Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 41

My Herbology courses were supposed to be more challenging than my general education courses or my electives, but I was so confident in them that I scheduled my final exams for them the first chance I had, the earliest time on the earliest day possible. My lab course, thankfully, didn't have an exam at all but rather a final experiment that made up thirty percent of my grade. With preparation, I breezed through them all.

My last two exams, I saved for Wednesday. That was the day Evan was supposed to leave, and I wanted to occupy myself as much as possible so I wouldn't be so miserable missing him. If I exhausted myself and went straight to bed, I wouldn't feel so desolate until the next day. Too bad Rafael had gone the opposite route and scheduled all her exams for the last possible slots to give herself more time to study. Her courses in particular already had the latest slots overall out of all the classes, so that meant she would be on her exam schedule a full week and a half after I finished mine. I would just have to entertain myself until then. Leon had picked up extra shifts at work to prepare for holiday partying, so I couldn't ask him for his company either.

Oh, well. I slogged through the rest of the week, studying hard but making sure to stay well-rested, too. My face went red as a tomato every time I thought back to how Evan had forced me to go to sleep at last despite all my protests when I was unwell... and while I wouldn't mind seeing that aggressive, coarse side of him again, so much more dominant than normal, I didn't know if I could handle it so soon.

There was so much to Evan I hadn't seen yet, so much to Evan I looked forward to learning about. Even all the sides of him when it came to lovemaking...

I covered my face and waited until I was calm again before exiting my car. It was Wednesday morning, and I was in the parking lot at seven thirty, ready to go in for my first exam of the day at eight. I had my second and last one at noon, and then I was home free for winter recess.

I would have been more excited for it if Evan was going to be home tonight to celebrate the end of the winter semester with me, but he would be gone and wouldn't return for at least several days. I slumped over my desk when I got inside, drained suddenly.

Rafael had warned me that the 'honeymoon phase' of a new relationship would be like this. Even a minute apart made me yearn for Evan, wondering what he was thinking, what he was doing, whether he had eaten his meals for the day. Rafael had also warned me not to let it get so bad as to become codependence, but I could hardly worry about such serious things when all I knew was that I wanted to be holding Evan's hand...

I grabbed my phone as it buzzed in my pocket. I hadn't turned it off yet since I still had over twenty minutes before the timer started. And also, I wasn't ashamed to admit, because I'd been waiting for Raf's text. I needed the pick-me-up this morning more than most.

Good luck my Claudiaaaaaa, text me when you're done! I'll buy you a comfort pizza.

I hope I don't need the comforting kind, but I won't say no to pizza. My last exam is only supposed to take two hours at most but I'll try to finish earlier. Meet at around two in the Decker dining hall? I'll text you as soon as I finish in case I get out early. Silly, I'm not talking about final-flunking comfort. You'll ace it without breaking a sweat. I already know you're all broken up about your boyfran.

She left an eye-rolling emoji at the end of her text that I had to smile at. She always knew what to say, and what I was thinking. Who was the mind reader here? And despite her exasperated texting tone, that she had been slipping in more and more acknowledgments of Evan's "boyfriend" status, however begrudging, cheered me up too.

Thank you, Raf. Study hard while I'm taking my exams! I'll quiz you later and we can do flashcards.

Ugh.... that's a threat, not encouragement... Shhh!

I tucked away my phone, feeling far more lighthearted than before. Everything would be fine. My exams were almost done, and I was going to have pizza with her, and maybe with Leon if he could get to campus on time after his morning shift. And when I got home, yes, I would be lonely with Evan gone, but maybe I would crash at their place. Or I could invite them both to the little house I'd decided to keep, since Evan had supported my decision as long as I promised never to run away again...

Raf was right. The exams weren't as difficult as I'd thought they would be, even though there were more than a handful of questions that had me sweating as I erased and bubbled in new answers over and over before I gave up. There were only so many times I could erase the scantron sheet before I rubbed a hole right out of it. I should have studied a little harder, but lessons learned.

All in all, I walked out feeling good. The little lunch party with Raf and Leon helped, too, especially when Ken popped in with free fancy drinks for everyone, the kind that cost extra even with a meal plan. He and I exchanged a quick smile while Raf and Leon fawned over his gifts. We were on good terms still, just as friendly as we had been before when I told him the truth about my feelings for Evan.

Ken might be a little too popular with the ladies for his own good, but the complications between us hadn't soured our friendship. I valued his company all the more for it.

"Thanks, guys. I'm going to head home and crash, okay?" I hugged everyone and picked up my backpack. It was going to be a somber drive home, but the one-hour lunch date with everyone had lifted my spirits enough that I could bear it. Even so, I paused outside my car to text Evan.

Just as I tapped his name, it filled up my screen, alerting me of an incoming call. I answered automatically. "Evan! Aren't you on the train to Dark Moon territory? Reception is usually so bad on the tracks."

"I never left. Something happened just before I was supposed to leave. Are you on campus right now? Did you finish your exams?"

"Yeah, I'm about to drive home."

"Stay there. I'm on my way, I'll pick you up. Someone will get your car and take it home."

"What's going on? What happened?"

"Do you remember Osborn?"

"Yeah, he's the one you left in charge of Dark Moon." After he deposed the old Alpha and everyone else, a small voice inside me added, but I made sure to keep that quiet. I wasn't ready to confront what he had done to them, not yet. Maybe after the 'honeymoon phase' dissolved... I hoped not for a long, long while.

If I accidentally betrayed my uneasiness in my voice, Evan didn't notice, or perhaps concealed that he had heard the slight hitch in my tone. "Osborn's last correspondence with me was a report on Saturday. Peelle was there with him until Monday, until he went to inspect some of the neighboring packs. This morning, Osborn went missing."

"Missing!"

"I think he might have been kidnapped. He was digging up sensitive information, the kind some people wouldn't want in his hands. The kind people wouldn't want in my hands. We're expecting a ransom demand of some kind soon, since it's already been several hours. They usually wait to make us tense, and then negotiations begin."

"But it's been at least... five hours since you were supposed to leave. That was when he went missing, right? How can there be no demands?"

"We'll find out soon enough. But I'm not staying here any longer. Whoever took Osborn clearly isn't sending anything to the manor here, so I'm stationing someone else to remain here in my stead and accept any communication that might come. I'm going to head directly to Dark Moon, personally. I want you to come with me."

"Of course I'll go. Whatever I can do to help."

"It's more about making sure you're safe. Whoever went after Osborn could come after anyone close to me next. Stay exactly where you are. Don't get into your car, don't move unless someone starts coming for you. Are there people around who can see you?" "Yes, a lot of people."

"Stay in their sight, and scream if something happens. If anyone approaches you, tell them to stay away. I'll be there in a few minutes."