Chapter 133

Sarah POV

I didn’t much care for the task, but I read over the online comments for the speeches we gave yesterday. There were videos for all of us speaking together, separately, and in weird little mashups.

I mostly saw video clips of Melissa, “This is not some sort of spiritual camp or clinic, and if you report otherwise you are a fear-mongering hack.”

Below that, I realized I was beginning to recognize some of the names. I guessed that was a good thing, but I wasn’t certain. Still, I realized I did feel good seeing “familiar faces.”

GinnyWolf: Well said! When will people stop treating humans like they’re defective wolves?

FrighteningBoobs: Fuck all of them. I want their money.

Allisstoopid: Where is little Jordan? I want to see what he’s up to!!

Eggs&Bacon69: That is one srsly cool piece a wolf ass. Meslissa, your in my dreams.

Babbashee: She’s just speaking the truth. Cant we all agree?

I laughed at Eggs&Bacon69, and then I noticed some clips of myself, of Zane, and of the others posted in my feed.

There was a large file for something to do with Melissa, and I pressed on the icon. It proved to be all her comments from the PR about the orphanage, minus what I said, which was fine. I clicked on another post with a link to a video.

“We’re talking about children, pups and kids, who have no one else in their lives, no one, not an aunt or a cousin or even a family friend,” Melissa said in the video.

I realized as I sat there that I was one of those orphans Melissa was talking about. I had no idea who my mother or father was. However, I’d also dealt with the social stigma of being an orphan many years ago.

Had I ever wondered about my biological mother and father? Of course. Would I pay a hundred dollars to know who there were right now? Debatable.

Whoever had given birth had either truly died in that moment, which was awful, or hadn’t wanted me once I was there, which was bad in its own way and no less permanent. They’d had a child, a crying, messy little baby they’d taken a look at and decided they didn’t want in their lives.

There was something oddly romantic about being an orphan, a chance that I was the child of kings and queens, or some starving artists who were now famous, or a hundred other fantastic parents. I knew about that. I’d experienced it in my youth, dreaming that my mother and father were important people who couldn’t admit to the world they’d had child.

But they hadn’t been any of those things, as I’d come to accept. In all likelihood, my mother was a teenager who’d partied hard one night with some guy and woken up pregnant. Or maybe I’d been the child of a single woman living alone who just couldn’t handle a crying, squirming thing in her life.

It was then I noticed a new comment on Melissa’s video:

Idiott: I’m going to kill you, little human bitch. I don’t care if you’re wearing some mask.

I sat there a moment and thought about how this was my life now: getting death threats from strangers.

I sent a notification to Travis and the blocked the original poster. It struck me hard then: Someone was threatening my life, and that was all I could do.

I admit, I had to take a moment. I had spent my life growing up as a human among werewolves, not jus an orphan but also a

I spent a moment in that head space, and then I shook it off. Yes, this was my life now, and I needed to deal with it.

In fact, I waited a few minutes, and then I went into the forum Lainey had set up on my website to see there was a new thread created about the death threat, which didn’t do much to settle my stomach.

CrzyDwnHr: Do you think that’s a real thing or someone hired by ZC?

OPsSon: For what purpose, exactly?

BettaNotK: Did you see Sarah’s light blue suit? OMG! OMG! OMG!

CrzyDwnHr: Look, no one gets more sympathy than a target. First some jackoff took a shot at her and then killed himself SUSPIS MUCH? And now some anon is giving her death threats? Srsly. NO WAY !!!

OK, well, that was pretty awful. I then noticed a new thread in m personal forum for “MT.”

LovelyGurl: What a hell of a speech!

NeverBeOnMyLevel: Melissa Thibodaux is now my official crush. Anyone else?

GinnyWolf: Still prefer Sarah.

S: Me as well! This new MT seems a little too perfect, don’t you think? We’re probably going to find out she likes little boyz or something. Just kiddeing, but still.

PrettyLittleThang: Don’t be gross. She’s lovely, and IMO should offer a few lessons to SarahA. Maybe more than a few.

Great, I thought and went back to the main forum, where a new comment popped up: S: My love, please ignore these foolish comments. When we’re together, everything is going to be all right.

OK, that was officially terrible.

Somewhat desperately, I was searching for something, anything else, when a new email i in my inbox.

Seeing it was from Melissa Thibodaux made me want to ignore it before I shook myself out of it. If she were the future, I needed to deal with it.

Sarah,

How wonderful that we’re being linked n the media! I have so much I want to do, and to be able to put our voices together makes me so excited!

The day after tomorrow, Wednesday, I’m to speak at a function for the Beta’s Auxiliary League. They do some many wonderful things. I know they had a problem with being connected to the Salvation Gamma Army and all that, but they’re making a new name for themselves now that they’ve broken away, and I want to support them.

Of course, if the Beta’s Auxiliary League isn’t your cup of tea, let’s talk to see what we can agree on. Your position in the pack is perfect as a platform for so many causes, as I’m sure you know, and I confess I’m eager to see what we can do together!

I had no idea what to make of all that and just forwarded it in onto to Lainey to tell me.. I realized I had a headache.