"ARRGH!" Valessia cried out, stumbling as her shopping bags hit the ground with a thud. She managed to stay upright, but Kaya shoved her backward with brute force. Valessia's back slammed against the cold, white concrete wall, the pain reverberating through her spine and stomach.
Another cry escaped her lips as she dropped into a sitting position, one hand bracing her chest while the other protectively cradling her belly.
Her voice broke into a whisper. "Nothing must happen to you… my sweet little sunshine." Her palm rubbed her stomach gently, almost as if her touch alone could protect the child inside.
Kaya stood over her with a cruel smirk. "This…this is the woman who thinks she can stand beside the Alpha? She can't even stand on her own two feet."
More laughter followed and so was their sneering.
"She really believes she can rule beings like us. What a joke." Kaya kicked at Valessia's leg, spreading it out further in mockery as she let out a cruel, barking laugh.
Valessia flinched but didn't fight back. Tears spilled down her face, silent and steady. "Please… that's enough, Kaya," she said, her voice trembling, cracked by pain and sorrow.
But her tears only fueled the cruelty. The crowd didn't pity her. They laughed and looked at her like dirt, something beneath even sympathy.
"You don't get to say when this ends," Kaya hissed, stepping in closer, towering over her.
Before she could do more damage, Virema quickly stepped in and leaned toward Kaya. Her voice dropped to a hushed whisper. "She may not be the Alpha's mate or Luna, but don't forget, she carries his surname now. Maybe it's just on paper, but that name still protects her, whether you like it or not."
She paused, letting her words settle. "And you should remember, Kaya, these same wolves cheering you on? They'll be the first to turn on you if things get out of hand."
Kaya stiffened. The image of the pack's dungeon flashed in her mind… the cold, damp air, the foul stench of rot, the hard floor where she'd been forced to sleep.
She still remembered scrubbing herself raw after those two nights, bathing in rose water and milk for hours just to erase the filth. The shame still clung to her, no matter how hard she tried to forget.
'As much as I hate to say it, Virema is right,' her wolf whispered grudgingly in the back of her mind. 'The Alpha's wrath is not something even you want to test. For now... retreat.'
Kaya didn't like it. But she listened.
"Consider yourself lucky I don't want to harm the pup inside you," she spat, a lie she hoped would mask her retreat.
Truth was, hurting the child had been her intention from the start. One less reminder of Valessia's presence. One less heir. One less problem for the entire Evric's family.
She turned abruptly. "Let's go."
The crowd parted instantly for her, something they hadn't done for Valessia moments ago. Her heels clicked sharply against the pavement as she walked away.
Virema glanced down at Valessia, still crouched on the ground, shaking, bleeding dignity and silent tears.
But she didn't offer her hand nor utter nice words to sooth her broken heart. She simply turned and followed after Kaya like Valessia was nobody to her.
"A wolfless and disgraceful thing daring to covet the title of a Luna. What a blasphemy to the crown of the Luna," sneered a middle-aged woman clad in an elegant black dress. She spat near Valessia's trembling legs, her eyes glaring down with contempt.
Another woman, standing ahead in the small crowd, scoffed and crossed her arms. "Getting married with a protruding stomach during her late husband's mourning period," she hissed.
"She's a total disgrace to womanhood and motherhood. She deserves to be hanged for this abomination."
Her glare sliced through Valessia before she turned with a swirl of her coat and walked away.
Valessia sat frozen, tears slipping down her cheeks. Her eyes stung, but she quickly wiped them away and braced herself against the cold concrete wall to push herself upright. Her body still ached from the earlier collision, the sharp pain in her side pulsing with every breath but she clenched her teeth and endured it.
"Seraphine will be getting off from school. I can't keep her waiting for long," she muttered under her breath.
Gathering her shopping bags from the tiled floor, she took a steadying breath and approached the small group blocking her path. Every time she tried to pass, shoulders collided with hers, intentional bumps from the proud superior wolves who loathed her existence. Not one of them even looked her way as they shoved past.
Because of the delay and their harassment, she hadn't been able to buy the one item she'd wanted for herself. But that did not really bother her much.
From the school gates, the stares only grew colder. Parents picking up their children didn't even bother to lower their voices or hide their disgust.
The whispers floated like poisoned arrows, aimed directlyat her heart.
"Why is she even allowed here?"
"So shameless..."
"If she had any dignity left, she'd disappear."
Their whispers stung worse than the cruelty meted out on her earlier, mostly because they came from mothers. She had hoped, at the very least, they might understand.
As she scanned the schoolyard, her eyes locked onto a familiar figure. Seraphine sat quietly in her wheelchair close to the pavement, her teacher Mrs. Wilson standing beside her.
The moment Seraphine saw her mother, her fragile composure broke. Tears began to spill freely down her face
"Why the hell is she crying?" Valessia murmured, hurrying forward.
But the moment she reached them, her blood ran cold.
"What happened?" she blurted. "Why is she covered in bruises?"
There was a cut near Seraphine's right eyebrow, deep and crusted with dried blood. Her cheeks were red and swollen, one side much worse than the other. She looked like she'd been attacked by a pack of wolves.
Valessia dropped to her knees, gently grabbing her daughter's tiny hands, but Seraphine winced and cried out in pain.
The sound shattered Valessia.
She tried to soothe Seraphine, brushing loose strands of hair from her daughter's face, whispering soft reassurances. But inside, she was boiling. When Seraphine's tears settled into quiet sniffles, Valessia rose sharply and turned toward the teacher.
"Mrs. Wilson, will you explain to me what the hell happened?" Her voice was calm, but her eyes burned. "Why is my daughter bruised like this when she was supposed to be under your care?"
A voice cut in before Mrs. Wilson could respond.
"Why bother asking? I bet she doesn't know her place just like her mother. Like mother, like daughter," sneered a woman nearby, adjusting her little girl's pigtails as she spoke. She wore a blue maxi skirt and a neatly buttoned white blouse, acting as if she were above them all.
Valessia opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again. She recognized the woman. Daughter of a respected elder. Wife to an influential pack member. Not someone she could afford to challenge openly.
Mrs. Wilson finally spoke. "Seraphine got into an argument with the older kids~"
"Is that why they bullied her?" Valessia shouted gesturing at Seraphine's bruises. "A child in a wheelchair who can't even defend herself?" Her eyes scanned the nearby students and parents, as if she could spot the culprits just by instinct.
"This is a school for vibrant, full-blooded wolves, not a nursing home for weaklings, cripples," another mother whispered nearby. Her voice was quiet, but she made sure Valessia heard it.
Valessia turned sharply toward her. "At least I raised my daughter not to be a bully," she said fiercely. "Can you say the same about yours?"