Semua Bab The Alpha's Forsaken Daughter: Bab 21 - Bab 30

The next morning, the sun hadn’t even fully cleared the horizon when I was already knee-deep in the "dirty work."​My community service today wasn't just equipment hauling; Mr. Grimmer had decided the school’s north drainage ditch was "unbecoming of a house of learning."​"Miserable," I muttered, wiping a streak of muddy water from my forehead.​I was wearing a pair of oversized rubber boots and a neon safety vest that made me look like a glowing traffic cone.​"Sterling! More effort, less internal monologue!" Vice Principal Grimmer’s voice boomed from the sidewalk.​He stood there with a clipboard, his silver hair perfectly slicked back, looking like a man who enjoyed the suffering of others.​"The board is coming for an inspection. I want this ditch so clean a surgeon could operate in it."​"Yes, Mr. Grimmer," I sighed, plunging my shovel back into the muck.​"Elara! Fear not! Assistance has arrived!"​I looked up to see Tommy—known to most as the guy with the permanent runny nose—sc

​I woke up the next morning with a heavy feeling in my chest that had nothing to do with the rainy weather.​After the tension at dinner the other night, the house felt cold. I avoided Ethan in the hallway and slipped out early, hoping a head start on my community service would mean I wouldn't have to face anyone.​But by the time second period rolled around, the atmosphere at Blackhood High had shifted from quiet curiosity to a sharpened, jagged edge.​A crowd was gathered around the main bulletin board near the cafeteria, and the laughter was loud enough to echo down the hall.​"I can’t believe she actually wrote it," Tinsley's voice rose above the whispers. "I knew she was a charity case, but this is just... desperate."​I pushed through the crowd, Maya right behind me. Pinned to the board was a piece of notebook paper.​My heart stopped when I saw the handwriting—it looked identical to mine.​“To the 'Storm' of my heart,” the letter began. Every word was a needle to my pride.​It d

The forest behind Blackhood High had always felt like a sanctuary, but today, it felt like a trap.​After Ethan’s words last night—calling me a "stray" and a "found child"—the house had become completely unbreathable. Every floorboard I stepped on felt like I was trespassing in a home that wasn't mine.​I had skipped the second period. My skin was too tight, a fever burning under my ribs that no medicine could touch.​I needed to be away from the suffocating scents of the school—the floor wax, the cheap perfume, the heavy smell of human anxiety.​I stumbled deeper into the thicket, my breath coming in ragged gasps.​"Stop it," I whispered to myself, clutching my stomach. "Just stop."​But the "Storm" inside me wasn't listening. It felt like my bones were being violently unsnapped and rearranged.​I collapsed onto the damp earth, my fingers digging deep into the soil. The suppression mark on my shoulder wasn't just hot; it was glowing a fierce, pulsating silver through the fabric of my

The old bridge on the edge of the Blackhood district was a skeleton of rusted iron, forgotten by a city that moved too fast to look back.​It was the only place I felt like I could breathe without the weight of my brother’s hatred or the school’s whispers crushing my lungs.​I clutched my bag, my heart doing a frantic dance against my ribs. I kept thinking about Kael’s note.​I’ll walk you home. After months of being treated like a ghost, the sudden gravity of his attention was almost too much to carry.​"You're late."​I spun around in surprise. Kael didn't walk out of the shadows; he was just suddenly there, leaning casually against a rusted pillar.​He looked at me, his silver eyes traveling over my face, lingering on the faint bruise near my temple where I’d fallen during my "wild" episode in the woods.​"I didn't think you’d actually show up," I admitted, my voice barely a whisper.​"I don't make promises I don't intend to keep," he said.​He stepped toward me, and for the first

The following morning, Blackhood High felt like it was vibrating with a entirely different kind of energy. It wasn’t the quiet, respectful fear that usually followed Kael’s footsteps. It was a feverish, mocking excitement.​I walked through the front doors, my bag feeling like it was filled with lead. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ethan’s face from the night before—the raw, twisted jealousy that had turned my brother into a complete stranger.​I just wanted to get to my locker, bury my head in my books, and disappear. But as I turned the corner into the main hallway, I froze.​"Oh look, it’s the heartbroken little lamb," Tinsley chirped, pointing at a nearby locker.​My heart plummeted. Taped to nearly every locker surface were glossy, high-quality printouts. They weren't just drawings or rumors. They were photos.​In the pictures, Seraphina was draped over Kael in the back of a darkened car. Her eyes were closed, her lips pressed firmly against his. Another showed them in a diml