TRAINING AND TRUTHS
Freda's POV
I turned around to confront the owner of that annoying voice. It was Licita. The annoying, self-acclaimed student queen of Moonstone Academy. She had her gang of glazers surrounding her as they stared down at me. I rubbed my temples in exasperation. I really did not have the time to deal with this.
"What do you want, Licita?" Kara growled at Licita as she stepped in front of me protectively. Ever since I got to tag along with Kara, the bullying took a downward slide as Kara had a fierce reputation in school. Even the strongest of guys feared her, which spoke volumes about her strength.
"Please, we don't have business with you, Kara." Licita rolled her eyes and turned to me. "So, still trying hard to mingle with the real werewolves, halfling?"
"I wonder why she still bothers to come to the academy. She's so useless," a heavily made-up girl sneered.
"Woofless at 18 years. If that isn't pathetic, I don't know what is," another member of Licita's glazers sneered.
They continued their jeers and taunts, but I kept my cool and just stared at them with blank expressions on my face. I was used to this treatment, so their cheers had minimal effect on me, but it did have an effect on a certain someone that was right next to me. Kara was seething and it showed in her amber eyes. Her fists clenched and I was getting very worried. Knowing how volatile Kara's mood was, I knew if I didn't calm her down, she could start a brawl.
"Hey, Kara. You need to calm down," I whispered to Kara.
"How could you allow them to trample on you like this? This is getting way out of hand," Kara whispered back while gritting her teeth.
"I'm used to it, real…" Licita cut short my sentence with an angry growl.
"How dare you talk while I'm speaking?" Licita barked out and both Kara and I stared at her like she was insane. I mean, the audacity of it all. Licita was becoming more brazen by the day, and this time, I didn't stop Kara.
"What did you say, you bitch!" Kara growled and I could see her wolf prowling on the surface. I really hoped she didn't go too far as fighting on school grounds was a serious offense.
"Why waste your time on a halfling, Kara? She isn't worth it," Licita sneered, but all it took was one menacing step from Kara towards Licita for her to back off.
"Listen here, you asshole," Kara began. At this point a small crowd was starting to form around us and I really wanted Kara to not escalate this further.
"Who I hang out with is none of your fucking business. I've seen how you treated my friend, and if she can take your bullshit, that's fine, but I won't. If I ever see or hear that you pulled this stunt on Freda again, then be rest assured I will come after you all. One by one, and I won't care about your status as an Alpha's daughter, Licita." Kara declared, and a hush fell over us. Licita was also the daughter of an Alpha, and there were very few people who had the audacity to threaten her. Kara was one of such people.
Licita stared at Kara for some time before she clicked her tongue and walked off with her crew scurrying behind her.
The small crowd that had formed began to disperse and I breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Kara. Thankfully you didn't go berserk on them," I said jokingly, but Kara probably didn't share my humor as she just stared at me with those angry amber eyes of hers.
"Uhm, did I do something wrong?" I asked cautiously.
"Yes, Freda, you did. How could you allow yourself to be bullied like that without defending yourself?" Kara questioned me angrily.
"They aren't wrong, Kara. I really don't belong here. Besides, they haven't attempted anything physical against me—the school rules forbid them from doing that. Besides, I can take a few insults, no problem," I shrugged, trying my best to sound nonchalant.
"I know you've got tough skin, but…" Kara interjected, but I stopped her mid-sentence.
"Kara, you are a darling and I love you so much for defending me and all, but it's fine. I'm fine, alright? Now let's get to the training grounds. I don't want Mr. Bardugo to throw a tantrum," I said, trying to change the drift of the conversation.
Kara stared at me for a moment before sighing and raising her hand in surrender.
"Alright, fine. But why are you suddenly eager to go to Bardugo's training class? Last time I checked, you hated the man," Kara asked.
She was right. I hated the man with passion. He was always picking on me, insisting that since I was weak, I needed twice as much training than the regular werewolves. I mean, I understood where he was coming from, but I still hated him.
"I'm not eager, Kara. I'm actually very scared," I shuddered as I thought about the cruel training that awaited me. Kara wouldn't be able to do anything against a teacher, and that made me even more frightened.
"Hey, I know I wouldn't be able to do much against that taskmaster, but you got this," Kara placed an arm around my shoulder as we began to walk towards the training grounds.
"Besides, you can't deny the training does have a lot of benefits to you," Kara said with a smile of encouragement. I wouldn't lie—what she said did make sense. Although the training was brutal to my human body, I found myself to be stronger and lighter after I recovered from each training session. At best, I was stronger than an average human, no doubt.
"The encouragement still isn't helping, Kara," I sighed in exasperation.
"Well, that's the only thing I can offer. You're on your own against Bardugo," Kara shrugged her shoulders and I sighed.
Today couldn't possibly get any worse, right? I said a silent prayer to whichever god that cared to listen to please touch the heart of Bardugo so he could go easy on me.
So it turns out not a single god answered my prayers. Why not even a single celestial entity could answer the prayers of a helpless girl was beyond me. It even seemed like Mr. Bardugo made me do extra drills and combat simulations. The unfairness of it all.
I laid on the floor with an aching body and foggy mind, wondering how the hell I was supposed to get home in this condition. I had zero energy to even make the simplest of movements. I just wanted to lay right there on the floor and pass out.
"Hey, are you dead?" I heard the voice of Kara and I struggled to open my eyes just to see her amber eyes looking down at me with amusement. She didn't even look tired and I was so envious of her physical constitution.
"I'm just this close to the afterlife, Kara," I chuckled and I raised a hand.
"Don't overdo it," Kara rolled her eyes and raised me up to my feet. "Training is over, so we can go home. Are you sure you can go home with your current condition?"
"Do I look like I can go home, Kara?" I managed to force the words out.
"Alright, you can't. I'll carry you back home," Kara decided and she carried me on her back, piggyback style.
"No, come on. I can..." I tried to struggle, but Kara's hold was firm and I was already pretty weak to begin with.
"Shut up and hold on tight," Kara said, and off she went, speeding towards the school gate like a rocket.
