Chapter 1 - 5 days until Lottie's 18th Birthday  

Lottie’s POV     

The crowd surrounded us. They were laughing and cheering. Amber, my high school tormentor, stood above me at the cafeteria table, the crowd encouraging her to continue. I just put my head down and accepted whatever she wanted to do to me. I wanted to retaliate; I wanted to fight back. But it would be an unfair fight.    

She slapped me a few times before she picked up the juice off my lunch tray and poured it over my head. She then grabbed a handful of food and smeared it into my hair. I just gritted my teeth and took it. The laughing and heckling got louder. She grabbed more food and done it again. People started throwing food at me. ‘She’s human, she’s human, she’s human, she isn’t worth it.’ I chanted to myself. It was all I could do to control my rage.    

She grabbed my hair, forcing my head back, sneering into my ear. “You truly are a pathetic loser.”       

Amber has been bullying me for years. I was always an easy target for her, as I never fought back. I closed my eyes and kept telling myself repeatedly, ‘she’s human, she isn’t worth it.’         

I heard her before I could see her. Screaming and shouting at people to “get out of my fucking way!” I knew she would come, eventually. Caren is my protector in the human world, my best friend, my sister.         

Looking up through my sodden hair, Caren squared up to Amber. Not an ounce of fear in her voice. She jabbed a finger into her chest. “What the hell do you think you’re doing and who the hell do you think you’re doing it too?”          

Amber smirked at Caren. “Your sister is pathetic. I didn’t like the way she looked at me.”           

Caren looked at her straight in the eye and snarled, “Well, I don’t enjoy breathing the same air as you, but here we are.” I wanted to burst out laughing, but I faked a sob instead. “If you ever look in her direction again, I will make sure you need another nose job.” Caren snarled at Amber.    

When the crowd started disappearing, Caren said a few words, then put her arm around me. “Oh, by the way, Amber. You should do something about that rash on your face. It’s disgusting.” I looked up to see what Caren was talking about. Caren has been practicing a lot lately, and it’s paid off.      

Amber’s face had broken out in hives. Her thick make-up wasn’t even able to hide it. Amber looked at her friends, who grimaced. She ran off when she saw their faces. It was pretty bad.      

The bell rang, and the crowd started disappearing. Caren had a huge smile on her face as she whispered in my ear, “You did well.” I smiled as I nodded my head, stating, “she is only human.” We both laughed as she dragged me from my seat. She helped me collect my things, and we went to the girl’s locker room. I was dripping juice all the way there. The janitor was going to kill me.   

I showered while Caren tried to clean my clothes. I struggled to get the food out, but eventually I did. As I stepped out, I could hear Caren shout, “Sorry sis, there is no chance of getting these clothes clean. Do you have anything else to wear?” I did my running clothes, which I usually changed into after school. They were tight-fitting and not anything I would usually wear in public. I usually dress in clothes that are loose and don’t show my shape as I have a toned figure, very toned. I am only 5ft6 and have enough problems with having deep red curly hair and bright green eyes.      

Caren straightened my hair every day for me at home, but once any moisture hits my hair, it brought out my curls. I have no choice right now, so she French braided it. We didn’t need to give Amber another reason to target me today.     

Caren was taller than I was. She stood 5ft 9, with straight blonde hair, and had a toned and athletic look. She was part of multiple sporting clubs, which would explain her physique. Little would anyone believe it was actually because of years of training with me. In school, she was my protector. But at home, I would knock her on her butt, even on a bad day.         

When I finally got to class, I got some whistles and comments from my male classmates, but I shrugged them off. That was why I only ever wore baggy clothes. I wanted to be invisible and blend into the background. Me and Caren shouldn’t be here in this human school, we weren’t human.      

We shouldn’t have been living in this human town, either. But we have no choice. There aren’t any packs or covens that will accept other species than their own. Rather than risking our safety, mom decided it was safest to remain there.      

Millie raised me. She never treated me any differently to Caren. Years ago, Millie told us I was adopted. My real mom asked her to raise me as her own until I was 18 years old. Millie told us there was more to the story, a lot more, but she would only tell us when we were older and ready, as it was quite distressing for her.     

All I knew was my real mom died and Millie owed her. I called her mom. Why not? She raised me. Mom was strict, but she told us we were in danger if anyone found out about us, so we trained against each other. We didn’t know if we were fast or strong, as we had no one else to compete against.    

Caren and I were born a day apart, so mom raised us as twins. No one ever questioned it, as Mom lived here in this human town while she was pregnant.     

Our mom is also a witch, but she is not part of a coven, as her mate was a wolf. Which makes Caren a hybrid. My real mom was a wolf. We don’t know about my dad. My real mom died too quickly to ask. Mom is sure he was a wolf, but she isn’t 100% sure.      

We live in a small house, but we have our own bedrooms. We have one truck between us all. Mom makes sure we have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. But she struggles to provide much more than that. She works full time in a diner. During school breaks, she gets us shifts at the diner and we can buy ourselves any luxuries we want.      

Mom has made a lot of sacrifices for us over the years, which is a shame, as she had power. But that doesn’t pay the bills, as she says. Caren turns 18 in 4 days. I turn 18 in 5 days. After that, we don’t know what will happen or what abilities we will develop. It’s exciting and scary at the same time.