My Professor Is My Alpha Mate (Lila) novel Chapter 5

Enzo’s POV

12 year earlier

“Enzo…?” My mother woke me up during the night, tears filling her big brown eyes, and dripping delicately off her long and dark lashes.

I groggily woke, to find her standing over me.

“Mom?” I asked, peering at her through the dark of the night. It was cold; we didn’t have much heat in our small home. We didn’t have much money to afford heat, but my mother never made it seem like we were poor. “What’s wrong?” I whispered to her, not wanting to wake the others that resided in the house.

“Your father is dead…” she said softly, her voice quivering.

She was frightened. But of what?

“He’s gone, sweetheart,” she said again.

From what I had heard of my father, he wasn’t a good man. He left my mother pregnant, rejecting her, and forcing her to live in another pack. She would often refer to him as a monster.

“You are the only living relative left…” She continued. “His Beta is coming to collect you. You must go with him…”

“What?” I asked, sitting up quickly in bed; she shushed me, wrapping her arms around me. “I know this is sudden. But you must be the Alpha of Calypso. I never wanted this for you so soon, my baby.”

I had no idea what it meant to run a pack and be an Alpha. I was at a loss for words, and I had to admit, I was terrified. It was only yesterday that I was running around with my friends and being a kid. Now this time tomorrow, I would be in a whole different pack and acting as a leader.

None of this was making sense to me.

“You’ll be coming with me, won’t you?” I asked, my words trembling.

She cried harder and shook her head, holding me tighter.

“I’m afraid I can’t,” she told me hoarsely. “My place is here. And yours is there. You are going to be an incredible Alpha, Enzo. Way better than your father ever was. You are going to do amazing things with your life…”

“I can’t just leave you,” I whispered, tears filling my own eyes. I didn’t often cry, even at a young age. But the thought of leaving my mother behind in this hell hole tied my stomach into a large knot.

“I need you to listen to me,” she whispered, taking my face into her hands. “Your father had done a lot of wrong in his life. He hurt a lot of people. You’ll probably hear a lot about him once you get to Calypso. He’s the reason wolves like us live like this… because he wanted so much that he took everything from everyone. But you, my darling Enzo, can restore things and make things better for all of us…”

“But how? I’m only 9…” I said, I couldn’t keep the worry out of my tone. “What can I do to help? Why can’t you come with me?”

“Your father has made it too dangerous. There are those who still wish to do us harm. His followers are now scrambled, still lurking in the shadows. But you can make things better. You can bring them to light. You can work hard and become more powerful than your father ever was. You can protect those who live like us… You can use your powers for good.”

“I promise,” I whispered, hugging my mother tightly. “I won’t let you down. When I get to the top, and I will get to the top, I will come back for you. I will punish those who did us wrong and I won’t stop until this kingdom is safe again. I will undo what father did.”

…

“Alpha Enzo? Did you hear me?” The voice of Bastien interrupted my train of thought. I glanced around at the conference table that the other Alphas on the committee were gathered around.

They were discussing the Shifting and Combat course at the Higala Shifting Academy and how the original professor had died during a rogue attack. Bastien, the head of the committee, was about to appoint a new professor.

I already knew he was going to appoint me; he would have been stupid not to. I was one of the strongest and best Alphas for the job. Besides Bastien, I was the toughest and fiercest Alpha to walk our lands. But I still had a long way to go before I outranked my estranged father who died when I was 9.

“You need me to take over as the professor,” I said, leaning back in my seat. It wasn’t a question, nor was it an offer.