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I laugh. “Deal.”
19
Esperanza
For the sixth time in ten minutes, my eyes dart to the analog clock hanging at the front of the room. The time I have left to finish this essay is quickly winding down, and yet instead of concentrating on the paper in front of me, I keep nervously watching the second hand click-click-clicking around.
Concéntrate, Espy, I scold myself.
It’s been almost four hours of being trapped in this classroom, desperately trying to prove I’m smart enough to deserve a spot at River Valley. Or any institute of higher learning, honestly.
I’ve only been studying for the past two months. Is that enough time? Was it a good decision to concentrate on bringing up my language score instead of trying to bring up my math score a little higher? Maybe I wasn’t meant to go to college. Maybe all the forced training my father put me through on how to be aproperomega turned my brain to mush and I’m no longer capable of performing academically.
“This is your five-minute warning,” the proctor announces from the front of the room.
The guy, probably not much older than me, looks bored. Instead of wasting time fantasizing about swapping places with him, I force myself to push through. Just a few more sentences and I’m there. It may not be the most impressive essay anyone has ever written, but it at least follows what I’m told is the expected formula of intro-body-conclusion.
I’m wracking my brain for the perfect way to bring it all to an end when time is called.
Shit!
I glance up furtively, and seeing the proctor has begun collecting the exams from the first row, I use the precious extra seconds my fifth-row seat affords to force my hand to bring things to a close. Then I stumble to my feet, dutifully handing off my answer packet when the proctor reaches my row. He doesn’t spare me a single glance as he just continues up the line. I feel embarrassingly light-headed. Probably a combination of the drop in adrenaline paired with the fact I stupidly skipped breakfast. Leo and Tanner are both away at a big swim meet in New Mexico that my brother is competing in today, so there was no one there to scold me as I let my nerves get the better of me this morning.
Micah and Cabe have also gone on the road trip to support Mason. As a senior and captain of the swim team, it’s a big event for him, or so I gather. I received texts from each of the Collins pack this morning wishing me luck with my exam. Their sweet yet simple notes made me happier than I’m willing to admit, so I tried not to think about them after sending my own notes to Mason and Leo letting them know I was sending them speedy vibes for their races.
Handing off my packet feels anticlimactic, and I fidget a bit as I look around. The results won’t come back for a few weeks, which feels ridiculous to me. Couldn’t the proctor just grade them himself, right now? Most of the test is just a Scantron sheet—it couldn’t take more than two minutes to spit out a result. Right?
Reluctantly I leave the room and head next door to the staging area where we were made to leave all our belongings before the test. I only brought a purse with my phone and keys to the dorm, plus my winter jacket and a hat. We had a major surprise snowstorm last week, and the campus is still covered in a good layer of snow. Thank goodness for Mackenzie and Silver and their penchant for fashion. Between the two of them, I’m newly outfitted with hand-me-down boots, hats, scarves, and a puffy down jacket. I need to be careful about collecting too many things as my closet at Leo’s (a.k.a. the old suitcase of his I’m using to store my clothing) is now full-on overflowing.
I check my phone and see several missed texts from Micah. Clicking into my messages, I see he’s been giving me a play-by-play of the boys’ events at the meet, including a video. In his latest message, from just five minutes ago, he’s checking up on me to see if I survived, in typical cheeky fashion.
Grinning, I’m about to reply when I’m intercepted by a large body stepping in front of me. “Lincoln?” I ask, blinking up at the familiar face I wasn’t expecting to see.
“Hey,” he replies simply, his dark eyes roaming over me in the way I’ve recently become accustomed to. It’s definitely an alpha thing, I’ve noticed. Whether it’s Lincoln, Tanner, Cabe, or Mason, each of the alphas has a habit of inspecting me each time we meet.
“Whatcha doing here?” I question again, tilting my head as I conduct my own perusal.
He looks good, as always. Actually, he looks great.
I cut my eyes away quickly before he can catch me checking him out, automatically moving to tuck my hair behind my ear before realizing I have it back in a ponytail today. I end up twitching, and then I awkwardly rub at my ear. I blame my lack of calories and zombified brain.
“I wanted to see how your exam went,” he answers easily, turning to join me in my march toward the exit. “With Leo and your otherfriendsout of town, figured it’d fall to me to check up on you.”
“Myfriends?” I goad him, knowing exactly who he’s talking about but feeling in the mood to bait him anyway.
“Pack Collins,” he grunts out as he stares ahead, sounding sullen. I’ve only seen Lincoln interact with them a few times so far, but each time it’s been clear there’s no love lost between them. Lincoln’s a grump with me too, of course, so his attitude seems very in-character.
“So. You got saddled with babysitting duty since everyone else is busy?” I sass.
“Maybe I volunteered,” he parries back, giving me an inscrutable look.
“Volunteering is still an obligation,” I counter. I’m not truly that bothered by it. The attentiveness of my brother’s pack is something I’ve gotten used to and, mostly, appreciate. I blame my omega nature for being so bristly.
It’s a handy scapegoat, I’ve decided. Weird behavior or feelings? Blame it on my omega side.
“You’re not an obligation, short stack,” Lincoln soothes me, reaching over to wrap an arm around my shoulder and tuck me into his side. It’s become a habit, this wholetouchingthing.
Ever since the hug we shared a month ago after one of my training sessions, we’ve both indulged in the occasional casual touch. If it felt like butterflies were exploding in my stomach every time it happened, well, that was just a natural reaction to feeling comforted by a friend. Byfamilyeven. As a member of Leo’s pack, he’s like a brother to me.
