Lily's hands were shaking. She was almost certain her face and neck were red but she was furious. All she wanted was to have nothing change - she didn't want this attention, she had enough of it from Isaac and his friends, but now? She had all the werewolves hating her too.
All because of Ryan Croft.
Maybe he'll respect me when I break his nose. Lily thought, before remembering she couldn't just punch a werewolf.
"I heard about what happened to you this morning, Lily." Croft cocked his head to the side, not reading how angry she was. "Are you okay?"
Not even a hello. Lily scoffed. "Yeah. Thanks for that."
"You're welcome," Croft frowned at the venom she laced into her words. "It's a good thing Laura, Renee, and Tricia were there to help."
Lily shifted her gaze to the three werewolves standing further away from him at another table. She finally had a name for the other brunette wolf, Renee, who had called her a freak.
"Yes," she said quietly, looking back at Croft. "It was."
Croft frowned. "Are you sure you're okay? Has Isaac tried something?"
Lily sensed Jack, Karen and Claire still as she didn't respond for a moment. She glimpsed the green magic slowly weaving its way around Jack's fingers, and didn't see Claire and Karen look at each other carefully.
"I'm fine Croft," she nodded to her lunch. "Thank you for listening."
Croft wasn't getting the hint. "Speaking of, Alpha Andrew wants to meet you to thank you in person for Alice."
Lily's anger shot to her head. She quickly shut her eyes, trying to control her breathing. I just want to be left alone.
Croft didn't catch Jack's quick shake of her head either, he was too focused on how Lily was reacting to the news. "It's not that bad, just come by the packhouse tomorrow and-"
Tomorrow. Lily's stomach knotted. Tomorrow was Saturday, her day with her parents at their graves, talking with Aunt Ollie. Saturday was her day; her sisters, her mum's, her dad's day.
Croft was cut off when Lily shot up, her chair flying back. The cafeteria quietened at the outburst, but Lily ignored it as best she could - she snapped her dark eyes open and reached for her bag.
Croft grabbed her arm when she slammed it on the table though, his left hand clamping around her right wrist. Her leather bracelet was tangled in his fingers.
Delta's bracelet. Her heart echoed as she glared at his face, his once blue eyes shifting to that wolfish gold, and seeing his fingers start to shift into claws.
Lily's eyes burned with anger as they drank in Croft's blazing gold, her mind going eerily calm. The bracelet was one of the few things she had from her late sister Delta - she never liked jewellery, it was more her eldest, Rio, that liked bling and flare. Delta was the calmest of the entire Morgan family and Lily had been wearing her simple leather woven bracelet for years, but her entire body went cold seeing it tangled in Croft's grip.
"Get off me." Lily choked on the anger that strangled her throat, a sea of calm settling into her stomach as she looked at his hand around her wrist, around her late sister's bracelet.
Croft narrowed his now golden eyes, his wolf emerging with the claws so close to her bracelet. It was leather. It would snap if he so much as moved. "Calm down." He ordered.
Lily was shaking as the cafeteria turned their attention to her; her shaking form, the anger in her stance.
Jack slowly stood but Lily's gaze was on her sister's bracelet. "Croft, slowly remove your hand."
Croft snarled at her. "Don't order me around, witch."
Jack wasn't bothered, her eyes were on Lily, on her body language. "Remove. Your. Hand." She spoke low, not to startle the furious creature Lily was slowly losing control over.
Croft practically spat in revulsion at being ordered and quickly snatched his hand away, the claws scraping through the bracelet.
Lily froze. Staring at her wrist, at her dead sister's bracelet that now had a scratch on. It was almost cut in half.
"Lily..." Jack waved Karen and Claire to move away as Lily glared up at Croft, his eyes fading slowly back to their sky blue.
He tore my sister's bracelet.
Fury sank into her bones, lightning flashed and thunder crashed against the building, shaking the foundations as Lily's eyes burned and her creature revealed herself for the second time in a week.
Croft only had time to widen his eyes in shock as Lily punched him in the face. The cafeteria leaped up as they watched Croft fly across the room, skidding over the floor and into the wall next to the main doors.
Everyone went into uproar, but Lily's eyes had already shifted back to brown when they looked back at her in fear and shock.
She'd just knocked a werewolf onto his ass with a single punch.
Panic set into her body as she realised what she had done, just who she had pissed off. Lily began to shake as the whispers started and the students all took a step back from her, the wolves now glaring at her too but not attacking.
They were terrified.
Lily quickly grabbed her back, seeing how Karen flinched at the movement, and didn't bother looking at anyone as she ran out the cafeteria.
She couldn't stop herself from looking at Croft on the floor by the door. He was conscious now, but she could see his eye was swelling up beneath his hands as he tried to grasp some form of dignity.
When Lily ran out of the cafeteria, the school started talking immediately. Jack, Karen and Claire were looking at each other in shock. The werewolves helped Ryan get up off the floor. Isaac and the other vampires had already sat back down in their shaded areas - Isaac had a look on his face Jack could only describe as wonder, which made her sick to the stomach.
The three girls sat down and Claire immediately leaned in. "Her eyes glowed-"
"We know." Jack interrupted.
Karen leaned forward too. "I was behind her, what is she?"
Claire's mouth hung open for a while, gaping like a fish. "I...I don't know. I haven't seen that colour before."
Jack was frowning at her friends, also watching the cafeteria slowly get back to normal. No doubt rumours would be flying around over the next few hours about what Lily was and what Croft had done to piss her off.
"They looked like a silver I think?" Claire pondered. "They didn't shift for long, not long enough to get a picture anyway."
Jack spun to her. "Were you filming?!"
Claire threw her hands up. "No no, I did think about filming though, but someone probably was already."
Jack glared around the cafeteria again, trying to spot anyone on their phones, but she realised quickly that practically everyone was. Probably updating their statuses.
She sighed, pushing away her plate of food. "I'm not hungry anymore."
"Neither am I..." Karen clutched her stomach. "Fighting makes me sick, I feel awful."
Claire was still frowning. "I'm hungry for information, I want to know what she is - she knocked a werewolf on his arse!"
Jack fiddled with her fingers, trying to stop her magic from dancing around her rings. "She also knocked out some rogues who were trying to take Alice, remember?"
Claire's eyes brightened at the information. "Oh yes! I remember, so she's like a kicker-of-wolf-ass creature?"
Karen laughed at the title as Jack rolling her eyes. "You have to come up with a better name than that Claire."
"How about, Fighter Of Fangs?!"
"What is she, a horoscope?" Jack was trying not to smile as Karen started to crack up.
"Ooh, Wolfsbane?!"
"Shut up Claire, you suck at this." Jack couldn't stop the chuckle when she heard Karen start to wheeze.
"Okay, what name would you give her then?!"
"How about Lily, you know, her name?" Jack lightly snorted, before she spotted Croft talking to his wolves, carefully touching his eye. It was already a pale purplish colour, his cheek was a little swollen too.
When he looked their way, she raised her head with a smile. Serves him right.
Karen stopped laughing immediately when he marched over to the table. Jack glared at him with a smirk. "I told you to take your hand off slowly."
"Shut up." He snapped, looking at Claire. "Heal my eye."
Claire's eyes widened. "Why me? Pick someone else!"
Croft tried to narrow his eyes but he kept wincing. The girls glimpsed a flash of gold briefly. "You're the best fairy student in the school, so heal my eye."
Jack raised an eyebrow. Croft caught the look before rubbing the back of his neck, staring the fairy down. "Please?"
Claire stumbled a little as she stood, quickly walking over to the tall werewolf. Jack heard some of the girls whispering at how close Claire stood, wishing they could stand in the same place, but as Claire gently reached a hand for his eye, her eyes glowing a vibrant purple, she immediately frowned.
"She fractured your cheekbone." Claire said, her fingertips gently brushing over his black eye. Croft was still as Claire examined the injury, but as her lilac magic worked out of her fingers and around his eye, Jack noticed that his eye wasn't changing. The wound wasn't healing.
"It's not working?" Jack asked, standing as well.
Claire was frowning as she drew her hand away, eyes fading back to their normal blue-green. "It's almost like your wound is refusing to heal with any help."
Karen gently raised a hand like she was in class. Jack and Claire looked to their friend before Croft could say anything. "Is that a normal thing with werewolves?"
Croft scowled at Karen. "It shouldn't have anything to do with me, it has to do with the healer. I thought you were the strongest in the class?"
Claire clenched her jaw, withdrawing slightly, so Jack stepped in. "It also can be the matter of the injury." She stepped in Croft's space. "Claire is the strongest fairy student yes, but maybe go and see the nurse - remember you don't know what Lily is, you might have to heal like a human from her punches."
Croft scowled at the witch before walking out the cafeteria. For a moment Jack wondered about following him in case he tried to track Lily down and demand answers, but when the other wolves seemed to relax now he'd gone, she realised he probably left the school early. Reporting back to his alpha, most likely, asking more questions.
Jack picked up her bag, looking at Karen and Claire. "I'm going to find Lily, you guys coming?"
"We have class in a few minutes though." Karen said, tapping her watch. Claire grabbed her bag as well.
"I want to ask my teacher a few questions of fairy magic; I should have been able to heal his eye." Claire bit her lip and Jack nudged her arm.
"It has nothing to do with you, you're a strong-ass healer Claire. It's the stick up his ass that's a problem."
Claire smiled a little, Karen standing up as well as they left the cafeteria. Jack paused in a hallway before they walked too far. "I'm going to find Lily guys, I'll see you after school?"
"Yeah, see you then Jack."
"Don't get into too much trouble!" Claire shouted after her as Jack headed to the library. She couldn't help but laugh. Her? Trouble? Never...
As Jack walked to the library, knowing Lily often spent a lot of time there, she spotted a few teachers walking past with Lily between them. They all stopped when they saw each other.
Mr Booth, their werewolf history teacher, crossed his arms. "I hope you're heading to class, Jack?"
"Just needed to return a book in the library before I headed in, sir." Jack lied, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.
Mr Booth waved her off. "Off you go then." He ordered, which turned Jack's stomach, and walked Lily and the other teacher away.
Jack hadn't caught Lily's gaze yet, her head was down, but Jack quietly followed the two teachers - the other was Mrs Khan, her witch teacher - and watched as they rounded a few more corridors before turning down an aisle to what Jack knew from experience was the Principal's office.
Jack halted before going into the main hallway, watching as Mr Booth knocked on the door. Mrs Khan had a gentle hand on Lily's shoulder, but Jack knew that Mrs Khan wasn't the comforting type.
That was a hand that said, you can try to give me a black eye but it won't work.
Lily turned her head as the door opened and Mr Booth walked in. Jack and Lily locked eyes as she was ushered in by Mrs Khan. The troublesome witch almost dropped her bag at Lily's expression; the left over tears that had stained her cheeks and the glazed dark eyes.
When Lily was ushered out of sight, Jack let out a breath before heading to her class. Jack hoped Lily saw on her face she was worried for her.
Jack hoped Lily didn't see how much she had scared her in the cafeteria, but instead saw a concerned friend.