WHY ME!
1067 Words
AURELIA
The hallway was almost empty by the time I left the arena.
The excitement from practice had faded behind me, replaced by the quiet hum of the academy. My footsteps echoed against the polished floor as I walked without paying much attention to where I was going.
Coach Damian's words refused to leave my head.
You're the only person his wolf responds to.
I let out a frustrated sigh.
"Why me?" I muttered under my breath.
It wasn't enough that Zane had turned my life upside down. Now I was somehow responsible for keeping him from losing control.
I tightened my grip around the clipboard.
There had to be an explanation.
Zane's condition couldn't have disappeared overnight. Wolves didn't suddenly become stable after years of violent episodes. Something had changed, and if I couldn't figure out what it was, both of us would lose everything.
I slowed my pace.
His wolf...
The thought stopped me in the middle of the hallway.
Every time Zane came close to me, my wolf reacted before I did. At first, I'd convinced myself it was because I hadn't completely gotten over him.
Now...
Now I wasn't so sure.
I closed my eyes, replaying every encounter we'd had since the semester began.
The way his wolf calmed whenever I was nearby.
The way mine whimpered whenever he walked away.
The strange pull that always settled between us, no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.
My breathing caught.
"No..." I whispered.
It wasn't my wolf who had been reaching for him.
It was his.
Everything suddenly made sense.
His unpredictable temper.
The constant pain in his eyes whenever he thought no one was looking.
The way his wolf refused to stay quiet despite rejecting me.
A chill ran down my spine. His wolf wasn't simply unstable.
It was…dying.
The realization hit me so hard that the hallway seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
If I was right, then every episode he'd suffered over the last few years hadn't been random. His wolf had been crying for help, and no one had realized what was actually happening.
Not even Zane.
I pressed a trembling hand against my forehead.
"I need to sit down."
Instead, I hurried toward the nearest restroom.
The cool air inside immediately brushed against my skin, but it did little to calm the dizziness building inside me.
I dropped the clipboard onto the counter and turned on the faucet.
Cold water rushed over my hands.
I splashed it across my face once.
Then again.
The icy water steadied my breathing just enough for me to open my eyes.
Water dripped from my chin into the sink as I stared at my reflection.
"You have to figure this out," I whispered to myself. "If you're right, he's running out of—"
The bathroom door slammed open.
I looked up instinctively.
A bucket of filthy water came flying toward me before I had a chance to react.
It hit me square in the face.
The impact forced me backward as freezing, foul-smelling water soaked through my uniform.
A disgusting stench filled my nose.
It smelled rotten like something that had been left to decay for days.
I gasped for air and stumbled backward, but my shoes slipped against the wet tiles.
My feet flew out from under me.
Pain exploded through both knees as I crashed onto the floor.
A cry escaped my lips before I could stop it for a second, I couldn't breathe.
I looked down.
Fresh blood seeped through the torn fabric around my knees, spreading across the white tiles beneath me.
Everything around me suddenly became distant.
A loud ringing filled my ears until it drowned out every other sound.
I stared at the blood.
My hands began to shake.
The last time I'd seen blood like this… was the day my mother died.
My vision blurred.
The dirty water clinging to my clothes wasn't just muddy; it was also cold. Tiny insects floated inside it, wriggling against my soaked sweater.
My stomach lurched.
A pair of expensive shoes stopped in front of me.
Slowly, I lifted my head.
Kenzie.
She smiled as though she were admiring a masterpiece. Without warning, she grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back.
Pain shot across my scalp.
"Tell me," she sneered, her voice finally cutting through the ringing in my ears, "how does it feel to have trash dumped all over you? It suits you perfectly."
She released my hair so roughly that my head snapped forward.
I barely managed to catch myself before hitting the floor again.
One of the girls standing behind her pulled out her phone.
"Oh my God," another laughed. "Record this."
The camera pointed straight at me.
Kenzie folded her arms across her chest.
"I almost felt sorry for you," she said with a mocking smile. "You're nothing more than trash, and trash isn't worth my time. But then you humiliated me in front of everyone."
She took a step closer. "That was your biggest mistake."
The girls around her burst into laughter.
Someone zoomed the phone in on my face.
I wanted to stand.
I wanted to say something but my body refused to move.
The ringing in my ears grew louder.
The blood beneath my knees spread farther across the floor.
Then the bathroom door burst open.
Every head turned.
I couldn't hear what was being said.
I only saw Zane.
His face had gone pale. His eyes searched the room before landing on me. The panic in them made my chest tighten.
He rushed toward me without hesitation and dropped to his knees.
His hands rested carefully on my shoulders as his lips moved rapidly.
I couldn't hear a single word.
His gaze lowered to my injured knees. Something changed in his expression: the panic disappeared in its place was something far colder, much more dangerous.
Without another glance at anyone else, he slid one arm beneath my knees and the other around my back.
The world shifted as he lifted me effortlessly into his arms.
My head rested weakly against his shoulder. As he turned toward the door, I caught one last glimpse of Kenzie.
The confidence she'd been wearing only moments ago was gone.
She was staring at Zane with wide eyes.
And for the first time since I'd met her...
She looked afraid.
- Writer
