Chapter 4

Zeph Pov

The sound of the students who are just dismissed from their classes makes me wake up. I immediately got up from the bench where I am lying. I remembered that I almost fell earlier while trying to reach for the handkerchief that the man gave me earlier.  If it wasn't for the person who owns strong arms, I might have fallen completely. But I couldn't even thank him for saving me because I suddenly passed out. I didn't even see him when I regained consciousness. So whoever he is that saved me I am very grateful to him.

Because of what happened to me, I realized how much I love my life. I thought it would be better for me to die than to be bullied by my kind but I was wrong. Even though my life is like this, I still love life.

After I line up the flower vase well, I hurried down to the rooftop garden and go home to Hillary's house. I'm sure Hillary has now reported to her father and the things she's been saying about me are probably all lies again. So I expected to receive a punishment from Sir Keiver.  And his punishment for me was to whip my back ten times. He always does that every time he punishes me for my mistakes that are often made by his daughter's lies.

Sir Keiver's angry face greeted me when I arrived at their house. The black whip was also ready in his right hand. I swallowed my saliva as I stared at his whip. I can imagine how painful it is after he whipped me again.

"Why do you always make my head hurt, Zeph? You drag my name in shame!" he spoke angrily to me as soon as I entered the living room of their house.

"Sir Keiver, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not guilty of what happened. I'm the victim here. Look at my appearance. I'm totally messed up. The eggs they threw in my body have dried up," I defended myself.

"And what do you mean, Zeph? That my daughter lied to me? That all the things she told me about the bad things you were telling her were all lies?" Sir Keiver snorted angrily at me. I didn't say anything because I know he wouldn't believe what I was going to tell him and his anger toward me will only get worse. "You know what punishment awaits you, Zeph."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before placing my bag on the sofa and then standing in front of him with my back turned. Even before the whip cuts my skin, my mouth started to twitch as if I already felt the pain. For a few more days I will have to endure pain in my back when I take a shower. I bit my bottom lip hard as the first lash of the whip landed on my back. I felt like something sharp was cutting my skin.  Even though I have received this punishment many times since childhood until now, I am still not immune to the pain of the whip that makes me out of breath. 

I suddenly fell on the floor when Sir Keiver gave me three consecutive whippings.  I wanted to scream in pain but instead, I just bit my lips tightly. Once I scream, Sir Keiver will only intensify his whipping on my body. What he was doing was interrupted when Darla suddenly approached him and nervously spoke to him.

"S-Sir Keiver, Alpha Hunter is here," Darla announced to Sir Keiver. Darla is a maid but she is a neutral werewolf. It means that they have no rank but some of them are rich and powerful but there may also be poor and weak like Darla. But they are not like me who is an omega, the lowest rank in our race. The unlucky werewolf with no destined mate. Because I am destined to be alone. That's the curse of being an omega. After I die, our race will totally vanish in this world.

"Hunter! Why are you here? Are you visiting me?" Hillary asked Alpha Hunter as he entered the living room of the house. I breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow Sir Keiver stopped whipping my body so I could rest from the pain even just for a second.

Good afternoon, Keiver," Alpha Hunter greeted Sir Keiver. Alpha Hunter ignored Hillary's greeting to him so I'm sure she is now frowning.

Alpha Hunter's voice was familiar to me. I wanted to look at him so I could see his face but I knew that if I turned around it would only increase the number of Sir Keiver's whippings on my body so I just remained bowed while sitting on the floor. 

Alpha Hunter's companions greeted Sir Keiver. They greeted him with respect in their voices because Sir Keiver was higher ranked among the three of them.  Asher, Sami, and Ruyi are Alpha Hunter's trusted friends. I know them because I have seen them several times at school. Besides, the three of them are popular in our school, especially Alpha Hunter. They are always talked about because of their elegance and courage. They are always sticking together but I don't know why I haven't seen Alpha Hunter's face even just once.

"Good afternoon too, Alpha Hunter, and also to the three of you. I'm sorry for the scene you witnessed in my house. I'm only punishing this slave of mine so that she will not repeat the same mistake she made," Sir Keiver speaks with his visitors. "What can I do for you, Alpha Hunter?"

"I will just get back something that belongs to me. And that thing was in your slave's hands," Alpha Hunter replied to Sir Keiver.

Something that belonged to him was in my hands. What is he talking about? No matter how much I think, I can't think of anything that belongs to our alpha that was in my hands.  

"And what did my slave steal from you, Alpha Hunter? Just tell me and I'll cut off Zeph's hands so she won't steal again," Sir Keiver asked in an angry tone, not for the alpha but for me. I suddenly felt nervous. What if Sir Keiver cut off my hands? I didn't steal anything from our alpha. I'm not strong and brave enough to steal from him and most of all I can't steal from anyone.

"Not only that you have bad manners but you're also a thief, Zeph," Hillary spoke to me in an insulting tone then turned to her father. "Come on, Dad. Cut off one of Zeph's hands so she can't steal again. Your name will be ruined because of her so do it now."

"Oh, no. Don't misunderstand her. The thing that I'm going to get from her is my handkerchief. I left my handkerchief on the rooftop and someone told me that Zeph picked it up so I went here to get it."

I have Alpha Hunter's handkerchief. I didn't pick up any handkerchief from the rooftop earlier except for the handkerchief given to me by the man whose face I didn't see. He gave it to me to wipe my tears and I didn't pick it up. My eyes suddenly widened as I realized that maybe the man who gave me the handkerchief earlier on the rooftop was none other than Alpha Hunter. With that in mind, I raised my head and turned around. My eyes met the deep golden eyes of our alpha. Everyone is right that our alpha is so handsome.  Because now that I have seen his face I can say that he has a perfect face. From his thick eyebrows, beautiful deep golden eyes, sharp nose, and kissable red lips. I never thought I will see a werewolf with such a handsome perfect face.

"Alpha Hunter's handkerchief is with you, Zeph? Give it back to him right now," ordered Hillary while looking at me sharply. I stopped staring at Alpha Hunter's face when Hillary spoke. I hurriedly took the handkerchief from my bag to give it back to our alpha. But I stop when I suddenly think that I didn't get back the handkerchief when the wind flew it away. But my furrowed when I see the handkerchief inside my bag. I vividly remembered that I didn't get back this handkerchief because I almost fell and fainted. Then who put this inside my bag? I gently shake my head. It doesn't matter who puts it inside my bag. The most important is I can give it back to the owner.

"This is the handkerchief I have and I don't know who owns it," I said to Alpha Hunter while showing the handkerchief I was holding. I am not sure if he and the man who gave me the handkerchief are the same because I have never seen their faces and it is just my wild guess that the two of them are the same person. 

Alpha Hunter steps closer to me and then held out the handkerchief. "This is my handkerchief," he answered while staring straight into my eyes.

Suddenly, my heart beat faster as I confirmed that Alpha Hunter and the man who gave me the handkerchief are the same.  But why did he lend me his handkerchief? I am just an omega slave. And didn't he call me "losers" when he passed by me on the stairs of our school building?