Three

/-Sophia-/

Pain. 

Hurt. 

Humiliation.

That was just the order of my life now. There was no reason for my smile anymore, not that I have ever smiled before. 

Nothing for me to hope for. 

I just wanted to shut my eyes and never wake up. Who knows, maybe that would numb the pain in my heart.

At least in death, I couldn't feel anything. Not even this emptiness. 

I didn't even have the courage to go to school. If home alone was hell, how would I cope in the midst of more than three hundred thousand assholes? Yes, our pack was the third largest under the lycan king of the south.

The young adults loved drama. They loved to see others crumble so my situation was going to be their everyday amusement. 

But staying back wasn't even an option either. I had to go whether I liked it or not and hoped they would just leave me alone. 

I got dressed and picked up my backpack. Joel was already waiting downstairs for me. 

“Sophia!” He exclaimed, pulling me into a hug. “I'm so glad you're okay.” 

My eyes watered. 

How could he even say that with everything going on? Did I look okay to him?

“Yes,” I answered instead. I wasn't going to bug him with my problems. His presence was already enough consolation for me. 

I don't know how long we hugged but I wasn't ready to let him go, yet. I was reminding myself that despite how horrible things turned out to be, there was still someone who genuinely cared about me. 

“I'm sorry for what happened to you, Sophie. You are a beautiful soul and deserve all the happiness in the world,” he said.

I wish the goddess thought so too; then maybe she would have mated us, and this wouldn't hurt so much.

We walked together to school in silence. It felt like there was so much to say and nothing to say at the same time. 

“Do you want me to walk you to class?” He asked.

“No, we are already late. If you walk me, you will be extra late so get your ass moving,” I said. 

“Fine. I'll see you later.” 

Once he was gone, I sucked in a deep breath. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought. 

Maybe I should go home and bury myself in chores instead of facing all these people.

In the end, I found myself walking to class. I was receiving strange stares but I tried my best to ignore it. 

This was a large school, and wolves from different packs attended it, so there was no possible way everyone would have known about it that fast. 

I wasn't even a popular person in school. I was that invisible nerd that no one cared about. 

On getting to class, all eyes fixated on me. It was as if they knew what happened. Their knowing stares and the taunting look in their eyes were enough proof of that. 

“Miss Everest, how nice of you to make time to join us,” Mr. Matthew, our etiquette teacher, said sarcastically.

“I'm sorry, sir. I woke up late,” I apologized.

“I'm sure you did. Get in,” he said dryly and I scurried inside immediately. I moved to my seat, hoping to move on from the embarrassing moment, but as soon as my bum touched the seat, it gave out, and I went crashing to the floor. 

The class blew up with laughter.

“Everest, I will not have you distract my class!” Mr mattehew snapped and I got off the floor, mumbling an apology.

To cut the story short, my day was terrible, and I couldn't wait for classes to be over, but when the bell rang for recess, I got another surprise.

My image was drawn and hung everywhere in the hallway and they were all from the night where Levi rejected me. My birthday!

They were all laughing and pointing and I just wanted to burst into tears. 

Why was life being so shitty and unfair to me? 

What exactly did I do to deserve all this? It was not my fault that I got separated from my parents during the war and no werewolf family in the pack agreed to adopt me like they did the rest of the children who were piled at the same time I was.

My question went unanswered of course.

After classes, I just wanted to return to my room, but I couldn't because, apparently, I had training. We needed to learn how to protect the future Luna.

“You're early!” Lucy walked towards me. “I didn't think you would have the face to show up for practice.” 

I said nothing to that. She was looking for a way to mock me and I wasn't going to give her that satisfaction.

“Doreen, you go with Everest,” she said, blowing the whistle. 

Doreen was three times my size and stronger but who was I to complain? I headed to pick a sword and froze when I realized there were real weapons.

Was she being serious?

“Is there a problem, Everest?” She called when I stood there for too long. 

“I don't understand…” I turned to her. “These are real weapons.” 

“Of course, sweetheart. You didn't think we would use toys forever, did you? Yeah, the enemy is not going to come to you with wooden weapons,” she stated. 

“But…”

“But what? If you had transformed like the rest of the girls, we would be training your wolf, not you,” she retorted.

If the aim was to make me feel less of myself, then she succeeded. 

“If I were you, I would work hard so I don't become a liability to others in time of need or, most likely, the first to get killed when we get attacked any day,” she said cruelly. 

I swallowed thickly, taking in Doreen’s size once again. 

“Don't worry, she'll go easy on you,” Lucy said, walking away. 

I picked up the weapon, gulping hard. The whistle blew and she dashed towards me. I wasn't going to try fighting back. 

This wasn't the normal training. I was going to sustain actual injuries, not just a few punches. 

Which is why I took to my heel. She was relentless and chased me with a killer look in her eyes. 

Another sign that she was out to draw blood. 

“Stop running and fight, Everest,” Lucy yelled but there was no way I was going to listen to her. 

I was confident she did this on purpose, and Goddess helped me; I wasn't going to let that thing get close to me. 

As I ran towards her, Lucy stretched her arm and because I did not see it on time, I slammed into it, falling to the ground.

Doreen caught up with me at the same time and before I knew it, the sword came at a rapid speed. 

I rolled away quickly, it slashed my hand. 

At the sight of blood, a smirk played on Lucy's lips.