"What are you doing, you weirdos!" Flora screamed in panic as the girls tugged at her shirt.
Despite her struggle, the girls overpowered her and forcefully removed Flora's upper garment.
"Now, shift!" Vivian barked the order at Flora.
"Excuse you? You can't order me around like that." Flora protested, totally bewildered by the whole event.
"Shift into your wolf, let's see what you have got, new girl." Vivian repeated, this time, enunciating what she meant.
However the order fell on deaf ears.
"Who are you to order me around?" Flora gritted out, her eyes flashing angrily. Her wolf was at forefront.
"Oh, she is tough!" One of the girls commented and the others laughed in amusement.
"Amusing!" Vivian exclaimed then scoffed.
"Now, don't make me repeat myself, new girl. I have no time to waste." She added with a mischievous grin.
Sophia cowered in fear of what the group were capable of doing, at a corner, but Flora remained unshakable.
"You would have to make me!" Flora maintained sharply. Vivian and the other girls burst into laughter.
"Let's show her what we can do then." Vivian said to her subordinates and Sophia sucked in a breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flora's eyes fluttered open and the first thing she noticed was how sore her feet felt. It was as if she had run several miles in a row.
"Argh! My head hurts..." Flora mumbled and groaned. Then the events of the previous day came crashing on her.
"That godforsaken so-called initiation and those weirdos!" Flora remembered and clenched her fists.
"This school is weird... Is this how it should be? Of course not!" She gritted her teeth, her anger rising.
"I'm sorry, Flora but this is just the norm here." Flora heard her friend's voice and slowly sat up only to realize she wasn't in bed as she thought.
She was in the woods, naked. She let out an horrified scream.
"What the heck? How did I get here?" She yelled.
"Flora, are you okay?" Sophia asked her, ignoring her question and quickly covered her body with a blanket.
"Answer the question... How did I end up here, Sophia?" Flora repeated, her eyes darting between her friend's and the surrounding.
"What? I should be asking you that." Sophia said furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Flora raised an eyebrow.
"Uhm, during the initiation for the new students, you ... Wait, do you not remember what you did?" Sophia questioned.
"Explain in details... I can't even remember anything about what happened to me." Flora yelled in frustration.
Sophia heaved a sigh and raised her hands in surrender.
"Fine, I will tell you what happened. But get up first and cover yourself with the blanket." She said.
Then, Sophia took a deep breath and began recounting the events:
"Okay, so after Vivian demanded you shift, you remember refusing, right?" She questioned.
"Yeah, I remember that part. Those girls were being ridiculous." Flora replied.
"Well, what happened next was... unexpected. Your eyes... they changed. It was like your wolf took over, but you didn't physically shift." Sophia continued.
"What do you mean?" Flora asked in confusion.
"It is hard to explain. Let me try to recall it exactly..." Sophia trailed off.
---Flashback---
Vivian's face contorted with anger as Flora stood her ground.
"You dare defy me?" Vivian snarled, stepping closer to Flora.
Suddenly, Flora's posture changed. Her shoulders straightened, and her eyes flickered with an otherworldly gleam. When she spoke, her voice carried a deeper, more primal tone.
"You have no power over me, little wannabe." Flora's wolf-controlled voice rang out.
The group of girls collectively gasped, taking a step back. Vivian's eyes widened in shock.
"Impossible..." Vivian whispered.
"You play at leadership, but you know nothing of true strength. Your games are meaningless." Flora continued.
"Vivian, her eyes... they're not human! I think her wolf is in control." One of the girls pointed out.
Vivian regained her composure.
"Shut up! She's just trying to scare us. Grab her!" She maintained.
As two girls moved to seize Flora, she let out a low, rumbling growl that stopped them in their tracks.
"Touch me, and you will regret it." Flora warned.
Sophia, still huddled in the corner, watched in awe as Flora's human form seemed to radiate an aura of power.
Vivian, frustrated and confused, made a last attempt to assert control.
"This is ridiculous! Shift now, or face the consequences!"
Flora laughed, a sound that sent chills down everyone's spine.
"Consequences? You have no idea what true consequences are." She grunted.
With that, Flora turned and sprinted out of the window and headed for the woods with inhuman speed, leaving the group of girls stunned and Sophia scrambling to follow.
---End of Flashback---
Flora sat in stunned silence as Sophia finished recounting the events.
"I... I did all that?" Flora asked, disbelief evident in her voice.
"Yeah, you did. It was... intense. Your wolf was in control, but you didn't physically shift. I' have never seen anything like it before." Sophia replied.
Flora shook her head, trying to process the information.
"But how is that possible? And why can't I remember any of it?" Flora wondered aloud.
"I don't know." Sophia admitted.
"But Flora, can I ask you something?" She questioned.
"Sure, go ahead." Flora replied, still looking dazed.
Sophia hesitated for a moment before asking.
"Does your wolf... have some kind of special power? The way you stood up to Vivian, it was like nothing I have ever seen. And you are from a humble background, right? It is just... unusual for a wolf of our levels to be that defiant and almost... arrogant." Sophia pointed out.
Flora's expression changed, becoming defensive.
"Special power? No, that is ridiculous. My wolf just knew what was right and refused to be controlled by a bunch of weirdos who clearly don't know what they're doing." She said.
Sophia didn't look convinced.
"Is she perhaps hiding a secret?" Sophia wondered inwardly as she fixed her gaze on Flora who had stood up and was fixing the blanket around her body.