I would admit- I was beginning to worry when class started and the seat next to mine was filled by some stupid, twittering girl whose name I didn’t know. That was Tsuki’s seat, and the fact that he wasn’t there to claim it made me uneasy.

Then again, I was always a little paranoid when it came to Tsuki. I would have been protective of any friend I made- it was within my instincts as an alpha- but he was special. The only wolf who didn’t make friends with me due to my status as a child of the stars. So yeah, I worried. Especially the night after a full moon, when I had beaten the shit out of that damned grey wolf bitch for picking on Tsuki for the thousandth time.

God only knew what she and her lackeys would do to him if I wasn’t there to stop them.

My pen was tapping against the desk a little too forcefully as I tried to keep my mind from straying to darker places. It’s not like I could help it. I had met Tsuki when I was seven, and he was only five, the tiniest little kid covered in bruises because he was the pack’s whipping boy. Something about him resonated with me; maybe it was memories of the orphanage they’d just taken me from, being the child left out because I wasn’t quite normal. Whatever the reason, I’d decided to stick to that little kid, and we’d become fast friends over the years.

I knew everything- including how the pack attempted to tear him to shreds. Like it was his fault he was born an omega. I figured it was perfectly understandable to be protective of him, considering the rest of them would have been perfectly content if he ended up dead. But it didn’t mean the rest of the pack thought that way. If it weren’t for my status as a child of the stars, he’d be dead already.

Which was always what I was afraid of when he was even a few minutes late to anything.

My fears were washed away by relief when the door to the classroom slammed open, rebounding into somebody who gave a familiar pained yelp. I pressed my lips together to stem my laughter when Tsuki walked in with a sheepish expression and a smear of soft pink across his nose where his bagel had run into his face along with the door. He kept his breakfast in his mouth so that he wouldn’t have to talk to the professor. Thankfully Prof. Kingsley was the most lenient teacher on campus, and tolerated Tsuki’s apologetic bowing with an amused smile.

“Late again, Tsuki? Good. That means I won the bet. My husband will be so disappointed in you,” Prof. Kingsley said, and laughter rolled through the room in response.

Tsuki’s face flushed, and he removed the bagel long enough to snark back at out teacher. “Right, because Maddox was never late to class in his days. He should know better by now.”

“He should,” Prof. Kingsley agreed with a grin. He leaned against his desk, the book he held propped open in one hand while he scrutinized Tsuki. “Well, you’ve lost your favored spot. Looks like you and Neo won’t be attached at the hip today, at least for this class.”

“We’re not-”

“Uh-huh. The lady doth protest too much.” The words were said in sing-song, but Tsuki and I both grimaced. People were quick to mock us, but we really weren’t anything more than friends. It was impossible even if one of us was tempted. Werewolf law didn’t allow for relationships between men; the gender was so rare among wolves that it was imperative wolves have children, so men weren’t allowed to waste that on useless relationships with other men. Especially children of the stars like me. There were extensive measures in place to ensure it didn’t happen, and that was what made Tsuki and I pale every time somebody joked about a relationship between us.

“Anyway, since you’re late- why don’t you go ahead and sit down before I have to dock you points for your lateness,” Prof. Kingsley suggest, with a glimmer in his eyes which meant it was just a scare tactic.

Tsuki had the grace to pretend to look intimidated as he hurried to his seat. It was clear soon that he wasn’t worried; he leaned his chair back so that it was tipped at a dangerous angle, and paid far more attention to what remained of his bagel than the lecture. The professor let it slide, as always. We all knew Tsuki was stupidly clever, and could pass his classes without paying a lick of attention when he was actually at school. It pissed me off to no end sometimes, because I actually had to try.

Which pulled my attention from Tsuki. We were ten minutes into the lecture, and I was already lost. Just taking notes desperately and hoping for the best. If I was lucky- and very nice- Tsuki would give me a private lesson later and help me figure out where everything had gone wrong in my head. Literature classes were hard for me; give me high school gym classes and a good calculus class any day. This figurative bullshit made zero sense.

I gritted my teeth and pulled through for the two hour lecture, though, because graduating college was a flat requirement. The pack wouldn’t let me fail. I was their trophy, their precious child of the stars, and I had to act the part. Whether I liked it or not.

“Alright, kids. Be free. Remember that essay is due a week from today, and I’m not accepting any late papers. Talking to you, Travis,” Prof. Kingsley eyed the boy in question, whose flustered sputtering made the class laugh again. The room was buzzing, then, everybody talking over one another as they were released from the rule of silence imposed during the lecture. There was an immediate rush for the door, but I hung back, because the person I wanted to talk to always did the same.

Tsuki stayed seated, watching the crowd with slightly narrowed eyes full of distrust. We both knew his being in the middle of the rush wouldn’t end well. Even if the great majority of students attending our college were human, there were enough werewolves to spread the hatred of Tsuki like a disease. One way or another, Tsuki usually ended up with new bruises.

He only stood up when most of the other students had cleared out, and I was at his side the moment he was on his feet. Tsuki didn’t look at all surprised by my sudden appearance; even if he wasn’t a wolf who could feel me coming a mile away, we were in tune enough that he knew my patterns.

“You lost yet?” Tsuki asked, a devilish glint in his eyes as he gave me an innocent smile.

I swore at him mildly, but we both knew I wasn’t really angry. It didn’t take a genius to figure out I’d majorly fucked up in trying to understand whatever the hell Shakespeare thing we were working on. Something about ‘Macbeth’, because Prof. Kingsley said it was nostalgic for him. “Maybe,” I grumbled, as I swept his bag up so that he wouldn’t have to carry it.

Tsuki opened his mouth, but shut it when I just raised my eyebrow at him with a small smirk. He rolled his eyes and let me carry his stuff. “Don’t lie, you oaf. You looked like your head was about to explode in a little cloud of smoke. Want me to help you out with that later?”

“God, please. I’ll buy you lunch. Sound like a fair trade?”

He smiled at me, bright and please, and it warmed my chest. “Absolutely. I’m a growing boy, I need all the food I can get.”

I snorted, figuring he had argued with his father then; I’d heard him say the same thing to his dad so many times that it was easy to guess. “Alright. Then-”

“Why don’t you put those plans on hold?”

The interruption made me frown, and I had a murderous gaze ready only to quickly wipe it away when I realized it was Prof. Kingsely standing in front of us. “Why would we do that?”I asked, my tone carefully guarded so that he wouldn’t smell the fear on me. The last time he’d approached us, it had been to force me to take on a tutor, a sweet girl who had only lasted a week before she quit. I wasn’t looking forward to repeating that experience.

“Don’t worry, Neo, it’s nothing to do with you.” Amusement shone in Prof. Kingsley’s eyes, a smirk turning up the corners of his mouth.

I did my best to be irritated, but it was hard; Prof. Kingsley was an amazing teacher, one of the only ones who seemed to actually care about his students, which made it nearly impossible to ever get angry with him. Especially when Tsuki was grinning like that. Even though it was at my expense, he so rarely looked happy at school that I could suffer a little teasing to see him smile.

Which Tsuki’s father had told me many times was a very dangerous feeling, one which bordered the line to inappropriate and deserving of a death sentence for my omega friend.

“What did you need then, Jay?” Tsuki asked. He was one of the few students who were on first name terms with the professor- not because Prof. Kingsley put that line there himself, but because he was brave enough to actually take him up on the offer to call him by his given name.

“I need you- and don’t you give me that look, Mister Maeda, I don’t mean it in the carnal sense.”

I felt heat rise to my face in response to his lecture, and didn’t want to know what kind of expression I had made.

Tsuki smiled at me, warm and tolerant. “He understands, and I can promise you that’s not where his head went. We don’t think like that.”

Prof. Kingsley and I shared a look over his head. The long suffering, ‘how is it possible for him to be so innocent in this day and age’ look we both wore often around Tsuki. Considering he’d been the pack’s punching bag since he was little, and including the access to technology our generation had, it was a miracle he could smile like that. Like Prof. Kingsley and I hadn’t both just thought about sex standing only a few inches away from him.

“What did you need me for?” Tsuki prompted, the light exasperation in his voice pulling both of us lost souls back to attention.

Prof. Kingsley gave him an encouraging smile in response. “I have a new student in one of my other classes. He transferred in halfway through the year, and though he’s stupid smart like you are, he’s obviously missed a good chunk of content. I was hoping you could share your notes with him, and help fill in if he has any questions.”

“Why can’t you do that?”

“Neo,” Tsuki sighed, rolling his eyes at my instant response. “I don’t have any problem with that, Jay. I’ll be happy to help my fellow students succeed. As long as he’s not as thick-headed as Neo.”

“Hey!”

“No, like I said- he’s very smart, he just doesn’t have the information from the first half of the class. I think he’ll pass with flying colors when he has a little help.”

“Great. You can give him my phone number, then-”

“Tsuki, are you serious-”

He cut me off, giving me a stern look. “As I was saying, you can give him my phone number so he can text me to set up study sessions. You know I have plenty of free time. Tell him to hit me up whenever it’s convenient for him.”

Prof. Kingsley gave him a bright smile. “Thanks, Tsuki. I’ll be sure to do that. You’re a huge help, as always.”

“Great. Can we go to lunch now?”

“Yes, Neo, we can go to lunch. You insatiable beast,” Tsuki grumbled.

Prof. Kingsley and I both laughed at that, though the teacher couldn’t understand why it was so amusing to me; the beast part was what got me, like Tsuki didn’t have the same ridiculous metabolism and wasn’t starving just like me. He’d turn into a bitch if I didn’t get him fed- and he knew it.

So we said our goodbyes to the teacher, Tsuki’s phone number left scrawled on a scrap of paper, and made a beeline for the cafeteria to stuff our faces with as much food as possible before our next classes. And maybe, if I was lucky, get in a little study time too.

Because damn right was I going to hog Tsuki to myself as often as possible, and I’d maul anybody who got in my way.