Angel’s POV, 11 years before:
I walk through the school gate, and my senses tingle with fear. It’s my birthday, so I hoped this would be a good day. Guess not. I grip my backpack tightly. The schoolyard is silent except for my slow steps. I won’t stop even with dread building up from my toes and to my hair roots. Better to get it over with. I swallow hard even if my mouth is dry.
“What are you doing?” Mary Pond’s voice sounds disinterested, but she uses her alpha-aura. It’s cracking just like any other puberty voice, so the command effect isn’t as strong. I barely notice the effect, but sense what she tried to do. I turn towards her to answer politely.
“Don’t give them a reason to punish you,” is my mother’s mantra.
Mary is a few years older than me, and being a female, she will only
