang. So, depending on who I’m with, that’s my pack.” Rowan smiled.
“Amy, in the flesh. Who would have guessed we would meet this way?” He walked closer to me. “Were you able to do what you asked for?”
“Yes, I could glean the information I needed from the traitor.” I smiled as I sat down. “Thank you for giving me permission to torture her.” My grin got wider when I heard the terrified whispers of the room.
His smile dropped when he heard something he didn’t like. He turned to face the guys that were whispering, staring at me. I just shook my head when I caught a few words. “I can only assume you three are unranked?” His deep voice was tight.
“Yes.” Two of the three answered.
“I’m a Gamma.” One spoke up.
He walked closer to them and stared them down. “Then you should know better than to speak about an Alpha protecting her pack.” He knocked on the Gamma’s desk. “Are you in line for the first or second Gamma?”
The Gamma leaned back. “First Gamma, why?”
I shook my head in frustration and leaned in. “Because your job, your position, will have responsibilities that come with it. As head warrior, second Gamma, train your men on how to protect your pack at any cost. That includes torture. First Gamma, your job is to protect the Luna, in all ways. What happens if she is stolen, and you have a suspect? What are you going to do? Have a nice little chat with him and hope he gives you the information.”
“No, of course not.” He laughed.
“Then maybe…just maybe, think about why I did what I did and not that I did it. Torture is a tool that ranked wolves may have to wield to protect the lower ranked wolves in their pack. And it isn’t something we choose to do on a whim.” The three wolves refused to meet my eyes. “Do you think we do things like that for our amusement?”
“Well, no.” The Gamma shook his head.
“Then why would you call her sadistic?” Rowan asked. “I want you all to consider this. She is a young Alpha. One that isn’t in a technical power structure. She was scared, and looking to protect her father. Yet instead of acting out, which no one would have blamed her for, she called the council. She asked permission. She followed the protocol that was in place so that Alphas don’t abuse their power. And she waited to use any amount of force until she was given permission to save her father.” He shook his head. “She is the epitome of an excellent Alpha, and you all disgraced her. Yet she did nothing to you.”
Rowan shook his head and made his way to the back of the class. “This isn’t my typical first class, but I feel like we have certain things that we should go over.” He slid onto his desk. “We as wolves have a hierarchy for a very simple reason. The strong protects the weak. The higher rank you have, the more people you have to worry about.” He wiped his face.
“Alphas have to know that there are better ways to get information, though.” A man named Steven chimed in.
I snorted. “Okay. Tell me how you would have done it.”
“What?” Steven turned to face me.
“You said we have to know there are better ways. How would you have done it then? The Alpha was in danger. We didn’t know how deep the betrayal went. Within a day, we had a rogue attack that was organized, where multiple rogues were working together like they were in a pack. Without the information I could gather, my father would have been dead, the pack overrun and demoralized. As the attack targeted women and children. So what would you have done in my shoes?”
“I would have done some investigation.” He tossed out.
“I did. That’s how I figured out who I needed to interrogate. But sure, you investigate and you get very little information. Only that you know a specific she-wolf is influencing the Alpha.”
“Influencing how?” He turned fully to me.
“Making him fall in love with her.”
