A few days later, the rumor mill spun uncontrollably. I tried not to care, focusing instead on reclaiming my academic standing.
Then, during break time, Tisha suddenly barged into my class.
This was completely out of character. Tisha usually avoided me like a plague.
She started screaming at the top of her lungs.
"It's all because of you! Because you're the daughter of criminals, now my Alpha father is called to the academy—"
"The Alpha is here?" I was shocked. "How could a ridiculous rumor blow up into this?"
"It's not a ridiculous rumor! It's the truth! Your parents are the criminals banished from my pack!"
Tisha's deafening voice instantly grabbed the attention of all my classmates and neighboring students.
"If Alpha Ryan is here, we should meet him and ask why he's here, instead of making a ruckus like this."
I tried to inject calm into the chaos.
But my words only irritated her further, though I didn't know why.
"Don't you dare meet my father! You bring misfortune to my parents, to me, to my whole pack!" she yelled.
"I told them to drive you away the moment I knew your parents were criminals, but they're too good for a shameless person like you!"
"Stop calling my parents criminals! Don't you know this whole rumor is getting bigger because you keep making false statements?" I yelled back, my own anger flaring.
"It's not a rumor! I heard it from my parents!" Her face was flushed crimson with a mix of fury and genuine desperation.
I wanted to slap this spoiled girl. But her expression…
Having grown up with her, I knew exactly when she was telling the truth and when she was lying. She wasn't lying now.
"My parents are criminals?" I felt my spirit crumbling.
"They were banished when you were just a baby. They were robbers, kidnappers, con artists—
they committed so many crimes that my parents were even suspected of being involved…"
I barely heard anything Tisha said after that. My head was buzzing, threatening to explode.
As I thought deeper, Tisha's words horribly made sense. It answered why absolutely nobody talked about my biological parents.
And perhaps, that was why Luna Thalia had been so fiercely protective of me, so eager to send me to this faraway academy.
She was afraid others would expose my past, my parents.
My chest felt as if it had been repeatedly struck by a blunt force, crushing me. My legs weakened. I couldn't even stand straight.
Tisha stalked toward me.
The murmurs of the crowd grew louder; they must have viewed this as fascinating soap opera drama.
Tisha stopped right in front of me, her hand rising.
I knew she was going to slap me. I wanted to dodge, even counter with a slap of my own.
But when I imagined the shame and trouble Alpha Ryan and Luna Thalia had endured because of my parents,
I felt overwhelming shame.
Perhaps what I could offer was my face. A little pain from a slap was nothing.
But before her hand touched my face, a large hand grasped her wrist, stopping it mid-air.
I didn't recognize the guy immediately, but his face looked vaguely familiar. Maybe I'd seen him around school.
Why was he here, in my class, meddling in our affairs?
My gaze shifted to Tisha, expecting her to explode in anger. Instead, she backed away, her face stamped with genuine shock.
That's when I noticed the sheer number of students flooding the doorway, some weren't even from neighboring classes.
Who were they? Or rather, who was this guy who seemed to draw such a crowd?
I turned to him. Surprisingly, he was already looking at me.
"The Principal called you to the office," he said in a deep voice, then gestured for me to follow.
Even though all of this felt incredibly strange, I obeyed.
Before leaving, I turned to Tisha.
"I don't know if I'm being called because the Alpha is here, but I swear, I won't cause any problem for Alpha Ryan."
Tisha didn't answer. She just blinked slowly, as if her soul had been momentarily arrested by this strange guy.
I walked side-by-side with him. Every time we passed a classroom, students would pour out to watch us.
While I was only familiar with my classmates, this guy's face was familiar enough for me to recognize.
He had to be very popular, appearing frequently at assemblies or ceremonies.
Besides that, I knew exactly why the female students looked at him like he was a priceless bag, he was exceedingly handsome.
His wavy brunette hair was deliberately styled messy, he had clear blue eyes, honey-colored skin, a high-bridged nose, deep-set eyes, and full lips.
He looked like the classic cold outside, warm inside type the girls adored.
"We're here." His deep voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Thank you," I said, then knocked on the Principal's door.
"Enter," the Principal's old man voice answered from inside.
As I stepped inside, I caught the sound of a girl's voice from the corridor. "Brother Larry!"
Larry?
I didn't look back, but the name jogged my memory.
Now I knew why his face was too familiar. He was Larry Green, one of the famous Green siblings.
But why would Larry Green call me to the Principal's office?
Once again, I didn't have time to process what was happening when someone suddenly wrapped me in a warm embrace.
"Who…" My words caught in my throat.
My gaze met Alpha Ryan's. He was smiling faintly at me. The Principal also offered a gentle, reassuring smile.
My attention snapped back to the soft, brunette hair of the woman who was hugging me. She smelled wonderful, a familiar scent!
It was her!
The woman who had saved me from the eggs, who had given me her handkerchief. The scent was the same.
A chill ran down my spine as the woman's soft voice entered my ears,
"I finally found you, my daughter."
...