One Night

Chapter 37

Edwin & Audrey

Edwin’s POV

I exhaled with a sigh, the smoke from my cigar puffing from between my lips and trailing into the night sky. Leaning on my balcony, I took another drag and held it for a moment, flicking a bit of ash off the tip and watching as the dim red embers fluttered to the ground below.

All around me, I could hear the sounds of the town awakening with nightlife. It was a lively Saturday night; countless parties with thumping bass, rowdy bar goers wandering down the street, and loud music and laughter and clinking bottles wafting through the night air.

But I was as solitary as usual.

My apartment behind me was mostly dark, save for the single lamp partially illuminating the living room. I had already had my dinner-takeout, as usual-and was already wondering if I should stay up and read or head to bed soon.

But sleep would elude me for some time to come.

“You’re thinking about her again,” my wolf’s voice echoed in the back of my mind.

His words made me grimace, but I didn’t try to deny it any longer. It was true; I kept thinking back to last night, no matter how hard I tried not to. Back to those hours with Audrey in my office.

spent

It was st**d of me to be so enthralled by this meaningless human girl. I was convinced that it was a proximity thing; a string of bad luck that I had **ed up with a girl at the bar who later turned out to be my student and my teaching assistant.

But at the same time, I couldn’t find it in me to be mad about it. There was something about her…

For the millionth time since last night, my mind wandered back to those moments when she had called me a cheater and stormed out of my office. I couldn’t blame her-I had promised to tell her about my point of view on our night together, and I had clammed up. It wasn’t like me to do that.

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Chap 37 གྲོན་ཅུ་པ།

Maybe it was because, truthfully, I didn’t have any ‘pointers’ for her. Because, despite the fact that she had been a bit inexperienced, it was still a phenomenal night.

And I couldn’t tell her that. After all, I was her professor, and I was more than a decade her senior

“Goddess” I groaned under my breath, passing my hand over my face. “She wasn’t even. born in the 90s, and I was almost in high school at that point.”

My wolf growled in agreement. “She’s very young.”

“And a human.” I grumbled. “And my student, And…”

I paused when I noticed my phone screen light up with another text on the patio table; an all-too-familiar name flashed across the screen, a name that made me grimace again.

Audrey had been right last night; I was a cheat. But not for the reasons she suspected. “You shouldn’t have lied to her,” my wolf chided me. “She’ll find out eventually!

I frowned and took another long drag of my cigar, letting the tangy smoke burn the back of my throat. My wolf was right again, as usual. I should have told her; I should have been honest that I was betrothed to a woman who I barely even knew, a woman I had never dated, let alone even kissed or made love to.

A woman that I absolutely despised.

“Yes, well I rolled my eyes, ignoring the next text that popped up on my phone. “I’m going to end it anyway. I’m not going through with this d**ed arranged marriage.”

My wolf bristled in annoyance. “You’ve been saying that for months.”

I grimaced; he was right, of course. I had been saying that I would end my engagement for months. But it wasn’t that simple. I did plan on ending, yes, it was just that… Well, it was a political marriage. A longstanding contract between our packs, one that was made when we were just children.

And to make matters worse, there was parental pressure, media pressure….

I sighed, finishing the last of my cigar and putting out the embers on the railing.

“Soon,” I said under my breath. “I’ll end it soon.”

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Chapter 37

Audrey’s POV

“Audrey? Can we talk?”

Max stood a few feet away from me, drink in hand and a curious look in his eye. Immediately, I felt my proverbial hackles raise; but before I could bite out a response, Tina was stepping in front of me.

“Go to hell, Max,” she growled, flashing her fangs at him. “You’re a pig.”

Max didn’t even glance at her. He just continued to stare at me with a pleading look in his eyes. “Please, Audrey,” he said. “I just want to talk.

“Talk about what?” I asked, squaring my shoulders.

He sighed and glanced around at the bustling party momentarily before nodding his head toward the mansion looming over us. “Can we talk in private?”

Before I could respond, Tina and Avis were suddenly on me. “Don’t do it,” Tina hissed, gripping my arm tightly. “You can’t trust him.”

I nodded, clenching my jaw. She was right; Max couldn’t be trusted. Especially not after what he and Linda had tried to do to me in the storeroom.

“Whatever you have to say to me, you can say right here,” I said firmly, holding my ground. “In front of my

friends.”

For a moment, Max’s face hardened and his eyes flickered back and forth between the three of us. Then, finally, his shoulders slumped and he took a step closer. “Alright, fine. Here it is, Audrey: I love you, and I miss you. And I want you back.”

My mouth hung open at that. Tina let out a barking laugh, and I felt Avis practically seething with fury beside me.

“You want me back?” I breathed.

Max nodded and ran a hand through his hair. “Yes. I know you’re hurt, and you think I said those things about you-”

“I know you said those things about me, Max!” I bit out, my voice rising an octave with every syllable. “And let’s not forget that you and Linda literally assaulted me in the

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Chapter 37

storeroom! Like hell I’d ever take you back!”

By that point, my voice had risen enough to catch the attention of quite a few onlookers despite the loud music, but I didn’t care. Let them look, I figured. Let them see this as**hole get knocked down a peg.

Max said nothing at first. He shifted from foot to foot for a few moments while I jutted my chin out at him. I thought he might slink way to wherever he came from, but he didn’t. Of course he didn’t.

Instead, his upper lip finally curled back to reveal a sneer.

“How laughable,” he growled, “for you to act like you’re all high and mighty when we all know you’ll open your legs to the first guy you find at the bar.

My eyes widened, the music dimming to a low hum. Around us, the party had practically gone silent save for Tina’s low growls and Avis’s nervous teeth grinding. Max. smirked at me, completely self-satisfied.

But before anyone could speak, a familiar voice cut through the tension.

“You’re one to talk, Max.”

We all turned to see the same girl from before-the girl who had complimented my outfit-striding toward us. Max seemed to shrink ever so slightly beneath her presence, but she didn’t back down.

“What do you want?” he snarled, taking a step back.

The girl stopped a few paces from him, putting herself between us and Max. Placing her hands on her hips, she bit out, “It’s good to see you get turned down for once. Serves you right, you pig.”

Max’s eyes blew wide, a wave of murmurs making their way around the freshly-formed crowd. I moved to take a step forward, but Tina gently caught my arm and shook her head.

It was too late, anyway-because, without a word, Max was throwing his plastic cup on the ground and stalking off into the shadows.

Brushing her hands together as though cleaning dirt off, the girl turned on her heel to face us, beaming from ear to ear. She strode up to me, grinned, and stuck her hand out.

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Chapter 37

“I don’t think I properly introduced myself before. I’m Betty.”