I worked all through the morning and once I was finished the page I was working on I stretched and heard the bones in my shoulders and spine crack in protest. I glanced at my phone and saw that it was just after noon. Peter had wandered off half an hour ago, probably to grab lunch or to go get high with his animation friends. As I stood and hefted my backpack to get my own lunch I saw more heads hunched over their desks working on their projects. This was the final week and all of my other class tests and projects were already finished and handed in.
"Riley." I tuned at the sound of my name and saw my teacher Cory sitting at his desk with his i-pad out. My guess was he was checking the work of the other classes he taught.
"What can I do for you Corey?" I walked up to the desk with a smile.
"I'm just checking up on your progress. I was interested in the script and the character designs you handed in for your other classes but you haven't brought your roughs to me for revisions yet. You only have a week for the rough clean to be done." I was worried about this. Corey was always in the studio to help students with their projects and I hadn't taken advantage of that yet. Mostly because Corey was an alpha. He was young, very good looking, and had lean muscles under the dress shirt that he always wore with the cuffs unbuttoned and rolled to his elbows. He was also unmated. He did have a girlfriend right now but they had yet to go through with the mating ceremony that would mark an omega with a bite on their nape where our sent glands are. He did use pheromone blockers but even for an omega just being in the presence of an alpha can have unwanted side effects.
"Oh, I was just heading out to get some lunch but we can look over it once I get back." I took a step towards the door and it took everything inside me to not just bolt through it and run down the hall to escape.
Corey seemed to sense my unease and nodded as he stood. "Then may I take a look at your rough work while you are gone?"
I let out a breath that I didn't know that I was holding and nodded then grabbed the sketch book from my desk and handed it over to him. Once he had it I made my escape out the door and towards the main cafeteria that was located in the building across the courtyard.
My body slammed into the cold winter air as I walked across the empty space. In the warmer months there were tables setup for the students to eat outside and colourful flowers planted in the stone beds, but now everything was just grey and frozen. I however needed the cold to sooth the heat that radiated from my skin. The blockers were holding but it didn't keep my heart from pounding out of my chest. This was the reason why all alpha staff members were supposed to be bonded to a mate. How Corey was able to get away with it I didn't know and it was not my place to ask.
By the time I had reached the cafeteria and grabbed a beef sandwich and bottle of water for lunch my heart and breathing had returned to normal. I opted to take my food to one of the cushioned chairs that were in an alcove just off the main room. This area was quieter and was right by the windows that looked out to the courtyard. There were already a couple of students occupying the area. One was going through study notes while cramming chicken nuggets in her mouth and the other one was slumped over in the chair sleeping with his book open and covering his face. I smiled at the two in sympathy. We all were feeling the stress of mid-terms. However we all knew it was nothing compared to what we would face for finals.
I sat scrolling through my phone while eating and didn't notice when the others left until I heard a familiar voice call my name and sit in the chair beside me. It was Peter and he looked as tired as I did but there was also concern written all over his face.
"Are you really planning on heading home for spring break?" He asked quietly.
I put my phone away and looked up at him. Peter was taller than me by a head and had short sandy brown hair and chocolate coloured eyes. He wasn't quite built as much as most alphas were but he was strong and had come to my rescue many times before.
"I don't have much of a choice. My father summoned me and we can't really ignore the summons of the pack Alpha." I sighed.
"That is what worries me. You father has never shown any interest in you. He wouldn't even see you as good enough to breed since you are half human and don't have a wolf."
My brow creased. I new exactly what I would have become if I had a wolf. A bargaining chip to gain more power and territory. "Gee thanks for the reminder." I mumbled.
"I didn't bring it up to upset you. It is fact, and that is why it is bothering me. You are my friend and I don't want to see you get hurt. I can't be there all the time to look out for you." I knew he was just trying to help, but there was nothing we could do against my father. If I didn't show up he would send someone for me, and I didn't want to deal with that on top of whatever he had in store for me.
I shook my head. "Sorry but I have decided to go to get it over with and I will come back as soon as I can." I got up from my chair, gathered my things and started to make my way back to the studio. I heard Peter get up to follow me back.
"At least let me accompany you back home. I will feel better if I know you got home safe."
I nodded in response. It would be nice not travel across the boarder to the Dark Pine territory alone. That seemed to make Peter feel a little better and we fell into a companionable silence as we walked the rest of the way back to the classroom.
When we got there Corey was thankfully gone for the day. I saw that he had made some corrections and notes on my rough copy of my comic. I was glad when I saw that it didn't have to be a complete story and I had already fulfilled the minimum page requirement so all I needed to do was go through and do all the corrections before I started the rough-clean of each page on proper paper to then be put in a folder and handed in for my project. That was one stress that no longer weighed on my shoulders but it meant I would probably be doing late nights in the studio for the rest of the week to get it done.
I rolled up my sleeves and got ready for another late night of work. Close to midnight Peter bowed out and headed back to his dorm room to sleep. By the time three in the morning rolled around I was the only one left in the studio and decided to take that as a sign to go get a few hours of sleep before coming back for more.
This is how every day went for the rest of the week. Get up in the morning before everyone else. Get cleaned, take my suppressants, trudge to the studio, work an ungodly amount of hours then head back to my room to crash for a few hours before starting it all over again. By the final day I felt more like a zombie than a person but the project was finished, handed in on time, and I was just finished packing when Peter knocked on my door to see if I was ready. My roommate had left yesterday and hopefully if things went as planned I would be back before him.
I opened the door to see Peter's exhausted expression. "I swear I'm going to do nothing but sleep for the entire break." He grumbled as I hefted my duffle bag and walked out of my room and locked the door behind me.
"Ready to get this over with?"
I nodded as we headed to the train station to make our way to the closest station to pack territory.