Chapter 4

Lila’s POV

I kept my head down the entire walk into the academy.

The oversized hoodie I had chosen this morning hung past my hips, but it still didn’t feel like enough. Every step reminded me that my body was no longer the one I had fallen asleep in three nights ago. My thighs brushed together. My chest felt heavier. The soft curve of my stomach pushed against the waistband of my sweatpants no matter how many times I tugged the hoodie lower.

“Just find him,” I whispered to myself as I pushed through the front doors. “Explain. That’s all. He’ll remember.”

The hallway was already half full. Conversations floated around me like smoke.

“Is that Lila Quinn?”

“She looks… different.”

“Did she gain weight over the weekend?”

I pulled the hood further over my face and kept walking. My heart was beating so hard I could feel it in my throat. I had barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the garden, the moonlight, Kael’s hands on my skin. Then I saw the mirror. The soft stomach. The thick thighs. The stranger staring back at me.

I needed him to look at me and say it was still real.

First period was a blur. I sat at the back, hoodie sleeves covering my hands, and stared at the clock. People kept glancing over. One girl two rows ahead openly turned around and looked me up and down before whispering something to her friend. Both of them laughed under their breath.

I dug my nails into my palm.

When the bell finally rang I was the first one out the door.

I checked the usual places. The second-floor lounge. The vending machines near the gym. The benches under the old oak tree. Nowhere. My pulse climbed higher with every empty spot.

“Where are you?” I muttered, turning another corner. “Please be here.”

A group of Omegas passed me. One of them slowed down.

“Hey,” she said, voice sweet. “You’re Lila, right? From junior year English?”

I nodded once, not trusting my voice.

She smiled, but her eyes dropped to my body. “You look… healthy.”

Her friends giggled. I didn’t answer. I just walked faster.

By lunch the whispers had gotten louder. I could feel eyes on my back, on the way the hoodie stretched across my chest, on the shape of my hips. I hated it. I hated how visible I felt. I hated that the only person who could fix this was the same person I was terrified to face.

I finally found him in the courtyard.

Kael stood near the center fountain with his usual group — two Alphas from the football team and three Omegas who always seemed to orbit him. He looked exactly the same as he had at prom. Perfect. Untouchable. One of the Omegas was laughing at something he said, her hand resting lightly on his arm.

My feet stopped moving.

“Go,” I told myself under my breath. “Just go. You’ve come this far.”

My hands were shaking. I shoved them into the front pocket of the hoodie and forced my legs to move.

A few people noticed me approaching and went quiet. Someone nudged their friend. Phones stayed in pockets for now, but I could feel the attention shifting toward me like a tide.

Kael didn’t see me at first. He was still talking, head tilted, that easy half-smile on his face. Then one of the Omegas looked past him and raised an eyebrow. He followed her gaze.

His eyes landed on me.

For a second — just one second — something flickered across his face. Recognition, maybe. Or surprise. Then it was gone, replaced by a slow, cold assessment as he took in the hoodie, the way I was standing, the soft shape I couldn’t fully hide.

I stopped a few feet away. My voice came out smaller than I wanted.

“Kael.”

The Omegas went quiet. One of them smirked.

He didn’t say anything. He just looked at me, golden eyes moving from my face down to my body and back up again. The silence stretched.

I swallowed hard. “Can I talk to you? Just for a minute.”

One of the Alphas chuckled under his breath. “This should be good.”

Kael’s expression didn’t change. He still hadn’t spoken.

I took another small step closer, lowering my voice. “Please. It’s about the other night. Prom. I need to—”

“You’re in the way,” he said flatly.

The words were so casual they almost didn’t register.

I blinked. “What?”

“You’re standing in the way.” He glanced at the Omega still holding his arm, then back at me. “Move.”

My throat tightened. “Kael, it’s me. Lila. We—”

“I know who you are.” His tone was bored, almost irritated. “I just don’t care.”

Someone behind him laughed softly.

I felt heat rush to my face, equal parts shame and desperation. “You can’t just act like nothing happened. We were together. You took me to the garden. You said—”

“I said a lot of things that night.” He finally looked at me properly, and the disgust in his eyes was clear. “None of them matter now.”

My hands clenched inside the hoodie pocket. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He didn’t answer right away. He just let his gaze travel over me again, slow and deliberate, as if he was confirming something he already disliked.

The courtyard felt too quiet. Too many people were listening.

I forced the next words out before I lost my nerve completely.

“Kael… it’s me. About the other night—”