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After almost two hours of walking, Camelia finally reached Blood moon pack, it's brooding gates looming before her. Three patrols stood watch, their eyes fixed on her. The pack was on high alert due to recent rogue attacks, and the air was thick with tension.
The patrols had caught her scent from half a mile away, knowing she wasn't a threat. Still, their gazes held hostility, though none made a move to attack. Camelia ignored the growls from the wolves lurking in the bushes and passed through the gates, her feet dragging on the ground.
Her house came into view, its light still on, meaning her mother was awake. Camelia's heart quickened as she picked up her pace. When she reached the patio, she grasped the door knob, opening the door and stepped inside, wanting nothing more than to hug her mother.
But she was met by her angry mother's face the moment she stepped in.
"And where are you coming from, young lady?" her mother stared her up and down, her arms crossed over her chest.
Her expression instantly turned to one of worry the moment she spotted the wound on her daughter's knee.
"What happened to you, Camelia?!" she asked, her voice leaking with worry and concern, as she examined her daughter's leg.
She immediately moved to support her, leading her to a nearby sofa to seat, also seating next to her.
"Was it those girls? Did they do this to you?" she asked again, her worry now turning to anger.
"No it wasn't them. I was attacked by Hunters," Camelia held her mother's arm, explaining.
"Hunters!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening in horror, her lips trembling.
"Yes, but I'm fine mom," Camelia said trying to soothe her mother's worry.
"Oh my baby," her voice broke as she pulled Camelia into a tight hug, rubbing her back. "Why didn't you listen to me. You could have gotten hurt for real or worst." she pulled away grasping Camelia's shoulders tightly.
"Promise me you'll never leave the pack again! Promise me," she demanded her face contouring in anger all of a sudden, as her fingers dug into her daughter's skin through the fabric of her cloth.
Camelia winched from the pain, nodding her head in response to make her mother stop. She finally let go of her, and stood up to close the door, before returning with the first aid kit to treat her daughter's wound.
The woman kept biting her lips in a strange manner and mumbling to herself incoherently as she cleaned the wound, she would sometimes look up at Camelia and glare at her strangely, before immediately flashing her a smile.
The woman's behavior was weird and bizzier, but Camelia wasn't concerned as she had grown used to her mother's mental sickness. She remembered when she was little, she would hear people gossiping about how her mother had gone mad, just after her father found her and brought her back to the pack.
Yes, this woman may not be her birth mother, but she loved her even in her own way of showing love.
After she was done dressing her wound, her mother made sure she ate before Camelia went up to her room to freshen up.
She took a shower and got in bed, her mind drifting to man who had rescued her. She had intentionally skipped mentioning him to her mother before. She rolled to her side, cozied up in her bed.
"What were you doing there?" she soloquized in the dark.
For some reason, she found herself smiling when she recalled his brooding face. But her smile quickly died, when she remembered that the next day was sparing day—one.of her worst days where she would have to see the Alpha's daughter.
She exhaled and closed her eyes, letting sleep slowly seep in, as her saviour's face appeared in her mind leading her to pleasant dreams.
....
With a resounding plunk, Camelia was violently hurled to the ground for the tenth time by her sparring partner. She groaned, clutching her elbow as she lay panting, sweat trickling down her forehead, mingling with the dust that coated her skin. She lingered on the ground for a few moments, gazing up at the cerulean sky as the disturbed dust settled around her like delicate feathers.
Fortunately, her nose wasn't overly sensitive, or she would have been overwhelmed by a sneezing fit. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek bun, and she wore a black tank with matching sweatpants
The snickers and laughter of the others were audible, but Camelia was too apathetic to care as she slowly sat up.
This was the routine every sparring day. She got pummeled without retaliating, all for the Alpha's daughter's twisted amusement. She shouldn't even be participating, given her restricted status from most pack activities.
"Doesn't she look pitiful, groveling on the ground like a rat," Sophie chuckled, kicking more dust on Camelia with her designer boots, while the other girls standing nearby doing nothing but watch, joined her in chuckling.
Camelia stared at them with a bored expression. Their insults no longer bothered her. After years of bullying, it was only normal that she would have become used to their shenanigans and profaned words.
She rose up to her feet, glancing at the girls who had abandoned her yesterday, before looking at Sophie.
"Are we done here? As you can see I'm injured and I need a timeout," Camelia said, busting off her pants.
Sophie scoffed, clicking her tongue in distain. "The nerve on this little runt."
One of the girls with her stepped forward.
"Why don't I teach her a lesson for you?" she suggested, her gaze raking over Camelia. "She seems to have clearly forgotten her place. Speaking like this to the future Luna. I'm going to send you back home to crazy Mrs Bishop with a face even more messed up than her reputation."
Camelia glanced at the girl, her eyes narrowing slightly. She had been among the three girls who left her yesterday. Her eyes drifted to the ground, where a tree's shadow stretched out like a dark tentacle.
From the position of the sun, it indicated that it was already past noon, and the outdoor training grounds were bathed in warm, orangey light.
Her gaze snapped back up when she noticed the girl approaching her.
'What was her name. Is it Stacey or Sleezy,' Camelia thought to herself rubbing her neck.
Just before she could finish her thought, the girl charged towards her, already throwing a punch, but Camelia dodged the hit, swating the girls hand to the side and delivered a strong hit to the girls side.
The sound of bones cracking could be heard as the girl screamed and stumbled to the ground, seating on her legs and holding her ribs. Everyone gasped, as the place fell silent too stunned to speak.
"Well that happened," Camelia said nonchalantly, shrugging as she walked closer to the girl.
The girl looked up at her, her face red with anger and from the pains.
"You crazy b*tc-"
Camelia kicked her in the face, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence.
Before the girl could even gather her thoughts, Camelia sat on her stomach and began punching her without stop.
Hit after hit, each followed by the sound of breaking bones, till the girl's face was a bloody mess.
"S–stop... Y–you're crazy," the girl choked, blood spurting from her mouth as she tried to speak.
"Did you say something," Camelia pushed her ear forward dramatically. "I'm sorry but I couldn't hear you choking on your own blood," she chuckled.
She finally stopped hitting her, taking a break to glance at the onlookers who didn't dare to intervene including Sophie. She was certain they had gone to get the stronger male wolves.
Camelia stared at her bloody knuckles, watching as the blood dripped down, a mixture of the girls' blood and her own. She couldn't quite feel her knuckles, but she knew it was brushed bad.
She frowned when she suddenly felt a sickening, bone chilling aura wash over her, invading her body, the air suddenly turning cold around her. She looked around her, wondering where this aura was coming from.