Mated - Chapter 312: Chapter 312

KESTER.
Every noise in the class faded.
I didn’t hear the laughter.
I didn’t hear the chairs creaking.
I didn’t hear my own heartbeat.
Just that one sentence. Echoing over and over and over in my skull.
My fist crushed the pencil in my hand, and I snapped it in two like it was a twig.
I stood up slowly. I don’t even remember doing it.
One second, I was staring at my desk, and the next, I was marching straight toward the back of the class.
I heard someone call my name. Maybe. I couldn’t tell. I didn’t care.
Troy was grinning like he’d won something.
He didn’t even get the chance to blink before I grabbed him by the collar and slammed his face into the desk.
I didn’t feel anything. Just this heat. Boiling really bad. Rushing through my arms. Through my head.
“Take it back!” I screamed. “SAY IT AGAIN!”
He tried to push me off, but I was already hitting his face repeatedly on the desk.
Everyone gasped, scrambling out of their seats. This was new to them. I had never fought or gotten violent before.
I didn’t stop.
He shouted once, but I didn’t hear it properly.
I hit him again.
And again.
I tackled him out of his chair. I heard screams. Desks banged, and chairs scraped as people jumped out of the way.
I didn’t stop to look at anything.
My fists moved faster than my thoughts. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t care what I was doing. I just needed him to shut up. I needed to stop the rage. I needed to hit something. Someone.
“My mother is NOT a whore!” I roared, spit flying from my mouth. I hit his jaw. His nose. Something cracked.
Blood sprayed. I kept going. “TAKE IT BACK!”
I couldn’t stop.
I didn’t even want to stop.
His blood splashed on my sleeves, on my knuckles, on my face.
His friends tried to pull me off him, but I swung an elbow and heard one of them yelp. They backed away.
“Kester! STOP!” Miss Lorelle shouted, rushing into the class.
She grabbed my arms, but I didn’t stop. Something was buzzing in my body. I didn’t even feel like me anymore. It was like something else was in me. Like I had been waiting for this.
I threw Miss Lorelle off without even realizing it. I heard her stumble, maybe fall.
“Help! Someone get the seniors!” she shouted. She was panicking. “GET THE SENIORS!”
Troy’s face was a mess. It was red and swollen. He was choking on his own blood. I think I knocked out a tooth, but I didn’t care.
I wasn’t even there anymore. I was somewhere else. I was back at home. I was watching my mum cry again. Watching my dad slam the door. Watching myself crash into the closet like a scared little chicken.
Maybe that scared little chicken was dead.
Or maybe it stopped being scared.
I wanted to hurt him the way I couldn’t hurt Dad.
Three older students stormed in. They already had their wolves. So, they were supposedly strong. Two of them held me by both arms like I was some wild animal.
I thrashed.
Another one tried to pull me by the waist.
They were stronger than me–but it still took all of them.
“Kester! That’s enough!” one barked in a deep voice.
“He said he said-” I tried to explain, but my voice cracked.
It sounded like I was crying.
I was still kicking, my legs flailing in the air, my fists trying to punch whatever they could reach.
Troy was on the floor. Covered in blood. His friends were crying. Some girls had already run out of the class.
The teacher looked pale.
Everyone looked at me like I was the monster here.
I looked down at my hands.
They were red.
So red.
And shaking.
I didn’t know what just happened.
And still, under all that noise, I only heard one thing: