Chapter 41: Extent of Tolerance

KIX:

At that exact moment, Jade entered the classroom. She didn’t have her bag with her, and the fringes of her uniform looked lopsided. What the hell happened?

“Jade,” I shouted. I wanted to hug her and ask her if she’s all right. I wanted to tell her this was probably just a misunderstanding.

Before I could take another step, some of our classmates rushed inside the classroom. They collided with Jade’s shoulders, which shoved her into one side of the classroom door.

“Hey, what the hell,” I shouted at them.

One of those people who came in was Neil, the candidate beta for my pack back then. He laid a hand on my shoulder.

“Kix, let it go,” he whispered quietly.

“What do you -”

The moment our eyes met, I heard his voice in a mind-link.

‘Alpha’s orders.’

I stared at him in horror. He spoke to me both to inform me and to warn me…

The fact that he could use this power to speak through a mind-link could have only meant that my father, the Luna Alba’s alpha, had given them a mission they cannot say no to.

It meant that if my dad wanted to, he could ask them to kill Jade.

I looked at the rest of the people in class. More than half of them were werewolves belonging to my pack or to allied packs. The whole school was composed of seventy percent werewolves, and the administration behind them was run by the Luna Albas.

While she’s in here, my Jade would always in danger.

“Sit still, unless you want this to escalate further,” Neil whispered in my ears.

I could only watch as Jade made her way into her desk. She avoided my stare, and I, in turn, resisted helping her, for I knew that the moment I start lifting a finger, I had sentenced her to die in the hands of my own pack…

I thought their torture of her would only last that day or in a week at most. I suppressed the boiling rage inside me whenever I see Jade’s unkempt look day after day in school.

She became more withdrawn, more sluggish, and more inattentive in class.

I half wished she would just quit school and move somewhere else. However, Jade’s family was barely struggling to send her there. I knew she had nowhere to go.

It was all my stupid fault! No one else was to blame. If it wasn’t because I was so hell bent in defying my parents, they won’t learn about Jade.

If I didn’t kiss her that night, there won’t be any fodder for the false rumors that was spread against her. Just one look at those hickeys I had left on her neck, and everybody believed the nasty lies.

I’m sorry, Jade… I’m so sorry!

I didn’t know how many times I had said that in my head, wishing she could hear it. I didn’t know how many times I had wanted to shout it to her.

All I did however was to keep quiet and distance myself further from her…

I thought I was helping her in that way. I believed with all my heart that I would be able to keep her safe from the wrath of my family if Neil and the others reported that I had lost interest in Jade.

At that point, however, I had forgotten that my family wasn’t the only enemy Jade and I had incurred.

As the rumors spread, the other members of my pack started to hound Jade. They started to believe that the lies that they were fed were true. They started to loathe her on their own.

Jade endured the bullying for weeks. I could only watch in silence as Jade would hide her soiled things or how she would fake a smile after every attempt to humiliate her. I only watched as she covered the bruises and the abuse with thicker layers of clothing or with an apathetic look on her face.

One day, I couldn’t watch it any longer. It was lunch time. I saw Jade leave in a hurry before everyone else could stop her to go to the canteen.

She didn’t show up at the canteen though. She wasn’t in the gym or at the school grounds. She wasn’t in any other place I could think of…

My heart was in a state of panic. My Jade was nowhere and so were my classmates who belonged to my pack!

I was sure they were picking up on her again. They were doing something malevolent in the Goddess-knows-where.

This wickedness cannot continue. I’ve got to stop them!

I ran through the halls of the school, just like I did today. I searched every nook and corner for Jade and my pack mates. I looked for them as if my life depended on it, for it really did. Jade was my life, and I won’t tolerate this any longer!

When I reached the topmost floor of the school, which was under construction at that time, I heard a faint scream. I darted there as fast as I could.

I cursed myself for being a f*cking coward. I told my parents I would run away with Jade and build a life with her. I promised her a great future, but I cannot even protect her in this wretched present!

“Please don’t let it be too late,” I prayed fervently. “Don’t let me be late!”

The closer I came to the shouts and shrieks, the greater the sorrow my heart felt.

“Go ahead, Jade! Try it,” I heard someone said. “Stab anyone of us here… You’re as good as dead anyway!”

What the hell were they talking about? Why were they threatening to kill her?

“Do you know what’s worse,” someone blurted out shortly “those pictures of you in the Internet - all of them were from one source.”

No, they were going to repeat the lie to my Jade! They were going to say I did it!

“Ha ha, whoever it was you were thinking of, it’s him!”

I heard Jade’s voice still trying to defend me.

“N-No. It’s a lie! You are all lying to me!”

“Think about it carefully… To whom did you show your body too? Who could it be who had taken those gross and ugly pictures of you?”

My heart was tearing itself into pieces. It felt too difficult to breathe as I sprinted towards the last few steps leading to the girl’s bathroom at the end of the hall.

“That’s right! It was Kix! He did it!”

I growled at the same moment that I heard Jade scream in denial.

I finally reached the blasted bathroom just in time to see Jade swing a knife.

Jade had an uneasy gait. If I don’t do something now, she’ll end up stabbing herself…

I did the only thing I knew to stop her from further injury. I used myself as a barrier and hugged her with one arm.

As I had expected, the sharp end of a knife landed on my neck. Blood began to drip from it, but I didn’t care.

What I cared most was wiping the tears away from Jade’s horrified face as she saw what I’ve done.

However, even in that simple wish, I still failed as my eyes drew to a close. Everything else, including Jade’s face, started to fade into a white light…