Nerd's Badboy Alpha novel Chapter 8

I couldn't get up the next day. I was on the couch in the den with a blanket pulled over my head and my body curled over a hot water bottle all day. I had never felt so much pain in my entire life. It was like someone had taken my ovaries and uterus and stuck them in a meat grinder while they were still attached to me. Every time I tried to get up to go to the bathroom, the pain would get so bad that I'd almost black out. Ramona and another maid had to carry me to the toilet every time I had to go.

The last time I had gone to the toilet by myself was to give my fish a burial at sea. I found him on the floor by my desk this morning. My screaming had shattered his fish bowl. Poor little guy. He was all I had.

Uncle Alfred had allowed me to stay home from school, which is rare. For him, it doesn't matter if it's raining fireballs out there, if you've got legs to take you to school, you're going. Which meant I was alone in the big house because Stephanie, Bethany, and Roger were at school.

I was actually bummed about not going to school because I have a Calculus test I've been studying for all week today and I was pretty sure I'm going to ace it-I hope Mr. Lemke lets me take a makeup test. He probably would. He's a member of our pack, Uncle Alfred is his Alpha. I swear the only reason Bethany and Stephanie haven't flunked out is that many teachers in our school belong to our pack. They hardly ever go to class.

Linda, my Uncle Matt's human mate, came to visit me this morning to check on me. Apparently, Aunt Ruffia had called her before she left for work this morning. My aunt runs the community library and the village school for the little ones. She's a very busy woman.

Aunt Juvy brought me chocolate and a giant bag of potato chips. I peeked out of my blanket to take a look at her offering. Apparently, human women eat a lot of chocolate and crispy, salty things during their "bleeding" time.

"Thank you, Auntie Juvy, but I'm allergic to chocolate and the chips probably have gluten," I said miserably. I was disappointed I couldn't accept them because she's a really nice lady.

Aunt Juvy picked up the packet of potato chips and turned it over to read the ingredients. "You're right. It does have gluten. I didn't know wolves have food allergies. You poor thing." She reached over to ruffle my hair.

"I'm one of a kind." I tried to laugh, but it hurt too much. "How old were you when your bleeding started?"

She'd opened the bag of chips and had started eating from it. "Gosh, I don't know. Thirteen, I think? It started right in the middle of class and I didn't even realize it. I was asking the teacher something and I was slightly bent over her desk when the other kids started laughing. It turned out I had a blood stain on my butt."

This story horrified me. "You started bleeding in the middle of class?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I thought I was dying. My teacher had another teacher escort me to the nurse's office where the nurse taught me how to use a pad, then they called my mom at home and asked her to pick me up from school. My mom allowed me to stay home for two days because my cramps were so bad."

Ramona walked into the room to check on the girl, brushing her hair out of her face and laying her palm on the girl's forehead. "A little warm," said the old housekeeper. "I always knew you were something, Melody. Your father was special. I took care of him as a child."

The woman had a small basin with her that had water and a washcloth. She picked up the washcloth from the basin, wrung out the water, and used the cloth to wipe the girl's face and neck. The girl did not stir.

The old woman didn't seem to notice the wolf sitting on its haunches on the floor next to the sofa. She was a foot away from it and not reacting to it at all. Maybe Ramona could not see the wolf?

"You will get through this with grace, Melody. I believe in you," said the old woman, stroking the girl's hair. She put the cloth back in the basin, picked it up, and left the den so that the girl was alone with the wolf again.

The wolf continued to stare at me high-up in the ceiling, its head cocked to the side as if it's wondering what I'm doing up here.

Hell, I don't know what I'm doing up here, but I kind of want to hang outside for a while, maybe.