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Marked By The Bully
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CHAPTER ONE
Opening Chapter
The rogue attack
The rogue attack
August 11, 2017,
A rogue attack occurred on the outskirts of the Red Shine Pack's territory located in Seattle. Several of the trees had been uprooted, and the fences surrounding the Alpha's territory had been broken, clearly indicating the rogues' Aggressive trespassing.
There were small pools of blood on the ground on every second step, as well as wolf fur and human hair. Certainly, the one who was attacked would have fought back. Metallic scent of blood lingered in the air.
"Nothing exists in the south. " In order to gain clear and smooth access to the area the warrior who accompanied Alpha Hercules climbed up on the trees.
"I can't see anything for miles." He added as he peered down at his alpha who was standing with a sword in hand, examining the region with his vigilant gaze.
At forty-three, he was tall, had a well- built torso, bronze skin that glowed in the sun rays filtering through the leaves of trees and lesser wrinkles around his eyes as compared to the other wolves of his age. His cinnamon brown eyes cautiously assessed the area as the rogue wolves he just killed were lying at his feet.
"Look more closely, I did hear someone shout for help. I feel that person is nearby." As he talked, he knelt down and rubbed the blade of his sword across the body of a dead rogue to clean off the blood.
Then he continued to move forward in the west direction, "Ryley! Ryley!"As he called out a name repeatedly.
"This guy," With a slight groan, he vaulted over the fallen tree and stepped on the other side as he searched for Ryley, his son. His front fall of charcoal black hair enhanced his good looks.
"Yes, dad!" He received a reply before a young guy with identical stunning cinnamon eyes and similar features sprang out of the bushes to his front, carrying a sword in one hand and some wolfsbane in another hand that was protected with a glove.
Just the difference between him and the alpha was that he was the younger version of his father, otherwise a perfect replica.
Alpha Hercules gave him a stern look as he said, "We are here on a rescue mission, aren't we? But looks like you have forgotten the purpose and got yourself occupied with other and rather mischievous activities." He eyed the wolfsbane in his hands.
Ryley gave his father a sheepish grin. Hiding the wolfbane behind his back, he lied, "I am sorry dad, I mean Alpha Hercules, but I was collecting some wolfsbane for a project. I swear."
The looks on his father's face indicated his disapproval, "I don't remember your Principal informing me about any project involving wolfsbane."
Ryley nibbled his lips as he stressed his brain to come up with a good excuse. "That's because our teacher from botany class has yet to inform the principal.We only discussed it on the last day."
“In that case, why don't you give me the wolfsbane, Ryley Shine? I'll return it to you once your Principal has informed me about the project and explained to me as to how exactly the students are going to use a deathly plant like wolfsbane in a botany project when it should be kept away from the students in the first place." his father snatched it from him and hurled it behind his head on the ground.
'Dang it!" Ryley muttered annoyingly while father slipped past him with a cool look on his countenance as if he did a greater job.
Come to think of it, it was indeed a great job because his son, seventeen year old, was a bully.
When Ryley learnt that his father was taking him on a rescue expedition, he promised his friends to get some wolfsbane so that they could use them on their next target the next day he arrived at school. Seeing the plant on the muddy ground he pouted before composing himself and following his father ahead in the woods.
'So what if he didn't let me have it from here, I can steal some from the science lab where it is growing alongside other harmful plants for research purpose.' he thought with a malicious beam.
He rushed over to his father while handling his sword. Stopping next to him. "By the way, I discovered this." he handed his father a necklace he had plucked out of his jeans pocket.
It was a pendant made of diamond that read "Valentine" within.
While his father intensely scrutinized the neckpiece, Ryley beamed boastfully. Observing how his father was examining the pendant, he became certain that he made a useful discovery.
"Jason, it's a girl named Valentine. We have to find her." Alpha Hercules communicated over his psychic link to the pack's senior doctor and his BFF, Jason Pereira.
Hercules smiled with an arched brow as he disconnected the mind link and turned to face his son, "Come on, Ryley, let's go look for her."
"Well dad, you know we can split up and speed up the process. So why don't you go ahead and look for her while I search here."
"Come with me." Alpha held Ryley's collars and dragged him with himself.
"But I want to do some exploring, dad. Why don't you look for this girl yourself? You will do well without me. I am not helping you anyway." Something was stopping him from going with his father.
Although he was curious to come here and save whoever was attacked by the rogues and brought here, now he was not ready to see the person. He was silently walking next to his father when he heard, "I comprehend that you are nervous and don 't want to discover a wounded girl, I am afraid you can't back out now, Ryley."
"It's not like that," He bit his mouth hesitantly. "I just don't want to find a beautiful girl dead!"
His father cracked up much to his dismay before he answered, "Pray that she's not dead. Who knows if she is your soul mate?"
Glow of mischief returned in his eyes. Ryley scoffed and confidently joined his father as he mouthed, "If she is.... then it is going to be a bad Valentine's day, Alpha Hercules."
No words were exchanged as they headed further. Alpha Hercules was informed that a group of rogues had been observed through security breaching through their territory with a human held in one of their mouths.
The air was misty and the winds carried dust and leaves. It made the footage come out blurry. By the time the spectators arrived at the spot, the rogues were gone.
All that was left behind was blood and hair. Assuming it could be deathly to deal with them alone, the alpha was summoned along with his doctor friend on a rescue operation for the abducted human.
Within a span of twenty minutes the Alpha and his team killed the cluster of rogues, except the girl was missing. The last rogue talked about the human dying really soon for the wounds and bites she received were lethal, thus the alpha and team inferred the person was alive. From then on they'd been looking for her frantically.
"Oh what a wonderful, wonderful day... Day I will never forget. After I'd wandered in darkness away... Jesus my Saviour, I met." Alpha Hercules' peepers set agape realizing that his son was singing.
His mouth stretched up joyfully. This was amusing to have Ryley sing a hymn at this moment. Not when he had been the least religious type. He was startled to know Ryley even knew a hymn.
Warriors who accompanied the Alpha looked below them from the trees in pure amazement. Then they resumed their leaps from one tree to another as they inspected the area for any hint of the missing girl.
"O what a tender, compassionate friend, He met the need of my heart; Shadows dispelling, With joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart. Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;" With Ryley continuing singing, they made their way further and further.
The air was tranquil and gentle until they climbed a hilly region and saltated on the other side. Foul stench of blood hit their nostrils. Ryley blocked his nose and tried not to puke at the smell. His father simply held his breaths while the warriors pulled out their respective masks and put them on.
"Here under the old banyan tree, Hercules." They heard doctor Jason and rushed towards the source of his voice.
When they arrived at the location, blood syphoned from their faces. Their hands became frigid, and a gnawing sensation spread over them.
"She is a young girl," Alpha Hercules knelt down near her feet.
She was lying lifelessly on her stomach. Her tangled hair extended over her shoulders and back. The worst sight was her bleeding waist as a small portion of her flesh was ripped out of the left side of her waist. Her right arm laid in a painful angle, indicating that it was broken. Her right foot was badly twisted.
They were staring at her senselessly when out of nowhere a loud gasp expelled from her turned down mouth, "H-hel-help... Help m-me." making them stare in a catatonic stupor as she was still alive while the strings of Ryley's heart oscillated frenziedly.
Tbc….
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CHAPTER TWO
The Story Continues
Valentine, the girl saved from a fatal rogue attack
14th August 2017,
"So how is that girl, what's her name... Mmmm... Yeah, Valentine!" Clarke asked looking at Ryley as he munched onto his hamburger.
Just after lectures ended, the wild wolves gang was eating lunch by themselves in an empty canteen. This is because after the exhausting lectures, they didn't want to look at the faces of any idiots. They attracted and lured them to come and bully their as*es.
At least, this was the justification they offered everyone for leaving the canteen for them fifteen minutes earlier.
Ryley placed down his cup of cold coffee on the table and shrugged his shoulders "How am I supposed to know that?"
"Oh yeah, we forgot she's neither your girlfriend nor your mate. Why on earth would you keep any information about her." Yeoman, another one from his gang, winked at him.
The rules of Ryley's life were simple— Don't stress your brain for somebody who does not have any place or importance in your life.
"She can die for all I care." He said and his friends chuckled.
Hazel, his girlfriend, gave him a wet kiss on the jaw as if she was proud of his answer. This was the first time Ryley was seeing her smiling face since Valentine, the rescued human girl entered their lives — especially his.
Hazel didn't seem very happy with her rescue. The sight of Valen's blood on his t-shirt and how his father had been asking him to help take the girl to hospital annoyed her. She was angry because last night they were supposed to spend it together but Alpha Hercules required Ryley beside him all the time to help another girl.
"But bro, didn't you say that your father was teasing you with her name and that she could be your mate and blah blah blah?" Zander, Ryley's best friend slapped him on the back and remarked.
He enjoyed seeing Ryley handle an exasperated jealous girlfriend. He continued along, "He is an alpha and I believe he knows things better than anyone else in this pack! There could be shit like prophecy or stuff or else he wouldn't crack such a joke on you."
His eyes shone with mischief that was playing inside his head. But one glare from Hazel and he knew it wasn't funny at all.
Her cinnamon eyes darkened to the color of dark chocolate as she seethed in disappointment. Ever since they found Valen everyone in the pack had been talking about her. From her friends to parents,almost every person in the pack.
"You better keep your mouth shut, asshole." Ryley pulled his girlfriend in his lap as he saw her eyes changing color. "My father loves to piss me off. He is aware of my love for Hazel and I think he knows she's going to be my mate. There's nothing new with his teasing. He does that everytime he wants to annoy me."
Hazel curled her hands around Ryley's neck with a boastful grin on her face. She stuck her tongue out at Zander and showed him a middle finger. There was no need to use words to mock him for her finger and her closeness with Ryley was enough.
This made Zander smirk like a devil, "Babe, we both know he's trying to baby you."
"Go to hell, Zander Brown," She flared her straight hair on his face as she pulled Ryley closer to kiss his lips.
"Don't come crying to me if he dumps you for the hoe he rescued." the corners of his lips stretched up and his friends coughed in shock.
"You manwh*re!" Ryley's eyes blazed amber fire, he put his arms protectively around Hazel and hushed sweet things in her ears as she made a crying face.
Zander eyed him playfully as he mouthed on Hazel's back, 'As long as I am alive I won't let you two stay peacefully.'
Cute face with deadly looks, a muscled body with height same as Ryley's, Zander ran a hand through his thick hair. His blue mesmerizing eyes turned softer as he began to admire the only couple in their gang.
Taking a sip of his black coffee Zander adjusted in his chair as another idea to annoy Ryley struck his head. He said, "I think you also told me she was hot as fuck and her figure made your mouth water."
Hazel peeled her hands away from around Ryley's neck. She pulled his head up to glare straight at his soul as she howled on his face.
"Hot as fuck? So you think she's hotter than me, Ryley Shine?" Her voice was cold and lashing.
Caught between Hazel's burning glare and Zander's mischievous act, Ryley scratched his head. His eyebrows shrunk together and he seemed to think for an answer.
It was good they could not talk using their mind links yet as they were not eighteen now, but Ryley's smoldering stare said that he would have communicated a thousand things adequate to kill Zander mentally over the link.
"Ryley Shine!"
"Y-yes, baby," he replied meekly. "I did say that. But…" Suddenly his eyes seared with confidence as he continued further.
"That's true I told Zander that she was beautiful but as I described her state earlier, she's weak and I really don't think she is going to survive. In fact, she is a wincing little human girl who was crying for help. I can't tell you how annoying it was!" His voice rose defiantly as he reminisced that day again.
Flashback...
"He-l-lp"It was lower than a purr but it was audible to their heightened hearing.
Both the alpha and the doctor stared at each other in shock. The team of soldiers around them froze at the sight of her waist. A chunk of her meat was hanging out of her skin. The blood flowed so rapidly that their boots dug half an inch into it.
"She's bleeding profusely. We must hurry her to the hospital, Hercules." Doctor Jason chose to slice the still air with his shaky and surprised tone.
Ryley was shaken badly to the core as he looked at her body. She was surrounded by her own blood while the piece of her meat laid half separated beside her on the ground in mud.
He could clearly see her intestines through, yet she was alive... Fucking alive!
He blinked his eyes, sucking in a deep breath as he escalated his gaze up to her face. He observed her eyes weakly flickering. Her lips quivered as one last word spilled from them, "He-help" Before darkness engulfed her and she fell on the ground.
"Did she… Did she pass away?" Ryley asked, intense astonishment flushed his face, as he sat near her shoulder next to doctor Jason, looking over her figure.
He was about to touch her cheek when the doctor exclaimed, "Passed out. She passed out, Ryley. But she would pass away soon if we don't operate on her in time. Hercules, we have to take her to the pack hospital now."
Keeping the sword back inside its sheath, Alpha Hercules ran a hand through his hair that fell on his forehead. He cast a gaze towards his amused son and called out, "Ryley, come on, pick her up and head to the pack hospital immediately."
A look of utter amazement can be seen clouded on Ryley's face. He stared back at the unconcious girl drenched in blood from head to toe, then at his white shirt and then back at her with a scoff. The smell of blood was nauseating to him.
"Come on, Ryley, stop worrying about your shirt. Her life is more important than that cheap shirt." His father pushed him further while a part of him wanted to snap back at him and say that the shirt was rather special as his girlfriend bought it for him.
But still, something stopped Ryley as he bent down to pick Valentine up in his arms. He unwillingly slid his arms under her knees and behind her back. As he began to pick her up with a twisted face, his disappointment visible in the shade of red on his cheeks, her head fell back like a corpse's head, making him hold his eyes on her face.
She seemed so fragile, so innocent that he could not help but bite his tongue in regret. Her eyelids were closed and he could already imagine her batting her lashes at him.
That innocence, that peacefulness on her face made him mouth an inaudible apology for being so reckless with her.
"Stare at her when she is okay and awake, not now, Ryley Shine!" Alpha Hercules' deep voice brought him back to the present.
And then quickly before more blood spilled from her body, Ryley carefully gathered her and took a run towards the pack hospital with the soldiers following him for protection.
Flashback ends…
Ryley composed himself when Zander scoffed. He could see another mischievous comment coming his way.
But before he even parted his mouth, Hazel kicked up a fuss,
"Why the fuck are we even discussing her? She is just somebody Ryley and Uncle Hercules saved. It was their responsibility. And that really does not mean we will give her such attention. Come on guys, let's not forget who we are." Her voice amplified dramatically. "We are the 'Wild Wolves' and nobody holds such an importance in our lives that WE will talk about them. I don't want to hear another word about her,is that clear?"
Her message was for all even then her eyes remained glued on her boyfriend's face with a gaze exerting strict warning.
Ryley's lips curled up into a smile as he snuggled her neck and stole a kiss of her collarbone before taking her lips.
"I love this look on you, babe." He sucked her mouth.
He thought: This is what I like about this girl— the way she stakes her claim on me. Her authoritative voice keeps me hooked on her. She behaves as though she owns me. Her look is something I love to see. Not only does she have a perfect heart melting and eyes warming figure with big hot boobs and slim waist but also a cunning fair face that I like.
He hugged her tightly as the guys looked here and there while blowing air. Hazel resembled the vamps from the movies and Ryley didn't mind comparing her to one of them provided that she acts like one when it is about him.
Her dove-like brown eyes are always fixated on him. He loved to see her getting jealous and surely loved being showered with attention.
He had decided that if he didn't find his mate after turning eighteen (who he was literally dying to see) then Hazel would become his woman and his Luna.
She was hot and cunning— just like the girl he wanted for himself. Ryley often called Hazel a blue-blooded beauty. She was an immigrant who shifted to his pack years back from Armenia when she was young with her father, a rich and very well-known wolf among their kind.
A powerful personality with money and power after Alpha Hercules. All the Alphas take his help in the time of need and Ryley was not stupid to let such a man, his wealth or his sexy-ass daughter slip out of his grip.
She was a fine fit for being his Luna. He smiled down at her as she hushed something in his ear and got up from his lap.
Ryley saw her going out of the canteen before he turned to his friends, "Try something else next time, Brown. " He playfully slapped Zander.
His best friend chuckled in return, "She's mad about you. I must try harder and better next time."
After about a minute Clarke remarked something that made everyone turn their faces towards Ryley for an answer, "So, I know I must not talk about this but I am curious… What happens to that girl after she wakes up? Like what is your father planning to do with her?"
Ryley took a breath as he replied, "Erm, from what I heard from my father, they will be interrogating her for her family background and past life and then she'll be sent back to them if they are found. If not, then she'd either be sent to a human orphanage or be killed if that incident was an attempt to trespass in the pack. You never know it was an act and she's a spy! Everything is possible."
Everyone bowed their heads in amusement whereas Ryley clenched his fist as he recalled his own words where he talked about her being killed. That did not give him a good feeling and his heart throbbed.
"Jason is taking extraordinary care of her," His voice cut the silence in the air. "He may not let her be killed."
He lifted his legs and put them on the table. The guys were in deep thought as Valentine, the girl Alpha and his son saved from a fatal rogue attack, had become the biggest talk of the town.
"Baby," Ryley's eyes travelled towards the entrance where Hazel was standing with a big cheesecake.
"Happy Birthday, sweetheart!" She sauntered towards their table with a big smile on her face.
"Hell, I nearly forgot it's your birthday today, Ryley!" Zander said. "Happy birthday, homie."
They rose to their feet as Hazel sat the cake on the table and presented a plastic knife to Ryley. They sang happy birthday to Ryley as he cut the cake. Taking a small piece, he put it in his girlfriend's mouth.
He was expecting her to feed him the cake but instead Hazel drew him by the collars and pasted her cream coated lips on his, feeding him the cake in process while their friends cheered for them.
"HAPPY SEVENTEENTH BIRTHDAY, RYLEY"
They wished him in unison with whistles and hoots. When they parted, they covered Ryley's face with cake cream.
'Ohh fuck, I also forgot it is my birthday... I turned Seventeen today. Happy seventeenth birthday,Ryley.' he thought.
***
If Ryley was enjoying his seventeenth birthday, the new girl in the hospital squirmed and tossed. The machine beside her beeped continuously as she breathed laboriously like she couldn't breathe.
A layer of sweat spread on her forehead. She shook invariably. Her hospital gown was soaking red at the waist and her lips quivered. She was uncomfortably trembling while a glimpse of a guy holding her in his hands prevailed on the dark screen of her closed eyes.
She watched herself getting carried away by someone.
" You are a warrior, Valentine. You're half dead yet surviving. I'd love to know a little more about you once you wake up. There there stay put for a while now, girl. I'll take you to the hospital really soon. Just don't quit now."
She heard the guy say nonetheless his face was a bright throbbing blur. She couldn't see who it was but his voice whispered softly, vibrating her ear drums.
Her fingers bit into the sheets behind her waist on the bed as she lifted her back from the mattress. She struggled to breath but fortunately, "Oh my god!" A nurse observed Valen through the glass window on the door.
She immediately rushed to Doctor Jason's cabin and barged in without knocking on the door, "Doctor Jason, the girl… The girl's condition is deteriorating. Please come and check her."
Tbc…
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