Alpha Bully (Wolf Ridge High 1)

My dad lunges straight from the floor to my legs, tackling me to the ground. I kick one leg free then him in the face once. Twice. Three times.

Casey screams.

I kick him again.

“You’re killing him, Cole!”

I kick one more time. He goes still.

“Fates,” Casey breathes, dashing down the stairs and leaning over our dad.

“I’m the alpha of the house now,” I tell Casey. “He can man up and be a dad or he’s gone.”

Casey bursts into tears.

I touch her shoulder and she steps into me, lets me hold her while she breaks down and weeps.

“It’s over,” I tell her. “We’re going to be okay.”

Bailey

I slept about three hours last night. My anxiety level is off the charts, but it’s too late to back out now. The first edition of Wolf Ridge High School Gazette comes out today.

It’s not the news article I wrote for the front page that has my stomach in knots, although that’s the one that gave me nightmares last night. No, it’s the first person account I wrote for the back page that made me chew my nails down this morning. I outed Cole in it. I stripped him of the power he holds—held—over me. I won’t let him hide behind his bully persona anymore. He’s a hero to me, and I’m going to reveal it to the whole school.

I’m letting the truth come out. That’s what newspapers are for, right?

Rayne and I leave campus during lunch. I tell the gate monitor I’m on official newspaper business and he can call Brumgard to check it while I go pick up the newspapers at the print shop in Cave Hills.

“Do your school administrators know you’re printing this story?” the sales clerk at the print shop asks me curiously.

Good. That means I wrote a powerful headline. Wolf Ridge High Teacher Sexually Assaults Student is the kind that makes everyone stop to read.

“They’re about to find out,” I say.

“Good for you,” she says, helping us carry the boxes to my Beetle. “Way to hit him in the nuts.”

“Thanks. I’m kind of freaking out, but I know it’s the right thing to do.”

“Definitely,” the clerk says.

“It’s going to be epic,” Rayne says. “I am so proud to be your sidekick right now.”

I grin at her and take a deep breath. “Ready to do this?”

“Ready.”

“Let’s go.”

Cole

We come in from lunch and I instantly sense the buzz. There’s an energy in the air—a nervous, wired emission from every kid.

Newspapers.

They all have newspapers.

“Cole!” One of the JV ballers hands me one. It takes me half a second to read the headline and I understand.

I run for Brumgard’s room. Bo, Wilde, Austin and Slade are at my heels. Asswipe’s in there, eating his lunch at his desk. Probably hasn’t seen the paper yet. I slam my palm against his door. “Guard this door,” I order and Bo and Wilde instantly throw their backs up against it. Wolf shifters operate in a paramilitary structure. We’re soldiers by nature, ready to give our lives for what matters, always following a chain of command. My friends haven’t even read the article, but they respond with instant ferocity, trusting my war-like instinct to secure Brumgard’s classroom.

Within thirty seconds, a crowd of underclassmen join them to stand guard.

“You two cover the window outside,” I order Austin and Slade.

They nod and jog off, half a dozen volunteer recruits on their heels.

I scan the article quickly. It’s a completely fact-based news article, written in the inverted pyramid style Brumgard taught us: most important news first.

WRHS Senior Bailey Sanchez was sexually assaulted by journalism teacher Alfred Brumgard on October 6th in his classroom after school. The assault, not yet reported to the authorities, was witnessed and interrupted by Senior Cole Muchmore, who reportedly stopped in to pick up extra credit work from Brumgard.

Muchmore physically assaulted Brumgard to stop the incident, resulting in the teacher’s broken nose.

Sanchez, the victim, said, “I am bringing this story to the public now because I want to be sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Muchmore will reportedly testify as a witness in the case, if necessary.

Bailey Sanchez is a genius. A brave, brilliant genius. My eyes smart.

“Cole.” One of the kids near me says. “Read this one.” He flicks open the paper to another article. The headline is, WRHS Student Shares First-Person Account of Assault.

My heart starts pounding as I read it.

By Bailey Sanchez

This article is difficult to write, but I want my story to be known. I’m a new student at Wolf Ridge High. An outsider. I didn’t have many friends when I started here, and I still don’t.

When I asked my journalism teacher, Mr. Brumgard, if he’d be open to starting a student newspaper, he initially refused. But then, I believe because he saw I was friendless, he suspected I would be easy prey. He invited me to meet with him about it after school. Once we were alone, he offered his sympathy at my friendless state, pledged his friendship, and stuck his hand up my skirt.