One Night With My Alpha Professor by Eve Above Story

Chapter 246

Audrey

Edwin and I settled at a little round bistro table outside the cafe. It was a warm, sunny day, and we were both eager to sit in the sun and enjoy the fresh air. We ordered a couple of sandwiches and two glasses of iced tea, our cups already condensating with little droplets of water by the time they reached our table.

I trailed my finger through the condensation, eyeing my mate warily as I did. He’d said that I would ‘want to be sitting down’ to hear whatever it was he had to say to me, but he seemed to be taking his time in telling me.

Finally, when Edwin remarked about the dessert menu for the third time, I lost my patience.

“What do you have to tell me?” I blurted out, then lowered my voice when I realized that other diners were watching

us. “You made it out like someone died.”

Edwin quickly shook his head. “No, no, nothing like that, I assure you,” he said. He paused and sucked in a deep lungful of air as he raked his fingers through his dark hair, mussing up the carefully-gelled waves. “It’s… about your past, actually.”

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Oh? Don’t tell me I have another secret identity. Maybe the Golden Wolf this time?” I asked with a chuckle.

My mate smirked, but shook his head again. “No. It’s about your adoption. Your parents… they adopted you for selfish

reasons.

know. They wanted welfare checks,” I replied. “I’ve always known that.”

“But there’s more to it,” Edwin said. At that moment, he reached across the table and laced my fingers with his. Only then did my heart begin to pound, because the way he was looking at me just then was the kind of look he only gave me when he had some bad news.

And it was bad news.

Over the next few minutes, our iced teas sat untouched while Edwin explained to me what he had learned-what happened to human children in so many orphanages across Crescent territory.

What had happened to me.

could have been worse, of course. Far worse. Human children were essentially being sold off as slaves. I was one of the lucky ones, growing up with adoptive parents who just wanted to

didn’t make it any less

Our sandwiches must have come at some point,

sorry,” Edwin said

up at

harder, if I had just paid attention, then I could have stopped it. Maybe

a pang through my chest, but I refused to let Edwin blame himself. “Well, we’re doing something about it now,”

Edwin was silent.

Chapter 246

aren’t we?” I

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few moments, Edwin breathed deeply again and nodded. “Charles is rounding up a task force as we speak. We’re going to work with Silverbite to begin a hiring process for new orphanage directors, and the corrupt ones will be

do anything else,” he said. “Obviously, I didn’t want to displace the children in the orphanages, because their lives are

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other kids in the orphanage often endured, being separated from friends and siblings against their

are in shambles. Not to mention tracking down all of the people that adopted human kids through this…

up was a mess. My first adoptive mother, Meredith, had done her best during her time there, but… The director of the

that orphanage was one of the nicer

be fixed up,” I said, glancing up at Edwin. “If Crescent has the funding to do it,

fund it. But some orphanages, the really derelict ones, may need to

course. It didn’t make it hurt

“Will they go back to the orphanages? And as for the adults who grew up

to claw your way up after a rough upbringing. If we

the kids

I’d made a promise to help whoever I could, no matter the personal risks. Even if I didn’t sleep for a month just to help one kid, then I’d do it in

kid. No one-not my teachers, not my peers, not even my doctors-even

other kids who had no one to notice that they needed help,

purpose. Since I still didn’t know what the