The Girl Without A Wolf

03

“Sister, wait up.”

I stiffened. My hand laid on the school front door. A cold sense of dread coiled in the pit of my stomach as I heard that saccharine voice call out.

A big part of me wanted to pretend like I hadn’t heard her and bolt out, blaming it on being lost in thought if she later asked why I didn’t heed her call.

As if she could read my mind, Bianca’s voice rang out in the hallway, “Ash, don’t go yet,” followed by the sound of clicking heels growing closer to me.

My shoulders slumped. Resigned, I slowly turned and saw a sight that made my heart lurch painfully. Bianca had her arm linked with Tate’s, lips painted bright red and stretched in a radiant smile that enhanced her beauty. Tate, my mate… no, he had already rejected me, wore a rapt, infatuated look on his sculpted face. He kept stealing glances at Bianca, his expression saying he couldn’t believe that such a perfect girl was his.

My lips quivered. A stinging, almost drowning ache swirled in my chest and I had to take slow, deep breaths to steady my emotions.

I had been avoiding the two since morning, deliberately not lingering in the areas where they tended to be. But it seemed they were not on the same page about ignoring my presence.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you today, Ash. I thought you wouldn’t show up at school. You know, after Tate publicly rejected you and all.”

Her words sounded caring, almost worried to the ears of any random passersby. Her eyes, however, told a different story. “You’re not angry at me, right?”

A grimace of dissatisfaction etched on Tate’s face. “Of course, she’s not angry. There’s no one to blame for the rejection but her.” Tate gave Bianca a doting smile. “Don’t worry too much about that, okay?”

Bianca sniffled, pouting slightly. “I can’t help but worry, you know, what if she thought I purposefully devised taking you from her?”

Oh, for the love of all things wonderful. “Is there anything you want to talk to me about?” That is, other than being a two-faced b***h as usual.

Tate frowned at my brisk tone. Just as he was about to say something, Bianca stopped him by turning his head towards her and caressing his face.

“I have some important stuff to ask my sister. I’ll come onto the field to meet you later, okay?” She kissed him full on the lips, tongue and all.

A sour ache exploded in my heart and I had to clench my hands together, putting them behind me to stop myself from giving in to the building urge to dig them into her hair.

A sappy grin was plastered on Tate’s mouth when they parted, which further infuriated me.

“Don’t take too long.”

“I won’t.” Bianca cooed. Facing me, she said with a tiny tilt of her head, “Let’s go, sister.” She strutted away.

As I followed, every nerve in my system hummed with how much of a bad idea this was. Yet, I didn’t have much of a choice. Refusal would just spell more problems for me.

She entered an empty classroom in the right hallway and majestically sat, crossing her legs and delicately laying her hands on top of them.

I paused at the doorway, eyes darting around the room for any hidden follower waiting to do Bianca’s sadistic bidding. Seeing no one, my shoulders relaxed and I stepped in.

“Please shut the door, sister.”

Foolishly, I did as she said. Big mistake.

“Won’t you take a seat, Ash?”

“Let’s just skip the pretense and go straight to why you really asked me here, shall we?” I blurted, already fed up with her charade.

“Rude much? And I was only being nice,” Bianca shrugged.

“But if you don’t want that, then no problem.”

Her innocent look melted away to reveal the cunning, malicious girl I knew her to be.

“Are you in pain, Ash?” she asked with a devious curl on her lips. “Honestly, after yesterday, I expected you to be dying in sorrow and self-hate because your mate is in my pretty little fingers.”

As though her words were the trigger, the numbing ache that had subsided a bit in my chest woke up with raging vengeance, nearly knocking the wind out of me.

I choked, fist clenched, and beat the spot gently.

“Or you’re just good at hiding it, it seems.” Her mouth widened, the glint in her eyes showing how delighted she was at my discomfort.

“How could you do that?” I wheezed, glaring as I stumbled back toward the door. “He was my mate!”

“But he didn’t want you,” Bianca pointed out matter-of-factly. “He doesn’t want a glitch for his mate and because he proposed to me, who am I to reject?”

“And you think you’d last together?” I scoffed. “Don’t deceive yourself. He is —”

She unbuttoned the first five buttons of her shirt, pulled the cloth aside and right there were glowing diamond marks just inches above her right breast.

My knees weakened, and I had to hold the door for support. No… This can’t be real. The sight of those shimmering marks felt like a dagger twisting deep into my soul. Everything inside me shattered. The last fragile thread of hope I had been clinging to snapped brutally, leaving only raw, suffocating agony in its place.

“I’m sure you know what these marks are, sister?” Bianca gloated. “Or do I need to explain them?”

Tears rapidly filled my vision, blurring the sight before me. But it didn’t matter. Those marks were seared in my mind.

Whenever a wolf chose a mate, to cement their bond and eternal relationship before the Creator, their birthmarks were willingly exchanged and engraved on each other’s bodies through sacred vows spoken during the consummation of the mate bond.

I admitted that I was still holding onto the impossibly tiny hope that they wouldn’t have exchanged the sacred vows because Bianca wasn’t Tate’s true mate after all.

But now… All hope was completely gone.

Tears trickled down my cheeks as I watched Bianca button up her shirt. “Oh, don’t cry, sister.”

She got up and drew close to me. I said nothing.

“Or maybe you should cry because that means you no longer have eyes on my mate and have given him up completely.”

She patted my cheek, smirking. Her eyes turned golden. “I will have fun making your life a living hell because, now that I’m the future Luna of Craven pack, Father has given me loads of gifts, including that tiny parcel of land you and your wretched b***h of a mother are living in. And first thing tomorrow morning, I’m sending both of you out without taking anything so that you can rot on the street like the disgusting rodents that you are.”

A strange numbness settled in my bones like a blast of cold. I felt something bubble to life in my blood, sending tiny sparks of something foreign — an invigorating sensation that made me feel like I was on top of the world.

And I wanted Bianca…to feel pain.

“Beg me now and I could….”

She stopped, face scrunched up as she rubbed her temple. “What—?!” She held her head in her hands, groaning loudly, eyes clenched shut.

Then she gagged. Blood poured out of her lips with a splash, staining the white-tiled floor. I watched, apathetic and distant, like it wasn’t happening in front of me.

I couldn’t explain it. The gigantic mountain of fury gradually building in me was more than I had ever felt before. No, I had never been able to stay angry at anyone for long.

Yet at this very moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to make Bianca suffer. All my rage was focused on her.

She knelt over with a muffled cry, red liquid soaking her clothes.

She stretched her hand towards me, eyes wide with unadulterated fear. “A-Ash, h-help me—”

Malignant pleasure fluttered in me.

A deep tear appeared at the side of her face, elongating with each second.

Bianca shrieked, her agonized voice like delightful music to my ears. The cut extended to her throat where a vein was sliced, and more blood sprayed out.

Her screams decreased into a keening cry as she lay on the floor, twitching. I felt a delicious happiness like I had won a lottery.

Oh, I think she’s going to—

Something banged against my head with sudden force, knocking me to the floor.

“Bianca!” Voices cried as footsteps rushed in. “What happened to you?”

The hit seemed to clear the haze of anger and immediately, the guilt of what I had done slammed into me.

“You!” Tate growled, his eyes red and murderous. Before I could say anything, someone punched me on the back of my head. I blanked out.