6

Alina’s POV 

Yes, I wanted revenge. It burned in me like dry wood catching fire, slow at first, then raging out of control. But as I looked deeply into Lucian’s face, the heat shifted from vengeance to pure fury.

I wasn’t staring at just an Alpha or a man who once haunted me. I was staring at the tormentor who made my life hell at the city’s academy. He didn’t just humiliate me, he broke my brother too. The scars he left weren’t only emotional. He tore through my pride, my peace… and my family.

Lucian tilted his head slightly, those eyes studying me as if he could read the storm in mine. “What do you say about my offer?” he asked, his voice dipped in patience, almost too calm.

I took a step forward, my glare fixed like a blade. The distance between us wasn’t enough. Not for the rage curling in my chest like a viper about to strike. 

“How can I accept your offer?” I bit out. “You killed my brother.”

Something flickered across his features. His hardened expression which was so unreadable just moments ago reduced, just a little. A flicker of something... pain? No. Not enough to count.

But whatever it was, it did nothing to ease the boiling anger in my veins. I stepped closer again, every movement trembling with restraint.

“I didn’t kill him…” he began, his voice a breath.

“You bullied him,” I snapped, my words sharp like broken glass. “You bullied him because I stood up against you, Lucian. You humiliated him, made him feel less than dirt.”

His jaw clenched.

“Even after you forced me to leave the academy,” I went on, my voice rising, “you still taunted him. You didn't stop. You pushed him to his death.”

Lucian exhaled slowly, a deep sigh that brushed past me like wind against dead leaves. “He may not be dead,” he said after a pause. “I’m sure... he took the traits of being strong from you.”

I stared at him like he’d grown two heads. That was the best he could say?

“He jumped off a cliff,” I muttered, barely above a whisper, but each word was wrapped in steel. “His body wasn’t found.”

My throat tightened painfully. I wanted those words to sting him, slice through his perfect composure. But I didn't expect it. Not from someone like him. Not from the demon in a man’s body.

Lucian lowered his gaze for the first time, just a fraction. “Okay,” he said, voice low. “He died. And… I’m sorry about that.”

I scoffed, the sound bitter and cold. I looked away, blinking hard as rage blurred my vision. 

“Don’t say sorry now,” I whispered, my jaw clenched tight. “You don’t get to feel sorry.”

When I looked back at him, his eyes were steady, but his posture wasn’t so rigid anymore. It almost looked like... regret? No. I couldn’t afford to believe that.

“Let bygones be bygones,” he said, his voice carrying that maddening calm. “I gave you a new face so you could have a new, better life. No one will recognize you with it. Won’t that be better?”

I forced a smile. A broken one. “Yes,” I said.

His eyes narrowed slightly. I knew he was reading me, trying to. But inside, I’d already made up my mind.

I would get my revenge. I would use him, take everything I needed, and when the time was right… I would destroy him too.

I turned away and faced the mirror again. My fingers moved slowly to my cheek, brushing the skin that was once marred with jagged shame.

Smooth. Flawless. Almost unfamiliar.

For the first time in three years, I wasn’t staring at the hideous scar that reminded me of pain, sacrifice, and love. I was staring at me. Or at least... the version of me I used to know. It really was a new face. But the pain behind it? That remained.

As I tilted my head, my eyes shifted to the side of the mirror. I caught him staring at me, not impatiently, not mockingly but like he had all the time in the world. Like I was a puzzle he could crack if he waited long enough.

“Just have to act like your Luna, right?” I asked, my voice low and controlled, almost like a whisper to myself.

He nodded. “Yes. To the world, we’ll be the best couple.” He stepped toward me. “But between us…”

“We remain enemies. Nothing more or less,” I cut in, turning my face to him again.

His lips twitched slightly, his eyes never leaving mine. “So…”

“So, I’m stating my rules,” I said, straightening my spine. “You accept them… and we move on.”

I saw the flicker of curiosity in his eyes, the slight rise of his brow. But he didn’t speak. He was listening. Good.

I took a breath, letting it fill my lungs and steady my heart.

Because I would need him. Not just for protection or power.

But to ruin everyone who ever dared to rip me apart.

Lydia. Rowan. Every member of the Silverstone Pack where I once called home.

Everyone who hurt me would kneel.

I was done being weak.

And if playing Luna to the devil would help me rise… then so be it.

He took a step closer like he had every right to close the distance between us. I didn’t flinch, but I felt my fingers curl and pressing to my sides as if they could keep me grounded.

“What are your rules?” he asked, voice deep and unapologetically calm like a man confident he could bend any boundary I placed.

I swallowed the lump rising in my throat and lifted my chin. “Just two.”

His brow arched, slightly amused. “I’m listening.”

“Number one, ” I drew in a steady breath, “we remain enemies.”

“Checked,” he replied, almost instantly, with a low murmur of amusement in his tone. He folded his arms, his eyes flickering with a spark of something unreadable. 

The corner of his lip curved in what looked like approval.

I held his gaze, not letting him throw me off. “Number two… you won’t touch me. You’ll keep your distance.”

His eyes narrowed faintly, as if that last one actually piqued his interest. “And what makes you think I’d want to touch you?”

I blinked. “Because I know you. One moment you might pretend to care, and in the next, you’ll look at me like I’m nothing. Useless. A thrash. Something to get rid of.” My voice faltered as the memory of how he used to treat me clawed its way back.

His expression didn’t change, but his feet did, he started walking toward me, slow, deliberate steps, as if testing how much I would bend. 

I instinctively stepped back, once, twice until my lower back struck something solid. The bedpost. I stiffened, trapped.

Lucian’s gaze lowered briefly, then lifted to meet mine again. He stopped just a breath away. My pulse raced.

“Rules accepted, Kitty,” he said, voice low, taunting, like he knew how much that nickname burned me.

He didn’t linger long. After a final glance, his gaze held mine for a second longer than it should have. Then, he turned away. Just like that. Like he could sense how his nearness rattled my entire being.

I stared at his retreating back, chest rising and falling faster than I liked. He was terrifying. Not in the way of roaring beasts or snarling wolves now but in how calm he was, how quiet and composed. He didn’t seem to have changed after all these years. Not truly. Not at the core. Still calculated, still unreadable.

And yet… something about him felt milder. Just slightly. That was worse. Because it made me second-guess everything I’d known about him. I’d known him as a raging monster, a ruthless tormentor in the academy. Nothing close to gentle. Nothing close to doting.

That’s why I still feared him. No matter how smoothly he spoke, no matter how civil his words now sounded, I couldn’t fully trust them. I couldn’t trust him. Not even when he said he wanted to be my redeemer.

But I had nothing else to believe in. Nothing else to lean on. So maybe, just maybe I’d lean into the lie.

I straightened my spine, pushing the tremor out of my voice. “So… what’s next?”

He paused and turned his head slowly, eyes raking down my figure and back up again. I felt his gaze like an invisible touch, scraping against my skin, curling around my throat.

“A total change,” he said plainly, “and a formal introduction.”

I frowned. “Formal introduction?”

He nodded once. “To my pack. As my soon-to-be Luna.”

My breath caught. “Is that… really necessary?”

“Yes.” He didn’t blink. “And we’ll be having our engagement.”

I stared at him, trying to process the words, the certainty in his tone.

“When?” My voice came out quieter than I intended.

His jaw moved slightly, and I caught the twitch in his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing with a slow, settled motion. His face remained normal, but I could sense the weight in his answer before it even came.

“Our engagement will be done tonight.”