Bruised but Unbroken

Freya’s POV:

“Crack!” The sound that erupted from Vanessa’s hand landing on my face rang in my head once again. I stared at the mirror. It was red and swollen. 

Sigh! I opened the fridge, took out an iced water, and placed it on the cheek. The door flung open almost immediately and Leni scurried inside.

“Tell me it’s a lie.” She asked. Her reddened eyes bulged out of their sockets.

“What’s a lie?’

“Don’t feign ignorance with me, lady. I heard Vanessa slapped you!” Her voice came out sharp, and I could hear every form of anger and annoyance in it.

I scoffed. A slow grin spread across my face.

“And I wonder where you got that from,” I said, forcing a smile on my lips.

“Freya, please. Don’t try to downplay it, okay? Or you want to lie about your swollen cheek?” She muttered, waving her index finger right at my face.

Right! My cheek! It was swollen and anyone could see the hand prints from a distance. There was no way I could convince Leni that it was an accident from work.

“I…” I stuttered. My voice screeched as I tried to fight the tears that threatened to pour down my cheeks.

Leni grabbed my hand. She slowly dragged me to the bed and sat beside me.

“Stop being passive, Freya. Don’t give these people what they want. I mean you are also a werewolf, and by no means inferior to them.” She mumbled, rubbing her warm palm against my hand. She turned my hand, and dragged her finger against the callouses that had formed on my fingertips. Working at the autoshop had made my hand develop some blisters. 

Leni took a deep breath.

“You should consider fighting against those who had made it their life mission to pick on you.” She grumbled, and got up from the bed.

“Where are you heading to?”

“I am going back to work. I slipped away when I heard something happened to you. It will be terrible if my boss notices my absence.” She replied to me, sliding into her rabbit slippers.

I also got up. “Thank you, Leni.” I mumbled, forcing a smile.

“I will be back with some ointment for your fingers. It will work for those blisters.” She said, and I watched her walk away, slamming the door shut behind her.

My mind drifted to the previous night. Declan and I. How our lips met. Right in front of my house. I slowly placed my finger on my lips, and I wondered if he had done that intentionally.  I could still feel his warmth, his refreshing scent that filled my nostrils as our bodies collided. But then, there was Vanessa. 

 

I shook my head frantically. What was I thinking about? He was the son of the man who murdered my parents. I would be a bastard to think anything special could happen between us. I shook the thoughts off my head immediately. 

My stomach rumbled, and that was when I realized I hadn’t eaten all day. I glanced at my bedclock. It was three in the afternoon, and a perfect time to grab some lunch.

I took a face towel from the drawer to cover my cheek with. 

Suddenly, I felt something inside of me rumble, and I crashed to my knees almost immediately.  Thick veins that looked like tree branches became visible underneath my skin, pulsating heavily as hot blood coursed through my body and my heart threatened to shut down. My eyes became bloodshot red, and everything inside the room formed bloody-red images in my brain.

I could feel hot air dissipating from my body, and for the first time in my life,  my body was covered in golden furs. Then I heard a loud rumble, then another which was reduced by an octave, and the last I heard was a low growl before everywhere became increasingly blurry, and went fully dark in a split second.  

….

“Freya! Freya!” A voice called out, followed by a tap on my shoulder. I slowly lifted my eyelids. A young teenage boy knelt beside me, his oval face spreading across mine. I slowly sat up against the wall, staring all over my body. No golden fur. No thick veins. Everything about me was normal, as if something strange did not happen hours ago.

“Are you alright, Freya?” Quinn asked, taking a seat right on the floor beside me.

I threw my gaze at him and smiled.

“Why are you here?” I asked softly.

“I need you to help me with an assignment. I just couldn’t get it no matter how hard I tried.” He uttered, taking out some books out of his backpack. I looked at his school work. It was about Algebra, the easiest topic for me back in school.

“Here it is…” I mumbled, and walked him through the process. 

“Thanks Freya. And I am sorry about your face. I heard about what happened.” He said in a  solemn voice. I took his hand and smiled.

“Thank you. Now hurry back before your mum begins to find you.” 

He nodded his head, and ran out of the room. It would be great trouble for Quinn if his mother learns he was with her. No one wants to be associated with her, the dirty blood!

My mind flashed back to what happened earlier, and I began to wonder if that was the wolf I used to know. Since I was a pup, I have seen many people change into their wolves, flaunt their wolves’ beautiful colors and transform back to humans. It was a different case for me. Asides, being bullied for being a bad-blood, I probably had the ugliest wolf in the pack, and it made me wonder if Vanessa’s words were true. If I was truly a mistake left over from a traitorous bloodline.

I took a deep breath. There was no other way around this. I must avoid Declan and everyone around him completely.

A loud growl suddenly erupted into the air, causing my heart to jump into my mouth as I sprang on my foot.