Kelly

Nine

He didn't even look at Caleb or his friends. Just me. I scrambled to my feet, my legs feeling like noodles. I picked up the mangled pieces of my drawing, cradling them to my chest like a wounded bird. I didn't dare look at anyone else as I followed Alpha David into the school building. The hallway was empty, our footsteps echoing on the floor. My heart was a frantic bird beating against my ribs. I was in so much trouble. More trouble than I had ever been in my life.

Alpha David's office was small and smelled of old paper and cologne. He sat behind a big wooden desk and gestured for me to sit in the chair opposite him. I did, clutching the pieces of my family so tightly my knuckles turned white. I didn't know what to say. So I said nothing. I just stared at the grain of the wood on his desk and waited for my punishment.

He was quiet for a long time. He just watched me, his expression unreadable. It was worse than if he'd shouted at me. The silence stretched, thick and heavy, until I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was sure he was going to call Beta Joseph. I was sure I was going to be sent away just like Caleb wanted. Would they send me back to Silverstream and tell them that I am too much? I don't think I would mind going back there, they were all so very nice to me. Even on the days I didn't talk the nurses were kind and never impatient with me.

Finally, he spoke. "Caleb's nose is broken and he has been taken to the pack clinic. His mother is asking for a full investigation."

I flinched at the words, but didn't look up. Was Aunt Charlotte going to punish me? Would this now make Beta Joseph hate me after he has protected me so much?

"The teachers who saw it said you were sitting on Caleb. They said you didn't say a word before you rushed him and knocked him to the ground. They said you looked… absent. Like you weren't there as you started hitting him." He paused. "Is that true?"

I nodded, a tiny, jerky motion. It was the only answer I could give.

"Kelly-Grace," he said, his voice softer now, but still firm. "Look at me."

I slowly lifted my head. His eyes were a dark, intelligent grey. They weren't angry. They were… searching. Like he was trying to see inside me, to the place I kept all the broken pieces.

"Violence is never the answer," he said, and I braced myself. But then he surprised me. "But neither is cruelty. Caleb and his friends were cruel. What they did was wrong. You are not the one in trouble here."

My breath hitched. A hot, stinging pressure built up behind my eyes. I blinked rapidly, trying to force it back. I wouldn't cry. Not again.

"I will be speaking with Caleb's parents. And with him. There will be consequences." He leaned forward, his hands clasped on the desk. "But I need to understand what happened. One of the boys said you just… snapped. That one second you were were whining to Caleb about not liking in this pack, and the next you were a warrior fighting a monster. Is that what it felt like?"

I didn't know how to answer that. It hadn't felt like anything. It had felt like nothing, and then it had felt like everything all at once. I just shrugged, the movement feeling clumsy and wrong.

"I think I just did what my Daddy and Marky taught me to do to meanies." I said quietly. I hadn't spoken about my family out loud since I arrived and I didn't really want to think about why I was saying their names to this Alpha. Would he keep their names safe now that they weren't with me? It was my job to keep their hearts safe now I was so far away from them.

"Okay," Alpha David said, sitting back. "Okay. We'll leave it for now. I want you to know that you are safe here. My pack, my school, will protect you." He looked at the tattered paper in my hands. "Is that your family?"

I nodded again, a lump forming in my throat. I smoothed out the wrinkles as best I could. Mama's smile was torn in half. Marky's face was squashed by a boot print. But Sissy looked unbothered and still smiling like I remember her.

"They look like they were good people, and you are a wonderful drawer" he said gently.

Tears finally spilled over, hot and silent on my cheeks. I wiped them away quickly, angry at myself for being so weak. For being a contagion. For being weak.

Alpha David pushed a box of tissues toward me. "You can go back to class if you feel up to it, or you can wait here until the end of the day. I will have someone walk you home."

Home. The word was a stone in my stomach. I didn't want to go back there. Not now. Not after this. I didn't want to see Aunt Charlotte's hateful glare. I wondered if her gaze could become even more hateful after today. I really didn't want to find out.

"No, thank you, Alpha sir," I whispered, the title feeling awkward but remembering how Mama always told me to speak to the high ranking wolves in our home pack. "I'll go back to class."

I stood up, clutching the ruined drawing to my chest. "My Alpha's back at my home pack said a strong wolf is a loyal wolf. Does that mean I'm a good wolf for protecting my family?" I asked before I could stop myself. I had been so scared other than on that day. But this time I wasn't scared for my life or my family's lives, I was scared of being told I was too much trouble and not wanted. I already knew Aunt Charlotte and Caleb didn't want me, but sometimes I though Beta Joseph did. I thought I would be told that me hitting Caleb would have me in deep trouble, but Alpha David said I wasn't in trouble. I didn't understand.

Alpha David's grey eyes softened, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face before it settled back into calm authority. "Loyalty is a great strength, Kelly-Grace. It is one of the foundations of a pack. But strength isn't just about protecting those you love. It's also about knowing when not to let anger control your actions. You have a warrior's spirit in you. But a true warrior learns to master that spirit, to wield it with purpose, not let it wield you."

He paused, letting his words sink in. "You protected the memory of your family. That shows loyalty. Now, you must learn to protect yourself as well. From others' cruelty, and from your own anger."

He stood up. "Go back to your class. This matter is settled."

I left his office, my mind a whirlwind. A warrior's spirit. Not a contagion. Not a weakness. But a spirit that I needed to control. No one had ever spoken to me like that before. Not even my Daddy. He had taught me to fight, yes, but Alpha David was talking about something different.

The rest of the school day was a blur. No one spoke to me. No one looked at me. Caleb wasn't there. His friends kept their distance, their faces pale. It was a strange kind of quiet, not empty, but watchful. When the final bell rang, I gathered my things, which the teacher had helped me collect and put in a new bag. I walked out of the school building and there, leaning against a tree, was Beta Joseph. His arms were crossed, his face was unreadable. My stomach dropped. He must have heard. He must have come to take me away.

I walked toward him, my steps slow and heavy. When I reached him, he didn't move. He just looked down at me, his expression giving nothing away.

"You broke Caleb's nose," he said. It wasn't a question. His voice was flat, emotionless.

Tears pricked at my eyes again. I was so tired of crying. "I'm sorry," I whispered, the words catching in my throat. "I didn't mean to. He… he tore my picture. He stomped on my family."

Beta Joseph's gaze dropped to the drawing I still held, then back to my face. He was quiet for so long I thought the world had stopped. Then he let out a long, slow breath.

"Good."

My head snapped up. What did he say?

"Your father was a warrior, Kelly-Grace. A good one. But he was not a ranked member for a reason. He lacked… restraint." He looked off into the distance, toward the dark trees of the forest. "Caleb has been needing his nose put back in place for years. I'm just sorry you were the one who had to do it."

He straightened up and held out his hand. "Come on. Let's go home. We have a mess to clean up. I will warn you that Charlotte is not happy, I will try and smooth it over so you don't need to worry about her alright? Just listen and do exactly what I tell you to." Beta Joseph said and I nodded mutely, I had already assumed that would be the case.

The walk home was silent. Then after Beta Joseph opened the front door of their house for me and I had barely stepped through and hard hit smashed my head into the door.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY SON. YOU BROKE HIS NOSE YOU LITTLE B*TCH" Aunt Charlotte's voice screamed.