Talons

Chapter 2: The Injury

Rhea’s POV

Two years have passed, so now I am in my second year of high school. I am a lot smaller than most of the other students, humans, and wolves alike.

I know part of the reason is because I am at least three years younger than everyone, but I also know that I am growing slower than my sisters.

Raven and Robin were taller than me when they were my age. I know this because my mother is the type that marks out our height on the door frame and writes the date above it.

Lark is eighteen and has almost completed alpha training, but our mother still makes him submit to her pastime, telling him that people can grow until age twenty-one.

I walk toward my locker, ignoring the sniggers I get as I pass by my classmates. They hate me, and apparently, they were counting the seconds until my brother graduated so they could harass me.

No one is physical though; just taunts and jeers. It's probably because my sisters are in the same grade, and even though their group doesn't include me, our 'relationship' counts for something.

I switch the books I am carrying and overhear a conversation about me. After the explosion that cost me my eyebrows, which took nearly a year to grow back by the way, I figured out how to mask a wolf's scent.

My pack now sells my ‘concoction’ to other packs in our alliance, and we have never been hated more.

You would think our allies would have been happy, but no. They want the formula, which I have never written down and will never sell. No one knows that I make the scent blocker, but everyone has their suspicion, and with it, their ire.

“Her parents should really disown her.” Colton is talking to his future beta, and another boy who may be his gamma or delta. “She's so weird that her own sisters ignore her.” They laugh before one of them throws an insult at Colton.

“You better be careful man; our packs are close. She could end up being your mate.” The boy is joking, but disgust flashes across Colton’s face, and I just so happen to make eye contact as it does.

“I can’t be that unlucky, but if I am, I will give her to my pack. I’m sure they will have fun playing with her.” Bile rises in the back of my throat as I take in exactly what Colton is hinting at. I am twelve, not an i***t. “You got a problem with something I said freak?” I stiffen because he must have seen the putrid face I made. I start walking quickly with my head down, but Colton pulls my arm back toward him. “Didn’t you hear me r*tard?” I shake my head.

Of course I heard him, but my mind draws blank from terror. Colton’s bullying has only gotten worse over the last year, and with it, my fear of him. He repeats himself, making sure to stare into my eyes as he speaks, carefully gauging my face for a reaction. Tears fall on their own, and he lets me go with a grin.

I run toward my sister’s class, but as soon as she sees me with a wet face, she rolls her eyes and walks into the classroom. Colton wasn’t lying when he said that my sisters don’t speak to me.

They are angry because they say that I'm selfish for keeping the scent blocking formula a secret, and they think I am causing a rift between peaceful packs, but I don’t see it that way at all.

Our neighbors sell manure from their livestock to us, and to me, the scent blocker is in the same category.

Seeing that I will not get any help from Raven, I try to find Robin, but the first bell rings and I make a mad dash for my own class. I don't even want to think about what will happen if I'm caught by Colton alone in the halls.

The school day passes, and I literally sprint to my mother, who is waiting in a car. She knows that I am having a tough time in school, but since there is a good chance that Colton will be fated to one of my sisters, I haven’t said anything.

They already dislike me, and I don’t want them to feel like they must choose between me or their mate in the future, not that they would choose me anyway.

Also, Colton is careful with the things he does now. He doesn’t actually hit me, he just likes to play mind games with me, and he is extremely good at getting me to 'accidentally' fall, so even if I told on him, there would not be much to say.

I also know that both of my sisters have a crush on him. I overheard them speaking in their room one night, and while neither one was against the idea of Dolton as a mate, they were both thrilled by the possibility of having a ‘strong’ partner like Colton.

It was also during that conversation that I learned how at least one of my sister’s felt about having a ‘retarded’ relative. I don’t even have to wonder where they picked that insult up from, because Colton was the first person to call me that and it must have stuck.

A year passed by in much the same way. A sneer from my sisters here, and an eye roll there.

I have retreated into myself almost fully, but my mother does not allow me to collapse. She knows something is going on between my sister’s and I, but whenever she asks, I play it off as if it doesn’t hurt, but it does.

The truth is that it feels terrible to have my siblings turn a blind eye to my torment, and all because it's hindering their ability to remain popular.

I'm not good with expressing my emotions, but they have to be able to see how bad it's hurting me when even our cousin, who lives in another state can tell.

Raven wants nothing more than to be a well-liked and ‘kind’ Luna or beta female, while Robin cannot wait to become a tough and no-nonsense beta female or Luna. They are near opposites of one another, but still share the twin bond, and do everything together, leaving me out.

I hate to say it, but neither of my sisters should ever become a Luna.

They are not fit, and do not deserve the title. Not to say that I am, I can barely hold a conversation, which has only gotten worse now that I am a pack pariah, but at least I know right from wrong.

Targeting the weak is wrong; turning the other way when something bad is happening is wrong.

I am not paying attention to where I am walking in the school hallway, and I accidentally bump into someone.

My nose reacts, and I nearly faint from the fear of realization. Colton is over six feet tall, and I am five-three. He's saying that I made him spill his drink on purpose, and he is barking his annoyance into my face.

I start to retreat, but he follows me as I walk backward, not daring to look him straight on as I search for an escape.

My eyes frantically scan the area for help, but everyone is pushing and shoving away from us.

Colton doesn’t just bully me, he bullies everyone, and even teachers are afraid of him. The bell rings, and I think he is going to leave me alone, but instead, he grabs me, pulls me into a corner, holding me there with a hand over my mouth until the halls are empty.

He snarls an explicit laced warning into my face before grabbing me by my shirt and throwing me out of his way.

I hit my head on a nearby locker and the pain is excruciating. Black spots dance across my vision, and I feel the trickle of a warm liquid run down my cheek. I touch it, and I'm horrified by how much blood is covering my hand. I try crawling away, but Colton already has the back of my shirt.

“I turn eighteen in two years, and we all know that one of your sisters is going to be my mate. If you say anything, and I mean anything, to either of them; I will make sure my mate’s life with me is miserable. Do you understand me freak?” He growls.

I nod before my vision goes dark.