CHAPTER 141: BULLETS/TRUTH.

"Stales..." Alex tried not to panic. He looked around but there was no staff in sight. The other students had begun staring, whispering among themselves. They must be wondering what was happening. He turned back to Angela, lowering his voice. "Pull yourself together. You’re drawing attention."

Angela forced herself to breathe in and out, trying to calm the storm inside her chest. But Stales was still the same, no sign of improvement. Her heart dropped. That meant she had done it, not only to him but to Xavier too. Hot tears threatened her eyes as she stared at her friend. "I am so sorry," she whispered, her voice trembling.

"Sorry for what?" Stales asked suddenly. His friends froze, their eyes wide, as though he had risen from the dead. Then, to their shock, he broke into laughter he could not hold back. "Look at your faces. You actually fell for it."

Angela stood frozen, staring at him in disbelief. Did he really think this was funny? She had been terrified, blaming herself, thinking she had hurt him. Her body was still shaking from the fear.

"There is nothing funny about this," Alex said sharply, his voice edged with anger. He slapped Stales lightly on the shoulder, but his glare was hard. "Are you out of your mind?"

"N-no..." Stales said between bursts of laughter, his voice carrying through the hall. He bent forward, clutching his stomach as if the laughter itself would tear him apart. "I can’t believe you didn’t see it. I was trying so hard to keep my face straight."

Angela arched her brows at him, her heart still heavy. "Don’t you think that was too much?" Her voice softened, not angry but weary. In truth, she was relieved it had only been a joke. If anything had happened to him, she would never have forgiven herself. But Stales, clearly, wasn’t thinking that way.

"The joke was expensive," Alex muttered, sitting down with a sigh. He was drained and done with the entire scene. "Let’s just go. The meeting is about to start."

"I’m sorry if I scared the both of you, alright?" Stales finally said, his laughter dying down.

Angela gave a small nod and picked up her bag. Then something struck her. "Wait—the race. If we leave now, won’t it affect our points?"

"No," Stales answered at once. "The staff won’t be around anyway. After what happened last night, they’re all in a meeting. It could last the whole day, who knows?"

"Then let’s go," Angela said, walking towards the entrance. Her eyes drifted to the general ranking board, and she spotted her name. She was ranked four hundred and sixty-two. Not great, but at least she was no longer in the red zone.

Still, it wasn’t enough. She knew she had to work harder before the test began, or else she would slip back to the bottom again. A cold fear gripped her heart as her mind wandered to everything waiting for her outside the Academy walls.

She didn’t want to leave, not even when the term ended. The Academy was her shield. Out there, beyond its walls, her enemies were waiting. They would find her, and when they did, only the goddess knew what fate would fall upon her.

"What are your powers?" Stales asked as they walked towards the woods. That area was out of bounds after what had happened the night before, but the riverside was excluded. So it was chosen as the venue for the meeting. Stales kept talking, his eyes on Angela. "Kaito is the god of thunder and lightning, Hiro is the lord of mischief, Renn has the strength and all the muscle, and Taros is the healer. What about you? What powers do you have?"

Angela only shrugged. She did not know what to say. The question pierced her because she had never thought of it deeply. Sometimes she wondered if the goddess had given her nothing at all.

"It can’t be nothing. Think," Stales pressed, unwilling to drop it.

"You should let her be. When the time comes, the goddess will reveal her powers," Alex said firmly, pushing Stales back a little.

Angela shook her head. "I don’t care about that right now. All I want is to find my father. If I find out who he is, then maybe I’ll finally understand myself. I’m tired of not knowing. The mystery is eating me up, it’s exhausting."

"I understand," Alex said softly. "But why don’t you ask your mother about Marcus? Maybe she knows something about him." He looked at her with pity, but Angela turned her eyes away.

"I wish I could, but I can’t." She ran her fingers through her hair, her voice tight with frustration. Just the thought of facing Grace again gave her a headache. She had not even been able to raise the money she owed her.

"Why?" Stales frowned, confused. "I know your mom is wicked, but I don’t think she would refuse to tell you about your father. Isn’t that an easy way for her to finally get rid of you?"

Angela let out a long sigh. "I have been asking her for years. The only thing she ever told me about him was that he was a dead man. And then recently, she gave me a name—Maverick. No surname, nothing else. You see how complicated Grace can make everything?"

"Maybe if you press her more, she’ll give you the surname too," Alex suggested with a small smile, trying to lighten the moment. Angela only shook her head sadly. They had no idea who Grace truly was.

"I can’t. I owe her money and I don’t have it yet," Angela admitted quietly. Both of them stared at her in surprise. She swallowed and continued, her voice breaking. "It was the day I got my admission letter. I had to buy her silence. I had to pay her three times the amount my uncle was going to give her. That was the only way she let me come here."

Her chest tightened as the memory replayed in her mind. That day had cost her more than money. It had cost her peace.

"Oh mine, what a mother," Stale said, still surprised. He searched his pocket and pulled out seventy dollars, the little he had left from the money his parents gave him during their last visit. He pressed it into her hand. "Here, pay her back so that we can fix things."

"I have one hundred dollars with me in the dormitory. I’ll give it to you when we get back," Alex added.

Angela felt the tears press at her eyes, and she knew it would be foolish to try and stop them. Shaking her head, she pushed their hands back. She didn’t want their money. They had already done more than enough for her. "What I need is a job, maybe something online. I can raise money that way," she said softly.

"Isn’t this money enough?" Stale asked.

"No, but that’s not the only reason why I can’t take it," Angela replied with a faint smile. "I want to raise it on my own. Besides, I already owe my mom over six hundred dollars."

"What?" Alex’s eyes widened. He stuttered in disbelief. The thought that a mother could demand such a huge amount from her daughter just to keep her safe stunned him. There were people who would give their very lives for those they loved, yet Angela’s own mother put a price on her. "I am so sorry."

"No lies, your mom is selfish," Stale said, anger flashing across his face. To him, she did not even deserve to be called a mother. He wondered what kind of man Angela’s father was to have married her. Or maybe he was no different. "How do we help? We can’t just sit back and watch you face this alone."

They reached the riverbank before Angela could answer. On the bridge ahead stood the four Alphas, deep in discussion. Someone else was with them. A girl.

Angela’s heart skipped as her eyes caught her face. Hailey. The same girl she had seen with Taros the other day. They were together again, standing far too close. Angela’s pulse quickened at the sight.

"We may have to do away with her if she dares to stand in our mate’s path... but I doubt that is the case," Mighty Storm muttered.

Angela nodded faintly as she walked toward them. Hiro was the first to notice. "Were you three planning to take forever?"

"We are here now, does it matter?" Angela asked as she walked to where Kaito stood.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close. When everyone thought she was done, she moved to each of her mates, hugging them warmly and kissing their cheeks, making sure they felt her love.

She returned to stand between Kaito and Taros. It was not about making Hailey jealous, it was her way of showing her place, her way of telling the other girl that the Alphas were hers, that they belonged with her and no one else.

"Who is him?" Hailey asked, her brows drawn in confusion as her eyes shifted from Taros to Hiro.

"Our mate," Renn answered, moving closer to Angela. "And it is not a him, it is a her."

Hailey was stunned, even though Taros had told her before. She had doubted him, but now the truth was right in front of her. She had already promised not to speak of anything that was said in this meeting, no matter how shocking it was.

"Nice to meet you," Angela said, stretching out her hand with a calm smile. Hailey took it and smiled back.

"Nice to meet you too."

"That’s enough," Renn said, pulling their hands apart. "Can we get to the real matter now?"

"Of course. I did some research," Hailey replied, shifting her gaze to everyone. She took out a bullet sealed in a polythene bag, the same one that had been pulled out of Hiro the night he was shot. She noticed the sudden sharpness in Hiro’s eyes, his interest stirred. "This bullet belonged to the Malynsters, the founders of Mistvale. They are dangerous, but they usually keep to themselves. What I do not understand is why they would come after Hiro. Why would they want him dead? Did you cross into their territory?"

"That is a good question. Where was he that he got shot?" Stales blurted out, and the moment the words left his mouth, regret filled his face. All eyes turned to Hiro, waiting. He could no longer escape an answer.