Vengeance Reborn

Chapter 13 ~ Pretty Little Lies

Ingrid’s POV

Michael doesn't understand why I'm afraid.

Of course he doesn't.

“Ow. What is wrong with you?”

His voice barely registers.

My fingers are wrapped around his arm hard enough that my sharp French-manicured nails dig into his skin, but I can't make myself let go.

Because Alpha Sebastian Knight is walking toward us.

And beside him is Luna Sophia Knight.

My Alpha.

My Luna.

Oh, Goddess.

This is bad.

Very, very bad.

Michael looks from me to them, clearly confused.

I can't explain.

Not here.

Not with half the university watching.

Not with Gabrielle standing several feet away clutching Leona's bag.

And definitely not while the memory of Leona's eyes turning blue is still burned into my mind.

I swallow.

This morning was supposed to be perfect.

Actually, it had been perfect.

Mostly.

I woke up to Michael dragging my ass out of bed because apparently my snoring offended his delicate Alpha ears.

Asshole.

He woke me up properly in the shower afterward, though, so I forgave him.

Mostly.

We got dressed, went downstairs, sat through a light breakfast with his parents and his disgustingly perfect older brother Finn, and then headed for university.

Simple.

Normal.

Exactly the kind of morning I wanted.

Michael McGarland beside me.

People staring.

Women jealous.

Men noticing.

Everything I spent two years building finally paying off.

Because two years ago?

Nobody stared.

Not like this.

Two years ago, I had long black hair that always looked greasy no matter how often I washed it.

Thick black glasses swallowed half my face.

Freckles covered my cheeks and nose.

I was slightly overweight for a wolf, something people made sure I knew constantly.

My eyes were so dark they looked almost black.

Maybe darker.

My lips were thin.

I barely smiled.

Why would I?

Nobody cared when I did.

I was invisible when people weren't laughing.

And when they did notice me, it was usually for the wrong reasons.

So I changed.

Plastic surgery.

Facial reconstruction.

Botox.

A Brazilian butt lift.

Hours learning makeup.

Hair extensions.

Dieting.

Everything.

Piece by piece, I killed the girl nobody wanted.

Now?

Men look.

Women compare themselves to me.

People remember my name.

And men who once wouldn't give me the time of day suddenly trip over themselves trying to impress me.

That's what I wanted.

Power.

Attention.

Revenge.

Michael was the final touch.

Hot.

Rich.

Dangerous.

Son of a former Alpha.

Brother to the current Alpha.

Exactly the kind of man people notice.

Walking into university on his arm felt like winning.

Then I saw him.

That bastard.

The guy who rejected me before my transformation.

He had barely even been cruel about it.

That somehow made it worse.

He hadn't humiliated me publicly.

Hadn't laughed.

Hadn't called me ugly.

He'd simply said he wasn't interested.

Like I wasn't worth considering.

I remembered that rejection for two years.

So when I saw him this morning, I wanted him to see exactly what he'd passed up.

I hooked myself tighter around Michael's arm and walked straight toward him.

One small shift.

One calculated collision.

Then I stumbled back dramatically.

“What the hell!”

He looked confused.

“You walked into me.”

The nerve.

Even now.

Even looking like this.

Still correcting me.

Still acting like he could dismiss me.

So I let Michael handle it.

And Goddess, it was satisfying.

Every punch felt like repayment for something the guy never realized he'd done to me.

When Michael knocked him down, I folded my arms beneath my breasts and watched.

Satisfied.

Vindicated.

Beautiful.

Powerful.

Finally on the winning side.

Then Leona arrived.

And ruined everything.

Again.

I hate Leona Knight.

I have for years.

Sometimes I tell myself it's because she's spoiled.

Because everyone loves her just because she's the Alpha's daughter.

Because she walks around like the entire Silver Lunar Pack belongs to her.

But that's not really it.

The truth is uglier.

Leona never needed to become beautiful.

She already was.

Coco-brown skin.

Those ridiculous golden-hazel eyes.

Auburn hair with those stupid blue highlights that somehow actually look good on her.

She doesn't spend hours constructing herself before leaving the house.

She can walk into university in jeans, boots, barely any makeup, curls doing whatever the hell they want, and people still look.

Not because she's trying.

Because she's Leona.

I hate that.

I hate how Gabrielle adores her.

How Dominick follows her around like an irritating silver shadow.

How warriors straighten when she passes.

How pack members smile at her.

How Alpha Sebastian looks at her like she hung the moon.

How Luna Sophia touches her like she's the most precious thing in existence.

I hate that Leona has everything I spent years trying to manufacture.

Beauty.

Status.

Family.

Power.

Belonging.

And she doesn't even seem to understand how lucky she is.

Or maybe that's what I tell myself so I can keep hating her.

Then today...

Today something changed.

When Leona saw Michael, I expected the usual.

An eye roll.

A sarcastic comment.

Maybe she'd recognize him as Golden Elite royalty.

Instead, her bag fell.

Her face went white.

And she looked at him like her entire world had just ended.

Then her power exploded.

My wolf nearly dropped inside me.

I've felt Alpha Sebastian's aura.

I've felt Luna Sophia's.

I've been around powerful wolves my entire life.

That wasn't normal.

Leona's golden-hazel eyes started turning blue.

Her fangs descended.

The ground cracked.

And for one horrifying second, I thought she was going to kill Michael.

Not hurt him.

Kill him.

Then Dominick grabbed her and vanished.

Thank Goddess.

But Michael?

Michael just stood there staring after her.

Interested.

Fascinated.

Exactly the way men always look at Leona eventually.

Something bitter burns in my throat.

Of course.

Of f*****g course.

I spend two years rebuilding myself, finally get a man like Michael McGarland, and Leona walks across a courtyard wearing a sweater and somehow becomes the most interesting woman he's ever seen.

Then he noticed Gabrielle.

I saw that too.

The way his eyes moved over her.

Compared us.

I know that look.

Men used to look through me.

Now I know exactly when they're evaluating.

And apparently Michael has already decided Gabrielle is worth investigating.

My stomach turns.

I hate her a little for that too.

Which isn't fair.

Gabrielle hasn't done anything.

Neither did that guy Michael just beat.

Maybe that's the problem.

Maybe nobody ever does anything.

Maybe I just...

No.

I crush the thought immediately.

I am not going back to being that girl.

Not ever.

“Ingrid.”

Michael's voice pulls me back.

His eyes narrow.

“Why are you shaking?”

“I'm not.”

I am.

Damn it.

Alpha Sebastian and Luna Sophia are getting closer.

Gabrielle notices them too.

Relief floods her face.

That makes my fear worse.

She called them.

Of course she did.

This is about Leona.

Everything is always about Leona.

Michael shifts beside me.

“You know them?”

I don't answer fast enough.

His expression changes.

“Ingrid.”

“Yes.”

My voice comes out quieter than I want.

“They're my Alpha and Luna.”

He looks at me.

Then toward them.

“You're Silver Lunar?”

I swallow.

“Yes.”

Technically.

Although sometimes I wish I weren't.

Silver Lunar has rules.

Expectations.

People who remember who you were before you became who you are now.

And Alpha Sebastian remembers everything.

That's the problem.

Michael doesn't know the full history between me and the Knights.

He doesn't know about the years of tension with Leona.

He doesn't know how many times Luna Sophia corrected me growing up.

Or how Alpha Sebastian can make me feel six years old with one look.

He definitely doesn't know that Luna Sophia once made it perfectly clear what she thought about me trying to get too close to Sebastian.

Not romantically.

Not then.

But I liked attention.

I liked status.

And Sophia had always seen through me far too easily.

Now they're close enough that I can feel Sebastian's authority.

My wolf whimpers.

Submit.

I grit my teeth.

No.

Not yet.

Michael straightens beside me, arrogance sliding back into place like armor.

Idiot.

He has no idea who he's dealing with.

Alpha Sebastian's golden eyes land on Michael.

Cold.

Then they move to me.

My stomach drops.

Oh, Goddess.

He knows.

Maybe not everything.

But enough.

Luna Sophia looks at me next.

That is somehow worse.

Disappointment.

Not surprise.

Like she expected better.

I hate that look.

I hate how small it makes me feel.

I hate how quickly it strips away the surgeries, makeup, heels, expensive clothes, and Michael hanging from my arm.

For one second, I'm sixteen again.

Greasy black hair.

Thick glasses.

Freckles.

Too much weight around my stomach.

Thin lips pressed together while girls whisper nearby.

Invisible.

Unwanted.

Then I remember Leona's face.

Beautiful without trying.

Power pouring from her.

Michael staring after her.

Jealousy cuts through the fear.

I straighten.

I spent too much money and endured too much pain to become this version of myself.

I will not shrink.

Not for Leona.

Not for Gabrielle.

Not even for Luna Sophia.

Alpha Sebastian stops several feet away.

The courtyard has gone almost completely silent.

Michael smiles.

Actually smiles.

“Alpha Knight.”

Sebastian doesn't return it.

His eyes briefly drop toward the injured student being helped away.

Then toward Michael's shoe.

Then back to his face.

Shit.

Sophia looks at me.

“Ingrid.”

One word.

Soft.

Controlled.

My wolf drops instantly.

I lower my eyes despite myself.

“Luna.”

Michael looks at me sharply.

He notices.

Of course he notices.

Sophia's gaze moves over my dress, my grip on Michael's arm, then toward the student he just assaulted.

She doesn't say anything.

She doesn't need to.

Heat burns across my face.

I hate this.

I hate her.

No.

I don't.

That's worse.

Because beneath the jealousy and resentment, part of me still wants Sophia to look at me the way she looks at Leona.

Like I'm worth protecting.

Like I'm worth loving.

I crush that thought too.

Sebastian turns toward Gabrielle.

“Where?”

Gabrielle immediately understands.

“Dominick took her toward the eastern woods.”

Leona.

Michael's attention sharpens.

There.

Again.

That interest.

My fingers tighten around his arm.

Sophia notices.

Her ocean-blue eyes drop to my hand before slowly lifting back to mine.

Something in her expression makes cold spread through me.

Not jealousy.

Not anger.

Recognition.

Like she's seeing the beginning of something she already knows how to end.

I release Michael.

Immediately.

He glances down, confused.

I don't care.

Because suddenly the beautiful new face in the mirror doesn't matter.

Neither does the dress.

The body.

The attention.

Or even Michael McGarland.

Not while Alpha Sebastian and Luna Sophia stand in front of me looking like Leona's disappearance has turned this courtyard into the most dangerous place in Salem.

And deep down, beneath everything I refuse to admit, one thought whispers louder than all the others.

If Leona Knight is afraid of Michael...

Maybe I should be too.