Back and Stronger: Alpha's Daughter

The dream from the night before still made Sophia’s skin crawl. It had been abhorrent and she never wanted to have that dream ever again.

It baffled her to no end, how months of dreams had constantly circulated around only Neil and her. Together. Just him. For so long. She had been able to count on that recurring thing in her dreams at least. Heated dreams where he thrilled and terrified her at the same time.

But even that had been violently ripped from her last night, when her dream had so suddenly turned into something else entirely.

This time it had been Matthew touching her body with those hateful hands. Hands that Sophia had only come to know as instruments of torture. Hands she had solely associated with humiliation and bullying. She accepted that a long time ago already.

But. Never. Ever did she expect this new kind of abuse that was becoming more and more apparent to her lately. It had been a hinted at and lingering possibility, but Sophia couldn’t help the feeling that it was circling her now. Stalking her. Getting closer.

No. She could no longer be in subconscious denial of it anymore. No longer could she expect Satan to not go there. To not overstep that line. If Sophia hadn’t felt the foreboding promise in his threats before – she fucking felt it now. Loud and clear.

The way he’d appeared to her in the nightmare…

The things he did to her…

Just thinking about it made her want to be sick all over again!

Sophia knew it was a dream, and that they aren’t always meant to make sense or mean anything necessarily, but still. But still. But still. She had been present and very much aware of every little gross and afflictive sensation he had created there within her.

I hate him! Sophia thought vehemently as she watched the loathsome male in question. The one who had started ruining her dreams now too, as if he hadn’t done enough ruining on all the other parts of her life already.

Sophia realized then that she had been glaring at him. Glaring in the purest form of contempt than she ever had before.

They were in Mathematics class together, and like with Health and Wellness class, he decimated any joy she might have pulled from this subject as well. It had affected her performance here to such a degree for such a long time, that there was simply just no hope of her passing it anymore.

They were in Mr. Silvino’s class at that moment, as her look-of-daggers were still stuck to him.

How could someone so handsome and charismatic be so ugly? Sophia thought as she watched him from the back of the classroom.

He was busy chatting excitedly with Joss about something that he was showing him on his phone. Sophia couldn’t see what it was, as it was obscured from view by his broad back, but now with her new and improved senses that had been heightened when she’d had her first shift two nights ago, she could hear them.

When she heard it was about that popular shifter female that was a model and beauty queen in Aolith, Sophia immediately lost interest in listening in on their conversation any further. They were probably busy scrolling through her pictures posted on Wolf-A-Gram, a shifter social media platform where only werewolves were able to download and utilize it.

Of course, she didn’t have a phone to begin with, so she couldn’t say for sure, but for the life of her, Sophia found it hard to comprehend why so many young shifters could spend hours and hours on end scrolling through pictures and videos of other people. In her personal opinion, that was such a waste of time.

But then on the other side of the coin, if things had been different – if Sophia had friends and were popular like she’d been before her mother’s murder – would she have been someone like the female on that screen? Would young males have drooled over her pictures like Matthew and Joss were busy doing?

What kind of mate would Matthew have been if Sophia hadn’t been accused of a terrible crime? Would he have been kinder and gentler to her if Thorin hadn’t implemented a pack mandate that caused everyone to hate her, and treat her like a pariah?

Would he have treated her differently than he did now?

Would the little crush she had on him when she was younger, have turned into love the moment they had discovered they were chosen to be mates?

Once, she might have wanted that. And she would have been the happiest girl alive because of it. Not anymore. Those two completely different visions of them didn’t exist in this reality anymore. Hadn’t for a long time.

But Sophia knew that there was no use in wondering about the what-could-have-beens.

She had been chosen to be Matthew’s mate. And vice versa. And needless to say, the Goddess had royally fucked Sophia in choosing the Devil incarnate as her mate!

Was acceptance and just living with it for the rest of her life Sophia’s only option?

She didn’t think so anymore. There was a defiant storm brewing inside her. It had been for a while, but she’d suppressed it. However, since the nightmare had informed her of what now lay in her future, the self-apocalyptic future she had to look forward to, Sophia could feel those distant rumblings of thunder growing louder. Brighter.

In fact, it shook the very foundations of her being. Her soul had started the precarious climb toward those devastating currents. No longer fearful of being struck down by its overpowering intensity.

“Sophia will be there too, isn’t that right?”

Both Matthew and Joss, and the rest of the other shifters in class for that matter, were looking over at her expectantly, as though she was supposed to have known what they had been talking about just then.

“The big game next weekend,” Matthew reminded her with a devilish grin, cruelty evident as hell in his eyes as they slowly roved over her body.

Oh, Sophia hadn’t forgotten about that specific threat. The intended vulgarity he had planned for her at and after the much-anticipated football match of the season, between the high schools of Tibald and Aolith.

“Well, Matthew Ballen,” Mr. Silvino said in his heavy accent, as he walked down the row of desks on either side of him, handing out papers to each student as he went. “Your mother has informed me that if you do not pass this test of mathematical abilities today, with flying colors I might add, I should report to your coach. Who I assume has also received his own set of instructions from your mother, so I wouldn’t get too excited about the match tomorrow until I have marked your test.”

Shit!

Sophia had completely forgotten about the test scheduled for this day. It was a very important examination paper that was set up to not only count toward their GPA, but it was also to be used to determine their overall skills and abilities in math.

Not that she expected to do well anyway, but she would have liked to prepare for it, to at least have attempted to get a better score. If only by a little bit.

Too late now, she thought as the teacher placed a thin booklet that was the test onto her desk. He gave her a secret wink, accompanied by a sly smile, before he walked over to the next row of desks to continue handing out the tests to the now nervous students.

Sophia didn’t look down at the test. Instead, she stared after Mr. Silvino, wondering what that wink and smile had meant. It had almost been playful, but reassuring at the same time.

Had he done it to show her that he had her back in a way just then, when he steered Satan’s attention away from her and onto the test?

Maybe in a way, but there was something more to it. Something that said; I got you. You know what to do now…

Did she? Other than inevitably failing this test, what else was there for her to do”

“That will not be a problem, Mr. Silvino,” Matthew said with that satanic smile of confidence and invincibility.

Only the Goddess knew how much Sophia hated that smile, but it was a well-known fact that Matthew Ballen was an absolute genius when it came to math concepts and equations. So that irritating self-assuredness of his was well-founded and deserved.

He didn’t have to worry about not being able to participate in that football game on Saturday. He was going to ace this test as he’d done to every single other that came before.

“We shall see,” the teacher simply said as he went to go stand in front of the class, having given every shifter their own examination booklets.

Matthew just snorted in nonchalance and disregard at that, before he turned to the side to say something to Joss, but she didn’t hear what it was. No, Sophia’s attention was on Mr. Silvino, whose eyes intently met hers from across the room and then dipped toward the test paper on Matthew’s desk.

She frowned, not sure what was going on, but then he had that small smile full of meaning again. It had all happened so quickly, that Sophia doubted that anyone else had caught it except her. But she couldn’t figure out–

Wait… Could it be?

Sophia could feel her excitement mounting as the rusty cogs in her brain finally started to turn. Jerkily though, but at least a plan was brewing…

“Don’t write your names on it, just start writing,” the teacher said, his gaze quickly brushing over her and then down at Matthew again. “I will call each of you to bring me your tests personally, and I will mark it quickly and give you your score immediately. Understood?”

Oh, Sophia understood alright. She knew very well what she was going to do. Even if she got into trouble for it. Even if she got the beating of her life from her father, and from Matthew no less, she was going to do it.

Hadn’t it been established already that she had nothing else left to her?

Sophia knew she didn’t plan to let Matthew see his threats through. Not be alive long enough for it, anyway, so she might as well get her bit of revenge. No matter how small it would be, as even a grain-sized amount of retribution would do.

“As you know, you have two back-to-back periods with me today, so you have the rest of this period to finish the test. When the bell goes again, that will mean that your time is up, and I will start calling each of you to hand in your examinations.” Mr. Silvino then walked over to his desk facing the class and said, “You may begin.”

Unable to keep the small smile from pulling at the corners of her mouth, Sophia started doing the test and truly did attempt to answer the math questions in a way so that it wouldn’t raise too many suspicions. But she knew without a doubt that this test paper she was writing on would never pass. Much less with flying colors.

The temptation. Oh, the freaking temptation to write something nasty and humiliating, like ‘I’m too stupid to answer this because I eat my boogers for breakfast’, or ‘I don’t know this one because I’m a turd-faced asshole’, or ‘Fuck math! I don’t care if my mommy will be disappointed in me’.

Sophia had to hold back a laugh of pure glee at the thoughts that came flitting across her cerebral cortex, creating fireworks there.

The bell came much too soon though. She hadn’t been able to completely finish writing all the answers, but with two still left to go, she thought it would have to do.

Sophia looked up at the jet-black head, and even though she couldn’t see his face, she just knew that Matthew had a self-satisfied smirk there. His whole posture and body language told her that.

Despite her hating his fucking guts, she had gotten good at reading the malicious male over the years.

“Jessica,” Mr. Silvino called, and the brunette girl sitting in front to his right nervously stood from her desk and walked over to him with her test booklet in hand. “Thank you. You may go take your seat again.”

Everyone waited in silence as he marked, except for the overlord of Tibald High and quarterback of the school’s football team. Matthew didn’t have a speck of worry in his eye as he turned to Joss again to say something to him, but not before he gave Sophia a sneer.

Keep sneering, you bastard, she challenged. I will soon be the one giving it to you!

Oblivious to her thoughts and gaze full of wicked promise, he snickered along with his minion about something she didn’t care about – but she did notice Mr. Silvino glancing up at Matthew every now and again while he marked.

So far, no one test he’d marked had done well enough to receive any kind of notable praise. But she could almost taste what kind of ‘praise’ Matthew was going to get.

At that thought, Mr. Silvino caught her eye, and instead of calling her name he just nodded at her and made a gesture that meant it was her turn to bring her test paper to him.

With her heart thumping against her ribcage, like it wanted to jump out, Sophia tried to stand up from her desk as unnoticed as possible. The other shifter students didn’t seem interested anyway, as some were sleeping on their arms folded beneath their heads, while others were on their phones, and Matthew was still bent over his phone with Joss.

This was her chance, and Mr. Silvino had chosen the timing for it perfectly as well. But she was going to have to be quick and stealthy still if it was going to work.

And it seemed like it did. She barely made a sound as the one hand grabbed and the other one replaced in one swift motion as she passed his desk without him noticing. The teacher smiled in approval and indicated for her to go back to her desk again.

As she passed Matthew again on her way back, both dumb jocks hadn’t even noticed that she had gone by them twice already. Whatever was distracting them, had done it well enough that even Satan didn’t feel her proximity to him, as he’d always had an uncanny ability to know exactly when she entered a room, or came anywhere near him.

“Well done, Sophia,” the teacher said, startling her a little, and Matthew as well by the look of him whipping his head around to the sound of her name there. “You qualify for the Advanced Math Program. Good work.”

He had said it as he would to any other student, but she could tell that his insides were dancing with joy the way hers were busy doing at that moment as well.

Matthew’s eyes came to her in unadulterated shock written all over them, unable to believe what he’d just heard. So did the rest of the class. All of them glanced at her in confusion.

“Matthew Ballen,” Mr. Silvino called the Dark Prince forward, and Sophia bit her lip in anticipation.

She could still feel his cold eyes watching her in surprise and skepticism as he took his test over to get marked, but she ignored the urge to look back at him. Instead, Sophia pretended to be writing something in her notebook.

“Matthew, you pass the test, but only by a few points, so you don’t qualify for the Advanced Math Program,” Mr. Silvino said after about three minutes had passed.

“What the fuck?” Matthew snarled as he jumped up from his desk, and the force with which he did it, caused his chair to fall right over to the floor with a loud crash.

“This is definitely not your usual performance, Matthew,” the teacher went on, seeming indifferent to his outburst. “I’m sorry, but your mother’s instructions were clear. I will have to report this to her and your coach.”

Matthew had lost it. He was yelling and throwing things around the classroom, his anger palpable like a bubble around him. Expanding and about to burst, but all Sophia could think was how good it felt to not have that violence directed at her for once.

And of course she was satisfied to see him lose his shit completely about something she’d done to him too. She was the reason, though unknowing to him, that he was going to get something taken away from him for once.

Even as two security guards came into the classroom to apprehend him, she vaguely noticed that they weren’t the ones she would have hoped to see, but at least they had been able to subdue him enough to drag him away.

It was finally his turn to be humiliated, she thought. It was his turn to suffer.

But then another realization penetrated her awareness. She was going to have to cope in a much, much more complicated level of math class now…

Regular math had been a form of hell already!

Had Sophia just brought a new form of torture upon herself?

What have I done…?