Kaley, Jeanie and Marnie find some way to torture me every single day after that. Some days it’s small things like taking a book out of my hands and shredding it all over the hallway while kids just stand around and watch or the time they pulled my ten page essay out of the pile we were handing forward in english and tearing it into small pieces and handing it back to me with a ‘whoops.’ I had it saved on my computer so I was able to reprint it, but the teacher marked it late and gave me only half credit even though she watched what happened.
My father punished me for being lazy when he found out I handed in an assignment late, again not wanting to even hear my side of the story. I spent the weekend locked in my room, with no meals. It’s times like that when I really miss Mary, she would have snuck me something, even a granola bar. My brother was nowhere in sight when my father was berating me in the kitchen after school that day. Since Mary left he no longer has to pretend to watch out for me, even with our father.
Other times it was physical. Pulling my hair and shoving me into doors and walls is a common favorite. In class, overly full backpack manage to knock me in the head at least once every class, which is why i try to be the last in and the first out when I can help it. She made sure no one ever hit me where marks could be easily seen. I’m pretty sure I have a couple ribs that have been broken so many times, a good sneeze would probably rebreak them. I won’t let my wolf waste energy on healing the small stuff, it’s not worth it, but she makes sure that I’m not in pain for long though. She really is great, her running commentary on the three Barbie wannabes help lift my mood, especially after some of the more harsh beat downs. Kaley knows I won’t let her harm kids in the school, especially the younger ones, she uses this as a way to get to me daily.
My wolf and I have both decided this is for the best though. Even when she has the strongest kids beat on me, my beta lineage can handle it and we heal faster than Kaley thinks. It seems to keep her and her friends pacified to take their frustrations out on me and from targeting other kids in the school. As long as she thinks I’m isolated from everyone and let her pawns target me, she is happy, which means her friends are happy and there is peace in the school. If you can call a calm raving lunatic ‘peace.’
Having my wolf made things less lonely. We figured out how to get out of my room without my father knowing, we hunt for food when he keeps it from me. It’s not so bad, I know that I can survive on my own and in the wild, which sounds nice some days.
That’s what I thought until a new girl showed up mid November. She joined us at our mandatory 5am pack training. All kids in high school were required to train every morning before school to learn to protect themselves, even if you were not a warrior. As we got older the training was divided up into basic training for all pack members, intermediate training for patrols and advanced training for our elite warriors, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and their mates. The ranked members were the most targeted so they trained the most. They are also our strongest, so they tend to be on the frontlines of an attack.
I loved training and went to every one I was allowed to attend, much to my brother’s irritation I was allowed to go to everything being a beta by blood. He would always give me dirty looks when I made eye contact with him. I don’t know why it bothered him and I didn’t really care. I kept my distance from him and all the guys and just did my own thing. I was only one of two females who chose to come to the extra trainings, Carra was a senior and was only here because her father, one of our elite warriors, made her. She came, trained, didn’t talk to anyone and left.
The rest of the females were mates of our current leadership or warriors. The Luna was very nice and a great fighter, she always kept me on my toes and she and the other females would share stories and insights while we were sparring. I didn’t usually get to spar with the males during the elite training, the dads, including mine, were more interested in teaching their proteges. My dad actually did not even acknowledge I was there. But the Luna and the female warriors had some great tips on how to use my small size to my advantage, because many guys underestimate a woman in a fight. It amazed me how short sighted the guys could be. They cherished their mates, praised our female warriors and were feircely protective but in the end their actions showed they thought their ideas were better than a female’s and that they were the true protectors of the pack.
Training was the only time I didn’t have to worry about Kaley, Jeanie and Marnie or any of their other minions messing with me. They weren’t dumb enough to cause the kind of scenes with me that they usually did with the future alphas, my brother and the rest of the future leaders watching. I could be free and be myself, in the back where no one could see me. I have often thought about doing warrior training following school. I even started running the patrol route around the territory in the mornings before training or after school if I need to avoid people or my house. We don’t have a lot of rogue attacks, but they do happen and our border patrol keeps us in close contact with neighboring packs in times of need. I have enjoyed getting to know the patrol warriors and learning what they do as the first line of defense for our pack.
I am a good student, but that is more due to the pressure my dad puts on me to act like my high rank, than actually being smart or caring about school. I also have a ton of free time since I don’t hang out with anyone. Kaley has made sure that no one wants to associate with me on pain of social su*cide.
I was pulled from my thoughts as the lead trainer brought us all in and explained what we were going to do today and then casually said we have a new member joining us. “She is here with her uncle and aunt while her parents are working for the Alpha King.”
That got everyone’s attention, including Kaley, who somehow managed to sit on the sidelines in her short dress and heels, clearly not participating today, like every other day, but she actually showed up today. I still haven’t figured out how she gets out of mandatory training.
This tall girl walked in like she owned the place, her confident stature was what caught my eye first. Her youthful, carefree face, long dark brown hair and bright golden honey eyes told me she couldn’t be much older than me, but the way she held herself and how the eyes of every guy at training followed her very developed and toned body made me smile at the thought of how the Barbies were going to take having competition. I must have made a noise out loud, since she turned around and looked right at me. Delta Kyle told her she could join the group and we would get her up to speed on what we were working on.
Oh no! She walked right up to me and held her hand out. “Sierra, nice to meet you.”
I just stared at her blinking. It took me a second to register what I was supposed to do. She raised her eyebrow at me for my hesitation or complete lack of manners before I caught on. “Oh, sorry, Skylar.” I shook her hand. “I’m not used to people talking to me.” I muttered out awkwardly and quickly let go of her hand, turning back to the front where Delta Kyle and the lead trainer were giving a few more instructions. Mentally smacking myself for sounding like an idiot. She looked at me questioningly, but before she could ask, our trainer divided us into pairs and had us start our warm-up and sparring. He must have decided I was as good a person as any to work with her since she chose me to talk to first and he knows I attend all the trainings we have. Delta Kyle is one of the few people who knows that I want to train to get out of here so he lets me come to the gym and training grounds whenever I want, he even gave me a key to the gate when I started showing up before him.
