~Present Life ~
MASIHAH POV
The afternoon sun beat down mercilessly against the towering iron gates of Alpha Academy, casting long, fractured shadows across the cobblestone courtyard. Classes had finally broken for a brief mid-day recess, giving the elite students a chance to congregate by the manicured hedges, gossip about the morning’s social disasters, and sneer at anyone unfortunate enough to fall outside their tight-knit circles.
I sat alone at the very edge of the stone terrace, half-hidden by a sprawling oak tree, my fingers idly tracing the cracked leather binding of one of Clara’s heavy textbooks. Across the courtyard, Clara was currently surrounded by a cluster of admiring pack heirs, fluttering her long eyelashes and playing the delicate, suffering victim to perfection. She was recounting the "trauma" of her mysterious health struggles while dabbing at her dry eyes with a pristine lace handkerchief.
Nearby, standing against the marble pillars of the main hall, Ryder and Lucifer commanded the entire space without even trying. They were surrounded by an invisible perimeter of cautious silence; no student dared approach within ten feet of them. Yet, despite their mutual loathing, both apex predators seemed perpetually aware of each other—and, much to my secret intrigue, perpetually distracted by the periphery. More than once, I had caught the heavy, amber glare of Lucifer flicking toward my isolated oak tree, while Ryder’s sharp silver-gray eyes lingered on my oversized sweater with calculating curiosity.
"There you are, you absolute recluse!"
A cheerful, breathless voice broke my concentration as Maya My Dormmate dropped onto the stone bench beside me with a dramatic thud. She clutched an apple in one hand and a smuggled carton of chocolate milk in the other, her wild hair pinned back with a mismatched pair of neon clips.
"I thought you dissolved into the back-row woodwork during Advanced Pack Governance," Maya whispered, taking a massive bite of her apple and leaning in close. "Did you see Clara out there acting like a medieval saint who just survived the plague? Honestly, I give her two days before someone slips laxatives into her imported organic tea. By the way, guess what I overheard in the girls' locker room?"
"Do enlighten me," I murmured, keeping my voice low and submissive for the benefit of anyone walking past, though my eyes gleamed with private amusement.
"The elite cheer squad is planning a 'welcome prank' for us at the bonfire mixer tonight," Maya grinned mischievously, her eyes sparkling behind her round frames. "They’re planning to trip you into the mud right in front of everyone, just to see if the campus royalty will laugh or ignore you. Can you believe the audacity? They think you're just some slow, heavy draft horse who won't fight back."
A cold, lethal thrill danced along my spine. “Trip me into the mud.” In my past life, that exact prank had happened during my first month, reducing me to humiliating tears while my family stood by and laughed with the crowd. Back then, I curled into a ball and wished the earth would swallow me whole.
"Let them try," I whispered, a faint, humorless smile touching my lips.
"That's the spirit!" Maya chirped, nudging my shoulder with hers. "And don't worry, I’ve already engineered a counter-strike. If anyone brings a bucket of slop near you tonight, they’re going to find out what industrial-grade superglue feels like when applied directly to cheerleading pom-poms."
Before I could reply, the sharp ring of the afternoon bell echoed across the campus, signaling the return to afternoon rotations. Maya groaned, jumping up and tossing her apple core into a nearby bin. "See you at the dorms before the bonfire, Masihah! Don't let the preppy wolfs eat you alive!"
As Maya scurried off toward the science labs, I stood up slowly, adjusting the heavy stack of books in my arms. As I turned toward the corridor, I felt a heavy, suffocating weight press down on my shoulders, not from the books, but from the sudden, oppressive drop in the temperature around me.
The courtyard chatter had instantly died down.
I glanced up. Striding directly down the center stone pathway toward the faculty administrative wing were Ryder and Lucifer. They weren't walking together, yet they were moving on parallel trajectories that forced them into an inevitable, tense intersection barely five feet away from where I stood.
Lucifer stopped first. His midnight-black hair fell across his forehead, and a dark,smirk curled his lips as his amber eyes locked directly onto mine. He didn't break eye contact as he approached, his movements possessing the fluid, dangerous grace of a caged panther.
"Well, well," Lucifer drawled, his voice a low, gravelly hum that cut through the whispering silence of the surrounding students. "If it isn't the quiet shadow from the back row. You managed to survive class today without shedding a single tear. Impressive for a mouse."
Before I could formulate a safe, submissive reply, Ryder stepped into my field of vision, cutting off Lucifer’s angle with effortless, aristocratic authority. Ryder’s silver-gray eyes swept over my oversized sweater and heavy frame, lingering for a fraction of a second on the way my fingers clutched the textbook bindings.
"Some mice have sharper teeth than people realize, Lucifer," Ryder replied smoothly, his gaze shifting up to meet mine with an intensity that felt less like casual conversation and more like a tactical interrogation. He stepped close, close enough that I could catch the clean, expensive scent of cedar and rain clinging to his tailored blazer. "Isn't that right, Masihah?"
Hearing my name spoken in that smooth, dangerous drawl sent an electric shiver down my spine. They both knew who I was now. The invisible omega was firmly on their radar, trapped between two alpha Heirs who were beginning to realize that the game on campus was far more interesting than they thought.
"I am merely a student trying to keep out of trouble, Lord Ryder, Lord Lucifer," I whispered, dropping my gaze properly, letting my shoulders slump into the classic, pathetic posture of the pack's outcast.
Lucifer let out a short, harsh laugh that sounded entirely devoid of humor, his amber eyes narrowing with sharp, volatile intrigue. "Out of trouble? Darling, you smell like a storm waiting to break."
"Ignore him," Ryder added smoothly, though his silver-gray eyes remained locked on my face, searching for a crack in my mask. "If anyone in this academy gives you trouble, you simply let me know. Some obstacles... are easily cleared."
The subtle possessiveness laced in their words hung heavy in the crisp autumn air. Around us, the surrounding students watched with dropped jaws, utterly baffled as to why two untouchable Alpha heirs were wasting their time interrogating the pack's heaviest, most insignificant omega.
I kept my head bowed, playing the trembling, overwhelmed student to absolute perfection. "Thank you... for your concern. I must return to my classes."
Without waiting for dismissal, I slipped past them, my heavy boots clicking rhythmically against the stone steps as I hurried down the corridor.
As I rounded the corner out of sight, I couldn't help the dark, triumphant smile that bloomed across my face. Let them watch me as a mere threat. While the two most dangerous men in the North played their territorial games over my shadow, they were completely blind to the fact that the real bloodbath was right here at their nose.
The bonfire mixer tonight would be the perfect place to start my Revenge.