Aurelia the Pink

Chapter 5: Pink Freak

- Aurelia (Ling) POV -

As usual, I had not slept a wink after last night’s turn of events. My tear ducts were as dry as the desert. I could not believe my fate. A werewolf without a wolf. Even with the world’s supply of sugar, I could not make a proper lemonade from all the ridiculous sour lemons thrown to me by life. I am grateful for Jian and Kang though. They stayed by me the whole night and comforted me. I cried over Kang’s shoulder as Jian rubbed my back soothingly. I guess a crisis brought us three back together. In the morning, my mum hugged me and reassured me that I am not a nobody. I am special, a pearl of great price. That phrase reminded me of my golden bracelet. My fingers traced around the pendant of the wolf. What seemed like the best gift had now mocked me.

After staring blankly at the ceiling of my bedroom for hours, I got up to hike towards the volcano. I needed it to cheer up. However, just as I stepped out of my home, a group of teenagers snickered at me. The leader of the group, an obnoxiously loud boy, pointed at me and shouted, “Here comes the pink-eyed wolf-less freak!” I scowled at them initially. Realisation dawned upon me! How did they know? My mother would never give that information away. She always preached to me that this should stay a secret forever. Kang! I was foolish. I should have listened to mum.

My sadness turned into anger. I ran towards Kang’s apartment. I banged the door furiously with my fist, each bang resounding louder than the previous. Kang opened the door sleepily while rubbing his eyes. Before he could even react, I swung my hand across for momentum and slapped him. It was surely a painful slap because my palm print was imprinted on his cheeks. His face changed from sleepiness to confusion to anger. Kang bared his canines and his pupils blackened like coal. Jian ran towards him to cool him down by stroking his elbow. It worked as his eyes lightened back to caramel brown. His face was still contorted in rage. “What was that for?” Kang screamed at me.

“I trusted you! You betrayed that trust! I hate you!” I screamed out loud beating at his chest.

“Enough!” bellowed Kang in his Alpha voice. “Leave and never return to my home!” he continued.

His Alpha voice did not work on me. Perhaps my wolf-less plight had its perks. However, I took that as my cue to leave. I did not want to say any more words I would regret. I also did not want to have a taste of his Alpha fist.

News of my assault on Kang spread like wildfire. Everyone judged me and looked at me with disdain. Hostility was on an all-time high. As I mentioned, hierarchy was key in a werewolf community. No one ever had the guts to hit a higher ranking wolf, let alone the Alpha. A once popular person like me became a target of bullies.

Everyone was civil towards me in front of my mother or Jian out of respect. When I was out of their protective sight, I was in danger. It started with a few hard shoves and the nickname ‘Pink Freak’ being thrown about. After I fought back, they beat me up. Somehow, although I did not shift into my wolf, I healed as quickly as one. This left the bullies unsatisfied.

One day, the group of teenagers, the same one who started this, ambushed me. They threw a bag of Wolfsbane and silver balls at me. I swept them out of my hair and clothing without any struggles. Unbeknownst to all of us, I was immune to both. Their eyes widened with fear as they ran away. Even their screams ‘Pink Freak’ had a hint of fear instead of the usual taunt. Ever since that day, everyone shunned me like I was the plague. Well, everyone except mum. That was the worst punishment possible for us werewolves as we are social creatures.

Eventually, I moved to the outskirts of town in an abandoned shed, right at the border of the pack territory. My mum begged me to stay. I refused. I could not bear to stay in a town that one day adored me and abhor me another day. I joked with her that they would probably grab pitchforks and chased me off sooner or later if I stayed. I would call it the ‘Pink Hunt’. Now I understood why my mum told me to hide my eye colour. People were fickle minded, our community was conservative; different is wrong. I am sure that the Northern pack would be more accepting of me. However, I pushed this thought away as I can imagine my mum’s pain if I moved away.