Talons

Chapter 3: The Bully

Colton’s POV

I don’t know why I just did that.

I cannot stand the little freak that has my father breathing down my neck all the time, but not enough to kill her. I have tossed her around a few times in the past, but never anything that would seriously hurt her.

She was always able to bounce back up and run away, but this time I've taken my disgust for her too far.

Everyone knows that Brain is weak and pathetic, yet my father keeps comparing me to her.

I'm not stupid, so I know it's not because I'm as smart as she is; he just likes to use her as an example to remind me that I'm useless, and he knows that I hate it.

Everything about the girl irritates me; her hair is never combed and almost always smells burnt.

Her eyes are too big for her face, and because of their shape, looking at her makes me think of an alien from a cartoon.

She's always sneaking around; hiding in the woods and sh*t, which is none of my business, but I know that my pack will be dragged into a war if something happens to the brat.

Even if she is ‘mentally challenged,’ a rival pack would pick her up for ransom in a heartbeat, and a rogue would do worse.

I quickly rush into the boys’ room to wash my hands of any specs of blood. I know the other wolves in the school will smell it soon, and I do not want any traces on me. Brain is the daughter of an alpha, and my parents tell me that I will be mated to one of her sisters; either by fate or by force as my father puts it.

If the little sh*t goes opening her mouth to anyone, I know it will put a strain on our pack relations.

Already as it is, both of her sisters have pulled their attention away from me. I haven’t figured out why, but I can’t have Brain telling them anything that would make them fully turn their backs on me. Especially now that Dolton has been shipped to the UK to take over our grandfather’s pack.

If my father finds out that I'm the one who hurt the r*tard he will, no doubt, skin me alive.

Not only are we in an alliance, our pack shares a border with Brain’s father’s pack, and my father wants us to be united by blood to increase our influence and territory. He is hoping that somewhere along the lines, the two packs will become one, he's even chosen a name for it: Iron Claw or some sh*t like that.

If it happens, my father probably won't be alive to see it, but he hopes to be. If not, he wants to be remembered in werewolf history as one of the founders of the largest pack in North America.

Something like that will put prestige on our bloodline, and eventually set my children or my grandchildren up for a position on the werewolf council.

It's a high honor, one my father cannot achieve for himself, but has not given up on.

Done washing, I come out of the restroom and start heading toward my class. I'm always late so there will not be much suspicion there, but I slow when I see a group of my classmates, mostly wolves, standing and gawking at something.

It takes a moment for me to realize that there are paramedics in the school, and they're putting someone on a stretcher. I know who the person is, but I still ask a student near me for confirmation.

“People are saying that somebody beat the crap out of Brain. I didn’t see it, but they said she was barely breathing when the ambulance was called.” I winced at the words.

Because I was so worried about getting in trouble, I didn’t check to see if her injury was serious enough to risk being punished.

“She's a wolf, she'll live,” I coldly reply, but the boy I'm talking to shakes his head.

“My father is a pack doctor. He told me that brain injuries are the only ones that humans and wolves suffer from alike. If it had just been a scrape to the head, she would have been fine, but I saw them try to wake her with smelling salts. She showed no reaction, she’s out cold.” I walk away, thanking the goddess that there are no cameras in the school.

I get to my car just in time to see the medic carrying Brain out on a stretcher while her sisters scramble behind them. Raven is crying while asking anyone if they saw what happened, but Robin is eerily calm.

I swear she made direct eye contact with me before climbing into the ambulance with her sister.

I can only pray that Brain does not wake up, and if she does, I hope that she's smart enough not to remember what happened today.

Robin’s POV

I was in math when the strong odor of blood came wafting in the classroom. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up because I recognized the scent.

Brain is always ‘tripping and falling,’ so the smell of her blood is familiar to me.

I know that she is a tough girl, but there is no way the amount of blood I smell is from being clumsy, not that I believe she is in any way. Someone is hurting my little sister, and I have yet to figure out who.

Raven thinks I am overreacting, but I know that Colt has been cruel to Brain, and I think it's him.

However, I have never seen him touch her, and she has never said anything about him.

I used to want Colt as a mate, but the way he treats everyone at school has made him unattractive at the least.

I raise my hand, and excuse myself to the restroom, every wolf in the class knows I'm lying. I was just the first person to figure out how not to alert our human classmates or teacher that something is wrong.

I follow the scent and I'm horrified to see Brain laying in a small puddle of her own blood. I don’t move her because I can’t tell how serious her injury is.

I’m still a few months from sixteen, and I haven’t been sworn into the pack, so I can’t link my father, but I can link my twin.

Raven comes running toward us, already on the phone with the pack doctor. She's hysterical because she finally believes me and she's blaming herself for not paying attention to Brain when she reached out to us.

Honestly, I see the truth in those words; we were so caught up in being angry with her, that we pretty much ignored the fact that she's still a child.

The pack medics who come do not look pleased about being sent to help Brain, and I have to remind them that she, like me, is the daughter of their alpha. That seems to trigger them into compliance.

One of the men holds something underneath Brain’s nose, but she shows no reaction toward it.

I watch them put a brace around her neck and move her onto the stretcher. I know they thought she was faking being unconscious. I have seen the stuff the medic used on Brain being used during training.

Warriors who are beaten too badly like to stay down so they can be carried away rather than to see the humiliating stares of witnesses, but Brain is not a warrior.

I follow the medics out, and I don’t bother asking for their consent to enter the transport. I respect authority, but the way they looked at Brain when they first arrived did not sit well with me, and there is no way I'm allowing them to take my little sister away unattended.

Raven is freaking out behind me, and I want to turn around and strangle her because even if anyone saw anything, no one is going to talk. To ignore a ranked pack member when they need help is a practically a death sentence.

Besides, I feel like I already know who would be bold enough and sick enough to hurt a little girl, but I don’t have proof.

Outside of the school, I feel an icy gaze on me, and I look up just in time to see the very person who I think is responsible.

I link Raven, telling her to get in, and the medic shuts the door behind us.

“This is our fault,” Raven cries, and I can’t even disagree with her.

“This is the first and the last time anything like this will ever happen to her,” I reply.