“Is it true that you’re a shifter?”

Madison almost groaned at the question. He’d known it was coming. Every year, at least one student wanted to know if he was a shifter. He’d tried everything to get around the question. He’d ignored it, had told the student it was none of their business, and had answered honestly. There was no right way to go about it, especially when his students were always curious.

He looked at the young people gathered in the classroom. It was normal for them to want to know if he was a shifter, since he taught shifter history. He had no doubt there were a few shifters in the class, and if he lied, they might wonder why he was doing so and have more questions.

He sighed and nodded curtly. “I am.” That shouldn’t be the reason these students wanted to take this course, but every year, a number of them just wanted to gawk at the shifter professor.

“What kind of shifter?” another student asked, this one a woman.

Madison needed this line of questioning to stop. “Everyone in my family is a wolf shifter,” he answered before gesturing at the screen. “Now, if you’re done asking personal questions, we can get back to the class.”

There were a few whispers, but Madison ignored them. It had taken him a while to learn to do so, but eventually he’d managed, and now, at thirty-eight years old, he knew how to deal with students and that sometimes it was better to ignore the ones whispering behind his back than confront them about not listening to him.

Not everyone was as passionate as he was about shifter history. It probably had to do with the fact that there weren’t that many shifters around, plus that most tended to stick to their family and pack and avoid humans. They weren’t in hiding, but they liked their peace, and things seldom were peaceful when humans were involved.

“Now, as most of you probably already know, the first written testimony about shifters come from missionaries,” he explained. “There are stories of shifters living in Europe before then, but they hid. The shifters in the countries the missionaries were sent to were more open about what they were, though.”

Madison had repeated the same info time and time again, but it never got old. He loved this subject, and while he didn’t love teaching, doing so meant he had enough funds to poke around ruins and jungles when he wasn’t teaching during the summer. It wasn’t nearly enough to make him happy, but he didn’t have a choice. 

He’d worked in the jungle over the previous summer and was sure he’d been close to finding an ancient shifter temple. He’d had to come home before he did, but he’d go back. Besides, one of his friends had stayed back, and if they were lucky, she’d find the temple before next summer. Madison didn’t care if he had to take a leave of absence. If anyone found that temple, he’d be there, exploring it.

Teaching drained him, just like spending time with people in general. He was ready for some alone time when he left the classroom, but of course he had to pause to talk to some of the students. Once that was done, he almost ran away, needing to hide in his office for a while.

Things never went the way he wished. Before he could step in through the door, his phone rang. He juggled his bag and computer to get the phone out of his pocket, thankful he’d remembered to turn down the volume. His mother knew not to call when he was teaching, but she had a habit of waiting only a few seconds after his class was supposed to be over to try. Several times, he’d had to interrupt the end of class to answer, and while today wasn’t one of those days, he still scowled at his mother’s name on the screen.

He didn’t want to answer. She’d call again if he didn’t, but it would give him a moment of respite, and that was what he needed. There was a family run coming up, and his mother would demand he be there, which was pretty much the last thing he wanted to do.

Unfortunately for him, there would be no way out of it.

But he didn’t have to think about it now, so he pushed his phone back into his pocket and strode into his office. He dumped what he was holding onto his desk, then flopped into his chair and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling.

He was exhausted. He wanted to return to the jungle but couldn’t afford it. He couldn’t afford to lose his job, either, which was what would happen if he said fuck it and left.

He sighed and decided to do the next best thing. He couldn’t go to the jungle, but he could call Ashley. She was living his dream life in the jungle, and while Madison was jealous as hell, he wouldn’t mind living vicariously through her.

He also wanted to make the phone call before his mother called back.

He got his phone out again, dialed Ashley’s number, and waited. She didn’t always answer, and it wasn’t a surprise when Madison didn’t even get a ring. Cell phone service was spotty at best in the jungle.

With a sigh, he put down his phone and turned on his computer. He smiled when he saw he had a new email from Ashley, especially when he saw the email included pictures. Had she found something? She would have called if she had, but if cell service wasn’t good, she might not have been able to. Excitedly, he clicked on the email. He ignored the few lines of text and opened the pictures, tilting his head at the sight of a stone wall.