Wolf Girl (Wolf Girl, #1)(4)
A sob formed in my throat, but I pushed it down. I couldn’t let these fuckers see my weakness.
Go to Sterling Hill? Live among werewolves again? It’s all I’d wanted since I was a little girl. I had no idea why my parents were banished from Werewolf City; they never spoke about it. Said it wasn’t for children’s ears, and then when I became a teenager my father told me it was too painful. I figured it didn’t really matter anyway. What was done was done, lifelong banishment to the reject pile of the city, destined to live among magical trash and humans for the rest of my life. Delphi Corner was a small five-square-mile area in Spokane, Washington, which was spelled to repel humans, we could be ourselves here, but if we stepped outside the area, we needed to be on our best behavior and appear human … assuming that was possible.
I glanced at Packard. He’d probably never been outside Delphi Corner. Not like I had, or the vampires or witches. Since we could easily appear human, we were allowed to get human jobs and live and shop among them.
“Time’s up.” His voice was sharp and I knew he wouldn’t wait a second longer.
Leave Delphi? Leave my parents? Go back to Werewolf City… All because I’d met the alpha’s son for five seconds and he was picking his mate this year?
It was … crazy. Insane.
A dream come true?
I looked again at the cuffs on my wrists. To be able to shift, to finally let my wolf out … I couldn’t conceive of it. She shook my skin like it was a cage and in that moment my decision was made for me.
“I accept.” I stood, my voice husky from my wolf’s rise to the surface. The guard nodded and indicated I follow him. I looked down at Raven and her wide-eyed expression. Tears pooled in her gaze.
“I’ll call you tonight,” I whispered as I leaned down and gave her a final hug.
“This is crazy but I love you,” she whispered, and my throat tightened.
“Holy fucking shit I love you back,” I half sobbed.
Standing, I brushed my eyes clear of any emotion, and followed the beefy wolves to the double doors.
I was finally leaving this hellhole. I thought that they would let me go in peace, but then I felt a wet thud to the back of my head and I knew that just wasn’t true. It didn’t hurt so much as it startled me. Something wet ran down my neck, and with a plop an orange slice fell to the ground.
“Later, Wolf Girl!” It was Bianca. I knew that shrill nasally voice anywhere. Fucking Bianca. That dark fey had the heart of a devil.
Fur rippled down my arms and then the cuffs lit up, electrocuting me, bringing me to my knees in pain. Laughs filled the cafeteria and I just wanted to die. It was their favorite thing to do, laugh while I was shocked to shit. All of the wolves who’d come to escort me looked at me with pity, I was so freaking embarrassed. When you’re bullied for so many years, a few things can happen:
1. You can become really shy and introverted, sink into yourself and want to disappear.
2. You become a bully yourself, angry and mad at the world.
3. You get numb to it after a while, so dead inside emotionally it doesn’t really bother you anymore. It’s like you expect it.
I was somewhere between two and three. Angry but numb to it all. Over the course of my education here I’d been called a dog, told I smelled like shit, been given flea shampoo, and for prom someone hung a rhinestone collar and leash on my locker. I just didn’t care anymore.
“Let’s just go,” I told the wolf guards as I stood, shaking off the incident, because they were looking at me like they were waiting for me to wolf out and rip Bianca’s head off. I wanted to, I did, but I wanted to leave this place forever more.
One of the wolf guards who’d come with them, the tall female with red hair, reached out to a passing witch and grabbed the apple off her tray. Then she reeled her arm back and chucked it. I followed the red apple, surprised at the sudden throw, and grinned as it knocked into the side of Bianca’s head.
Every student in the place stood then and the lead guard shot the redheaded wolf a glare. “Let’s go before they curse us.”
“Worth it.” The redhead winked at me.
Emotion clogged my throat. My entire life I’d been alone, a freak, a wolf without a pack, no one but Raven to count on, and now…
My happy emotions were short-lived. A black bag was thrown over my head, plunging me into darkness.
“Sorry, kiddo, the alpha gave strict instructions not to trust you with the location of the school just yet.”
A firm arm gripped me under my armpit and I was marched forward blindly.
By the time we got outside and I heard a van door roll open, I found myself wondering what the fuck had just happened.
Mondays.
We listened to Van Halen the entire drive. Like an entire album. It was at least an hour before the van slowed to a crawl. No one said much to me the entire time except to ask if I needed to pee or have water. I felt like a prisoner but not; it was weird. My hands weren’t tied, I was just told to keep this bag loosely over my head the whole drive, which was triggering some serious PTSD. I didn’t like being in small spaces.
The alpha obviously didn’t trust me, which made me wonder how hard Sawyer had to beg him to let me back into Werewolf City. Why would Sawyer do that? I’d met him all of two minutes. Granted, it was an intense meeting, but I didn’t think I’d impressed him with my angry outburst and shabby clothes.