Chapter 4

Beca's POV

I watch as Chloe leaves the classroom, using every ounce of my strength not to follow her. Outside, I'm cool and collected but inside, I'm boiling. What could John want now?

"You seem to have some sort of fascination for the new girl." I just stare at him blankly.

"So?" Instantly, I can tell that being sassy was not the way to go. His face turns red but after taking a deep breath, it goes back to its original color.

"Now Beca, you know better than to talk to your elder that way." My head bows quickly in submission. "I tried being nice and not have to ask this, but what's up with you and the new girl?"

"I can't talk to anybody now?" My anger gets the best of me and I realize that when it comes to Chloe, I don't give two shits of what people think. Even an elder.

"That's not what I'm saying. It's just, you don't usually talk to people, especially new ones."

"Well, I do now."

"If you don't tell me the truth right now, I'll have no other choice but to report you to the Alpha." Fear courses through me like a wildfire. If he went to the Alpha, that would mean removal. Everybody knows how much he hates me. My parents killed his wife and now I'm paying the price for it.

"Why does it matter? All the other wolves can talk to new people and yet the moment I even look at someone, I get interrogated about it. I don't understand." John huffs like I'm missing something obvious.

"Just go. I have other classes. We'll talk about this later though."

"Sure,"is all I say before I walk out and go to my next class. Rage at my parents once again consumes me. Why does everyone hate me for something I didn't do and was actually a victim of?

The conversation with John rings through my head all day and only goes away when I see Chloe. My group didn't understand when, at lunch, I went over to her and sat down for a minute. When I returned to my table, they wouldn't shut up long enough for me to answer them. So I didn't and instead, just sat there watching Chloe.

I wanted so bad to go back over there but my friends would demand answers. Until I was sure that a future with Chloe was possible, I didn't want to tell anybody about her being my mate. I want her to be the first one to know but not everybody takes the news that werewolves exist well. Usually I can tell how a person would react to it but Chloe seems unpredictable which I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

After lunch, the rest of the day flew by. I only had one other class with Chloe which luckily was the last one so I got to walk her out of school.

"Do you need a ride?"Chloe asks, turning her bright blue eyes toward me. Once again, she takes my breath away and all I can do is shake my head.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind." I almost say yes but the thought of bringing her around the foster house makes me queasy. Who knows what's waiting for me at the home? I'm sure that if John noticed my fascination with Chloe, others did too.

"Thank you but I'm good." I finally speak and Chloe just nods, not bothering to hide the disappointment on her face. "Maybe I could come to your house sometime this week though? I'm sure we'll have some sort of group project in English." A smile brightens Chloe's face and with it, my mood.

"Of course. That would be awesome. You'll love my mom and I know she'll definitely love you."

"I'm totally up for that but I'm not sure your mom will love me. I'm not great with first impressions."

"I don't know. You gave me a really good one." Her eyebrows shoot up, playfully. Is she flirting with me?

"And I almost blew it, remember?" She throws her head back, laughing.

"Oh trust me. I knew that even if you didn't want to be friends then, I would eventually convince you otherwise." I raise an eyebrow.

"Why are you so sure about that?" I ask just to go along with this because I know that she's right.

"Because everyone loves me and eventually falls for my charm."

"Wow, Chloe I'm shocked. I didn't know you had such a big ego." We both laugh and she gets to her car. She opens the door but pauses before getting in.

"Is it considered my ego when it's the truth?" Giggling, she gets in her car and drives away, giving me one last wave out the window. Damn. How does she already have my heart?

…

Walking Chloe to her car caused me to miss my bus, but I don't care. Those extra minutes with her is worth having to walk home, even in this heat.

Finally, I reach the house and instantly get a bad feeling. Nobody is around and that can only mean one thing. Luke and his friends are planning something for me and it's definitely not a surprise party.

Slowly, I open the door and then quickly run upstairs, tossing my bag on my bed. What the hell? Where is everybody? My phone goes off and I see that it's Emily.

Don't go home. I don't know why but Luke got Alice to take all of us to town to shop. I'm pretty sure he's planning on hurting you

Hurting me? He's only hurt me a few times and never on purpose or too badly.

What do you mean? He's never intentionally hurt me before

I pace while waiting for Emily to answer.

I just know that he's angry. Spouting off something about disrespecting elders or whatnot

Oh shit. I should've kept my mouth shut. It seems with Chloe though, it's not possible.

Well, I'm already home. I guess I'll just take what he gives me

Turning my phone off, I go to find Luke, ready to get this over with. Before leaving my room, I glance longingly at my mixing equipment. It's an old set I found years ago in not so great condition. I saved up for years, doing odd jobs here and there before finally being able to fix it up. Since then, I use it practically everyday after school.

After searching for several, anxious minutes, I finally find him standing on the edge of the woods, his back toward me. His friends are nowhere to be seen. I walk slowly across the field until I get to where he can hear me.

"I heard you were waiting for me?" My voice rings out loudly in the silence and he whips around. A slow, creepy smile spreads across his face.

"I talked with Elder John today. He told me about your little chit chat." We're standing several yards apart and I stupidly step forward. In his mind, I just initiated a challenge.

"So? We talked, had a great time. What does it matter to you?" Luke saunters toward me.

"Since I'm the Alpha's son, I have been given permission to punish you as I deem fit for disrespecting an elder."

"And who told you that?" My heart pounds so hard and loud that I'm afraid Luke can hear it.

"Elder John, of course. Look, it's either you get punishment from me or my father. Take your pick."

"What about neither?" A growl erupts from Luke's throat and he charges toward me. Only a few seconds later, he's holding me up in the air by my throat.

"Choose one. Now!" Frantically, I point at him and he drops me. Slowly, he circles me as I gasp, glad to have my breath back.

"That's better. Now, the usual punishment for disrespecting an elder is multiple lashes on the back." I cringe at the thought of it. "I feel that since we're being nice by not turning you over to my father, your punishment should be worse."

What could be worse than what the Alpha would do to me? My question is soon answered when he pulls out a whip covered in silver. Usually, the lashes aren't even done by whips but claws. He really seems to be striving for cruelest wolf of the year.

"Since I need witnesses, I brought a few friends, each who will take a turn punishing you." Oh god. I watch as each of Luke's friends stroll out of the woods. Bumper immediately goes to Luke's side and cackles when he sees my terrified expression. Soon after, Tom and Christopher arrive and come around to my other side. My arms are yanked behind me and I struggle to see who it is. Jacob. The last of Luke's gang. I really hope he doesn't hit me. He's one of the strongest because of how big he is and I know for sure it will hurt.

"Now that everyone is here, let's get started. Once this is over, you can go and as long as you don't disobey any rules or disrespect an elder again, this won't need to happen again. Sound good?" His huge fist wraps around the handle of the whip, careful to avoid the silver. If only I could.

"Get on your stomach." His demand is loud and intimidating but I refuse. Jacob shoves me and I fall to the ground, biting my cheek from the impact. Blood dribbles down my chin when I spit but I can't wipe it away. My arms are pulled above my head and held there while somebody presses down on my legs.

"Stop. Don't do this." My voice is full of panic and fear, causing everybody to laugh.

"Oh Beca. You know I can't do that. You have to be punished."

"This isn't punishment. It's torture."

"Your wrong!" I'm not and he knows it.

"Bumper, cut her shirt. I want her to feel everything." All he gets is a grunt in response followed by the rip my shirt makes as he tears it in half. Without any warning, there's a whoosh followed by a sharp pain that instantly starts to burn. Because of the silver, it doesn't dull to an ache but instead increases in temperature until it feels like somebody lit a fire on my back.

I make no sound though, not wanting to give them that satisfaction. Sweat beads down my face as another lash comes and I have to bite my lip to keep from screaming. With each hit, I bite down harder, my teeth cutting into my bottom lip deeper and deeper.

"Jacob, switch places with Bumper. I want to give you a chance to punish her." I softly hit my forehead on the ground, knowing that with his weight and strength, this was going to hurt. Bad.

My body shakes with pain and fear as Bumper holds my arms down, crushing me. Like Bumper is afraid he won't be able to hold me down. At this point though, I don't think I could even stand up, let alone move.

"Make it quick. They'll be home soon and those pups don't need to see this." Luke's harsh, cold voice cuts across the field.

"Yes sir,"Jacob replies, his voice a little cheerful like he's happy to do anything Luke says. If Luke told him to slit his own throat, Jacob would smile and sing a tune while doing it. A minute passes and nothing happens. A few forbidden tears run down my face as I await for more pain to come. I wish he would just get it over with.

Another minute passes and I'm tempted to look and see what's taking him so long. So I turn my head just in time to see Jacob slam the whip down with all his strength onto my back. This time I'm not ready and a guttural scream tears through my throat.

It's like the fires of hell were unleashed onto my back and instead of the suffering souls screaming, it's me. Pain takes up all thought in my mind and there's no sign of it going away any time soon.

"This is just a little taste of what's to come if you continue to be stupid." Luke spits in my ear. "Remember, you're just a orphan. No one wants you here and no one will care if you die. Now, I have stuff to do. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else for the night. No one needs to see this."

Their footsteps get further away as I slowly lose consciousness. Forcing myself not to pass out from the agony, I rack my brain for places to go. When nothing comes up, sobs break through my body, coming out in loud, ugly heaves.

I have no one.