Rumors of a relationship between a new student and one of the wealthier Alphas on campus would do nothing to keep eyes off her, or them.
For all the anxiety that swelled in her stomach as she went to her first class, it was all relatively uneventful. She sat in the same corner that she always did in each of her morning classes, and even her one professor who was an Alpha, Professor Ericson, merely glanced at her as he walked into the room and then settled in at the front computer like he always did.
It was...surprisingly boring. Camelia had made such a fuss in her head about what it was going to be like when her suppressants wore off completely that the reality of it...was a little underwhelming.
Not that she was complaining. Far from it. She wasgladthat nobody was paying any more attention to her than usual. Even before her suppressants had run out and her Omega status started becoming clear again, the only two people who had paid her any attention were...
HerAlphas.
The thought of Evan and James kept her smiling to herself through the day, and she couldn't deny the tiny part of herself that was looking forward to finding one – or both – of them after her classes were done for the day. Evan had mentioned that he liked to go to the gym after class on Mondays, and her pussy tingled a little at the thought of running into him after that. All sweaty and damp and a little tired but worked up all the same...
Camelia was so busy thinking about her Alphas that she wasn't paying attention to avoid the other student walking the opposite way of her in the student center before she ran directly into him.
"Oh, shit. Sorry!" Camelia stumbled a little, and hands – unfamiliar hands – grasped her shoulders to help steady her. Her entire body tensed at the overly familiar touch, and when she looked up to see who was holding her just a little bit too intimately, she was presented with an unfamiliar face.
Of an Alpha.
"Hey, it's okay." His voice was low and smooth, and Camelia couldn't stop herself from swallowing nervously as her mind mentally catalogued him. Tall, shoulders broad and his chest thick and firm with muscle. Tattoos crept out from underneath the sleeve of his left arm, extending down the top of his hand where it still grasped her shoulder, and his brown hair was a little messy around his face. His eyes were brown and warm and far,fartoo interested as they looked down at her.
"Um. Right. Thanks for...keeping me from falling." Camelia hated the way that her voice was immediately a little breathier, her body a little more relaxed in the presence of an Alpha. Even as her mind screamed at her, her instincts dissatisfied that this guy wasn't therightAlpha, her body still reacted. Became a little more compliant, a little more relaxed in his hands.
"More than happy, babe," the guy said. His eyes darkened a little as he looked down at her, and his nostrils flared. Camelia was acutely aware of every second that passed, of the way that students were walking around them and not sparing the pair of them a second glance. They seemed to be giving her – them – a wide berth, in fact, and a shiver of anxiety settled in her stomach.
Nobody had paid attention the last time, either. Not before it was too late.
"What's your name?" The Alpha pulled her attention back to him, and Camelia swallowed again as she took a tiny step back.A part of her hoped that the outward resistance would make her a little less of an easy target, would make clear the hint that shewasn't interested, but his grip on her shoulders only tightened a little and he followed her, closing the gap between them even more than it had been before.
"Um." Camelia's mind was fuzzy, her instincts warring with her hormones as she fought for control of her own mind. Her phone burned a hole in her pocket, and she knew that it would be all too easy to reach into her pocket to text the guys. Let them know where she was, what was happening.
They would come to rescue her, she knew it. But it was so hard to fuckingthink...
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist and sharply pulled her backwards, cleanly pulling Camelia out of the new Alpha's grip. She let out a soft "oof" when her back hit a firm chest, but then James' bitter-whiskey scent filled her nose, and she relaxed against his body with a quiet whimper of pleasure.
"Hey, sweetheart, I was just coming to find you." James' voice was relaxed and commanding, but Camelia could feel the tension in every line of his muscles. His arm tightened around her waist, and he pressed a kiss to the side of her forehead as the other Alpha watched the two of them with narrowed eyes. Camelia was sure that to any onlookers, it looked like a sweet gesture.
Camelia knew better. She could feel the possession in it. It made her instincts thrill and her pussy clench, and the way that the other Alpha's nostrils flared even wider, he couldsmellher.
"Max, nice to see you. Thank you for keeping my girl company while I was on my way here." James' voice was razor sharp, and when Camelia glanced over her shoulder at him, the smile on his face was dark and dangerous. A clear warning.
The other Alpha, Max, slowly nodded, his gaze not leaving Camelia for even a second. "Sure, Devin. Happy to be of assistance."
James' thumb stroked across a tiny strip of exposed skin on her hip, dragging Camelia's attention away from the tension between the two men. Her hand curled over his wrist, gently tugging, and she felt the soft rumble of his breath against her back as he sighed.
"Come on, sweetheart, let's go get some food," he said, his breath puffing against her ear.
She nodded, turning in his grip until he was clutching her close to his side, and he steered them away from Max, not giving the other Alpha a second glance.
Chapter six
James
James kept a tight grip on Camelia as they walked through the quad, bypassing the food court. He couldn't think beyond what he had seen, the way that Max had held onto Camelia's shoulders as if he had arightto her.
Her body was soft in his grip, pliable as he led her away, but he could feel the slight tremors in her muscles as she gripped his shirt. She'd been shaken by the encounter with Max, no matter how brief it had been. In the back of his mind, James wondered if it had anything to do with the history that she refused to talk about.
He wasn't one to throw stones about keeping secrets about the past, but he did wonder.
It also meant that he needed to get her somewhere private. Somewhere he could care for his Omegaproperly.
