Chapter 49: She Grew Up in a Church

Blair and Daemus sprang apart as if they had been struck by lightning.

Professor Jack Feron stepped out from the deep shadows of the armory’s doors. He casually adjusted the cuffs of his black suit, his blood-red eyes devoid of amusement as they locked onto Blair.

"Skipping detention, Miss Willows?" Jack drawled, his voice cutting through the cool night air.

Blair’s heart hammered against her ribs. She scrambled to formulate an excuse, her face still burning from Daemus’s near-kiss.

"I—I didn’t skip!" Blair stammered, pointing frantically back toward the doors. "The professor passed out! I came outside to get help!"

Jack stared at her, his expression flat. He didn’t believe her for a single second. "And you just happened to run into your wolfy boyfriend on the way here? Immediately following his hockey game?"

"I swear, I’m telling the truth!" Blair insisted, her voice pitching slightly higher in her panic.

"Let’s see then, shall we?" Jack said coldly. He pushed the doors open and gestured for her to step inside.

Blair swallowed hard, shuffling back into the sweltering heat of the armory. She squeezed her eyes shut for a brief second, quietly praying that the avian beastwoman hadn’t miraculously sobered up and walked away.

She opened her eyes.

It was her lucky night. The professor was still exactly where Blair had left her—slumped facedown over the large wooden desk, snoring quietly, with the empty bottle of vodka resting loosely in her grip.

Blair let out a quiet, trembling sigh of relief.

Jack walked over to the desk, looking down at his unconscious colleague.

"She is drunk," Jack observed dryly. He turned his red eyes back to Blair. "She is hardly in any danger. Have you never seen a drunk person before, Miss Willows?"

"I grew up in a church," Blair mumbled, staring at her shoes.

"An additional week of detention," Jack stated seamlessly.

Blair’s head snapped up. "But I was only trying to help!" she argued quietly.

Jack ignored her protest. He effortlessly scooped the unconscious, snoring bird beastwoman up into his arms, adjusting her weight against his chest as if she weighed nothing.

He looked at Blair, raising an eyebrow. "And how, exactly, was kissing a wolf going to help the professor? Because that is what you were about to do, right?"

Blair’s face flushed a brilliant crimson. "N-No!" she stuttered out.

Jack only hummed in response, his gaze shifting to Daemus, who was standing quietly by the door. "The wolf goes. You stay until I return."

Daemus furrowed his brows, finally stepping forward. "Her detention is almost over. There’s only fifteen minutes left on the clock. Why can’t she just leave right now?"

"Detention must be carried out," Jack countered smoothly, stepping around the desk with the beastwoman in his arms. "And she skipped most of it. Obedience is the foundation of order. Disobedience is the first step toward punishment."

Jack walked toward the exit. As he passed, he shot Daemus an almost noticeably irritated glare.

"I expect you to follow me out," Jack commanded.

Daemus frowned, his jaw tightening. He looked back at Blair, offering a small nod. "I’ll catch you later."

"Okay," Blair whispered, giving him a small, incredibly awkward wave as he walked out the door.

Left alone in the armory, Blair let out a sigh. She trudged over to her usual corner, sitting down on her wooden stool. At this rate, she was likely going to get a whole additional month of detention.

Outside, the cool night air did nothing to chill the aggressive tension between the two beastmen.

Daemus followed Jack a few paces down the cobblestone path before he finally dropped his filter.

"What the fuck is your problem, Jack?" Daemus snapped, glaring at the professor’s back.

Jack stopped walking. He slowly turned around, adjusting his grip on the sleeping beastwoman in his arms.

"Watch your language, and watch your tone," Jack warned, his voice dropping into a deadly, quiet rumble. "I am a professor here. And I am petty enough to give you a suspension. You will be benched for the rest of the hockey season."

Daemus let out a low, frustrated growl from the back of his throat. He clenched his fists at his sides, unable to say anything in response. Hockey was his life; he couldn’t risk a suspension.

"Why are you dating a human anyway?" Jack asked.

Daemus crossed his arms over his chest, his silver eyes flashing with annoyance. "Why would I want to talk about my love life with my teacher?"

Jack let out a quiet sigh. "Fine. Then I ask as your godfather."

Daemus raised a brow. "Why are you so curious about it?"

"I am a history teacher," Jack answered smoothly. "I constantly seek knowledge. A wolf finds a mate outside his own kind... I want to understand it."

"I’m not the first wolf to have a human mate," Daemus commented, rolling his shoulders.

"Right," Jack hummed, his red eyes locking onto Daemus’s face. "The first was a hundred years ago. But the part the history books left out was that the human in question was a witch who bewitched the wolf."

Daemus let out a short, incredulous laugh. "You think Blair bewitched me?"

Jack didn’t laugh. He looked at Daemus seriously, the shadows of the campus making his sharp features look even more intimidating.

"All I am saying is that you should be careful," Jack warned quietly. "Humans are not as meek and fragile as they appear. They can be cunning and poisonous, hiding who they really are behind a timid appearance."

Daemus shook his head, instantly stepping up to defend her. "I know her, Jack. She isn’t like that."

"Do you?" Jack challenged, tilting his head slightly. "Then what are the color of her eyes?"

Daemus scoffed. He thought it was a trick question—a crude insinuation that he was a shallow beast who only paid attention to Blair’s body and ignored her face. His pride flared.

"She has brown eyes," Daemus responded confidently, lifting his chin.

Jack stared at him for a long, silent moment.

"Good night," he said simply.

Without another word, the Crow professor turned on his heel and walked into the darkness toward the teacher’s lounge building, leaving a very confused Daemus standing alone.