The Funeral
1081 Words
JULIANA POV.....
Rain pounded the cemetery like bullets.
I stood alone beneath a black umbrella, watching them lower my father's casket into the ground.
The rogues had come. Marcus and fifteen others formed a semicircle around the grave, their heads bowed in respect.
Mom hadn't shown up.
Neither had anyone from the pack.
Just the rogues. The outcasts. The ones society had forgotten.
Dad's people.
"He was a good man," Marcus said when the ceremony ended. "He fought for us until his last breath."
"I know." My voice sounded hollow.
"If you need anything...."
"I'm fine."
I wasn't fine. I'd never be fine again.
But these people had their own problems. Their own struggles. They didn't need mine added to the pile.
Marcus squeezed my shoulder and left with the others.
I remained by the grave for another hour. Let the rain soak through my clothes. Let the cold seep into my bones.
"I'll make them pay," I whispered to the freshly turned earth. "Alpha Mattias, Mom, the triplets, everyone who hurt us. I promise."
The wolf inside me stirred. For once, she didn't feel weak.
She felt angry.
School the next day was hell.
I walked through the front doors and every conversation stopped. Heads turned. Phones lifted.
They'd all seen the photo.
"There's the freak," someone whispered.
"Can't believe she actually came back."
"Does she have no shame?"
I kept my head high and walked to my locker.
A note was taped to the metal door.
MONSTERS DON'T BELONG HERE.
I crumpled it and threw it away.
More notes waited inside. Crude drawings of deformed wolves. Messages telling me to disappear. To die.
I shoved them all in the trash.
First period was Advanced Calculus. I slid into my usual seat at the front.
The teacher, Mrs. Chen, gave me a pitying look but said nothing.
The triplets arrived five minutes late.
Harper saw me first. His expression flickered surprise, maybe guilt before settling into cold indifference.
Soren just stared. Like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve.
Brian smirked.
They took their seats in the back. Whispers erupted around them.
I focused on the board and pretended not to hear.
Class dragged on forever. When the bell finally rang, I grabbed my bag and headed for the door.
Harper blocked my path.
"We need to talk."
"No, we don't." I tried to step around him.
He grabbed my wrist. His touch sent electricity racing up my arm.
I yanked free. "Don't touch me."
"Juliana...."
"I said don't."
Students gathered in the hallway, sensing drama.
Soren appeared beside his brother. "You should go home. You don't look well."
"I'm fine."
"You're clearly not." Brian joined them, completing the wall of muscle blocking my escape. "That photo your mom posted—"
"Is none of your business."
Harper's jaw tightened. "Actually, it is our business. You're the Student Union President. Your actions reflect on this entire school."
Rage burned through my chest.
"My actions?" I laughed, sharp and bitter. "You three beat me unconscious in a bathroom two days ago. But sure, I'm the problem."
Silence fell over the hallway.
Harper's eyes widened. Soren went pale. Brian's smirk vanished.
"That's not..." Harper started.
"Everyone saw the bruises," I continued. My voice rose, carrying to every student watching. "Everyone knows what you did. But nobody said anything because you're the Alpha King's sons and I'm just a hybrid freak who doesn't matter."
"Juliana, stop." Harper reached for me again.
I slapped his hand away. "Don't ever touch me again. Any of you."
I pushed past them and ran.
Their scents followed me pine, leather, and smoke. The wolf inside me recognized those scents.
Craved them.
No.
That was impossible.
I burst into the nearest bathroom and locked myself in a stall.
My heart raced. My hands trembled.
The mate bond.
It couldn't be. It absolutely couldn't be.
But I knew the signs. Every werewolf did.
The electric touch. The pull in my chest. The way my wolf responded to their presence.
Harper, Soren, and Brian weren't just my bullies.
They were my mates.
All three of them.
I pressed my forehead against the cold metal door and tried not to scream.
Fate had a cruel sense of humor.
HARPER POV.....
"What the hell was that?" Soren demanded the moment we were alone.
We'd retreated to the empty music room. The one place in school where nobody bothered us.
I paced between the chairs. "I don't know."
"You felt it too." Brian leaned against the wall. "When she touched us. When she got close."
"The mate bond," Soren said flatly.
I stopped pacing. "It's not possible."
"You know it is." Brian pushed off the wall. "We all felt it. She's our mate."
"She's a hybrid." The words tasted like ash. "A weak, incomplete hybrid who can barely shift."
"She's still our mate." Soren's voice held no emotion. "That's not something we can change."
I thought about Juliana's face in the hallway. The pain in her eyes. The accusation.
We'd done that. Put that pain there.
My wolf howled inside me, furious that I'd hurt our mate.
"Father will never accept this," I said. "You know his views on hybrids."
"Father doesn't control the mate bond." Brian crossed his arms. "Nobody does."
"He controls us." Soren moved to the window. "Or have you forgotten what happened to cousin James when he tried to mate with a human?"
We all remembered. James had been banished. Stripped of his title and status.
All for following his heart.
"So what do we do?" Brian asked.
I looked at my brothers. Saw my own conflict reflected in their faces.
"We reject her," I said finally. "Before anyone else figures out she's our mate. Clean break. No drama."
"That will destroy her." Soren turned from the window. "You know what rejection does to wolves."
"She's already destroyed. Did you see that photo her mother posted?" I shook my head. "We'd be doing her a favor. Putting her out of her misery."
Brian said nothing for a long moment. Then: "When?"
"Tonight." I pulled out my phone. "There's a pack gathering at the mansion. Everyone will be there. We'll do it publicly so there's no question."
"Father will be pleased," Soren said quietly. "He's always wanted us to mate with pure bloodlines."
My wolf snarled in protest.
I shoved him down deep.
This was for the best. For everyone.
Even if it felt like ripping out my own heart.
- Writer
