Chapter 1~The Moon Festival

“You have your entire life to be a jerk, why not take today off?” I bravely stood up to one of the popular girls that always made me feel like crap. But I don’t think that I thought this through. She was not alone, she was with her two other pretty friends. 

She seemed taken aback by my comment. Then she scoffed and took a step closer to me. “What the hell did you just say to me?” Her tone was icy, and my heart was beating so hard that I thought it was going to explode. 

I had no one to help me. We were in an empty classroom. I did not choose to be here with them but I had a choice because when the class was over, they cornered me until everyone left; almost like a lion corning its prey. 

“I–” I stuttered in fear, not bold enough to repeat myself. “I need to leave.” I tried to find a way to walk past them but it was impossible. They stopped me. 

“You’re not leaving,” The leader of the group said in a firm tone. Her name was Tiffany. “You think I’m a jerk?” She asked me as she suddenly shoved me backward, causing me to almost trip over one of the chairs. 

I could feel the tears building in my eyes. “Leave me alone, please.” I could barely get the words out of my mouth. I clutched onto my tote bag as if it was going to protect me. 

“You know what, Tiff?” Her friend called for the attention of their evil group. “I think the sl*t needs a bath.” She had a can of soda in her hand, and a smirk on her face. 

“Come on, really? I mean, take a look at her clothes. She looks like a slave. I don’t get why the school allows these poor beggars to come here. Omegas should have their own stupid school.” Tiffany chuckled. 

“As for me, I don’t care about her clothes. Dump that crap on her,” Their other friend joined the conversation. “Bring it here, you’re taking too long.” She took the can from her friend and began to shake it. 

I accepted defeat. There was no way that I could get out of there. I could cry for help and someone might hear me and help, but what was the use? If I did that, the bullying would just get worse. 

I had tried that before. The principal did not care. Tiffany and her gang were super rich kids. Their parents were huge assets to the school. 

But if I endured this, I would be able to go home soon, cry into my pillow for maybe an hour and then try to pretend it all didn’t happen. Plus today was Friday, the weekend was already here. 

“I don’t know why she’s calling us jerks, we care about her. If we didn’t, why would we be bathing her?” Tiffany laughed, and her girls joined. 

Her friend finally opened the can of soda and I mentally prepared myself. A tear slid down my face as the girl poured the cold fizzy liquid over my head. I inhaled sharply and closed my eyes while I sobbed. 

Yeah, this was my life; a complete bag of dog crap. 

I made sure to put aside my tote bag because my books and stuff were inside, I did not want them to be destroyed. 

I knew they were laughing and making more crude remarks but I blocked them out. I endured the fizzy drink pouring over me until the can was completely empty. Then I finally lifted my head up and looked at Tiffany. 

She was smiling proudly and did not have a hint of remorse in her eyes. She looked like she enjoyed this. “Time to go, girls. I’m done playing with the poor girl.” She chuckled, and her friends laughed. 

I did not say anything. My blouse my soaked and soda was still dripping from my hair. I watched them walk away until I was left alone in the class. I bend down and picked my tote bag from the ground and breathed out a shaky sigh. 

I just wanted to go home. But that was another place of abuse for me too. I just hope my dad was not there yet. 

He was not really my dad. I have heard him tell the story over and over. When I was a baby, I was left at his doorstep by my parents. He knew them but after that day, he didn’t see them ever again. 

I guess they thought what they were doing was a good thing at the time. Because at that time, the guy was a preacher. He was respected, had influence, money, and a lovely family. But it all went to crap when I was placed in his footstep. 

He and his wife started to fight all the time; I guess she did not want me, but the preacher did. It got worse and worse until she left him and took the kids with her. All he had than was me. 

A few years later, he broke down and started to drown himself in alcohol. He quit being a preacher and slowly lost it all as I grew into a teenager. His entire life changed because of me, and now he was a drunkard. 

So he beat me on almost everything, blaming me for being a demon that destroyed every good thing he had. I endured it. I think that was the only good thing that I was good at; enduring crappy things. 

But tonight was going to be different. Because tonight was the night of the Moon Festival. It was held on a night every year at the mansion of the Alpha and Luna of our pack. It was when all the werewolves would gather together to celebrate the Moon goddess. 

It was also a night that was popularly known as the night that most werewolves found their mates. But one had to be eighteen to attend. Well, a month ago was my eighteenth birthday; I spent it scrubbing the floor and being cursed at by my father, but at least I was not old enough to find a mate. 

A mate could save me from all this. A mate could save me from my life of misery and humiliation. And that was why I had already planned to go to the festival tonight. 

With my tote bag in my hand and soda-soaked clothes, I headed out of the classroom and into the hallway. There were only a few people there, most had gone home already. They all had their eyes on me. 

“Irs, girl. Is that a new look? It’s hot!” One of the jocks said and then whistled. 

I rolled my eyes deep in my head and continued to walk away until I was out of the building. My house was not far from the school so walking was not too bad. And even if it was very far away, I would have had no choice but to walk too, so yeah. 

I walked under the evening sun until I finally reached home. I took the key from the flower pot and unlocked the door. My dad was not home yet and that made me so relieved. I really could not deal with him and his abuse right now. 

When I was in the house, I closed the door and placed the key in the small box we had in the house. I went straight to my room and changed. But I did not shower. I still had a lot of cleaning to do so I could not. 

When I was changed, I came out of my room and proceeded to do my chores. I could not do them every school morning because I had to be early. I was on a scholarship and I could not afford to mess it up. 

I think the scholarship was the only good thing in my life. 

I still had enough time, the festival did not start for another three hours. I used two of those hours to do all my chores and then made rice and stew for eating. When I was done, I enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment, and excitement boiled in me each time I thought of the festival. 

I could finally be free of this life! Imagine a hot man; my knight in shining armor, being my mate and just sweeping me away to a life of luxury, love, and happiness. The thought alone made me giddy and filled me with hope!

I went back to my room and finally showered. After that, I got ready and wore a nice dress. I mean, it was old, had some marks on it, and faded, but I loved it anyway. It was the nicest thing that I had. 

I brushed my hair down and wore lovely modern sandals. As for the sandals, they were new, but I did not buy them; neither did someone buy them for me. I unapologetically stole it from Tiffiany’s bag last week. 

I never steal. It was just not something that I did. But I made an exception last week, and boy oh boy, regret was not the emotion that I felt. 

I admired how I looked in the full-length mirror in the corner of my room. From the view outside the window, I could see that it was now night. The full moon sat magnificently in the sky and emitted light. 

I breathed out a short sigh and then headed out of my room. It was time to leave. It was time to find my happy ending. I hummed happily as I approached the front door. As soon as I reached for the knob, it started to shake and my heart skipped a beat. 

I cursed under my breath and took a few steps back until the door opened, revealing the drunkard that I referred to as dad. He walked in and closed the door behind him. He had a silly smile on his face and a great stench of alcohol emitting from him. 

His eyes were bloodshot and he did not have a good balance. It was obvious that he was wasted. He ran his eyes over me and then chuckled dryly. “You’re going somewhere?” He did not sound angry. 

Having to deal with him was always scary. Because one minute he would be acting nice and smiling and the next, he would be beating me with his belt. 

“Yes, dad,” I replied to him in a small tentative voice as I played with my fingers in nervousness. 

“Oh, come on.” He laughed lightly. “So you’re going to leave your old man alone here? Go into my room and get us the puzzle so we can work on it together. It would be fun.” He flashed me a smile. 

“Dad, I don’t have the time to play puzzles. I have to get to the Moon festival before it gets too crowded,” I informed him in the most polite tone that I could muster, afraid to trigger him. “I’m eighteen years old now. Don’t you think it’s time for me to find a mate?” 

He glared at me for a few seconds and then his eyes hardened. He spat in my face and that was when I knew that I was in for some real crap. “So you rather go out and look for a man than spend time with me? Iris, I’m the one that took you and gave you everything even though it cost me my marriage and my good life!” He took a step closer to me. 

“I’m sorry,” I immediately apologized, but he was not having it. 

“You think because you’re eighteen so that means that you can be a sl*t now?!” He was yelling and my entire body was shaking due to fear. “You’re not going anywhere!” He quickly reached for my neck with a strong force that had me gasping sharply.