Chapter 129: Helper

“I will teach you how to find your abilities and your power,” Marian assured her. “But you must be patient, Sofia. This is a gradual process. One ability at a time.”

​Sofia nodded, clutching the warm tea. She already felt suffocated. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

​”Good,” Marian replied. “You should be here twice a week. I will help you. But first, tell —is there any ability you have experienced yet?”

​Sofia took a shaky breath. “Yes. Yesterday, a group of rogues tried to capture me near my apartment. I was terrified, and I just screamed for them to let me be. Suddenly, they were thrown back and pinned to the floor. They couldn’t move, like the ground was holding them down.”

​Marian’s eyebrows rose. “A very rare gift. Let’s work on that.”

​Marian picked up a ceramic cup from the table and set it in front of Sofia. “Make this cup stay on this table. Use your mind to make it so heavy that even I cannot lift it.”

​Sofia closed her eyes and tried to push her energy toward the cup. She pictured it becoming heavy, but when Marian reached out, she picked the cup up easily. Sofia sighed, feeling defeated.

​”It didn’t work,” Sofia muttered.

​”Do you know why it worked with the rogues?” Marian asked kindly. “It was impulse. You were scared. You acted without thinking. To do it now, you must be determined. You must decide that the cup cannot move.”

​Sofia took a deep breath. She stared at the cup. She stopped wishing it would stay and decided it would stay. She felt a cold tingle run down her arms.

​Marian reached for the cup again. Her fingers gripped the handle, and she pulled. The cup didn’t budge. She pulled harder, but the cup stayed perfectly still, as if it were part of the wooden table.

​”Excellent,” Marian said, letting go. “First rule: always be determined. Your power follows your will.”

​Marian stood up and walked Sofia to the door. “That will be all for today. You are exhausted. Please be careful on your way home, Sofia.”

​Sofia thanked her and left the shop. As she hurried toward her apartment, she reached the corner near her building and saw a commotion. Three men had a young lady cornered against a brick wall. They were pulling her bag and laughing while she sobbed.

Sofia’s blood ran cold. She couldn’t just walk away.

​”Leave her alone!” Sofia shouted.

​”Go away, little girl,” one sneered. “This is none of your business. We are just having some fun,” one of the men spat.

​The girl on the ground was crying. She looked very scared. Sofia felt her heart beat faster. She felt the power of the White Wolf waking up again. She remembered what Marian told her: Be determined.

​”I said, leave her alone,” Sofia said. Her voice was much deeper now. It was not the voice of a scared girl.

​”And if we don’t?” the man asked. He reached out to grab Sofia’s neck.

​Sofia did not move away. She stayed still. She looked the man in the eyes and thought very hard about the cup on the table. She wanted him to stay exactly where he was. She focused all her energy on the ground under his feet.

​”I said… STOP,” Sofia commanded.

​Suddenly, the man’s hand froze in the air. He tried to pull it back, but he couldn’t. His friends tried to step forward to help him, but they also stopped. Their boots were stuck to the pavement.

​”What did you do?” one of them yelled. He was shaking, but he could not lift his feet. It was like their bodies weighed a thousand pounds.

​”Leave this place,” Sofia said. She let go of the power just a little bit so they could move their legs. “If I see you again, I will make sure you never walk again.”

​The men felt the heavy weight lift. They did not wait. They turned and ran as fast as they could down the street, not even daring to look back.

​Sofia breathed out. She felt very tired due to the release of her power, but she pushed down her exhaustion and helped the girl stand up.

​”Are you okay?” Sofia asked.

​The girl trembled, her eyes red from crying. She looked up at Sofia with a face full of bruises, her clothes torn at the edges. “I… I have nowhere to go,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “They took my money. They took my phone. My family kicked me out weeks ago because I refused an arranged marriage to a man old enough to be my grandfather.”

​Sofia felt a sharp pain in her chest. She remembered how it felt to be unwanted, to be the girl everyone looked past or pushed around.

A plus-size girl in a world that rarely showed kindness to people like them.

​”What is your name?” Sofia asked softly, helping the girl brush the dirt off her jacket.

​”I’m Bella,” the girl replied, looking down at her scuffed shoes. “Thank you for saving me.”

​Sofia looked around the darkening street. The air was getting colder, and she could feel her own energy fading. She knew Marian told her to be careful, but her heart wouldn’t let her walk away from someone so helpless.

​”Come with me,” Sofia said, making a quick decision. “You can stay at my apartment for a few days. Just until you get back on your feet. It’s safe there.”

​Bella looked up, a look of pure relief washing over her face. “Really? You would do that for a stranger?”

​”I know what it’s like to have no one,” Sofia said, giving her a small, encouraging smile. “Let’s go.”

​As Sofia turned to lead the way toward her building, she didn’t see the change in Bella’s expression. The girl’s eyes, which had been filled with tears a second ago, suddenly turned cold and sharp. A devilish smirk spread across her face—a look of pure victory.

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