Page 11 of Broken Souls

“Elora...” He reaches for me but I step back. His face distorts in hardship. Really? Is it such a loss for him?

“I may be the crossbred but you pieces of shit are the biggest disgrace that could walk this earth.” I storm out, slamming the door so hard I hear it split. So much for that letter.

Instead of letting my entire being break down, I cling on to the anger. I fixate on the anger. That's how I'll get through this. Do I even want to get through this? Yes. My life does not end here. I will turn my life into something great. The ultimate revenge will be me finding happiness when everyone has only wished me misery.

I rush through the streets and go deep in the forest. My mind is haywire right now. My whole life I've been abused and the one person that could have put a stop to it just kicked me out. I want to know the whole story between him and Lizzy. A thought keeps crossing my mind. What if he forced her? When a pack member comes across a rogue, the rogue will be killed on the spot. What was he thinking? Did he find her and force her? I hate not knowing. I would love to meet her. But then if she is a rogue, and if rogues really are as bad as people say, maybe she is worse than my father. I can't imagine it getting any worse, though.

I walk far out into the pack's lands but no matter how far I go, I can't clear my mind. Should I shift into my wolf? I'm not sure about that. My wolf is impulsive and can't control her emotions as well as I can. So it's best I stay in this form. Otherwise my wolf may rip anything I find apart. I can't handle this chaos. Throughout my life, surviving was hard but now... it's like all my life, I've had a wound. The moment Joel rejected me, it's like my wound was drowned in alcohol. Now that my father has kicked me out, it's like they've rubbed salt in my wound. I'm burning. In agony. That's what I feel.

Chapter Nine

I've been wallowing in this forest for hours. The sun has gone down and the sky is dark, the tall trees blocking out any moonlight there is. If it weren't for my wolf, I wouldn't be able to see where I'm going. I don't know where I'm supposed to go. This pack hates me. The only friend I've got has family problems so I can't even think about going there. I guess I'll go back for my car, load it with my shit, then figure out where to park until I can sort things out. Unless I go rogue. No. I can't. Can I? Maybe I should. Everyone already thinks of me like that.

“Look who it is,” Ember's voice cuts through the silence. I look up and see her, Hannah and Mitchell standing in the darkness. They look daunting. I know I'm screwed right now. I bit back at school and they aren't going to let me get away with it. I'm about to get beaten up. Even if I scream, no one will help.

“Not now, Ember,” I growl at her, all of them looking surprised. I'm pissed. Maybe I can win this time.

“Wow, looks like someone thinks they have a choice in the matter.” Ember smirks.

They step closer and I watch them. I've never trained before, no explanation needed. How do I do this? They are skilled. They might be formulated in the way they fight but I'm going to take the savage approach. Swing my fists and see what happens. They think of me as uncivilised; I'm going to show them just how uncivilised I can be. When they get close enough I punch Mitchell in the face figuring knocking him out first while I've got the most energy and anger is the smart way to go. Once he drops, not from unconsciousness but from the surprise and impact, I turn to the girls. They look shocked but then their pupils blow out in anger. They attack me before I can react. As I feel my arm being yanked and a fist connect to my face, my hands instinctively go to cover my face from being pummelled. They still land blows so instead of going into a defensive position, I throw my arms around to get some lead way on them.

I manage to get a few hits on them but once Mitchell gets back up, I know I'm done for. He goes behind me and grabs my arms behind my back so I can't defend myself. Ember and Hannah stand in front of me grinning.

“You shouldn't have put up a fight because now you're getting it worse,” Mitchell's voice rumbles in my ear.

“We could have done this like usual but now...” Ember smiles maliciously.

Ember and Hannah look like the ultimate cold-blooded predators. I try to turn and twist to shake off Mitchell's hold but it's no use. I don't know how much time passes but they beat me horrendously. After landing blow after blow to my face, I feel so dizzy I collapse so Mitchell lets me fall to the ground. These people don't believe in 'don't kick a man when he's down', because they go right for my ribs, kicking over and over. I even hear a loud crack. I feel the wind get knocked out of me so much so that I can't talk, let alone gasp.

My body goes limp in defeat. They see I can't get back up so they back off.

“If you were smart, you'd lie there until you die,” Ember says.

As hazy as I am, I sense them leave. I don't feel like I can move an inch. My body is half on my side and half on my stomach. The pain is insufferable. All I smell and taste is blood, as well as dirt since my face is buried in it. My head feels too heavy to lift. My body is in too much pain to move. It hurts to try and breathe. I don't know how I'm supposed to help myself. Should I just stay here and die? What do I have left? I have no will to get up. The pain will intensify by the slightest movement. Anything I can do to stop myself from feeling any more pain, I will. So I succumb to my injuries. Whatever happens will happen.

Chapter Ten

If only the moment you give up, your body does too. But it doesn't. My body may have gone limp but the nerves keep intact. The pain hasn't stopped. I thought accepting death would make this go quicker but it's not. I'm still lying here in the middle of the night, on the damp ground, too injured to even raise a finger. Even if I find the power to pick my body up, I have nowhere to go. Even if I heal, what's next? Any future I thought I could have seems to be getting further away. I wonder who will find my body.

“Fuck me,” a strained voice chokes out. I can barely open my eyes but I manage to.

I don't know if I'm hallucinating from loss of blood but I see alpha Axel standing a few feet away. The story of the alpha is a crazy one. Everyone steers clear of him. But then again, no one ever sees him. To actually see him in person is stupefying. He's never out. For years, the beta has basically run this pack. Alpha Axel is still the alpha but he's practically just a story now since he went into hiding.

I stare into his eyes, begging him silently to please just put me out of this misery. He kneels down in a hurry and I close my eyes, expecting him to snap my neck. But his hands carefully grab my body to turn me over. Strangled noises come out of my mouth from being moved.

“You're going to be okay,” he says, making me think I'm hearing things. He's helping me? I don't understand. I'm the crossbred. But I guess it is the alpha's code to protect his pack. Maybe he doesn’t know I’m the crossbred. “I need to see if you're concussed. What's your name?”

“E...Elora.” It takes me a painful minute to just get my name out.

“What day is it?” His eyes bore into mine. Why can't he just put an end to this? “I need you to answer me.”

“T-The day my life end-ed,” I mutter.

The alpha's eyes widen. He honestly looks panicked. But why? The way everyone talks about him, I expected a black-hearted beast.

“I'm going to lift you up. Is anything broken?” he asks.

I barely nod. His hands slide under my body and he cradles me to his chest, me screaming out in anguish from the way my body folds in his arms. I let myself fade out as he carries me somewhere.