Amanda’s heart was palpitating, and she couldn’t tell if it was fluttering for Hudson or if her anxiety was starting to flare up. It was almost a protective instinct when she narrowed her eyes at him, trying to keep her guard up and hide that his stare still intimidated her. She didn’t understand this new game that Hudson was playing, but she didn’t want anything to do with it. 
At least that’s what she kept telling herself as she tried to keep her attention at the front of the room. Something inside her kept taunting her to look at him. But her stubborn head, which she was thankful for, was refusing to listen to that foreign voice inside her. She couldn’t make any reasonable excuses as to why her body was being so treacherous. If she was being honest with herself she didn’t need to turn to look at him. No, she had him burned into her memory, every little detail down to his burning blue 

Hudson raised the phone to his ear and said, “I was just about to call you.” 
He turned and started walking in the opposite direction. 
“Sorry, I was just making sure that we talked,” his father told him. 
Hudson rolled his eyes as he continued to make his way across campus to his dorm room. He didn’t want to have this conversation with his father out in the open where others could hear him. 
“Just give me a sec, I’m almost to my dorm,” he told him. 
“How’s school going so far?” 
“Not bad.” He wasn’t ready to tell his father that he had found his mate, not knowing exactly how his father would handle the news that his mate was human. 
Hudson got to his dorm and entered, making sure to lock the door behind him. 
“Alright, I’m in my room,” he said as he sat down and pulled out his laptop to pull up the photos that Steven should have sent to him and his father. 
“So, explain what is exactly 

Hudson woke up to a voice that belonged to one of his pack members trying to reach him through the mind-link. 
Marco: Alpha?
Hudson: What? 
Marco: There was an animal attack last night on campus. A girl was attacked. 
Hudson bolted up from his bed, worried about who was attacked. 
Please don’t be her, he says to himself. 
Hudson: Do we know who was attacked?
Marco: Identity hasn’t been released yet, but she’s at the hospital. 
Hudson dragged his hand down his face, taking deep breaths to calm him and his wolf down. 
Hudson: Alright, call Steven and see what he knows since he works with the Sheriff’s department. Text me the location of where the attack was and meet me there in twenty minutes. 
Marco: Yes, Alpha. 
Hudson got up from his bed and threw on a pair of jogger pants and a sweatshirt. Pulling his shoes on quickly, he headed down to the community bathroom to finish getting ready. 
Walking out of the front of the dorm building, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. 
He rolled his eyes seeing how early it was and knowing how much crap he was about to get for waking one of his pack members up early, but he needed to know. 
Hudson: Tab? 
Nothing. 
Hudson let out a sigh and tried the mind-link again. 
Hudson: Tab? 
Tab: (Grunt) What? 
Hudson: Is she okay? 
Tab: Ugh, yes she is fine. I told you that last night when she came in. Why are you bugging me this early? 
Hudson let out a sigh of relief and also felt his wolf calm a bit. 
Hudson: There was an animal attack last night. A girl was found. 
Tab: What? 
Hudson: Can you check in with the other pack members and just make sure everyone is okay? 
Tab: Of course, Alpha. I’ll let you know once everyone has checked in. 
Hudson: Thanks. 
Hudson continued to make his way to where the attack was. He was surprised to see how close to the campus and the dorm halls it had occurred. 
Great, he thought to himself. 
He saw in the distance a group of men and among them, Marco and Steven talking off to the side. Hudson made his way over to the two. 
They both nodded in respect to him. 
“Morning, Alpha,” Steven said quietly. 
“Steven, what do you know about this?” Hudson asked him. His voice was firm as he stood with his arms crossed over his chest and his feet apart. 
“The victim’s name is Felicia Walker. She’s human. She’s currently unconscious but is in stable condition at the hospital. She sustained quite a wound across her body. But they are confident she will recover.” 
“Can we tell what kind of shifter did this to her?” Hudson asked. 
Steven rubbed the back of his neck, hesitant to answer the question. “It looks to be a Lycan.” 
Lycan?
That couldn’t be. From what Hudson had been told, Lycans were nearly extinct, and the few that were still alive were currently somewhere in Europe. Not here. Not in their small part of the world. 
“Are you sure?” Hudson asked. 
“I can send you the photos once I get back to the office,” Steven responded. 
“Can you also send them to my father?” Hudson asked. 
Steven nodded and turned to head back over with the other officers. 
“Do you really think it could be Lycans?” Marco asked as they turned to head back to the dorms. 
“Not sure, but it looks like I’ll be making a phone call to my father later today,” Hudson told him. 
Marco nodded and continued to walk in silence. 
Tab: Alpha, everyone has checked in and is accounted for. 
Hudson: Thank you. I’ll be in touch with everyone later once I have more info to give them about the situation. 
Tab: Okay, Alpha. Do you want me to keep an eye on her for you? 
Hudson let out a sigh. He pulled out his phone to check the time—almost time for his English class. With Amanda. 
Hudson: No, I’ll see her in English class soon, but thanks for offering. 
Tab: No problem, Alpha. I’ll be sleeping if you need me. 
He let out a chuckle as the mind-link ended. 
Once back at the dorm, he quickly grabbed his backpack and made his way to his first class for the day. His wolf started to get anxious as he wanted to see, smell, and feel his mate. 
Yeah, like that was going to be easy, Hudson told his wolf. 
Hudson walked into the class and slowly surveyed the room; he could already smell her, which calmed his wolf a bit. Now, where was she hiding? 
And then a smile broke out across his face.
Found her. 
In the middle of the class sat Amanda with her head down and not making eye contact with anyone in the room. Hudson continued to keep his distance by staying back a few rows but made sure that he could see her perfectly. He took his seat without making any kind of commotion that he was there. 
He watched as her body shivered and her head quickly popped up, looking around the classroom. The second her eyes spotted him in the class, they narrowed, but she didn’t say anything. 
He wiggled his fingers at her but nothing more. Amanda rolled her eyes before turning back around in her seat. He watched as her body let out a breath and her shoulders dropped a bit. He smirked at her reaction to him. 
“Good Morning,” Professor Warren announced as he walks into the room. 
“Morning, professor,”sung the majority of the females in a flirtatious way. 
There were groans from the guys. The professor smirked.
Hudson rolled his eyes but listened to the lecture that the professor was giving. He was going over one of the many novels that they would be reading in his class and then doing an essay on. 
Hudson’s phone vibrated in his pocket letting him know that there was a text. 
Father. 
He let out a sigh and opened his phone to take a look at the message. 
Father: Son, please call me as soon as you can. 
Hudson quickly responded. 
Hudson: I am in class right now; I’ll call you once it’s over. 
Father: Don’t forget. It’s important. 
He rolled his eyes; everything was important to his father when it came to the pack. 
Hudson: I won’t. 
Hudson put his phone back into his pocket and looked over at Amanda. If only he could feel her touch at that moment. It would calm the anxiety that was starting to stir inside of him. He wasn’t looking forward to the phone call with his father, not that he had a bad relationship with his father or anything. No, he was worried that once his father saw those pictures of the attack he would confirm that there was, indeed, a Lycan on campus.

Amanda’s heart was palpitating, and she couldn’t tell if it was fluttering for Hudson or if her anxiety was starting to flare up. It was almost a protective instinct when she narrowed her eyes at him, trying to keep her guard up and hide that his stare still intimidated her. She didn’t understand this new game that Hudson was playing, but she didn’t want anything to do with it. 
At least that’s what she kept telling herself as she tried to keep her attention at the front of the room. Something inside her kept taunting her to look at him. But her stubborn head, which she was thankful for, was refusing to listen to that foreign voice inside her. She couldn’t make any reasonable excuses as to why her body was being so treacherous. If she was being honest with herself she didn’t need to turn to look at him. No, she had him burned into her memory, every little detail down to his burning blue eyes and his luscious lips. 
She knew it all. 
Closing her eyes, his image came into her thoughts

Chapter 7