4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three:

~Lochlainn O'Hare~

T here's something unfair about a pretty girl wearing my underwear. It shouldn't be allowed to derail my entire thought process or make me consider breaking my promise. I swore an oath to protect and serve this school. To keep the students safe, teach them all I could, and prepare them for the world beyond the campus walls. Pinning Valerie Contempt to her bedroom wall while I fucked her through the opening in my boxers was not protecting her. Nor was it teaching her anything. All it would prepare her for was my voracious appetite, and I doubt the Dean would understand. Bandur wasn't exactly an open minded individual.

Thankfully, I dropped her off at her room and was able to quickly excuse myself. While my depraved, needy thoughts ran rapid, I still had questions to answer. She brought them up as well. The bear traps in the woods were not a good thing. I greeted, smiled, and acknowledged a few students on my way out, but made a direct path toward the woods.

Last night, I transformed in my room, happily walked through the halls. Collecting head pats and sleepy wishes from my students before I headed out into the trees. I was in the forest for a few hours, patrolling, when I stepped into the trap. Like someone enchanted it to be invisible until the moment it caught its prey. I remember thrashing and roaring to the trees to no avail. There was no one out there to save me. Well, until Valerie came bursting through the bushes.

I retraced my steps, following my subtle scent through the trees till I found the spot. No more than an hour from campus, I found the cold, rusty metal sitting under a bush of blackberries. After retrieving them, I flipped them all around. Inspecting them for any name, any carving, or any branding. Most hunting equipment had the ranger's guild logo on it somewhere, but both pieces were blank. Other than marks from the metal being heat treated poorly, the device itself was well made. This trap was created from scratch. There would be no purchase trail. Damn.

Casting heat metal, I watched as the iron smile of the trap begin to swirl together. Only after the mouth was melted shut did I leave it to cool off. Something rustled a few feet down from me. My attention jerked from the ground to the movement to my right. Someone in a heavy black cloak, a long crow mask obscuring their face, and knife out stopped short of where I should have been. Their mask and I locked eyes for a long moment.

"Oh shit," the mysterious fool hissed, ripping around on their heel and booking it deep into the trees. I raced after them. Arms pumping to my side, I bound over logs and boulders. What concerned me the most was their lack of scent. They were zipping forward in front of me, their cloak fluttering behind them, and I couldn't scent them. Not the city, not the forest, not the campus; there was no recognizable scent like they'd magically altered themselves to leave no trace.

"Freeze!" I bellowed. If I transformed, I could catch up to them easier, but I risked another trap. Who knew what other things they left lying in wait. We rounded a bend of rocks and they disappeared into a cloud of smoke. I coughed, waving my hands around to clear the smoke screen. The damage was done. My mysterious fool was gone, and I was left spinning in place. Fuck.

I would need to report that to security but there wouldn't be much they could do. A masked, cloaked, scentless person of questionable size and unknown race came to probably stab me where I was supposed to be trapped. I could already see Lord Cassowry roll his eyes. I grumbled to myself. Punching a tree for good measure helped, but then I felt a smidgen guilty and healed the bark. I left the bloodied patch of bruised skin on my knuckles as a reminder of what I did, as punishment.

Walking away from the tree, I stood in the deep belly of the forest and took a deep breath in. At first, just the woods filled my nose. Fresh air filtered through leaves, the clean scent of dew drops on the mossy grass, hints of clover and other wildflowers grown around me. Then, like fate wanted to twist the knife already buried in my back, a hint of desire flicked up my nose. I took another deep sniff and caught it stronger that time. My legs moved of their own accord, following the scent.

Not just any desire; Valerie's desire. It was strong here and I was a bloodhound, sniffing and creeping around the woods. I happened upon a clearing where the scent grew tenfold. The mossy bed at my feet was covered in little red peonies and baby's breath. She laid in this very spot, letting her desire soak the earth. I tried to pull away. It was none of my business why she chose a random patch in the woods to pleasure herself. My students could do as they pleased as long as they were safe.

But when I turned, I found a pair of boots haphazardly kicked under a bush where a pair of panties dangled off a branch. I collected the boots, knowing how precious a single pair of good hiking boots could be. However, it was the red satin that I couldn't quite put down. I should have tucked them into her boots and just tossed the shoes in her room when I returned. I should have not let it draw me in.

You're a horny fool. And yet, I put those satin panties to my face and inhaled her scent. That's when my beast growled to life. Breed.

Now, it's happened before; students who go through heat, mating season, breeding. What happens when a bunch of adults, free of their families and with the wide world at their fingertips, get a little frisky? Some seasons it's like tiptoeing around feral kittens. I can't count how many dampening potions I've helped brew to ease tensions among fraternities. However, it's never struck me like it did with her. Something deep in my belly called for her, begged me to give in. Risk it all.

My little witch was out here trying to take care of her breeding season. I needed to get back and brew her a dampening draught immediately or else I was going to make poor choices.

I stuffed her panties deep in her boots to help soften the scent and raced back toward the campus. Somehow, I remembered to pick up the mangled bear traps too. By the time I returned to the campus, it was already sunset. I re-entered The Grove, nodding in acknowledgement to Kahrina, my teaching assistant. She was elbow deep in some sort of project, winding her branches around something. However, upon seeing me, she froze. "Professor!"

"How goes the…is that a Sullenberry bush?"

"Oh, yes," She blinked rapidly, looking down to the woven branches. "My project for Professor Fern's final. I'm trying to prove that with a simple structure, their production rate can be doubled without putting the plant at serious risk."

"I like it. Keep me informed," I chuckled, knowing full and well that it would work. It was less about if the structure would help, but how Kahrina came to her conclusion. How she tested her theory. Could it be replicated, and so forth.

"Oh, but Professor, now that you're back," she chirped, rushing away from her project. Little purple leaves and red blossoms poked their eager heads up out of the top of her plant. "About our newest member."

"Valerie Contempt, how is she?" I didn't want to expose how close I was with her, or that it was her boots in my hand.

"Good. I checked in on her like you asked. She's unpacked and catching up on homework last I checked. Um, sir, I was wondering if you've heard the concerning rumors being spread about her across campus." Kahrina grimaced in that way that told me, she didn't approve but also didn't like what was happening.

"I do, it's part of the reason she's been brought here. She is innocent, but her sorority does not feel the same."

"Precisely, but sir, do we not think it would be better for her to simply…take classes from home? Or maybe switch her grad school to somewhere else? I can't help thinking she will bring about more turmoil than she will achieve success here." Kahrina folded her hands behind her back.

"So, you would turn her out into the cold with nowhere else to go and no roof over her head?" I arched a brow.

"No!" She gasped.

"Then what is it you're suggesting?" I cocked my head.

"Well…is our first priority not the safety of The Grove? Bringing her in puts us at risk."

I scowled. And it wasn't because it was Valerie. My budding desires and primal fantasies aside, I was ashamed of Kahrina's answer. I dropped the bear traps onto one of the many tables in the living space with a heavy thunk. Her eyes widened, body leaning away from me. I also plopped the boots onto the table with the discarded metal before crossing my arms over my chest.

"I am disappointed in you, Kahrina. She is in need of a good home that will allow her to pursue her classes safely. This Grove was founded on community, acceptance, and selfless acts of kindness. We do not dictate who needs our help nor do we judge those who do. It's not our place to deny someone simply because of rumors or how it will look. We are not harboring a criminal nor are we giving into these baseless mob antics. Do you understand me?"

Her face, usually a golden tan, paled in horror. Eyes immediately angled at the floor, she nodded vigorously. "As you say, Professor."

"Kahrina."

Her gaze shot up from the floor to catch mine. I sighed heavily, "You are not in trouble for having opinions, but please do not forget all the lessons of this Grove. And please, ensure we are snipping off any buds of discontent within our house. It is not good for others to doubt her when she's barely survived the first attack on her life."

"Yes, Professor." She nodded again, slinking off toward her project again. Kahrina would recover once she nursed her ego a bit more. But I wasn't going to allow for doubt when any one of them would receive the same treatment. I collected the boots, then the traps when she spoke up again, "Uh, Professor?"

"The boots or the traps?" I teased.

"Boots I assume are someone here's…the traps?" She grimaced.

"I was the unfortunate recipient of an almost piercing last night," I nodded, hoisting the metal jaws up into the air near my face.

"Who puts out bear traps?" She scoffed, "So archaic and cruel."

"Indeed," I sighed heavily before glancing back at her. "And they were made, not bought."

Kahrina twisted in her seat, staring at me with more worry than when I scolded her. "You don't think it was a student?"

"I am unsure as it was far into the forest, but there is nothing between here and the next kingdom over, so likely wasn't a random hunter happening upon that spot."

She and I shared the same, oh that's not good, expression. I nodded, wishing her a good night as I took my collection with me down the hall. I made sure to dump the metal in the scrap closet. Let someone else melt the iron down into something less offensive to me. I closed the door on the small room full of a random assortment of trinkets, doodads, and fixtures, instead setting my attention on my little witch's room.

I'm just going to drop off the boots, wish her a good night, maybe check in, and then go to bed. It'd been a long night. As I approached her door, I found the lights still on underneath. I rapt my knuckles against the door but received no answer. "Valerie?"

I tentatively opened the door, having learned my lesson with many students in the past. I whispered into her doorway again, "Valerie? It's Professor O'Hare."

Slowly, I inched the door open only to stop in my tracks. Smiling to myself, I found her draped across her bed, unconscious. Books were strewn around, half opened and unpacked bags lay around the room. The light was on, but she was out. I silently dropped her boots down by one of her bags and crept in. Closing all her books around their bookmarks and tucking them onto the desk, I stopped to study her. Only for a moment. I settled for grabbing one of the many throw blankets we left in each room and draped it over her. Leaving quickly after, I made sure to flip off the light before I closed the door behind me.