Bedded by the Headmaster

Ch46: Locked

Susie

Two weeks later

There were around a dozen hopeful wolves lined up outside Arken's office, not all of them female. The official roster of volunteers posted on the corridor's bulletin board was largely ignored. It was clear by the volunteers' excited chatter that they were all hoping to be selected by Arken in order to elevate their status.

It gave Susie immense pleasure to dismiss them after informing the students that Arken would not be requiring their services any longer.

Not now that I'm fully recovered and he's agreed to only feed on me, she thought to herself.

To Susie's discomfort, two female shifters hung back with tearful eyes. They'd fancied Arken, apparently, and were quite heartbroken he was sending them away.

"If he changes his mind..." said one, twisting her glossy black hair anxiously.

"You will be notified," Susie promised through gritted teeth, mentally striking the wolf from the waiting list.

She watched them drag their feet down the corridor, casting several woeful and possibly resentful looks back in her direction.

"What does she have that we don't?"

Susie caught the whispered words, and the females sniggered before disappearing from view.

Susie sighed. She sincerely hoped that she'd be enough to fulfil Arken's needs. He'd been reluctant to feed solely on her, and she knew his fears were valid. Given that he needed to feed every night, there was the very real possibility that her blood alone wouldn't be enough.

She'd suggested finding other ways of managing the witches' need for vampire blood, such as handing out small portions in glass vials. Arken had not taken her to see the witches yet, but he informed her that this was working well; it reduced the unpleasantness of the ordeal for him and prevented the witches from becoming overpowered.

Even so, she worried she wouldn't be enough to meet Arken's needs.

Ultimately, his health came first, and Susie had compiled a careful list of the volunteers gathered before she'd sent them on their way. At the top of her list were the males, who she was sure Arken would not have a romantic inclination towards.

She let out a long exhale as she stored her notebook in her schoolbag. That had taken far longer than she expected. No one had wanted to leave, and she'd had to become quite insistent and use her 'alpha voice' as Sarah sometimes described it.

Arken emerged from his office.

"All done?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yes," Susie said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "They're all gone."

Arken looked relieved. "Good."

Susie smoothed her red pleated skirt self-consciously. It was her first day back at school and it was strange to be in uniform again after more than a month of being absent. Stranger still to be embarking from Arken's suite, where she'd spent the majority of the past two months.

As she'd suspected, Arken had insisted she stay even after she was fully recovered. She just couldn't figure out why.

"Perhaps I simply enjoy the pleasure of your company," he'd tried to explain.

"It's more than that," she'd responded. "There's something you're not telling me,"

"There is—but it's a surprise," he'd said with an air of mystery.