Chapter 172 Beaten and Broken

Chapter 172 Beaten and Broken
Chapter 172

RAVENNA

As soon as the bell rang for break period, I grabbed my bag and stood up to leave.

Sam stopped me, her hand catching my arm. "Where are you hurrying to?"

I kept quiet, avoiding her eyes.

She frowned. "Are you going to continue keeping secrets from me? Because if you are, then we are not back to being friends yet."

I sighed and took her hand, leading her out of the classroom and into the hallway where we could talk privately.

"I am going to practice," I said quietly.

She blinked. "Practice what? You are out of the hockey team."

"My wolf," I clarified. "I have a tutor taking me through wolf training. I want to practice this afternoon. That is what I wanted to do."

She looked at me, confused. "Are you going home?"

I shook my head. "No. I am just going to find a quiet place to concentrate. He will send me instructions on what to do. Or we will go on a video call."

Sam nodded slowly. "Alright. Then I will leave you to do this alone."

"Thank you."

She squeezed my hand gently. "I will be at the library if you need me."

I watched her walk away before turning and heading in the opposite direction.



It took me twenty minutes of wandering before I found the hallway.

I checked the time on my phone. I had class in an hour. I had already spent twenty minutes just finding this place.

I pulled out the piece of chalk Torren had given me and drew a circle on the floor carefully. Then I drank the potion he had given me this morning and stepped inside the circle.

I unlocked my phone and saw a message from him.

Torren: Practice meditation and reaching for your wolf. I am sorry, but I will not be able to take you this afternoon due to an elder meeting.

I sighed and closed my phone.

I settled onto the floor, crossing my legs and spreading my fingers out in front of me just like Torren had shown me.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus.

Nothing.

I spent the next twenty minutes reaching for nothing. Just silence and emptiness. Frustration built in my chest, but I kept trying.

That was when I heard the footsteps.

I looked up to find Darius and Dorian frozen at the top of the stairs, watching me.

I stared at them for a moment. "Why are you missing class?"

Darius snapped immediately. "Mind your business."

Dorian just smiled at me but did not say anything.

I pointed at the circle. "You cannot pass."

Darius frowned. "Why not?"

"Because of this," I replied, gesturing to the chalk circle and my position. "You will ruin it."

Darius crossed his arms. "What are you doing?"

I closed my eyes again and repositioned myself. "I am meditating. And you are disturbing me."

There was a long silence.

Then Darius spoke. "You will not reach your wolf that way."

I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"You are supposed to be in the open," he continued. "Not in a building. The elements would heighten your emotions and make it easier for you to control and reach your wolf."

He paused. "Did your tutor not tell you that?"

Actually, Torren had told me. But I was too scared to go outside without anyone watching me. I did not want to risk another attack.

I kept quiet.

Darius sighed.

My alarm went off suddenly, breaking the silence.

I stood up, grabbed my things, and cleaned the circle carefully with my shoe. "Go ahead."

I took the last potion and sighed. Another day of meditation wasted. I pulled out my phone and texted Torren about the result, then walked toward the stairs.

I heard voices down below and paused at the top of the stairs.

A group of girls was arguing and on the floor between them was a card. I considered turning around and finding another route.

But I changed my mind and began climbing down.

They looked up as I approached.

"Excuse me," I said quietly. "I would like to pass."

One of them sneered. "If it is not the fake werewolf betrayal."

I ignored her and made to cross the group. One of them reached out and kicked my legs.

I stumbled and crashed forward onto the floor. They burst out laughing immediately.

"She is so weak and helpless for a werewolf," one of them remarked.

I stood up, ignoring them, and tried to walk away.

Another one kicked me hard in the side.

I fell again.

I got angry and whirled around to face them. "What is your problem with me?"

The girl who had been quiet until now stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face. Then she showed me a deep scar running down the side of her cheek.

"You caused this," she hissed. "And the death of my twin brothers who died trying to save me."

I gasped, genuinely confused. "What?"

"The war you started caused this," she continued, her voice shaking with rage. "My brothers got caught up in the war whilst trying to escape. They were killed by the Silverthorns."

The other girl, the one with black hair, stepped forward. "I lost my best friend because of what you started. And you get to walk around free without anything done to you."

"I only released some videos," I protested, my voice desperate. "I never started any fight. Both packs decided to fight each other. That was their choice."

The black-haired girl struck me across the face. Another kicked me hard in the stomach.

I coughed out blood.

I could not even fight back. The potion I had taken had weakened me. I would not regain my strength until an hour later.

I was going to be dead if these girls decided to take their anger out on me seriously.

The one in trousers grabbed my arm. "We should teach her a lesson. So next time she will not think of starting a war."

The black-haired girl grabbed my hair and began pulling me down the hallway.

I fought back, pushing all of them at once to the wall and completely breaking free from their hold. They all looked surprised.

"Do not come closer to me," I warned, my voice shaking. "Leave me alone."

They sneered and rushed at me all at once. I managed to kick two of the girls hard enough to make them stumble back.

But the other two overpowered me and beat me until I lost the spirit to fight.

I was dragged down the hallway, my body screaming in pain. My only hope was that Theo and Sam would come looking for me since I was twenty minutes late already.

They kicked the door open.

I realized it was the toilet.

They dragged me to the closet and I fought with everything I had left.

One of them kicked my hand hard, my bone cracked, pain shot through me like a flare and I screamed in pain.

They filled the closet with water and dipped my head inside it.

I saw stars.

I fought hard to breathe, thrashing wildly, but the potion had settled deeply into my system. There was little I could do. Little Moonlight could do.

Every time I tried to free myself, I was struck hard on my head, my legs, my back.

I hated Torren for making this potion compulsory after meditation, knowing full well my situation.

But maybe I deserved this.

Maybe I deserved worse than this for all the lives lost because of those videos I released.

Suddenly, something caught in my mind. I struggled as if fighting for my life, thrashing harder than before.

They pinned me down. After a while, I stilled completely.

They stopped.

One of them pulled me out of the water.

"Is she dead?" one of them asked, her voice panicked.

Another shrieked. "You killed her!"

The black-haired girl's voice cut through. "That is impossible. She cannot be dead."

"We had her head pinned under water!" another shouted. "What did you expect?"

They began pointing at each other, accusing each other of killing me. After a while of argument, they agreed to leave me and grabbed their things, hurrying out of the toilet.

Once I was certain they had left, I turned over and coughed out the water violently.

I fought for breath, gasping and choking.

My body was broken. I could not walk properly. My clothes were soaked in blood. My bag was at the far end of the toilet.

I crawled across the floor, dragging myself toward it, hoping to reach my phone so I could call Theo.

I heard running footsteps, my heart raced but then I heard voices calling my name repeatedly.

With the last ounce of strength I had left, I yelled, "Help!"

The door burst open.

Sam and Theo rushed in.

They ran to me immediately. "What happened?"

I could not explain. My voice would not work.

Theo immediately lifted me onto his back, and Sam grabbed my phone.

They rushed out of the hall.

Sam turned to Theo as we moved. "You cannot take her to the school healer's quarters."

"Why not?" Theo asked, breathless.

"The school is researching Raven's wolf," Sam explained quickly. "Taking her to the healer would be like delivering her straight to them."

I muttered weakly, "Take me home."

Theo nodded. "We will cause attention if I carry you through the main gate. I will drop you at the east gate and drive the car around to pick you up."

He ran with me on his back to the east gate before dropping me on a pavement. He turned to Sam. "Stay here with her."

After a while, Theo arrived with the car.

They got me inside carefully, and we drove away from the academy.

But when we got home, Daniel was not there.