ARIA
At 6 am sharp I am on the field and if I had any kind of good feelings towards the warlock yesterday, they are completely gone! This man has nothing human about him. The whole morning he is making me run, jump, squat and every other physical torture you can imagine. I never complained about my physical shape, I train hard as is. But what he made me do today – I just cannot describe with words.
The worst part was when he decided to check my reaction and started throwing fireballs at me, making me escape them. As a result – my favourite Nike sports leggings now have three holes in them. Damn you, Kingston.
“Sorry I am late,” Hunter appears out of nowhere.
“You are not late, Mr. Forrester,” Lex smirks, “You weren’t invited. I am afraid, we don’t need your services anymore. Besides, you are going to be busy today anyway.”
“How so?” the werewolf arrogantly raises his chin, and I just fall down on the ground to take a breath. I don’t care what their business is, I just want a small freaking break! Although, honestly, I hope they start a fight. Then I will be able to have a few extra minutes.
“Well, you and the werewolves from your pack as well as Silver Crescent pack, have a lot of work today,” Lex turns to face him, “You have a very good library to restore.”
I swear, I could hear Hunter’s inner screech. And I enjoyed it.
“Werewolves from my pack didn’t do it,” he grits through his teeth.
“And yet you were there and didn’t do anything to stop or help the…victim,” warlock says, clearly enjoying every word, “I am just a few days here, Mr.Forrester, but I was informed of the Springwood Academy values and principles. We are trying to educate you to be decent…beings. And you, as the future leader of your pack, have a long way before you to be able to be called decent.”
My oh my! I wish I had popcorn with me.
“Miss Grayson, don’t waste your time, show me 50 push-ups,” the warlock smirks at me and I roll my eyes going on my fours, “So, Mr. Forrester, now you have to “lead” your pack members to clean the library that was destroyed, to categorize books from scratch, put them into the system and… oh, you actually have to build us new bookshelves. And Mr. Leverington from your Design and Technology lessons will take you to the forest later today to chop some wood. You are going to need a lot of it.”
“I’ll sponsor the new bookshelves,” Hunter says sounding like he is on the verge of a breakdown.
“No need,” Lex chuckles, “We had an urgent teachers’ meeting yesterday and decided that it would be best if you sponsor us by your labour. So, off you go. This is going to be a long day for you. And so is the whole next week.”
“It was my mistake,” the werewolf says, “Don’t make my pack members pay for it.”
“Oh, no, Mr. Forrester. This is a valuable lesson for you, really. As an Alpha, you have to learn that your every mistake would make your whole pack pay. This is how it’s going to be in life. And this is what you are going to experience now.”
You know, it’s really easy to do push-ups when you are happy. Really, really easy. I bite my lip not to laugh.
“Tell your girlfriend, Miss Reicher, that she and her pack members also have to join you on this wonderful path of life experience,” Kingston adds.
“She is not my girlfriend anymore,” Hunter growls before throwing one last glance at me and turning to leave, “Tell her yourself.”
“Such a shame,” warlock smirks again, “You two seem perfect for each other.”
“Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty!” I lie (I was somewhere around thirty) and sit up, looking at Kingston, “You do know that after that they will only be angrier at me and will find more ways to torture me, right? So, if you wanted to help me…”
“Who wanted to help you?” he chuckles, “This is a purely educational moment for them. It has nothing to do with you.”
Of course, it doesn’t… Why would I even think that? Somehow, my mood goes down the drain…
“And I know that you are nowhere near fifty,” he adds, “So start from the beginning, Sparkle.”
“Ugh,” I make the first push-up, “Don’t call me that! I hate it!”
“And the more you say it the more I like it, SPARKLE.”
I come back to the dorm completely exhausted. And it’s not even breakfast time yet! As Alexander explained it, he is trying to bring my body and soul to the edge. He doesn’t specify the edge of what, though. But he thinks that I need to be in some kind of special state to have my magic awoken. Sound like a load of bull… But I promised to try and I do.
Taking a quick shower, I pull my uniform on. A fresh set – the one from yesterday is as good as dead. I leave my hair half-dried and thanks to that it starts curling into big soft locks. Just the way I like it.
I run downstairs, luckily not meeting anyone important on my way.
But when I enter the dining hall it becomes very quiet. In fact, it becomes so quiet that you will be able to hear a drop of a pin.
Multiple eyes are on me, and most of them not pleasant.
“Hey, sis!” Kieran welcomes me loudly and gives me a big hug, walking me to the trays. He doesn’t leave me until I have everything I need and walks me back to our table.
“Thanks,” I mumble to him, “I guess you know already.”
“Marissa was pretty loud about it,” Kieran says without bothering that other werewolves around may be able to hear us, “She insists that you attacked her. But she must be a pretty pathetic Alpha to be attacked so easily! Besides, since there were witnesses backing the side of the story where it was actually her who attacked you, her words are irrelevant.”
I say nothing to all that and just start consuming my food when Kieran’s fist slaps across the table.
“Why didn’t you tell me she is harassing you again?!” my brother asks somehow darkly.
“Because I am a big girl and can protect myself,” I answer not looking him in the eye. His friends have tense faces. They are all loyal to him. For them, he is already their Alpha. And since he is keen on protecting me, they all take it to heart. The fact that they are all also from our father’s Royal pack and so am I, also helps. So, I can see that they are in full sync with my brother.
“Aria!” Kieran says loudly, “It doesn’t matter that you have no powers of any kind. You proved again and again that you are the strongest and bravest girl in the whole school! No one can go through what you are going through with such grace! But you are one of us! One of the Royals! And if someone threatens you or tries to hurt you, I need to know! As you brother! As an Alpha! And hopefully, as your best friend as well.”
Oh, isn’t he sweet? I want to tug him on his cheek, but he hates that.
“I am sorry,” I smile at him, “You are right. Next time I will…”
“There will be no next time!” he growls and his eyes turn pitch black, “No one is f*****g touching my sister in this school anymore! Unless they want to lose their f*****g hand!”
In a second, his eyes go back to normal and he smiles at me as if he hasn’t just threatened the whole school for me. Cute! Best brother ever!
And yet he is still too young, optimistic, and naïve. He is not an Alpha of a pack yet and other Alphas such as Hunter and Marissa would only take it as a challenge and an invitation. None of them is ready to submit to him yet.
But luckily, tomorrow is the weekend. And we are going home, where I will be able to relax and take a breath for two full days. Well, one, considering it’s my damn birthday and a big party on Sunday. But I can handle it. Somehow I feel that I can handle it all.
“Of course you can”, a voice at the back of my head agrees with me.
Aksara