Chapter 8
Audrey
Edu's expression darkened. He didn't even bother to look down at the cash; rather, he was already circling around the table, his broad frame blowing out the light coming in through the window as he caged me "Say that again." he growled, his voice low and husky in my ear.
I gritted my teeth against two sudden sensations: the hard wood of the desk biting against my thighs and the undeniable heat between us. I couldn't decide which was worse.
Tilting my head back, I stuck my chin out at him and leveled him with the most stubborn glare I could muster.
"Since you seem to think so highly of money, 1 growled through my teeth, "I figured perhaps that you're the one who wanted compensation for last night."
A low snarl rumbled in the back of Edwin's throat. I felt his muscular arm loop around me, his fingers digging into the small of my back as he lugged me closer. For several long, breathless moments, the air thru
But I had already made my decision; no more of this. Not while I was his student, his teaching assistant, and maybe someday even his intern. Maybe not ever, now that I had seen his true colors.
Finally, with one last shove, I sent Edwin stumbling backwards in surprise. 1 huffed and hiked my satchel up over my shoulder again, brushing past him without a word.
Only once I was out of his sight did my
my cheeks finally dare to turn red
For some reason, my lule encounter with Edwin in his office just made me even more determined to place in the top three in the fashion show. Maybe it was to prove him wrong-
to show him that I wasn't some harlot who wanted to use sex to get what I wanted
No. I wanted to show him that I was serious, that be had me all wrong, and that he should have been ashamed of the way he had spoken to me.
The next morning. I marched straight to the application office for a new studio-
1 would need one, after all, for my upcoming work. Normally i worked in my dorm, but I had spent the night drawing up some pretty elaborate plans for my new design, and needed the extra space, "Hello," I said as I strode up to the application office with all of my information in hand. "I'm here to apply for a studio."
"A studio!" The desk worker, a middle-aged man with thinning hair, took my application and skimmed it over in the span of about five seconds at the most. I'm afraid we don't have any availabilities. I furrowed my brow and pointed at the roster on the wall behind him. "I can see the roster right there. You have several spaces open"
The worker barely glanced over his shoulder before throwing a shrug my way, thrusting my application back at me. "Sorry."
"But that's not possible," I retorted. "It's only the second day of the semester. There's no way all of the studios
are booked.
Behind me, as I spoke, 1 began to hear murmuring-followed by giggling. Shooting a quick glance over my shoulder, I felt my stomach sink as made eye contact with none other than Linda and her cronies. Great, I thought, rolling my eyes as I returned my attention to the worker
Finally, when he realized that I wasn't just going to walk off without an explanation, he sighed deeply. "Look, lady, there's a long line of people behind you. What makes you think that one of the last few studio sp "Decency?" I scoffed. "You have to be kidding me. Are you implying that you're not going to give me a studio space because I'm a human? I thought it was first come first serve.
"I'm not implying it. I'm telling you how it is. And it is first come first serve.. for werewolves"
Of course, I thought to myself, everyone always discriminated against humans. I had grown used to it over the years. But right now, when so much hinged on this studio, the knife dug a little deeper than usual. The snickers behind me grew in volume, but I refused to look-
I refused to give Linda and her gaggle of mean friends my attention. Instead, I simply showed the application back at the worker and narrowed my eyes.
"I'm a student here at Grayspring just like everyone else, and my credits far exceed the application minimam. So if you don't
"Is there a problem here!"
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The sound of a familiar voice caused my shoulders to droop. Turning, I saw none other than Edwin striding up to the desk with a bundle of manila folders tucked under one arm. He stopped beside me and hand "Here are those pass/fail applications, Jeff," he said, then paused, glancing back and forth between the two of us. "What's going on?"
The man took the folders and scoffed before I could speak. "This human is trying to get special privileges. Thinks she can get a studio before her werewolf peers." "That's not true!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in frustration. "You're refusing to give me a studio simply because I'm human. You didn't even look at my application"
"As if
"I'll be the judge of that," Edwin suddenly said, grabbing my application out of my hand. I let him take it without argument and planted one hand on my hip, waiting- perhaps once he saw my stellar transcript he would be quicker to see how he had wronged me yesterday.
As Edwin scanned my application, the man behind the desk waved his hand dismissively. "I see no reason why a human should get special treatment," he said so casually it made me nauseous. "I'm so sick of t "Give her the studio." Edwin suddenly slammed the application back down on the desk, causing us both to jump, and slid it back toward the worker. "No questions asked."
The man simply scoffed again. "On what authority? She's a human."
For a moment, I thought that Edwin might agree with him-hell, I even expected it. Alphas were often some of the worst when it came to discriminating against humans as they saw us as so much lesser. But he didn't. Instead, he completely surprised me.
"She meets the requirements and then some," Edwin explained calmly. "And besides, Jeff, discrimination against students is punished around here. So unless you want to get fired, you'd better give her a studio "T-That's not what I meant!" Jeff hurriedly exclaimed, sweat
already beginning to form on his brow. "L.. I only meant that two students are needed to get a studio; we only rent out single studios to grad students."
Sighing, I passed a hand over my weary face and shot Edwin a look, who gave me a slightly apologetic glance. Shaking my head, I turned to face the line of students behind me-Linda and her cronies included. "Would anyone like to join my team?" I asked.
My question was met with silence, of cou
course.
Who would want to join the sole human's team? It was like a death knell already; in fact, I was already beginning to piece together how I could work on my project in my dorm if I moved some furniture around... Suddenly, just when I was about to give up and leave, Edwin nudged me. I glanced over at him, surprised to see a rather empathetic expression on
his face. "I can provide a studio," he said, quietly enough so that only I could hear. "If you apologized, that is."
I opened my
mouth to respond, but before I could, a soft female voice called out a response.