"A wolfless and disgraceful thing daring to covet the title of a Luna. What a blasphemy to the crown of the Luna," sneered a middle-aged woman clad in an elegant black dress. She spat near Valessia's trembling legs, her eyes glaring down with contempt.
Another woman, standing ahead in the small crowd, scoffed and crossed her arms. "Getting married with a protruding stomach during her late husband's mourning period," she hissed. "She's a total disgrace to womanhood and motherhood. She deserves to be hanged for this abomination."
Her glare sliced through Valessia before she turned with a swirl of her coat and walked away.
Valessia sat frozen, tears slipping down her cheeks. Her eyes stung, but she quickly wiped them away and braced herself against the cold concrete wall to push herself upright. Her body still ached from the earlier collision, the sharp pain in her side pulsing with every breath but she clenched her teeth and endured it.
"Seraphine will be getting off from school. I can't keep her waiting for long," she muttered under her breath.
Gathering her shopping bags from the tiled floor, she took a steadying breath and approached the small group blocking her path.
Every time she tried to pass, shoulders collided with hers, intentional bumps from the proud superior wolves who loathed her existence. Not one of them even looked her way as they shoved past.
Because of the delay and their harassment, she hadn't been able to buy the one item she'd wanted for herself. But that did not really bother her much.
From the school gates, the stares only grew colder. Parents picking up their children didn't even bother to lower their voices or hide their disgust.
The whispers floated like poisoned arrows.
"Why is she even allowed here?"
"So shameless..."
"If she had any dignity left, she'd disappear."
Their whispers stung worse than the cruelty meted out on her earlier, mostly because they came from mothers. She had hoped, at the very least, they might understand.
As she scanned the schoolyard, her eyes locked onto a familiar figure. Seraphine sat quietly in her wheelchair close to the pavement, her teacher Mrs. Wilson standing beside her.
The moment Seraphine saw her mother, her fragile composure broke. Tears began to spill freely down her face
"Why the hell is she crying?" Valessia murmured, hurrying forward.
But the moment she reached them, her blood ran cold.
"What happened?" she blurted. "Why is she covered in bruises?"
There was a cut near Seraphine's right eyebrow, deep and crusted with dried blood. Her cheeks were red and swollen, one side much worse than the other. She looked like she'd been attacked by a pack of wild dogs.
Valessia dropped to her knees, gently grabbing her daughter's tiny hands, but Seraphine winced and cried out in pain.
The sound shattered Valessia's heart.
Valessia tried to soothe her, brushing loose strands of hair from her daughter's face, whispering soft reassurances. But inside, she was boiling. When Seraphine's tears settled into quiet sniffles, Valessia rose sharply and turned toward the teacher.
"Mrs. Wilson, will you explain to me what the hell happened?" Her voice was calm, but her eyes burned. "Why is my daughter bruised like this when she was supposed to be under your care?"
A voice cut in before Mrs. Wilson could respond.
"Why bother asking? I bet she doesn't know her place just like her mother. Like mother, like daughter," sneered a woman nearby, adjusting her little girl's pigtails as she spoke. She wore a blue maxi skirt and a neatly buttoned white blouse, acting as if she were above them all.
Valessia opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again. She recognized the woman. Daughter of a respected elder. Wife to an influential pack member. Not someone she could afford to challenge openly.
Mrs. Wilson finally spoke. "Seraphine got into an argument with the older kids~"
"Is that why they bullied her?" Valessia shouted. "A child in a wheelchair who can't even defend herself?" Her eyes scanned the nearby students and parents, as if she could spot the culprits just by instinct.
"This is a school for vibrant, full-blooded wolves, not a nursing home for weaklings," another mother whispered nearby. Her voice was quiet, but she made sure Valessia heard it.
Valessia turned sharply toward her. "At least I raised my daughter not to be a bully," she said fiercely. "Can you say the same about yours?"
The woman's expression twisted in rage. Her golden-brown hair fell over her shoulders as she stormed forward, fists balled rwady to give Valessia the beating of her life.
"How dare you, lowly being, talk back to me!"
Mrs. Wilson, predicting the explosion, immediately stepped in. She positioned herself between them, arms outstretched.
"Please, calm down, Madam," she said firmly, not flinching even when the woman tried to push past her. "The children are watching and Ms. Evric is pregnant. If anything happens to the pup here, the school will be held responsible, and we cannot afford that."
Valessia blinked in disbelief. So that's what Mrs. Wilson cared about. Not Seraphine's bruises. Not justice. Just the school's reputation.
"You should be grateful your daughter even gets to breathe the same air as ours" the woman sneered, jabbing a finger at Valessia.
Her voice dropped to a dangerous tone. "Tomorrow, I'm submitting a petition. Along with the other mothers. We'll make sure your daughter is thrown out of this school."
With that, she turned on her heel and stomped away.
Valessia's hands curled into fists. She stepped beside Seraphine, shielding her daughter with her presence.
"I want the kids responsible for beating my daughter up severely punished," she said, her voice steady but burning with suppressed rage. She stared into Mrs. Wilson's eyes, waiting to hear her judgement.
But Mrs. Wilson exhaled, her expression tight. "You know that's not possible," she said quietly.
"Your reputation is already... difficult. If you provoke the parents and the kids, Seraphine will suffer even more. What happened today might be just the beginning."
She gestured faintly toward the swollen bruises on Seraphine's face.