Chapter 3 : A Happy Family

"You must be happy that the future alpha Atlas is your stepbrother now." When I was on campus, Donna approached me and suddenly spoke in a sarcastic tone, I stared straight ahead, keeping my demeanor in front of her.

Where was the fun she was referring to?

Ever since Mom got married, I'd had a horrible, hard day in that house thanks to Atlas' treatment. So I thought I might feel calmer when I came to school, but instead, they came up to me and started talking about Atlas.

They made me tired.

"You've suddenly gotten lucky because your mother married alpha Harry."

I glanced at her as I continued walking. "Yes," I answered hee, not wanting to make things worse or invite more questions if I answered his words with a rebuttal.

She looked at me sarcastically, her face bent and grim. "But you, you must watch your attitude before Atlas. Don't be impudent or even dare to flirt with him." She stopped me in my tracks by stopping right in front of me. "You hear?!" her tone of voice rose. I could tell he was trying to intimidate me. "Don't look for an opportunity to get close to him. If you dare, then your history will be over."

Hearing Donna mention Atlas' name, my stomach twitched uncomfortably, then pushed something up my esophagus, making me want to vomit. I wished my ears were deaf so I wouldn't hear that name. Then, from what Donna was talking about and her seemingly agitated demeanor, I could tell she seemed interested in Atlas. Knowing that, I glanced at Liam. Isn't something going on between them? All this time, I thought that they liked each other.

"There's no way this guy can flirt with Atlas, Donna." I saw Liam's gaze looking at me dismissively, the corners of his lips raised while his eyes narrowed. "Look who he is." He pulled Donna to look at me from the same angle as him. "She's Elsie 'loser Elsie' she's not that great, her very existence is embarrassing. Besides, she has a weak wolf. Not comparable to Atlas, who will be the future alpha replacing Harry's alpha." He then laughed at me, along with Donna. "A woman like her could make someone as great as Atlas glance her way. She's nothing more than an invisible presence."

I averted my eyes from them so that they wouldn't notice my emotions. I clutched the bag I was wearing and tried to endure the insults that made me tired.

Donna touched my shoulder with her finger, then her finger moved to draw a line to my chest. Her eyes stared intently at the movement of her finger, then it lifted up to touch my chin, and she looked satisfied.

"You're right. But still, it's possible that she was ignorant and teased Atlas because she wanted something." Her eyes turned cynical and sharp when she looked at me. "But of course, that desire would be impossible for her. Atlas' tastes are certainly not this low." She removed her hand from my chin and chuckled.

It was true that my mother had behaved differently than before. She no longer bothered me. She had stopped her drinking and had become more emotionally stable. But mom still didn't care about me. She was just busy with Harry. But my life wasn't exemplary either because Atlas, who they called the great werewolf, treated me worse. When at home, Atlas treated me rudely and indifferently. He always called me stupid, loser, lame, and other things that insulted and degraded me.

I was tired of dealing with them; I couldn't stand before them any longer. I looked at the class, trying to end the conversation immediately. "We need to get into class now." I wanted to get the hell out of there and sit in the classroom quietly, I was sick of all the condescending remarks.

Donna ignored my words, "Keep in mind what I said earlier." Donan then turned around while shaking her hair. She took Liam's hand and walked while clinging intimately to him. Donna's actions made me stare coldly at her, at the same time amused by her shameless attitude.

I caught up with them afterward today; we had the same class. As usual, I chose the back row to avoid them. Then, I listened to the class quietly, ignoring those who still took the time to whisper when they saw me. When the class ended, I packed my books and rushed out of the classroom.

But my feet stopped right in front of the door. I was stunned to see Atlas's figure standing there. "W-why are you waiting here?" I asked him hesitantly. My heart skipped a beat at seeing him, and then I suddenly felt panic and fear. I bit my lower lip as I ventured to look at him. I didn't expect Atlas to wait for me in front of the class.

Atlas' presence in front of my class was noticed by the other kids. I felt uneasy as I watched them start whispering about Atlas coming to see me.

Atlas changed his position, and he stood right in front of me with a smile. "What do you mean? We're not family, so where else should I wait for you?" I told you, his face was the type that could deceive others so they wouldn't believe that behind his smile and kind demeanor, a demonic nature was hidden.

"Well, it's lucky that she could go home with Atlas." I heard people whispering around me about the same thing.

I saw the other girls looking at Atlas with excessive admiration. "He's really nice. Atlas is the perfect alpha candidate. His death will be the luckiest Luna." I doubted that. I looked at Atlas again carefully.

They guessed wrong. Atlas wanted to go home with me because he wanted to bully me. He was clearly warning me that he didn't like me and there would be no helping me from his torment.

"Come on, let's go home." He signaled me to walk with him, so I quickly followed her.

Along the way, as people admired us, Atlas, smiling and looking relaxed in front of those people, deliberately gave me excruciating pressure. I looked again at my surroundings, and the situation made me uncomfortable. I could see the sharp gazes of the women fixed on me.

They seemed ready to pounce on me and wanted me to stay away from Atlas.

Those women had really made a mistake. I was sure they would regret ever admiring Atlas as a great man when they learned that Atlas was just a bully who mistreated people. They were no different from Atlas, so they would still accept Atlas. Atlas would never lose his perfection in their eyes.

I lowered my gaze to avoid them. "Don't you hate me as your step-sister?" I spoke softly beside Atlas, who continued walking. "Wouldn't it be better if we didn't walk together?" I glanced at him, and he shot me a cold glare.

"Shut up." He suppressed his voice heavily, his fairy charm now gone and replaced by complete evil. "You're not the one making the decision. You just need to do as I say."

"Elsie!" A loud voice in the left corridor drew my attention there, as well as Atlas's. I saw the professor who taught one of my subjects move his hand to call me.

I looked at Atlas doubtfully. "I have to see him. He's the professor who teaches me." I left as soon as I said that to him, without looking back to see Atlas. I felt grateful for what the professor had done at the perfect time. Although I could feel Atlas still standing silently behind me and staring intently at my back.

After doing what my professor asked me, I went home by public transportation. Once I got home, I saw that many of Atlas' new friends were my age, and most were girls. They looked at me sharply and sarcastically. I could feel that their reaction to me was one of dislike.

"Look, the loser is coming." The woman smiled at me.

While the others joined in the laughter. "That bitch, she's really sickening," another scoffed.

I stood silently in front of the door for a moment, staring at them. Their words aimed at annoying me really succeeded in irritating me. I squeezed the bag I was holding tightly to ward off the annoyance, anger, and sadness that had become one. Then I quickly accelerated out of the downstairs, heading for my room. While inside, I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, leaning against the door. Only then did I lock my room tightly. Even so, I could still hear their noisy babbling downstairs, so I buried my body in the bed and covered my head with a pillow. I didn't want anything to do with them.