Chapter 11

Three weeks later

Honey

We had been living with the Blue Lightning pack for the past three weeks. Since we had been here, Zac had done everything he could to make me an outsider to the other youth members of the Blue Lightning pack. I had made a few friends when we had first started school here, but Zac had driven most of them away by telling them lies about me. He had told them some atrocious things about me which had led to me being bullied by people at school that I didn't even know. It was almost as though, because Zac was the cousin of the future Alpha, that anything he said was instantly believed by everyone. It didn't help that Caleb, Zac's cousin, added fuel to the fire and encouraged everyone to bully me. I now only had one person in this Goddess forsaken pack that I could still call a friend. Her name was Avery and, unlike the other members of the Blue Lightning pack, she didn't treat me badly based solely upon Zac's lies. She was a nice girl, and she was quiet, like me. We had a lot of the same interests. We liked the same music and movies, and read the same books. We even shared a love of art.

I was sitting beside Avery in science class when I felt something hit me in the back of the head. Whatever had hit me was small, but it had hurt. As much as I wanted to, I didn't raise my hand to rub the spot on my head where the object had made impact. I refused to give these people any form of encouragement.

"Are you okay?" Avery asked me through the mind link.

"Yeah, same crap different day. You know how this song goes," I replied.

"Yeah, I don't think these people will ever grow up," she replied.

"The problem is Zac and Caleb. As long as those two continue to encourage everyone else to behave this way, they will continue to do so," I stated, knowing that nothing was going to change. My plan was to leave this pack as soon as I was legally able to. I couldn't stay with these people a moment more than I had too. There was no way that I would ever have peace if I stayed here. Zac had made sure of that. And the thing that bugged me was, I had no idea why he was behaving this way. I had always looked up to Zac for as long as I could remember. I had adored him. He was the big brother that I had wished I had had. Now, I was confused and resentful of him. I had lost everything the night my family's pack was attacked, and he had made it so much worse for me by spreading lies and being a bully,

When the bell rang, signalling the end of class, Avery and I waited until the other students had left the room before we got up to leave. Before we had started doing this, other students used to shove me, trip me, or push me over. Sometimes they would knock my books from my hands. A few times I was even slammed into desks.

The worst part about all this bullying behaviour on behalf of the students body was that I had seen teachers openly watching this behaviour taking place within their classrooms, and instead of interfering, they had chosen instead to remain silent. In the Midnight Sun pack, this kind of behaviour towards any student would have been shut down immediately. Teachers behaving in this manner would have been fired and exiled. However, it seemed that the Blue Lightning pack was okay with their kids being bullies and their teachers being enablers.

Once the room was empty, Avery and I got up from our seats and made our way out into the corridor heading towards our lockers. We always kept our chats to the use of the mind link so we didn't give those around us any fuel to add to this fire Zac had created.

"So, I wonder what stories Zac has been spreading today?" Avery stated, focusing on the path ahead of us.

"Who knows? I have no idea what his problem is," I replied.

"Can't you talk to his folks and ask them to have a word with him?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"Nope. I honestly don't think it would do me any good," I told her.

I felt a sharp pain right between my shoulder blades as I was shoved to the floor. I felt a sharp pain on the left side of my rib cage and my right wrist as I lay there on the cold hard floor. My books and supplies were scattered across the floor and Avery was now picking them up for me. Around me, students were laughing and high-fiving each other. I got to my feet and turned around to see Zac and Caleb standing there laughing at me. I honestly didn't know which one of them had pushed me, but I was willing to bet that it had been Zac.

"What are you staring at?" Caleb demanded.

"A couple of pathetic individuals," I replied, shrugging my shoulder nonchalantly.

"You bitch," Caleb bit out, before swinging his arm and backhanding me across the face, knocking me to the ground once more. Around me, students oohed and aahed, but no one moved. I got to my feet once more, looking at Zac and Caleb. I could taste blood in my mouth, but I didn't care about that at this point.

"Must make the two of you feel tough, hey? Picking on a twelve-year-old girl. Your parents must be so proud of their tough boys. I just think the two of you are pathetic. I am disgusted that I am looking at the future leadership of this pack!" I said, glaring at the two of them. "And the fact that these dumb lemmings," I laughed, sweeping my arm to where students had gathered around and were watching me with their eyes and mouths opened wide, "cannot see just how wrong and pathetic you both are for this behavior, is not only insane, it is downright ridiculous. This pack will be a total joke when the two of you are in charge of it. Hell, as far as I'm concerned, this pack is a joke now," I muttered.

Caleb walked up to me, glaring, "Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me like that?" he demanded.

I smirked at him and turned to walk away, but before I could take a step, Caleb grabbed me by the arm tightly. He swung me back into the lockers and pinned me to them with his powerful forearm. The cold metal of the locker was digging into my back causing extreme pain. But I just bit my lip and endured the pain, determined not to let Caleb see it and use it against me. Lowering his head to glare into my eyes, Caleb bit out angrily, "I asked you a question, bitch."

Knowing that my silence was really getting to him, I chose to remain silent. He couldn't keep me pinned up against those lockers forever. Soon we will have another class to go to too. Once the bell rang, everyone would need to clear the corridor and, with no one to impress, Caleb would get bored. All I had to do was wait.

I don't know how long he had me pinned up against that locker, but eventually the bell rang, and the corridor began to empty as students began to make their way to their next class. Eventually, only Caleb, Zac, Avery and I remained in the corridor.

"Guys, we need to get to class. Caleb, you need to let her go," Avery told him.

"Don't tell me what to do," he snapped, glaring at her.

"Are you serious right now?" Avery asked, looking at him in shock. "Do you want us to be late? What are you going to say if dad gets a phone call from the school about our tardiness?" Avery asked.

"Wait, what?" I choked out, looking at her in shock.

"That's right, you had no idea, did you? She's my sister you idiot," Caleb bit out, laughing at me and my obvious confusion. Zac was laughing too. Avery just looked at me apologetically. Caleb pulled his arm away, releasing me, and I fell to the floor. "See you at home sis," he told Avery before he walked away with Zac.

I sat on the floor for a moment. I was in a lot of pain. My body protested as I got to my feet. I stood there in pain and feeling dizzy. Avery handed me my books and I looked at her and asked, "Was it real? Were you really my friend?"

"Of course I am your friend. How can you even ask me that?" she asked.

"You can't blame me for asking. How do I know that your brother and cousin didn't tell you to befriend me to make this bullying of theirs easier on them," I told her.

"First off, he is my stepbrother. My mother had a mate, my dad. He died when I was four. And Caleb's mother died as well. Our parents are second-chance mates. And secondly, I don't get involved in my brother's business. But I promise you, I am your friend. I will always be your friend. Now, we should get to class," she said, looking around us.

"You go to class. I need to clear my head," I told her, walking to my locker and putting my books inside. Closing my locker, I looked at Avery and said, "I will talk to you later." Before making my way out of the front doors and heading home. I just wanted to be alone.