CHAPTER TWO

Another morning. Another battle.

I stood in front of the mirror, brushing my unruly curls back into a low ponytail and trying to pretend my eyes weren’t swollen from crying myself to sleep again. The bruises from yesterday’s “accidental” shove down the stairs were fading, but the ache in my chest… that never really went away.

I glanced at the clock.

Shit. I was late.

Again.

I grabbed the piece of toast that had gone cold on the counter and sprinted out the door, clutching my bag like a lifeline.

I slowed as I approached the entrance, heart beating so fast as I ran. Going to school shouldn’t be a bad option, I get to escape the early morning bullying but still get reported to the alpha by the teachers for not being serious with school.

I was on a scholarship not because I am intelligent, but because they saw the need to help a pathetic wolf-less orphan.  Every single one of them were bullies, they were never nice.

Don’t make eye contact. Don’t speak unless spoken to. Keep your head down.

Those were the rules.

Mine, not theirs.

They didn’t need rules. They had power. Pack. Wolves.

I had nothing.

As I stepped into the hallway, I immediately sensed it, something was off. Another prank on its way. Whispers buzzed like flies, following me with every step as I took to my locker.

People kept on watching me.

Smirking.

Snickering.

My stomach dropped, because of fear.

This wasn’t their usual bullying.

This was planned.

I reached my locker slowly, heart pounding against my ribs. I knew not to open it but that could worsen the situation.

Please don’t be—

SLAM!

The moment I opened the door, a foul, putrid stench hit me like a punch in the face.

Rotten eggs. Moldy meat. Fish.

Everyone around me burst into laughter.

The entire locker was stuffed with garbage, literal trash soaked in something green and slimy. It oozed down my books and onto the floor.

I covered my nose, eyes stinging from the smell.

“Oh no, Lyra!” a high-pitched voice gasped mockingly. “Did you forget to take out your lunch? Or is that your new perfume?”

Annie.

Of course.

She stood there with a phone in her perfectly manicured hand, filming everything. Marnie and the rest of her little pack of witches howled with laughter behind her.

“Someone tag her in this!” Annie chirped. “Let’s make it go viral: ‘Wolf-less Waste Dumps on Herself.’”

They were already uploading it.

My humiliation served up for the entire pack to laugh at.

“Oops,” Marnie added, feigning innocence. “Guess the janitor’s on break, huh? Poor thing. Guess it’s true what they say, if you don’t have a wolf, you don’t have pride either.”

I wanted to disappear. Melt into the floor.

The horrible smell clung to me even after I slammed the locker shut. I rushed to the nearest bathroom, shoving past snickers and turned-up noses. My hands shook as I tried to scrub my books with wet paper towels, very useless.

When I looked into the mirror, my eyes widened.

Someone had written across my forehead in bright red lipstick.

"Freak Bait."

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Not yet.

“Smile, sweetheart,” someone said from the door, voice dripping with mock sympathy. “You’re famous now.”

I didn’t even turn around. I just scrubbed at the lipstick, hating how I let myself be bullied by these cruel werewolves, should have ran away when I had the chance.

I went through the rest of the day with my hoodie pulled tight over my head. Every classroom felt like a cage. Every hallway, a spotlight. No teacher said a word about the prank. If they knew, they pretended not to.

Being wolf-less meant being invisible.

Until they wanted a target.

By the time lunch rolled around, I’d already made up my mind to skip it. The cafeteria was a battlefield, and I had no armor left.

I ducked into the library instead.

At least here, the shelves didn’t laugh at me.

I tucked myself between the rows of an ancient werewolf history book.

My stomach growled, but I ignored it. Better hungry than humiliated.

For a moment, I let myself imagine I belonged in a different life. One where my parents were still alive. One where I had a wolf, a place in the pack, a mate who looked at me like I was a miracle, not a mistake.

I jolted out of the thought when a soft thud echoed beside me.

A book that was dropped deliberately.

I turned my head and found a pair of dark brown eyes staring down at me.

Theo.

The librarian’s grandson, very quiet, gentle and nice . The only person in this entire academy who didn’t seem to flinch when I walked past.

“You okay?” he asked softly, voice low and uncertain.

No one had asked me that in years.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

He didn’t push.

Just sat a few feet away with a book, not speaking again, but not leaving either.

And for those few minutes, in that dusty corner of the world, I didn’t feel entirely alone.

But the peace never lasted long.

By the time the last period ended, the garbage smell had faded but the whispers hadn’t, people still pointed fingers at me and laughed.

Still, I walked home with my chin high, even though every step felt like dragging broken glass through my soul.

I didn’t cry until I reached my room.

I peeled off the stained hoodie, kicked off my shoes, and collapsed on my bed.

“Happy almost birthday,” I whispered to no one, staring at the ceiling.

Tomorrow, I told myself. Tomorrow everything will change.

It had to.

Because if it didn’t…

I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.