Make Me Beg - BOOK 1 OF THE MATES & MARKS TRILOGY

Chapter 14

"Today, we are going to delve a bit deeper into mates" Mr Dale announced. As was usual when this area was brought up, many of the members of the class blushed while others grinned at the hope of talking about sex.

Cassie was sat with Sam to her left and their new friend Hanmi on her right. Hanmi was a sweet and soft spoken girl with a jet black Bob that curled into her neck and a full fringe hiding her entire forehead and eyebrows. She was one of the girls in the small friend group they had made in their first week but they didn't often get to be in the same classes. Both Sam and Hanmi went red to the tips of their ears at the mention of mates.

Hanmi knew her mate but things weren't going great so far, everyone thought that once you found your mate you lived happily ever after by each other's sides but Cassie noticed that Damien (Hanmi's mate) almost never spent any time with her. She confessed to them both that while they had acknowledged that they were mates, Damien was just very disinterested. He didn't treat her badly... He didn't hurt her or say mean things... He just didn't seem to care... And Cassie couldn't understand why - Hanmi was the cutest girl she had ever seen! (Karliah being sexiest girl and Sam being cutest boy). She tried not to be too nosey and let her friend bring up her lack lustre romantic life only when she wanted to... But god, she wanted to ask so many questions, everyone was curious about mates - And everyone was desperate to find theirs as soon as possible.

Cassie pulled her plain black notebook and pen out along with the rest of the class and took notes as the teacher began to talk.

"Right, I'm going to ask questions and I want you guys to answer them to see what you already know, no point being shy about the topic." His favourite method of teaching - Getting his students to do it for him. He pulled his whiteboard-on-wheels out and wrote the word mate in the centre, "What is a mate?" He asked. A few hands raised and he picked on another new friend of Cassie and Sam, Aminali. She was in the same pack as Hanmi and they had come to the academy as friends. Aminali was very smart and even though she was normally shy, she would always put up her hand in class.

"Mate is short for soulmate. It's the person you are meant to be with" she answered.

"Very good" Mr Dale added it to the board on a line coming from 'Mates', he loved mind maps. "Who gets to have a mate?"he asked next. His eyes scanned the room and he picked a boy in the first row.

"Everyone" They announced confidently. Mr Dale nodded with a smile.

"Even Omegas?" Joked a dominant male from the back of the class. Cassie turned around to look and noticed it was Damien... Hanmi stared straight ahead silently. Sam and the other omega in the room (Cassie didn't know what pack she was from) blushed and kept their heads down.

"Yes, of course, Damien. Omegas aren't as different as you seem to think they are - but that is a topic for another lesson. Now, why do we have mates?" Mr dale noticed that this time there weren't as many hands up and pointed at a dominant sitting in the corner to answer.

"But Sir! I didn't have my hand up!" He whined,

"Just try, Taylor"

"Uh, cause trying to find someone to bond to yourself is too much effort?" He asked in a 'duh' voice.

"Not quite" Mr Dale smiled, "While it does help in time saving for some people - others become too obsessed and waste all their time trying to find their one." He turned back to his board and wrote as he gave the answer,

"We have mates because a wolf should never be on its own. We are always part of a pack and we are stronger together. Your mate is the person who can bring out the most strength in you, whether that's physical strength or emotional strength." There was a rustle of paper and the scratching of pen tips as they all hurriedly copied down the answer before he moved along again. Mr Dale waited a few moments and continued with his questioning. "How do you know if someone is your mate?" This time there were absolutely no hands and Mr Dale chuckled to himself, "C'mon, surely some of you have already met your mates? I see enough kids making out in the hallways!" He teased lightheartedly, "And the rest of you should have at least heard what it's like?" No one was biting so he picked a random student again. "Mr Jones, tell me anything, just one way that you might be able to tell."