Misty made a gesture and a moment later I felt a fist hit me in the stomach, sending me to my knees.“Talk back like that again, Cutter,” my older sister Misty said in her sweetest tone. “And I’ll hit you again.”Being the daughter of the Alpha Lord, the strongest Alpha in our territory, Misty could do no wrong and was untouchable. Even the teachers here at school knew better than to say anything against her. Being two years older than me at sixteen, she’s had two years to weed out any facility who didn’t learn to look the other way.Struggling back to my feet, the weight from carrying all of her and her three friend’s bags making it more difficult, I worked to steady by breathing again. All I did was answer her question about why it was so difficult to get a hold of her favorite color of nail polish. Her perfectly manicured nails, freshly touched up just this morning before school started, was the reason I knew she wouldn’t be the one to personally hit me.“I was just explaining, ma’a
My morning classes passed in a horrifying blur.The snickering and laughter from my classmates was bad enough, but it was the teachers who made everything worse. Two of them made me stand in the corner of the room, saying I wasn’t allowed to sit at my desk until I was ready to grow up. And another one gave me detention when I told her I couldn’t go get cleaned up when she ordered me to do so.It was mortifying.Only Mr. Davidson didn’t make a big deal out of it. Instead of drawing attention to my problem, which everyone in the school had been aware of at that point since it was the last period before lunch, he simply placed a towel down on my chair before jumping right into his lecture.I was more grateful to him than I could ever show. Since he taught Advanced Sciences, most of the students in class were in my siblings years, which meant they would all go tattling to them if it looked like Mr. Davidson and I had a closer than average relationship. When he asked me to stay after to tal
This was only the third week of term and already I despised lunch.The lunchroom was already one of the most awkward and terrifying parts of high school, but I envied those whose only problems were where to sit, or who to sit with.I didn’t have either of those problems.“Did you get all that, Cutter,” Misty glared, looking up at me through her lash extensions.“Yes, ma’am,” I replied in my zombie tone. The four of them just finished listing off what they wanted for lunch, and now it was my job to go and fetch everything. I waited for her to dismiss me with an annoyed flick of her wrist before turning and heading for the kitchen.After all the excitement this morning, the limp in my right leg started to act up again as I began to fill the first tray. I spent every weekend working in Elder Alpha Roland’s Manor, and rarely did I ever escape without some kind of injury. He was the Alpha who stepped up and unified the other Packs in the territory when the Thunder Pack was massacred by the
His dark cloths molded his body perfectly, emphasizing his lean muscles and wavey light brown hair. His arms were crossed, and though he didn’t seem to be overly muscled like some of our strongest warriors, he was far from helpless. Quite the opposite, in fact, and I could just tell that he knew how to handle himself. His strength wasn’t obvious, like our warriors. No, his was subtle, and so much more deadly. I had no doubts that he could take on, and defeat, every single person in the lunchroom.But it was his eyes that really made my body flush. Dark brown, full of both mischief and cunning, I knew I could lose myself in them forever if given the chance. And it was then that I realized what was wrong, that there was only one reason why I was able to see into his eyes so clearly.Because he was looking right at me.Panicking, I broke eye contact and hide behind Misty, who was just as enthralled as I had been a moment earlier. It made me sick, realizing that we had that moment in commo
After fleeing from class, I stressed my injured leg to the max to make it to office before anyone could chase me down. I knew I was being paranoid, but it was always better to play it safe. Mrs. Lennit looked up quickly from behind her computer when I came crashing in, startled.“Good heavens, what’s the rush young lady,” she said, fixing me with a disapproving look.“Sorry, Mrs. Lennit, I was just really hoping to finish detention early so I could join the after-school Clubs,” I answered softly, keeping my head slightly bowed. She was an unpleasant woman at the best of times and could really make someone’s life difficult if you got on her bad side. And since she was the one in charge of handing out detention duties, I couldn’t afford to upset her even a little bit.Especially with how often I’ve already been sent here this term.“Let’s see,” she said, pulling up the email pertaining to why I was sent here today. “You refused to clean yourself up after an accident.” She looked up at m
“You need to let me rest for a minute, you monster,” he shouted breathlessly, taking a step backwards.“But your enemies wont wait for you to be well rested, now will they,” I retorted, taking another step towards him. “It’s now or never, little Duncan.”He growled. “I’m not that much smaller than you, monster,” he shouted back, determination starting to fill his features. Instead of retreating another step, he held his ground and dropped into an attacking posture.Anymore thought of avoiding the fight was washed away, and replaced with a mighty roar as he charged towards me. He struck out at me with a solid right hook, and he growled again when I took hold of his hand and swung him around, almost like we were dancing. This was the reason why they all called me Twinkle here, because all I ever did was dance when they tried to fight me.“Your too obvious,” I said in a level voice once I let go. He stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance, turning to charge again. “You need to
BenjaminAs Ben followed the Principal into the cafeteria, he could barely hold in his irritation. When he was sent on this mission by the Alpha King himself, Ben pleaded to be allowed to join this territories version of post school Warrior training. Instead, in his infinite wisdom, the Alpha King decided that joining High School would be a better fit.True, he had just recently turned 16 and acquired his wolf, and had been a Junior back home, but as a visiting dignitary, he would’ve been allowed to pretty much do as he pleased. And since his whole backstory for being here revolved around seeing firsthand how strong the Blade’s Edge Pack was, it totally made sense why he should’ve skipped the whole school bit.Ben couldn’t be too angry, though, as the Luna Queen made it clear that she didn’t want him to fall behind in his studies just because he was picked for this mission. His first mission, to be clear, as most Warriors in the Briar Kingdom wouldn’t be eligible until they came of ag
Ben“I didn’t realize your sister was the same age as us,” Ben asked as they stood up. “I would’ve thought she was much younger.”“Adopted sister,” Misty corrected as she hooked his arm again. “And she’s only a freshman, but since she has no friends, all she does is study. I was against her taking advanced classes with us, but grandfather put his foot down. The senile old fool.”“He’s not senile,” Chris argued back as they made their way outside for Clubs. Ben had learned throughout the day that this territory saved their specialized classes for after school clubs. It was a good idea, he thought, and would see if his Alpha King would want to adopt a similar structure back home. “At least most of the time.”Alpha Lord Roland, as they called their Kings here in this territory, was a legend, even back in the Briar Kingdom. The Thunder Pack, who used to rule this territory, were among the most elite anywhere, and were undefeated in battle throughout their history. And yet, they were wiped
“I-I’m so sorry, I don’t know what happened,” I cried, freaking the hell out. Horrified, I got onto my knees and bowed deep to Luna Belle. “Please forgive me, I didn’t mean too.”An explosion of sound erupted around me a second later, washing all around me to the point that I couldn’t concentrate on any of it. Chairs were scraped back, voices were raised, and anger was thick in the air. And through it all, I just stayed on my knees, bowing to Luna Belle. Too scared to look up, or even open my eyes.When I felt someone’s hand pulling up on my chin, I jumped violently, my eyes flying open only to find myself locked in Luna Belle’s fierce gaze. “Care to explain yourself, little miss.”In my delirious state, I couldn’t help but remember all the other Luna’s who have looked at me with those same eyes. Pain, humiliation, and trauma always followed, without exception. Usually lasting for days, or until they finally left to return to their Packs. Unable to stop myself, I started to shake viol
“Wait, what,” Ben asked, looking at me with a confused expression. “I thought you were on a diet and those were protein shakes?”Damn.Unable to think clearly in my state, I just blurt something out. “I’m sorry for lying, it’s just that my illness makes people uncomfortable, so I try not to draw attention to it.”“Have you really never eaten real food before,” Maize asked, sadness in her eyes. This was why I didn’t like talking about it, because now all I could do was envy everyone else again. I’d spent a long time, years now, suppressing my desires to eat all the yummy foods around me. And now I wasn’t strong enough to suppress it again.Then, just to make matters worse, my stomach made a violent sound.“I’ve tried a few things over the years,” I answered when I saw Luna Lannie secretly glaring at me. “Master Nathaniel had me experiment with several types of foods to see if I could keep any down. And the few memories I have from before I came to live here tell me that my parents were
“You look beautiful, as always,” Ben smiled as he kissed my hand, sending warm tingles down my arm. He offered his arm to me, just as Chris did for Misty and Alpha Lord Grizzle did for Luna Lannie.“You look quite dashing yourself,” I said, blushing as I reached up to fix his collar. “Dark color’s look really good on you.”“Really,” he said, nodding his head to himself before turning his attention back to me. “Come, I want to introduce you to my parents.” My nervousness exploded and my heart raced as he led be to Maize and the two people standing next to her.Ben clearly inherited his good looks with his father, who stood just as tall and had very similar features, essentially looking like an older and more refined version of him. He was also powerfully built, looking like he kept up with his training. His mother was, if possible, even more imposing. Her beauty rivaled that of Maize, her tall physique was equally as impressive as her mate’s, her eyes screamed intelligence, but also so
“Hold still, or I’ll really give you something to cry about,” Luna Lannie seethed, crashing her aura into me. Biting my lip to keep from crying out, feeling lightheaded already, I braced as Margret tightened my corset even more.Ben, Maize, and their friends left school as soon as they recieved the call that their parents had arrived, leaving me alone with Misty and her friends. However, instead of resorting back to the their usual bullying, they continued on as they had this morning, talking about guys in the lewdest way possible. I learned more about my male classmates than I ever wanted too, and all the tips they were giving me to make sure Ben stuck around were still making my ears steam.Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse when we returned home. As soon as I was through the door, Margaret stormed up and dragged me away to change. Practically screaming at me and whacking me with her stick for hours as I helped to clean the house and prepare for the dinner. I was a mess
This was by far the best day of school I’d ever had.Instead of classes, we had a pep rally followed by a series of games and competitions. Every year before this, ever since I first came to live in this Pack, I wasn’t allowed to participate. Instead, I was shuttled off to the lodge to begin cleaning and setting up for the weekend festivities.“Come on, I’ll race you to the top,” Ben challenged all of us when we reached the rock-climbing pillars. Ten in total, standing side by side in a row, they were one of the many pieces of equipment brought over from the Warrior Training facility for the day. And once school ended, they would be trasnported over to the lodge for the remainder of the weekend. “Loser pays the next diner bill.”“Your on,” Chris and Dillan say in unison and the other guys are right there behind them. Misty and her friends excused themselves, but Maize seemed even more excited then the guys. She was one very competitive chick.My back was throbbing with each step at th
“Why is she in here?”“And why is she naked?”“She must’ve been punished again, those bandages look fresh.”My eyes shot open to the sound of laugher, and they nearly popped out of my head when I looked over my shoulder to see Lacy, Evelyn, and Bethany standing over me. Scrambling away from them on instinct, I felt the wounds on my back tear. Then, just to prove that the Goddess hated me, I ended up tipping backwards off of bed, slamming into the ground with a solid thud.They exploded into laughter, leaving me to groan in both pain and embarrassment. After much struggling, I got onto my knees and slowly peeked over the edge of the bed. I quickly realized that I was in Misty’s room, and a few faint memories from a couple hours ago flooded into my head. After Rosie applied the silver and treated my back, Misty carried me up here and we took a bath together. I was so weak by that point that I couldn’t even lift my arms, let alone clean myself, so she had to do all the work. Even now, my
I was just so tired.I’d somehow fallen asleep at the diner, the extra shake I was given seemed to push me over the edge. The shot Rosie gave me this morning had started to fade after Clubs, and without it, I could barely stay awake while Misty and Maize took me shopping. It was a dream come true of mine, to be able to go into a store and spend hours trying on new things. Instead, I was angry with myself for spending the entire time in a daze.“Good night,” I said through a yawn as I hugged Maize.“And a good night to you too, Ayla,” Maize said back, hugging me tight. She also kissed me on the cheek, but unlike the confused flutters I got when Misty did that, this one left a warm tingle in my stomach. “Make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight since you didn't get any yesterday. A girl needs her beauty rest.”“I will, mom,” I teased, earning me a ruffled head. Then my breath was taken away when Ben moved up and, before I knew it, had his lips pressed against mine.Delirious already, I
Misty“I wanted to apologize again for my behavior up till now,” she said to Maize as they waited outside the changing room for Ayla. “I’m sure you know how overbearing parents can be, especially hot-headed Alpha’s. He might come off as uncaring and cruel, but he’s only doing it because he loves Ayla.”“How do you mean,” Maize asked, giving her a strange look. Misty knew in that moment that she had her counterpart from the Briar Kingdom in the palm of her hand.“Our ways might seem harsh to outsiders,” Misty explained, feigning sadness. “Our weaker elements are sent off to the smaller and more rural Pack's in our territory. Only the strongest are permitted to live here, to go to school here, and to train here. We are like the Spartans of old. Therefore, Ayla never should’ve been allowed to stay here. But father refused to let my sister be forced out. As a compromise, he told the Pack to toughen her up as best they could.”Maizie sighed after a time. “I guess I can understand that. My
Only it never came.Peaking out from behind my backpack, I was met with numerous confused faced. One of the mother’s laughed when she figured out what was going on.“I’m sorry, Ayla,” she said, stepping forward before squatting down a few feet in front of me. Her hands were up, showing she didn’t mean me any harm. “I guess I can’t blame you for reacting this way after yesterday. What with us rushing over here like that?”The other parents started to laugh too and one of the fathers came forward next to the first woman. It took me a moment to regconzine them.“Mr. and Mrs. Lecter,” I said, still hiding behind my bag. They were Duncan’s parents. As if to further prove it, Duncan barged through the crowd to stand between his parents and me.“I won’t let you hurt our Luna again,” he shouted, glaring at them.I groaned. “Duncan, you can’t call me that outside of the cage. You shouldn’t even call me that inside either.”His mother and several others chuckled as his antics. He wasn’t backing