The Alpha Female

Episode 4

His father was close enough now, so much so that Aiden could feel his breath. They stared at each other, eye to eye. Aiden braced up for a punch but his father simply walked away, but not before he said his last words; "That circus has put food on your table, cloth on your back, and a luxurious mansion over your head. Don't think I cannot throw you out."

His father was quickly followed by Maverick. Aiden collapsed on one of his father's designer couches. Everything in the house was more expensive than a regular worker's wage for a whole year. Even the table costs a fortune. His father had everything anyone could ever ask for, but Aiden often wondered why he was never able to get his father's approval.

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Bloomfield High school bloomed with numerous students quite alright, it was a center of learning indeed, probably not as top-notch as some people would have liked it, but it did hold a lot of significance to the students who attended. Its surroundings were simple yet beautiful, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the school on the outside, but Carla and many more knew it sure had a dark side not many people had seen before. One that not even the school authorities knew about. Only a circle of students were informed about some activities that went on in secret.

One could only get into that circle by privilege. Carla knew such a privilege had nothing to do with whether a person made many As or not, it had everything to do with how much money you had. This was one of the best schools in the neighborhood, but of course, the neighborhood was a slum. Even its name said so: Downtown. There were many activities typical of the slums going on around Bloomfield, despite the decent and excellent appearance everyone seemed to put up with during school hours. Carla had been quite unfortunate to have stumbled into the circle unannounced. The school had been hard before this happened, but it only got harder. This had been the beginning of her experience under the tyranny of her bullies.

She had only wanted to have a change of clothes after long hours of basketball practice that fateful day when she received the most shock of her life. Other players had their jerseys taken off already. She was the only one left. It was because, of course, she didn't have any friends.

It was the close of school hours, she just wanted to change clothes and be on her way home, tired and weary from long hours of running around while bouncing an orange ball. She went out to the changing room but was shocked at what she saw. She found certain students, all the faces she knew from class. They were in a circle and had some substances wrapped in white lab paper in their middle. She knew instantly that they were dealers in hard drugs and the school was the most unsuspecting site to carry out their operations. Carla was more surprised to find that they were all girls and Sheila was their leader. That was the very reason why she became their prey. They made sure that they kept her silent.

"Hey, noodlehead! You've been running away, haven't you? You suddenly went missing in the last two days?" Sheila was saying as she approached her, her fist already clenched. She had been on her way out of school when they caught up with her.

"I only went home immediately after school, Sheila. I'm not supposed to stick around after school hours am I?" Carla was upset but more afraid. It wasn't a fear of being beaten up, she was afraid of being pushed over the edge where she would be forced by her instincts to retaliate in anger, not just as a human would, but as a werewolf would.

"You belong to us now! We will do whatever we want with you, Carla"

"Just because I run a few errands for you and let you take my snack during lunch break does not mean I'm part of your gang," She had been picking up sodas for them from the store down the road and giving up her lunch simply because eating amongst other humans was always a challenge. The different smells of food at the cafeteria always made her nauseous, because of her wolf's sense of smell, which was always heightened. She had barely said the words when she felt the stamp of Sheila's hard fist on her face. She bowled over in pain but was hit by yet another punch.

"You are whatever we say you are. And I say you are nothing but a freaking piece of s**t, and as confused as your skin!" Sheila roared while the others laughed. Carla stifled a growl and the impulse to hit back or tear Sheila to pieces. Her repressed anger made her eyes fill up with hot tears. She couldn't fight back. If she boiled over in anger, she would be transformed. Then she and her family would be exposed. She would be the loser in the end. She could almost see the next downtown headline: WEREWOLF CAUGHT ATTACKING SCHOOL GIRLS AT BLOOMFIELD HIGH SCHOOL. She couldn't let that happen so she bit down on her lower lip to keep from screaming until she could taste her blood.

The girls hit harder, dishing out their favorite lines of warning for the thousandth time. She was not to tell anyone what she had seen or who they were or if they would have killed her. She did not think they couldn't find her or her family. Carla almost laughed, it was not their threats that kept her from speaking out, they definitely could never find her family unless she led them to her family herself. Carla couldn't speak out because she was afraid, afraid that she would not be taken seriously. Afraid of being laughed at or told she couldn't speak. It was the year 1970 and she was pretty much the only mixed girl in school. She was even lucky enough to be in school because she was mixed, and her skin was more white than black. She saw how the teachers looked at her with disdain all through school hours, yet looked away when Sheila and the gang bullied her after school. No one would listen to her, no one cared. They told her she wasn't supposed to be there. She was like a piece of unwanted garbage that was only condoned because the government had "officially" announced an end to racial segregation in the United States of America.

She was now sure that this was one of the reasons why Mama and Papa had stayed up in the mountains, having married at an even worse time, when a black man and a white woman couldn't be seen sitting side by side. But was Mama even white? It was all a mess. Her life, her race, her identity, everything was a confusing mess. A mixed race, yet not belonging to the white community of people that inhabited the USA. Her narrow eyelids always gave her away as half Asian and half black. Yet she was a werewolf, and couldn't get angry without a claw popping right out instead of nails or fangs revealing themselves instead of teeth. It was all a mess indeed.

Her attackers had no sooner left her alone when she heard a teacher call out for her to hurry. The janitors wanted to put the changing room in order, he said. She got up with one hand on her side, she could not even stand up straight. Everyone turned a blind eye while she passed by them. She was barely managing to walk away, yet no one offered a balm, some care, or even a helping hand. Her eyes shimmered with tears, she knew her voice would break if she dared say a word. Her life was such a mess, yes there was nothing she could do about it. She would have to wait around the town till midnight because there was no way she would be able to get up the mountains on her human strength. She was far too wounded.

She felt a trickle of blood from the side of her lip and shook with terror when she tasted it. She was done! She would not take it anymore. She had to let the school authorities know about the drug dealers, no matter what they thought of her. They were most likely going to think her to be the drug dealer herself, but she did not care. She would look into all of their white faces and tell them the truth. At least that would stop the bullying, because Sheila and her gang would sooner be off to jail or juvenile prison, depending on their age. Carla wasn't afraid of their threats to kill her and her family if she spoke up, she was pretty sure they would never be able to find them, especially not while they were behind bars.

But Carla wondered what would happen if the school authorities ended up disbelieving her. She would be in greater trouble and with no form of escape this time. The gang would come for her head at full speed, thirsty for revenge, willing to teach her a lesson she probably wouldn't live long enough to make use of. But she would never know the result if she didn't try, would she? There were only two ways to her freedom, two completely different options. It was either she told the drug dealers and had the bullying stopped, or she would soon be caught tearing someone up with her bare claws, after which she didn't know what they'd do to her.