41. Zia's POV - Reverse Bullying

41. Zia's POV - Reverse Bullying
Zia's POV

I wasn’t the only one distracted by my thoughts. Joyce was too.
She got called out just as many times as I caught myself zoning out.

And if I thought my show of strength was enough to keep them away for a day? I clearly didn’t know my bullies enough.
As soon as class ended, they gathered around my table again, phones and cameras ready to capture the moment.

Usually, I’d feel weak in situations like this, like prey.
This time, I wanted to beat everyone up and crush them under the weight they had mocked for years.

“I told you I’d be back,” Joyce sneered, newly confident.
Confidence I couldn’t wait to beat down.

“Joyce. I am not your friend. Stop badgering me.”
I stood to my full height, loving the look on her face when she staggered backwards.

“Why? Are you scared I’ll expose who you really are?” she asked.

A new angle. So I stayed quiet to hear her out.

Stupid Joyce took the stage like she wasn’t just a clown in my eyes. Her make-up, her awkward movement she claimed was a catwalk—I could write a whole list of things wrong with her and still not be done by evening.

“You’re just a dog, sleeping around—”

What was everyone’s obsession with calling people dogs? They were great animals before they went extinct. Just because they were domesticated by humans didn’t make them any less noble.

“Zia! Joyce!”
A voice from the door cut her short.

Another teacher?
No... the voice was familiar.

Terri?

Something wasn’t right. No matter how hard I stared at him, it didn’t click immediately.

He looked sickly pale, but somehow even more attractive because his features stood out sharper.

I stared until he was standing between me and Joyce.
“Zia, how are you? I’ve been really worried,” he said, grabbing my hands in his, stunning the class to silence.

Joyce finally shut up. Not that I was listening anyway.

“Terri,” I whispered his name.

He nodded, squeezing my hands. “I was so worried about you. You weren’t picking up, and I went to your house every day but no one had seen you.”

Really?

He was so worried he didn’t care if people saw us together?
No way. Terri was too calculative to make such a blunder. He always had everything planned.

My shoulders relaxed. This had to be part of another plan.

“Yes, my heart wouldn’t let me rest after everything that happened that day.”

“That’s why you looked for me?” I frowned. “Your heart wouldn’t let you rest? Really?”

Was this a joke?

“Yes... because I know who was behind it, and I felt guilty.” He lowered his head, his voice somber.

Joyce stumbled back.

If she was the one who released the video, did she also take it? Was she stalking Terri, or was it me she wanted to bully?

I had more questions but swallowed them. Desperation wouldn’t help.

“What are you doing?” I asked, pale, as Terri went down on his knees.

“I’m sorry, Jemaya,” he sobbed.

I tried to raise him but his body felt like steel.
“This is uncomfortable,” Gina whimpered in my head.

I straightened my back, doing my best not to show anything on my face.

“I’m really sorry for everything I’ve done to you. After all this while knowing you were my mate... I kept it hidden for selfish reasons,” he was saying.

His mouth kept moving, but my mind dissociated. Until he hugged my legs.

“You’ll forgive me, right?”

“Yes... please, get up.”

He did. “From now on, if anyone dares bully my mate, they’ll face my wrath!” he declared, draping his arm over my shoulder.

“Mate?”

“The bitch has two mates?”

“The two alpha brothers are her mates?!”

“Why do good things happen to horrible people?” someone muttered—echoing my own thoughts.

The class became rowdy but my heart wasn’t settled.

Terri kissed my forehead—the first ever from him in three years. It was everything I’d dreamed of.
Yet... I wrestled free. I apologized to him—and ran out of class.

I bumped into the teacher, but I didn’t stop running. I wanted to outrun the emotions clouding me, dark and sticky like storm clouds.

Until someone dragged me into a dark room and snapped the lock behind.

“Who—?”
I paused mid-question after a single sniff.

“Celine!”

“I’m surprised you recognized me,” she said. “It’s too dark in here, so let’s make this quick.”

My palms and neck sweated. My feet itched. The walls felt too close—the space too tight. My claustrophobia threatened to break through.

“What do you want?”

“Did you break the mate bond with Cain? Why was Alpha Terri on his knees for you? You don’t deserve it!” she stomped, fists clenched.

Typical Celine. But I wasn’t at home, and I still suspected her and her mother.

I raised my voice to match hers, gripping her shoulders and shaking her.
“Are you here to get angry or ask me questions? I don’t have time for this!”

“Mom said you should come home.”

“All of a sudden?” I sneered.

“It’s not sudden! Dad is coming back in a month.”

Oh. I see.

They were begging me to come back? Too bad. It was far too late.

“Yes, so come home early today and cut off all ties with the mates—or else—” she tried to threaten, but she was nothing more than a protein-starved brat who enjoyed bullying me.

I tapped her cheeks with light slaps. “Okay, okay, now excuse me. I need to breathe.”

I stepped out and she followed, sweating.

“Make sure you come early. All your chores for the past week have piled up.”

She walked away, and I barely held my laughter.

Did she really think she’d won? Or was she too scared to say more?

Well, I’d never find out, because I wasn’t going back to that house.

With that relief in my chest, I made my way to Tyler’s and my secret hideout ahead of time.
I longed to see him.