A Wolf Scorned by Taylor Spratt
Amira
It wasn’t so much that I hated school. It was that I hated school and I hated being the class punching bag. Oh, what new and exciting tortures would my classmates come up with today?
“Hurry, Amira! They're about to lock the gates on us,” Riley announced, as she sprinted through the metal gates that cut off the south mine’s tunnels from the school quadrant.
I passed the gate after her and entered the minor tunnel that led to the classrooms.
This area was nicer than the dirt tunnels we’d just left. You might even call it a hallway. The walls and ceiling were lined with dark brown, wooden planks, and small shiny stones were laid together on the floor, stretching all the way down.
Silver lockers lined the path down the hall, with classroom doors spread about twenty feet apart on either side.
“Hold it right there. What are you little she-wolves doing out of class at this hour? The bell chimed fifteen minutes ago,” a deep voice said from up ahead.
Standing by the lockers were two menacingly tall vampire males, both with bone straight, white hair that ran all the way to their narrow waists. They shot us fangful grins and their eyes shone blood red, a sign that they were hungry and had no problem showing it.
Riley and I were the ones foolish enough to be late for class, after all. We knew the risks of tardiness meant the possibility of happening upon a vampire enforcer or two. And too bad for us, these blood suckers didn’t always honor the treaty that said they weren’t allowed to drink from the students.
Riley and I paused at the sight of the blood hungry predators in front of us.
“I’m- I’m Riley Greenstone, daughter of Beta Michael and my companion and I request safe passage to go to class,” Riley said in a shaky voice.
They looked at each other, grinning with satisfaction at the sight of Riley’s fear.
I hated vampires. They were the real oppressors in the hole. Even Alpha Logan was just a glorified servant to the vampires. His only real purpose was to keep all of us wolves in line and keep our sacrifices going to the vampires like a factory. That’s all we really were to them, a commodity instead of people.
“We know who you are,” the taller of the two vampires hissed, before starting closer to us. “Didn’t anyone tell you classes start at 8:30? As punishment for your tardiness we really should teach you a little lesson. And what better way to punish wayward wolves than to drink some of your blood?”
“If you think we’re gonna let you blood suckers drink even one drop from us then you’ve got another thing coming, pal.” I shook my fist at him and they laughed scornfully, finding nothing threatening about me.
“Amira!” Riley reprimanded, before pressing her hand to my chest to push me back.
“So deliciously delightful! Dinner and a show,” the taller vampire stated.
His friend clapped his hands together and joined in to say, “How cute! A little she-wolf who thinks she’s any match for two ancient vampires. I could just eat you right up.”
The taller vampire took a giant step toward us, passing Riley and wrapping his hand around my waist. His tongue glided over the length of his fang and he perused my body with intrigue in his eyes.
“I wonder if you taste as sweet as you smell, little one,” he breathed, leaning in to run his smooth tongue over the nape of my neck.
“Let-let go of me,” I choked out, pressing at his brick wall of a chest in vain. Right as I expected to feel the sting of fangs in my neck, a nearby classroom door swung open and banged against the wall.
“Amira and Riley!” Professor White scolded from inside the classroom. “I've smelled you in the hall for the last ten minutes. Are you planning on coming to class or are you waiting for us to bring the class out into the hallway?”
I thought fear was the worst emotion a wolf could feel. But the embarrassment I felt as my professor and my entire fucking class watched me getting my neck sucked by a vampire definitely took the cake.
“Amira!” Professor White exclaimed, her eyes unbelieving as she watched me and the vampire. “This is an institution of higher learning, physical contact of such a nature is not allowed.”
“Tell him that, I didn’t do anything wrong.” I shoved the vampire away and he snapped his teeth at me as if I’d offended him.
“Amira, where are your manners, girl? Is this any way to treat our vampire friends?” The professor wagged a bony finger at me and folded her hands. Her wrinkled old cheeks stretched into a disappointed scowl.
“But he’s the one who...”
“Amira!” Her voice cracked like a whip and I was forced to submit.
You’d think I’d have gotten used to the status quo by now. The vampires are always right. Even when they are wrong, they're right. And any wolf to say otherwise would be finished.
“You're right, Professor. I’m sorry,” I said through gritted teeth.
Just put up with it for now, Amira. Soon you’ll be kissing all this crap goodbye. Vampires and all, I thought but didn’t say.
Not wanting to make an unnecessary scene or sully their ‘holy reputation’, the vampires went on their way and Riley and I entered the classroom. Everyone snickered as I passed them, their eyes glued to me as if I were the most interesting thing in the room.
Riley and I sat down right beside each other in our usual spots at the back of the crowded classroom.
“Now, class, as I was saying before the disturbance.” Professor White, ruler in hand, paced the floor in front of the whiteboard. “The sacred moon of mating is tomorrow night. And as you know, since our pack moved underground fifty years ago to fulfill our grand destiny, this has become our greatest social event of the year.”
Moved underground? Was she kidding? Our pack was kidnapped from our home and forced to live in an underground cage. And grand destiny? Is that what you call it when you are forced to live as a vampire’s commodity and made to sacrifice your precious shifter energy every week just so you're allowed to eat?
“You have no idea how fortunate you all are,” she continued, casting her hands wide and lifting her head high as she addressed the students. “I was mated long ago to a wonderful wolf. But you young wolves have yet to experience the ultimate pleasure of matehood. Tomorrow night you will be mated and, in so doing, you will become one with the other half of your soul. This is a wolf shifter’s greatest joy in life. Praise be to our vampire masters and Alpha Logan for allowing us to enjoy such a splendid night of love!”
The class erupted in applause for Professor White as everyone shared in her enthusiasm for the moon of mating.
“Praise be to Alpha Logan!” a random voice hollered and, like mindless apes, the whole class repeated it, chanting it over and over like a mantra.
Matehood. They made it seem like it’s the greatest thing in life. But not a single male wolf in this shithole had ever shown me an ounce of kindness. I couldn't imagine being mated to any one of them.
Good thing for me that I had a plan. While everyone was busy at the mating ceremony tomorrow, security would be at its lowest. That’s when Lucky and I would make our grand escape.
“Isn’t it so exciting, Amira? Tomorrow we’ll finally get to meet our one true loves,” Riley said and I turned to look at her. I could practically see the hearts throbbing in her dreamy eyes.
I admired that she was a hopeless romantic even if we didn't have that in common. I’d never had the luxury of daydreaming about love or romance, between the bullying and beatings.
“It sure is. I can’t wait.” I donned my most convincing smile and even managed a stiff necked nod.
Professor White continued talking about mates and how great it is to be mated to a class of eager and excited faces, while I tried my best not to hurl.
“Say, Chica, have you sensed your wolf yet?” Riley asked for what to be the one hundredth time since her wolf appeared to her last year.
I didn’t think Riley knew just how much pain it brought me, the fact that my wolf hadn’t appeared yet. It was just one more thing to make me feel less than everyone else.
“Any day now, I bet,” I said, faking cheer.
“Hey, maybe after you find your mate that’ll wake your wolf. Nothing stirs the soul more than love.” A hopeful smile stretched across her face and I returned the smile, hoping it would mask the pain and self doubt that was slowly eating me from the inside out.
As the daughter of a Beta, her power sacrifice obligations were lower than mine. Maybe if I didn’t have to sacrifice so much power to the vampires then my wolf would have appeared to me already. I just knew she would have.
“Okay, class, it’s time for me to teach you a new power sharing technique. Everyone, please stand up. Come on, don’t be lazy. Stand up.” Professor White waved her hands, gesturing for us to stand.
Reluctantly, I rose from my seat. Stretching their backs and yawning, all of the he-wolves and she-wolves in the room did the same.
“Now I’ve received word that last month’s power offerings fell short of the target. Ten thousand magiwatt quota per class was the deal stuck in the last treaty. So today we are learning a little technique that will enable you to give even more shifter energy before you start to feel weak.”
“More energy? They want more? A girl from class C-6 died last week from exhaustion and they want more of our power?” I raised my hand to speak and Professor White curled up her nose at my outburst.
Snickers and rude comments reverberated around the room as the judging eyes of my classmates honed in on me.
“We must all make sacrifices for the good of our pack. Alpha Logan made this agreement on our behalf and we must honor it. I swear, Amira, if you don’t know your duties by this far in the semester then I have failed you as a Professor.” She shook her head and returned to her lesson.
“Now, class, I want you all to raise your hands high in the air and summon your shifter power from deep inside of you. Breathe in and feel the power flowing from deep within. You must visualize it, and as you slowly exhale, let it free,” she instructed, and everyone in the class raised our hands, including me after a pleading look from Riley.
I stretched my hands in the air and breathed for several minutes while trying not to feel ridiculous. A heavy-handed knock vibrated the door and a cold chill ran down my spine. The collector was here.
The door swung open and an older vampire holding a large black orb in his hand stepped into the room. He wore a black cloak with a sword tied to his side. Wrinkles lined his face, making him look even crankier than he was. His dead eyes searched the room for Professor White and in a stern, no nonsense voice he said, “I have come for the weekly sacrifice. Is this class ready?”
Without caring to ask us, Professor White chirped in a sugary sweet voice, “Of course! My class is always ready for Offering Day.”
The vampire nodded and raised the dark orb high in the air. It slowly changed from black to blue as it fed on our energy. With every second that passed, I felt more sick and weak than the last. Imagine how it would feel to have the very life sucked out of you, violating your body and every last ounce of your soul. That's what this felt like.
Two girls in the front row fell over, blacking out from losing too much power and still the vampire held the orb high, collecting his energy quota as planned. Soon the orb turned red, signaling that the orb was full.
“The surface thanks you for your sacrifice,” he said before shifting the orb to rest under his arm.
Wondering what the power was for? Well, that was the best part. While we lived in this dirty hole, there was a thriving city just over our heads in the surface world. They had every luxury we were forbidden to have such as cars, electronics, you name it. Our power was used to power their society, keeping their cars and precious gadgets going like oil did in decades gone by. So not only were we slaves to the needs of the surface world, our entire reason for living was just to be their batteries. And. I. Was. Sick. Of. It.
“Yeah, the surface thanks us. Like we have a choice,” I muttered under my breath, in what I thought was a whisper too low for anyone to hear.
“Amira! How dare you disrespect our honourable vampire friend. You must apologize at once!” Professor White lashed out, pointing her finger right at me. Everyone lowered their hands to face me, the one wolf foolish enough to make a scene in front of a collector.
I folded my hands at my side, staring down the vampire. He didn’t get to take my power and my dignity too. If he was going to fuck me over, he wouldn’t be doing so with my thanks.
The vampire reached for the sword at his side and edged closer to me. Riley grabbed me by the hand and squeezed tight.
I took a hard swallow as the vampire now stood a mere five feet away from me and Riley but I didn’t move an inch, my pride wouldn’t let me back down now.
The tension in here was so palpable that you could cut the air with a knife. My body stiffened as the thought of his icy blade piercing my belly raced through my mind. Before I even registered the sound, the classroom intercom gave out a series of hisses and pops, breaking the deathly silence in the room.
The deep and commanding voice of Alpha Logan sounded from the speakers.
“Good morning, Pack. As you all know the Moon of Mating is tomorrow night. I will have a debriefing session with all first-time participants right now in the pack room. Don’t keep me waiting.”
His voice cut out as quickly as it started and the vampire spared me a half smile that said, ‘you lucky little bitch’. He sheathed his blade before turning and walking out of the room. The air returned with his departure and I collapsed on my chair, unsure how I was even still alive.
“After the Moon of Mating we’re going to have a long talk about today’s little outburst, Amira.” Professor White’s angry gaze shifted from me to the rest of the class and she clapped her hands. “Now, hurry everyone, get to the pack room. Don’t keep the Alpha waiting.”
The class shuffled out the door single file, with Riley and I at the back. Once in the hallway, the students disbursed, mixing with other classes and filtering out of the school quadrant.
Riley needed something from her locker before we headed to the pack room, and I leaned against the adjacent locker as she rummaged through hers.
“Almost got it, Chica,” Riley pulled the sleeve of a blue sweater out of the unholy mess that was her locker while I waited.
“You ladies need any help?” a deep, yet somewhat oafish sounding voice came from beside me, making my blood run cold.
The entire hallway was now empty. That was except for Riley, me and crap… Not them. The Harrison Twins, Betas in training and my own personal tormentors from class G-6, were beside me.
They were both blond with blocky foreheads that always had a layer of sweat pasting their messy hair to their faces. Their bodies were as hulking as their brains were tiny, so yeah, they were fucking huge.
Paul Harrison grabbed me by the neck and threw me into the lockers opposite Riley’s. Pain radiated down my spine as I fell hard to the ground. Riley shrieked like a banshee, looking on in horror at the scene.
“What's this we hear about you protesting the sacrifice in class, huh, half-breed? Haven’t we taught you your place yet?” Tommy Harrison fisted my hair, dragging me up off the floor to whisper in my ear in a threatening tone, “Ah well. We’ve got a little time to spare. What do you say we continue our little lesson? Ready for some fun, half-breed?”