Chapter 8 : Life Goes On

Faith held her palm above ground and stood up on shaky legs. It was not her choice to stand, rather it was the burden of the duty put on her that made her unable to rest and tend to herself. 

She went to the nearest washroom and opened the tab. The flowing water set chills to her heart. She did not know how much it will hurtz but she had to clean her wound fast and get to work. 

Holding her wrist tighly, she held her palm under the flowing water. Her teeth clenched and her arm shook in seething pain. The water turned crimson under her hand and slithered down the washbasin as if escaping her. 

Once the dried blood was off, she took out a fairst ait kit and began cleaning the cut. It had healed about ten to twenty percent but the rest would take a lot of time to be better. It was a deep wound after all. 

Faith clumsily wrapped a bandage over the medicine and tied it to the best of her abilities. Times like these were truly depressing, when there was no one by her side to even tend to her wounds. Those thoughts hurt more than the painful stabs. 

The wound was dressed and Faith started to clean the kitchen. It already midnight on the clock when she finished cleaning up the broken pieces and blood stains from the floor. Faith also replaced the dishes with the new set that was kept in the cupboard. 

Her hand was swollen already from the wound and working. As she finished her work, Faith had little energy to climb up the stairs. Her feet dragged her body up when she heard her sisters talking in her room. It was quiet clear what they were talking about as they were not trying to keep their voices down. 

"I had to do it. Why does she get to go to the Gala? Now her face is ruined and did you see the gash on her hand? It looked pretty bad. All I have to do now is get mom to agree so that the Alpha chooses me to go with him." 

Faith halted in her steps at Winter's words. The tears that had stopped a while ago came back again. She took a deep breath and kept going. 

"So you already knew it was her? Wow, you sneaky little -" 

Their voices faded into a laugh. The joke was Faith's life. 

She sat in her room before her window with silent tears dropping one after the other and soaking her blood stained onesie. She saw her face in the mirror before gazing at the shining half moon. The cut on her cheek was almost gone and all that was left was an evident puffiness. 

Faith looked up at the starless sky. The moon was shining alone today. She wondered if the moon today was as lonely as Faith felt. Was it waiting for th sun to rise so it could hide it's loneliness in the wake of it's light? 

Faith's droopy eyes closed while gazing up, the moon slowly slid down the inky sky to let the sun take it's place.

Maybe the moon was sad, but not because it was lonely, but because as one of her child was suffered, she could all but stand still and do nothing. 

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(Next day) 

Faith did not feel like going to work at all. Her body was sore as hell and her head was yelling at her to stop moving. 

Faith promptly ignored the protest of her body and sluggishly moved away from her bed and got ready for the day. She had lessons today as well but didn't know if she would be called earlier like yesterday. Although there was no reason for that, Faith could not be sure. 

After hearing what Winter thought of her last night, things were clear for Faith. Her sister wanted to go to the Gala. And she had done everything, hurt Faith adn herself, so Faith won't be able to go and she will be chosen to accompany Alpha Rigie instead. 

In Faith's opinion it was a low blow. Only if Winter had spoken up in front of Dea and expressed what she wanted, faith was sure Dea would have agreed and done what her daughter wanted. 

But instead of talking Winter had taken a more violent way of stopping Faith from going. Did no one understand thay faith did not want to go in the first place? That Faith was already buring her thoughs deep just because she was forced to go? 

Faith was going to the Gala because she was forced. And yet, they were making her the taget of false accusations. 

Faith removed the bandage from her hand and inspected the cut. The wound was closed and what was left behind was a scar and a lot of dried blood. She washed away the dried blood and applied some cream in hopes that the scar would go away as well. 

Faith contemplated wheather she should go down and eat something or just leave. After what happened yesterday, Faith doubted that her presence would be received well by her family. So picking up her bag, she quietly slipped outside.

She left before her usual time and took her time at the bus station. Her pink hair flew as the bus arrived. There were no seats left so she squeezed between the crowd of people and found a spot to stand. 

It was an especially hard day for Faith. 

She arrived late even though she left early from home. The bus she was in got stuck into a ditch and a lot of time was wasted in fixing that. When it was obvious that the bus won't move for a long time, the passangers who could walk, left and others took cabs. 

Faith's workplace was still quiet far and she didn't carry that much money to take a cab. Along with forgetting about breakfast and food, Faith also often forgot to carry extra money for times like these.

As a result Faith had to work an hour from the place all the way to the Ice rink. Her sore body was ready to break down. Faith felt as if her limbs were going to fall off any moment. 

Ruth took her bag and kept it in the lockers. 

"You look awful. What happened yesterday?" Ruth asked handing her a bottle of orange juice that she always kept in stock. Faith took it gratefully and drank big gulps at once. It was refreshing! 

Faith wiped her mouth and sighed. 

"I went dress shopping." 

Ruth's eyes popped out in shock, "Dress shopping? And you became like this?" 

"Yeah." Faith lied smoothly. "I am not an expert in shopping so it a lot of time. I was tired." 

"No wonder. Your sisters must have dragged your poor self like a doll." Ruth expressed her thoughts then patted Faith on the shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry. It will be fine. You will get married one day your family will remain in the past." 

Faith looked up and smiled. Sometimes Faith forgot that Ruth was purely human breed and not a wereolf like her. Terms like mates and matebonds were unknown to her. But what she said was true. Once Faith finds her mate, her family will only be in the past. 

"Can we cut short the lesson today? Only by ten or fifteen minutes? I will get some time to relax." 

Ruth's expression itself was enough to tell her that it was not possible, her next words confirmed it. 

"We have more kids today. Tomorrow's rink will be closed so the batches were merged. I don't think it will be possible to cut short." Ruth said apologetically. Faith sighed and picked up her skates and towel and left to change into her gear. 

The Ice rink was filled today. Faith thought that even though the classes were merged, they won't make such a big number. However, they occupied most of the rink and were bustling with energy. Naturally Faith also had to match their energy level and forget about her own problems. 

It was good enough that she was on th cool ice. She taught them a few moves and went around correcting them as they prcaticed. It was a fruitful session and the kids learnt a lot from Faith. 

The end of the day was dreadfully long. Faith wanted to lay down and do nothing until absolutely necessary. But the odds were always against her. As soon as Faith returned home, she was once again swept off to the living room where Dea was sitting with Winter and Caren and Alpha Rigie. 

This time Faith had hopes. Maybe they told Alpha Rigie about her wounds and he was here to say that he did not want to take her anymore. Maybe he will also select Winter to go with him! 

But when Faith's eyes met Winter's her red eyes said a different story. She did not look happy at all, instead she looked enraged. Faith concluded that nothing she had hoped had happened and Winter was not going to the Gala. 

Then Faith remembered why it was so. 

As much as Faith wanted Winter to be chosen to go to the Gala, she also under why it was not the most ideal choice. Winter already had a mate who had died not long after they met. 

It was not right that the Alpha took Winter with him. Fingers will be pointed at him for bringing a widowed shewolf. As Faith was still mateless, it would be acceptable for her to accompany him. 

Alpha Rigie was the first to notice Faith. He smiled and called her over. 

"You came at the right time Faith." Alpha Rigie's face twisted into an overly concerned expression. Faith could read FAKE written all over it and went closer, but not too close. 

"Greetings, Alpha." She bowed to him. Alpha Rigie stood up.  

"Your mother told me that you fell over and injured yourself. Let me take a look at your face." His cold fingers touched her chin and lifted her face up at an angle to look at her cheek. 

He tsked, "You are a clumsy little thing, aren't you? The swelling will go down in a few days so it's nothing to worry about." He concluded and took his seat. Faith quickly scurried away from him. Even if her sisters and Dea wouldn't he glaring ice daggers at her, Faith would not want to stay that close to Alpha Rigie. 

"I took your concern into considering. I saw faith's face and I am sure it will be fine by the time we have to leave. As for taking Winter instead of Faith, even you know the reason why I cannot take her. Her mate must have passed, but she had a mate at some point. It will only damage my reputation instead of mending it." 

Faith subtly raised an eyebrow from the corner she was in. So taking Winter will taint his reputation? being mated at some point? Wasn't he mated to the Luna as well? Wasn't he so keen on bringing Faith to accompany him? 

Is this what the society calls hypocrite?