My Fiery Mate

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸: 𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

Suddenly, her name echoed through the room, making her jump.

"Lireal!" shouted her teacher. Startled, she looked up to find everyone in the class staring at her, their expressions a mix of disgust and disdain.

"Y-yes..." stammered Lireal, her heart hammering in her chest.

"I asked you what year the Great Depression started!" the teacher's annoyance was evident in her tone. "Don't you even know that, Lireal?" The class laughed, the sound of their mockery filling the room.

"Uhm...i-it..." Lireal stuttered, her cheeks flushing with shame. "I-it was...um..." She glanced around the room, seeing everyone staring at her expectantly. She felt like she was drowning, like there was no air in the room.

"Maybe she's dreaming about her non-existent mate," joked her classmate, from the row in front of her. The entire class erupted into laughter, and Lireal felt a fresh wave of humiliation wash over her. She wanted nothing more than to disappear.

"Look at her, you can't even remember something as simple as that!" another student joked.

"What a loser!" another student chimed in. The teacher, instead of intervening, added fuel to the fire. "Well, Lireal, maybe if you spent less time daydreaming and more time socializing, you'd find a mate by now." Her words stung like a knife to the heart.

The laughter continued, echoing in her ears, as Lireal sat there, feeling the heat of humiliation wash over her. Her teacher's words seemed to cut deeper than any insult her classmates could come up with. She felt as if she was being punished for something she had no control over. Her heart raced, and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She would not give them the satisfaction.

When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the class, Lireal jumped up from her desk, not caring that all of her books and belongings fell to the floor with a loud clatter. She raced out of the classroom, not bothering to look back, her shoulders hunched inward, her head hung low. The hallways were crowded with students, but she didn't care; she just wanted to be alone. She ran down the hall, her heart pounding in her chest, her lungs burning with each ragged breath. She felt like she was being chased by a monster, and the only way to escape was to keep running.

Finally, she made it to the girls' bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She ran into a stall and locked herself inside, collapsing on the toilet seat, her shoulders shaking as she cried. The tears flowed freely now, streaming down her face. Then she heard the sound of footsteps entering the bathroom, and she tried to silence her tears. It was no use; they continued to flow.

"I can't believe you're related to her!" exclaimed one voice.

"I know, I'm so ashamed!" replied another voice, which Lireal recognized to be Willow's.

"Wait, how did the fire that killed her parents start?" asked the other voice.

"No one knows, but it's so obvious she's a demon child. She was probably the one who killed her parents!" accused Willow.

Lireal felt her heart break. She knew that Willow had never really liked her, but she didn't realize how far her hatred went. As she listened to her cousin's voice, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and disappear. But as she sat there, sobbing uncontrollably. Is that what people thought of her? She wondered. That she was some kind of monster? That she was responsible for the death of her own parents? It felt like everyone in the pack had turned against her, and she didn't know how much longer she could take it.

"I mean, look at her," Willow continued. "She's so ugly. No wonder she doesn't have any friends. It's like she's cursed or something." The other girls laughed.

Then the laughter died down and she heard a click. It was the bathroom door being locked. Fear gripped her as she realized she couldn't leave. Tears continued to stream down her face as she listened to their voices, growing louder and closer.

"Come out, Lireal, we know you're in there!" called out one of the voices.

Lireal's heart sank as she realized there was no escape. She steadied her breath, trying to stay silent hoping that they wouldn't notice she was there. But it was no use. With a loud metallic creak, the bathroom stall was kicked open, shattering the flimsy lock and sending pieces of metal flying across the tiled floor. There stood Willow, her face twisted into a malicious sneer, flanked by her friends Elara, Thalia, and Celestia.

"Pathetic," Willow spat, her voice dripping with contempt as she surveyed Lireal, cowering in the corner of the stall. "You're pathetic, you should have died with your parents."

The other girls crowded into the stall, forming a menacing circle around Lireal. "You know, she's right," Elara chimed in, her voice cold and unyielding. "You should have been left to burn with your parents." Lireal's breath hitched in her throat as she felt the weight of their gazes bearing down on her. She wanted to scream, to fight back, but she was paralyzed with fear.

Willow stepped forward, her fingers curling into a fist. With a single, powerful blow, she struck Lireal across the face, sending her reeling backwards into the wall.

Lireal cried out in pain as her head spun dizzyingly. Her cheek burned where Willow had hit her. She tried to fight back, to defend herself, but it was no use. They had gotten their wolves' whilst she was wolf-less, leaving her defenseless against their brutality. As she struggled to regain her balance, she felt someone drag her out of the stall by her hair. She looked up, tears streaming down her face, to see Celestia, glaring down at her with a mix of hatred and disgust.

With a vicious yank, Celestia forced Lireal to her knees on the cold tile floor. The impact sent a sharp pain to her knee. She let out a muffled sob. Her hands clutched at her hair, trying to relieve some of the agony as she looked up at the four girls who surrounded her. They towered over her, their faces twisted into cruel smirks, their eyes cold and emotionless. She had never felt so helpless, so alone.

Thalia walked up behind Lireal and placed her hands on her shoulders, digging her nails in painfully as Willow went to her handbag, bringing out a bottle of water. She walked up to Lireal. Lireal's sobs were audible, her breath coming in ragged gasps. With a wicked smile, Willow unscrewed the cap of the bottle and held it above Lireal's head, allowing the water to fall down her face and hair. The shock of the cold water sent a wave of pain through her already aching body.

"Pathetic," she spat again. "You should be grateful for this." The other girls laughed, their cruel amusement only adding to Lireal's agony. As she stood there, shivering from the cold and the pain, she wanted to defend herself, but she couldn't, she was scared.

Celestia took a step forward and kicked Lireal hard in the stomach. The breath was knocked out of her, and she curled into a ball, trying to protect herself from the onslaught. But there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. The girls took turns kicking and punching her, their blows raining down like a relentless storm. Her body ached, every muscle screamed in protest. Blood trickled down her face, mingling with the tears that streamed endlessly down her cheeks.

When they finally got bored with beating her, the four girls went to grab their handbags, leaving Lireal curled up on the cold floor, sobbing uncontrollably. They unlocked the bathroom door and casually strolled out, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. The hallway outside was crowded with students, their faces a mix of curiosity as they had all heard Lireal's cries, but nobody liked nor cared about Lireal enough to check on her. Then the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the next class.