Chapter 60: ⁶⁰: Fight back

"We should always apply medicine~

As it helps our beloved wolf~

In healing all our scratchies~"

Rose sang the little nursery rhyme in a pleasant, exaggerated voice as she gently cleaned my wounds with a piece of cotton.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. "You’re ridiculous."

"I know." She grinned before her expression suddenly became more serious. "But I’m sorry, Athena. I’m too weak to fight Maria, so I couldn’t help you earlier."

I hissed as she now applied medicine on my forehead. "It’s okay." I gave her a reassuring smile. "Even I wouldn’t want you getting dragged into my mess."

Rose shook her head her eyes almost moist "I knew I couldn’t stop Maria, so I ran to get Mr. Hale as quickly as possible. But when we both arrived, you were the one punching Maria!"

Her eyes widened as though she still couldn’t believe what she had witnessed. "I was so shocked!"

She carefully placed a large square bandage over my temple before stepping back to examine her work.

"Maria is Elder Vale’s granddaughter. Her father was the gamma of the late Alpha. She’s from a gamma bloodline." Rose stared at me in disbelief, still holding the tube of medicine in her hand. "How were you able to fight her?"

She paused before holding the tube out to me. "Here. Apply this to your lip."

Maria was from a gamma bloodline? No wonder she was able to fight so well.

Even though I had been in an extremely weakened state earlier, her combat skills had still been impressive. She had clearly received proper training.

But how I had managed to fight back against her... There was no way I could tell Rose that.

Not about Anna or about what had happened when she suddenly took over my body.

"Why?" I asked innocently, deliberately changing the subject. "Can’t you apply the medicine to my lips?"

As I had expected, Rose immediately forgot about her earlier question. She glared at me before lightly punching my shoulder.

"Ow! You’re hurting me, girlfriend!" I complained, giving her exaggerated puppy eyes as I took the medicine tube from her.

"Apply the medicine quickly, girlfriend!" Rose retorted.

I couldn’t help but laugh. "As you say, ma’am!" I pretended to give her a mock salute before carefully applying a little of the medicine to my split lip.

The medicine stung slightly, but compared to what I had experienced earlier, it was barely noticeable. I handed the tube back to Rose, and she placed it back inside the first-aid kit.

"By the way, what are you going to do now?" she asked after returning the first-aid box to the nurse.

I looked at her. "About what?"

"About Maria." Her expression turned serious again. "Her family has connections with the Academy. What if she gets the principal to make you take full responsibility for this incident?"

My smile disappeared. That was something I hadn’t considered. Maria had attacked me first, but I was the one who had retaliated.

And now that Anna had taken over my body and sent Maria flying across the classroom... I had a feeling explaining what had actually happened wasn’t going to be easy.

"Well, I’ll know that when I reach the principal’s office," I said as we stepped out of the nurse’s office. "You go back to class. You shouldn’t miss it because of me."

"Okay." Rose nodded. "One of us has to attend so we can get the notes, right?"

I smiled at her before gently pushing her in the direction of the classroom.

"Go."

She gave me a small wave before disappearing down the corridor.

I took a deep breath and made my way toward the principal’s office.

As soon as I entered, I saw that Maria was already sitting inside. She glanced over her shoulder when she heard me enter and gave me a smug little smirk before turning her attention back to the man sitting behind the large wooden desk.

I ignored her. My eyes moved toward the principal.

"Good afternoon, Mr Whitmore—"

He immediately raised a hand, stopping me before I could finish my greeting.

"Stand in front of my desk, Miss Moonvel."

I swallowed my irritation and did as he instructed.

"Miss Moonvel, do you not know that violence on Academy premises is strictly forbidden?" Mr Whitmore asked, leaning forward over his desk.

His expression was stern, and there was an unmistakable hostility in his voice.

"I can have your scholarship revoked for this!"

My heart sank. "But, sir... I wasn’t the one who—"

"Stop!"

His sharp voice made me fall silent mid-sentence.

"It doesn’t matter who started this first." he pointed toward Maria. "Miss Vale has only recently recovered from a deadly car accident, and you injured her severely - especially her head. If something had happened to her, would you have taken responsibility for it?"

He slammed his hand against the desk in the last sentence.

I flinched.

"But, sir... I had to do that! She was the one who—"

"Enough, Miss Moonvel!" His voice rose another octave.

"Just because you are the Dravera holder of this Academy does not mean you are above its rules. I am suspending you for ten days as a warning."

My eyes widened. Ten days?

"If you dare to cause another incident like this on Academy grounds, I am afraid I will have no choice but to revoke your scholarship. You will then have to leave this Academy."

My hands curled into fists at my sides. I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell him exactly what had happened.

I wanted to tell him that Maria had attacked me first, that I had been lying helplessly on the floor while she continued hurting me, and that I had only fought back because I had no other choice.

But I knew none of it would matter.

My gaze shifted toward Maria. She was sitting there with the most satisfied smirk on her face. She knew exactly what she was doing.

And suddenly, Rose’s words came back to me. Maria’s family has connections with the Academy. It seemed she had been right.

Principal Whitmore was clearly biased toward Maria, and as nothing more than a worthless omega now, there wasn’t much I could do about it. Arguing would only make things worse.

"Please leave my office now, Miss Moonvel," Mr Whitmore said, gesturing toward the door.

I didn’t need to be told twice. I turned around and walked out, refusing to give Maria the satisfaction of seeing how angry I was.

The moment the door closed behind me, I let out a slow breath. Ten days. I had to be careful now. I couldn’t afford to lose my scholarship.

Being able to attend this Academy meant more to me than almost anything else in my life. I had already lost so much. I wasn’t going to let Maria or anything take this away from me too.

"Hey, Athena. What happened at the principal’s office?" Rose asked through the phone. "After classes, I tried to find you, but you had already left!"

Rose had called me the moment I entered my room. Feeling like I had no energy left, I slumped onto my bed, my wound stinging a little before I got adjusted on the soft sheets and placed the phone back against my ear.

"The principal suspended me for ten days, so I had to come back," I replied with a sigh, still feeling irritated. "I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before leaving."

"What?" Rose gasped. "I knew he would be partial, but he actually suspended you? Any sane person would be able to tell that this was Maria’s fault!"

"Yeah." I sighed again. "What can I do now? The world is full of partiality. Just make sure you keep sending me the notes, and I’ll be fine."

"Okay," Rose replied, but then her voice became guilty. "But, Athena... in a way, I’m responsible for this too. If I hadn’t called Mr Hale, none of this would have happened. I’m sorry."

I chuckled when I heard the guilt in her voice. "Don’t worry. Even if you hadn’t called him, the result would’ve been the same." Then I remembered Anna was about to beat Maria even more. "Or maybe even worse."

"At least you didn’t get expelled," Rose muttered.

"Exactly." I glanced around my room, letting myself relax for the first time since the incident.

"Okay, bye. I’m going to eat something now," I said.

"Okay. Take care, Athena." Rose said in a sing song voice, cute as always.

"You too." I said with a chuckle before ending the call.

I lowered the phone and stared at the blank screen for a moment. Then I slowly got up from the bed.

The smile that had been on my face throughout the conversation disappeared. I had a lot of things to worry about.

Before these worries eat me alive, I needed to communicate with Mother Elena. Only she could help me understand what had happened today.