The next morning, I don't get up until late. It took me forever to fall asleep even though I'd worn myself to exhaustion worrying over things. Wanting nothing more than to hide under the covers when I returned, but forcing myself to shower to remove all traces of my having been out. I had made it back before curfew, barely.

Since I already get a late start, my siblings are already gone, making the house seem eerily quiet. I don't remember my parents coming in last night, but that isn't uncommon. They tend to spend long hours with the Alphas. Thanks to that now, I can avoid their disapproving glares for being late to school. My stomach is still too upset to grab anything to eat, so it's just a mad dash to school.

On the way I try to think of ways of getting ahold of Faust without everyone else seeing it as well. While I know I'm not doing anything with the male, schoolyard rumors only take one pair of eyes at the wrong time to blow something way out of proportion. So, does that mean talking to him in a crowd would be better? No, not with what I have to bring up to him.

Just about all the bruising and bite marks are gone now. Probably would be completely if my skin weren't so fair and I ate more. Hard to eat though when you seem to have stalkers waiting to pounce on you. Nothing impedes my movement though, and that's what really counts.

Reaching the school, everyone is heading in already. I spot him outside, but when I catch his eye and move to motion that I need to talk to him, he looks away. My ire mounts but then I see my sister move up next to him which has my heart skipping a beat. Well, this just got a whole lot more complicated.

Throughout the day it's much the same as I continue to try. I catch his amusement rise as he sees me try to get his attention, yet it gets intercepted by my sister's glares. She seems to take offense around the third time and starts sending her bullies. By the end of the day I'm once again battered and my patience has reached its limit.

Would seem Myth's has to, since the end of the day finds me in the locker room, after the last class of the day, on my knees after getting a beatdown. This one particularly vicious as I'd snapped at the girl who'd thought she was going to get by with just shoving me and I spat some words back. In return for my scathing words, I now can't breathe and my ribs ache. Can even taste blood from a split lip.

Gathering my ripped up clothes that they left me with, they're barely decent to walk around in, but they're all I have. They totally shredded my gym uniform. With under garments completely gone, I'm left with a tattered T-shirt that's been turned into a belly shirt that would barely cover my chest if my bust were any bigger, and jeans so tattered and ripped it's way beyond threadbare. Slipping them on took several minutes as my feet kept going through everything and once finally on, I can feel way too much air on my rear end.

Looking down, bruising can already be seen forming over my abdomen, which just has my jaw clenching. Defined muscle tone means nothing when up against other werewolves. Even moreso if they take offense to the fact you have a better form than they do, which I think was part of the problem, and hardly my fault. They take what they have for granted and appreciate nothing.

Tears prick my eyes as I leave the room and nearly walk into a hard body. A body belonging to the same person I've been trying to talk to all day, and damn him, he knows it. Keeping my head down, I move around him, but spit out a question with blood still tasting my tongue.

"Tell me, why would a Sigma be looking for you?"

I don't expect an answer, I don't expect him to even acknowledge that I spoke to him, not after how he's been acting all day, so when he steps in front of me, stopping me abruptly, I wince. Catching his arm reaching for me, I back up, crossing my arms over my middle. From the corner of my eye I catch him frowning before his head tilts, listening to me breathing.

Immediately I slow my own heartbeat and control the way the breath leaves my body. My ribs are bruised and possibly cracked, leading to my irregular rhythm that he picked up on. Was it that obvious? Catching his emerald green eyes track over my frame and my hunched stance, my teeth grind as I attempt to side step, but he follows my movement.

"What happened?"

Refusing to answer his question, I in turn become angry, thinking of the danger Marie and her grandmother could be in because of him.

"If my friends are in danger because of you, I'm going to..."

"You're going to what?"

There's amusement in his voice but there is a slip of warning among its tones. Have I forgotten already who this is? And I'm threatening him? Looking to the side in shame, my jaw clenches in frustration. I catch the motion of his head as he again looks me up and down.

"They aren't much for friendship if they beat you."

His voice is hard even as I snort, then grimace at the action.

"They're no friends of mine, just those who take issue with me telling them the truth."

Clenching my jaw once more, I direct it upwards to look at him brazenly and ask my original question again. The question that caused this whole problem to begin with.

"Why would a Loner be in my shop threatening me while looking for you?"

That causes his eyes to harden and he asks what he looked like. After describing the man who'd come in, I explain how I'd tried to backtrack his scent in an effort to find him, yet found the other's scent so they had to have already crossed paths at some point. His eyes narrow and his body stiffens as he steps into me.

"What? Are you insane? Never do that again. That was extremely dangerous and stupid of you..."

A growl slips from me before I can stop it, causing him to cock an eyebrow, but before he can continue, I speak up first.

"After the threat you gave me I had to do something. I couldn't just sit at home and do nothing since you have me pinned between a rock and a hard place with not being able to tell anyone who you are, so I couldn't very well give warning to my Alphas of a dangerous Loner prowling the area."

His eyes widen as he steps back and he's silent for a moment before he finally speaks up.

"I'll take care of it."

Cupping my jaw shows it to still be tender and has me wincing again, yet he rubs a roughened thumb gently down the length of my cheekbone before releasing me and leaving. I watch after him in confusion then head for my locker for the rest of my things before heading to the shop. Though I should probably run home first for a change of clothes.

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✰ \(‾▿‾\) 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔳𝔬𝔱𝔢 (/‾▿‾)/ ✰