Marked by the bully (Book #1 in bully series)

2. Valentine, the girl saved from a fatal rogue attack

2. Valentine, the girl saved from a fatal rogue attack

14th August 2017,

"So how is that girl, what's her name... Mmmm... Yeah, Valentine!" Clarke asked looking at Ryley as he munched onto his hamburger.

Just after lectures ended, the wild wolves gang was eating lunch by themselves in an empty canteen. This is because after the exhausting lectures, they didn't want to look at the faces of any idiots. They attracted and lured them to come and bully their as *es.

At least, this was the justification they offered everyone for leaving the canteen for them fifteen minutes earlier.

Ryley placed down his cup of cold coffee on the table and shrugged his shoulders "How am I supposed to know that?"

"Oh yeah, we forgot she's neither your girlfriend nor your mate. Why on earth would you keep any information about her." Yeoman, another one from his gang, winked at him.

The rules of Ryley's life were simple— Don't stress your brain for somebody who does not have any place or importance in your life.

"She can die for all I care." He said and his friends chuckled.

Hazel, his girlfriend, gave him a wet kiss on the jaw as if she was proud of his answer. This was the first time Ryley was seeing her smiling face since Valentine, the rescued human girl entered their lives — especially his.

Hazel didn't seem very happy with her rescue. The sight of Valen's blood on his t-shirt and how his father had been asking him to help take the girl to hospital annoyed her. She was angry because last night they were supposed to spend it together but Alpha Hercules required Ryley beside him all the time to help another girl.

"But bro, didn't you say that your father was teasing you with her name and that she could be your mate and blah blah blah?" Zander, Ryley's best friend slapped him on the back and remarked.

He enjoyed seeing Ryley handle an exasperated jealous girlfriend. He continued along, "He is an alpha and I believe he knows things better than anyone else in this pack! There could be s**t like prophecy or stuff or else he wouldn't c***k such a joke on you."

His eyes shone with mischief that was playing inside his head. But one glare from Hazel and he knew it wasn't funny at all.

Her cinnamon eyes darkened to the color of dark chocolate as she seethed in disappointment. Ever since they found Valen everyone in the pack had been talking about her. From her friends to parents, almost every person in the pack.

"You better keep your mouth shut, asshole." Ryley pulled his girlfriend in his lap as he saw her eyes changing color. "My father loves to piss me off. He is aware of my love for Hazel and I think he knows she's going to be my mate. There's nothing new with his teasing. He does that everytime he wants to annoy me."

Hazel curled her hands around Ryley's neck with a boastful grin on her face. She stuck her tongue out at Zander and showed him a middle finger. There was no need to use words to mock him for her finger and her closeness with Ryley was enough.

This made Zander smirk like a devil, "Babe, we both know he's trying to baby you."

"Go to hell, Zander Brown," She flared her straight hair on his face as she pulled Ryley closer to kiss his lips.

"Don 't come crying to me if he dumps you for the hoe he rescued." the corners of his lips stretched up and his friends coughed in shock.

"You manwh*re!" Ryley's eyes blazed amber fire, he put his arms protectively around Hazel and hushed sweet things in her ears as she made a crying face.

Zander eyed him playfully as he mouthed on Hazel's back, 'As long as I am alive I won't let you two stay peacefully.'

Cute face with deadly looks, a muscled body with height same as Ryley's, Zander ran a hand through his thick hair. His blue mesmerizing eyes turned softer as he began to admire the only couple in their gang.

Taking a sip of his black coffee Zander adjusted in his chair as another idea to annoy Ryley struck his head. He said, "I think you also told me she was hot as f**k and her figure made your mouth water."

Hazel peeled her hands away from around Ryley's neck. She pulled his head up to glare straight at his soul as she howled on his face.

"Hot as f**k? So you think she's hotter than me, Ryley Shine?" Her voice was cold and lashing.

Caught between Hazel's burning glare and Zander's mischievous act, Ryley scratched his head. His eyebrows shrunk together and he seemed to think for an answer.

It was good they could not talk using their mind links yet as they were not eighteen now, but Ryley's smoldering stare said that he would have communicated a thousand things adequate to kill Zander mentally over the link.

"Ryley Shine!"

"Y-yes , baby," he replied meekly. "I did say that. But…" Suddenly his eyes seared with confidence as he continued further.

"That's true I told Zander that she was beautiful but as I described her state earlier, she's weak and I really don't think she is going to survive. In fact, she is a wincing little human girl who was crying for help. I can't tell you how annoying it was!" His voice rose defiantly as he reminisced that day again.

Flashback...

"He-l-lp" It was lower than a purr but it was audible to their heightened hearing.

Both the alpha and the doctor stared at each other in shock. The team of soldiers around them froze at the sight of her waist. A chunk of her meat was hanging out of her skin. The blood flowed so rapidly that their boots dug half an inch into it.

"She's bleeding profusely. We must hurry her to the hospital, Hercules." Doctor Jason chose to slice the still air with his shaky and surprised tone.

Ryley was shaken badly to the core as he looked at her body. She was surrounded by her own blood while the piece of her meat laid half separated beside her on the ground in mud.

He could clearly see her intestines through, yet she was alive... f*****g alive!

He blinked his eyes, sucking in a deep breath as he escalated his gaze up to her face. He observed her eyes weakly flickering. Her lips quivered as one last word spilled from them, "He-help" Before darkness engulfed her and she fell on the ground.

"Did she… Did she pass away?" Ryley asked, intense astonishment flushed his face, as he sat near her shoulder next to doctor Jason, looking over her figure.

He was about to touch her cheek when the doctor exclaimed , "Passed out . She passed out, Ryley. But she would pass away soon if we don't operate on her in time. Hercules, we have to take her to the pack hospital now."

Keeping the sword back inside its sheath, Alpha Hercules ran a hand through his hair that fell on his forehead. He cast a gaze towards his amused son and called out, "Ryley, come on, pick her up and head to the pack hospital immediately ."

A look of utter amazement can be seen clouded on Ryley's face. He stared back at the unconcious girl drenched in blood from head to toe, then at his white shirt and then back at her with a scoff. The smell of blood was nauseating to him .

"Come on, Ryley, stop worrying about your shirt. Her life is more important than that cheap shirt." His father pushed him further while a part of him wanted to snap back at him and say that the shirt was rather special as his girlfriend bought it for him.

But still, something stopped Ryley as he bent down to pick Valentine up in his arms. He unwillingly slid his arms under her knees and behind her back. As he began to pick her up with a twisted face, his disappointment visible in the shade of red on his cheeks, her head fell back like a corpse's head, making him hold his eyes on her face.

She seemed so fragile, so innocent that he could not help but bite his tongue in regret. Her eyelids were closed and he could already imagine her batting her lashes at him.

That innocence, that peacefulness on her face made him mouth an inaudible apology for being so reckless with her.

"Stare at her when she is okay and awake, not now, Ryley Shine!" Alpha Hercules' deep voice brought him back to the present.

And then quickly before more blood spilled from her body, Ryley carefully gathered her and took a run towards the pack hospital with the soldiers following him for protection.

Flashback ends…

Ryley composed himself when Zander scoffed. He could see another mischievous comment coming his way .

But before he even parted his mouth, Hazel kicked up a fuss,

"Why the f**k are we even discussing her? She is just somebody Ryley and Uncle Hercules saved. It was their responsibility. And that really does not mean we will give her such attention. Come on guys, let's not forget who we are." Her voice amplified dramatically. "We are the 'Wild Wolves' and nobody holds such an importance in our lives that WE will talk about them. I don't want to hear another word about her,is that clear?"

Her message was for all even then her eyes remained glued on her boyfriend's face with a gaze exerting strict warning.

Ryley's lips curled up into a smile as he snuggled her neck and stole a kiss of her collarbone before taking her lips.

"I love this look on you, babe." He sucked her mouth.

He thought: This is what I like about this girl— the way she stakes her claim on me. Her authoritative voice keeps me hooked on her. She behaves as though she owns me. Her look is something I love to see. Not only does she have a perfect heart melting and eyes warming figure with big hot boobs and slim waist but also a cunning fair face that I like.

He hugged her tightly as the guys looked here and there while blowing air. Hazel resembled the vamps from the movies and Ryley didn't mind comparing her to one of them provided that she acts like one when it is about him.

Her dove-like brown eyes are always fixated on him. He loved to see her getting jealous and surely loved being showered with attention.

He had decided that if he didn't find his mate after turning eighteen (who he was literally dying to see) then Hazel would become his woman and his Luna.

She was hot and cunning— just like the girl he wanted for himself. Ryley often called Hazel a blue-blooded beauty. She was an immigrant who shifted to his pack years back from Armenia when she was young with her father, a rich and very well-known wolf among their kind.

A powerful personality with money and power after Alpha Hercules. All the Alphas take his help in the time of need and Ryley was not stupid to let such a man, his wealth or his sexy-ass daughter slip out of his grip.

She was a fine fit for being his Luna. He smiled down at her as she hushed something in his ear and got up from his lap.

Ryley saw her going out of the canteen before he turned to his friends, "Try something else next time, Brown. " He playfully slapped Zander.

His best friend chuckled in return, "She's mad about you. I must try harder and better next time."

After about a minute Clarke remarked something that made everyone turn their faces towards Ryley for an answer, "So, I know I must not talk about this but I am curious… What happens to that girl after she wakes up? Like what is your father planning to do with her?"

Ryley took a breath as he replied, "Erm, from what I heard from my father, they will be interrogating her for her family background and past life and then she'll be sent back to them if they are found. If not, then she'd either be sent to a human orphanage or be killed if that incident was an attempt to trespass in the pack. You never know it was an act and she's a spy! Everything is possible."

Everyone bowed their heads in amusement whereas Ryley clenched his fist as he recalled his own words where he talked about her being killed. That did not give him a good feeling and his heart throbbed.

"Jason is taking extraordinary care of her," His voice cut the silence in the air. "He may not let her be killed."

He lifted his legs and put them on the table. The guys were in deep thought as Valentine, the girl Alpha and his son saved from a fatal rogue attack, had become the biggest talk of the town.

"Baby," Ryley's eyes travelled towards the entrance where Hazel was standing with a big cheesecake.

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart!" She sauntered towards their table with a big smile on her face.

"Hell, I nearly forgot it's your birthday today, Ryley!" Zander said. "Happy birthday, homie."

They rose to their feet as Hazel sat the cake on the table and presented a plastic knife to Ryley. They sang happy birthday to Ryley as he cut the cake. Taking a small piece, he put it in his girlfriend's mouth.

He was expecting her to feed him the cake but instead Hazel drew him by the collars and pasted her cream coated lips on his, feeding him the cake in process while their friends cheered for them.

"HAPPY SEVENTEENTH BIRTHDAY, RYLEY"

They wished him in unison with whistles and hoots. When they parted, they covered Ryley's face with cake cream.

'Ohh f**k, I also forgot it is my birthday. .. I turned Seventeen today. Happy seventeenth birthday,Ryley.' he thought.

***

If Ryley was enjoying his seventeenth birthday, the new girl in the hospital squirmed and tossed. The machine beside her beeped continuously as she breathed laboriously like she couldn't breathe.

A layer of sweat spread on her forehead. She shook invariably . Her hospital gown was soaking red at the waist and her lips quivered. She was uncomfortably trembling while a glimpse of a guy holding her in his hands prevailed on the dark screen of her closed eyes.

She watched herself getting carried away by someone.

" You are a warrior, Valentine. You're half dead yet surviving. I'd love to know a little more about you once you wake up. There there stay put for a while now, girl. I'll take you to the hospital really soon. Just don't quit now."

She heard the guy say nonetheless his face was a bright throbbing blur. She couldn't see who it was but his voice whispered softly, vibrating her ear drums.

Her fingers bit into the sheets behind her waist on the bed as she lifted her back from the mattress. She struggled to breath but fortunately, "Oh my god!" A nurse observed Valen through the glass window on the door.

She immediately rushed to Doctor Jason's cabin and barged in without knocking on the door, "Doctor Jason, the girl… The girl's condition is deteriorating. Please come and check her."

Tbc…