Chapter 13

With my decision made and settled, I felt more at ease. I didn’t have to waste any more energy worrying about what I should do. Now I could focus on following my set path, even more fully than before.

Since I’d gotten accepted into Lunarhaven Academy, I’d spent most my energy split between cheerleading practice and falling in love with Joseph. And when I wasn’t with them, I trained.

While the other girls practiced for one to two hours a day, I had trained for eight, and my training included conditioning and stretching.

But now, with my pregnancy, my body couldn’t withstand eight hours of strenuous exercise. This left me some free time I’d never had before.

Maybe now I could truly experience real college life. That way, even if I had to leave later, I might not regret it.

But what did real college life even mean? I had to give it some thought.

Either way, I was determined to keep my pregnancy a secret. It shouldn’t be too hard.

At this ultra-elite werewolf academy, the everyday topics of discussion were employment, entrepreneurship, honor, duties and chores. No one seemed to care about family and children.

This disinterest would likely protect me for a while.

In my exercise gear, I arrived at the gym and cheerleading practice. Not having been there in a couple of days, I expected kickback from some of the girls, so I really should have expected it when Elena and her followers came to greet me.

“Cynthia!” Elena said, sugary sweet. Fake.

Elena and I were rivals. We’d been at odds since we met.

Where I had to work hard, Elena seemed to have a natural talent. She took every opportunity to rub in how much better she was at everything than me, all while pretending to be friendly about it.

She should have been an actress, she was so good at pretending.

After enough backhanded remarks though, I saw through her. She only ever wanted to cut me down to build herself up.

“I’ve been worried sick about you.” She placed her hand over her heart. “We’ve all missed you terribly.”

“You are so kind, Elena,” said one of Elena’s followers. She never went anywhere without an adoring entourage. Today, she had two men, one on either side of her, looking at her with hearts in their eyes.

“It’s so good of you to worry about your fellow cheerleader,” said the other follower.

I barely kept from rolling my eyes.

Elena’s face was the perfect mask of concern as she asked, “Where have you been, Cynthia? I hope you weren’t sick?”

“A small cold. It was nothing.” I waved her off. “I’m here now.”

She lifted one slim brow. “A small cold made you miss two days of practice? That doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“She’s lying,” said the follower on Elena’s right, leaning close to her. “I saw her outside the Registrar’s Office the other day. She might have tried to drop out.”

“Oh?” Elena rewarded her follower with a touch of her finger to his chin. He swooned.

She looked back to me. “Thinking of dropping out, Cynthia?”

“Look how much weight she’s put on,” said the follower on Elena’s left. He openly scowled at me, not bothering to hide his disgust. “She’s probably thinking of withdrawing for incompetence. She can’t even manage her body.”

Elena hummed. “In cheerleading, our bodies are our instruments. We can’t let those instruments get all rusty and bloated, can we?”

“No one wants to watch a fat cheerleader,” said the left follower, with distain.

“Very true,” Elena said.

I restrained myself from wrapping my hands around my waist to hide my slight bump. I couldn’t be showing that much yet. They were just trying to get under my skin.

I didn’t want them to know it was working.

But it was difficult to keep my lower lip from trembling.

“There’s something else,” the right follower said, brushing Elena’s long, silky hair away from her shoulder.

The follower leaned in and whispered in her ear. As Elena listened, her eyes brightened. Her lips twisted into a cruel smile as she looked at me again.

“You are such a disappointment, Cynthia,” Elena said. “I would have thought you were smart enough not to become part of Joseph’s harem.”

My mouth went dry. How did she know that? But then, those videos of my revenge had gone viral. All Elena or her lackeys had to do was check the forums.

“Is that the real reason you’ve been gone?” Elena asked, tilting her head. “When you found out the kind of man he is, did you run away and try to hurt yourself?”

Her cruelty sliced me, but nothing cut worse than the lingering heartache Joseph had caused. Just hearing his name brought it flooding back.

I had loved him, and he had played me.

The hurt festered like an open wound.

Elena watched me. I tried but I couldn’t fully hide my heartbreak.

“Poor thing,” Elena said with false pity.

Her followers laughed. All their smiles grew.

“How gullible,” said the right follower.

“Did you think you were special?” asked the one on the left.

“Now, boys, play nice,” Elena said, tapping them each on the arm. “Cynthia must feel bad enough for being such an easy target. I’m sure Joseph took you for quite a ride.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I lied.

“Don’t be upset, Cynthia. Who knows? Maybe you were different. Maybe he thought about you more than once.” She shrugged. “Then again, probably not.”

They were mocking me. Mocking my hurt.

I clenched my hands into fists. I wanted to punch that smug expression clear off her face. But that would only play into her game. She wanted to see me lose my cool.

She wanted to shove a knife into me just to watch me squirm.

So the only thing I could do was lift my head high and pretend right back.

I gave them my biggest, most cheerful smile. “Oh, Elena, you are overthinking this! I had my fun with Joseph, sure, but when we broke up, I wasn’t exactly devastated. I’ve had several guys ask me out since then.”

Elena didn’t miss a beat. “Really? Name one.”

I shrugged, faking nonchalance. “I don’t kiss and tell. But if you must know, the reason I missed practice was because I was out late with one of them and had too much to drink.”

Elena’s eye twitched.

“I said I had a little cold because I was too embarrassed to admit being hungover. But I wasn’t lying when I said it was nothing to worry about.”

The right follower tilted his head. “Is that why you were with Asher?”

Elena’s gaze snapped to him. “She was with Asher?”

“I-I saw her go into his room.” Under Elena’s full frowning attention, his voice shook. “A couple of times.”

Elena turned her knife-sharp glare on me. “How do you know a senior like Asher?”

Her anger fueled my spirts. “We know each other very well.”

“How?” she asked again, more fiercely.

“I can’t tell you that,” I said casually, checking my nails. “We’re keeping it a secret right now.”

If looks could kill, I would be incinerated.

Instead, I just smiled wider. “If you excuse me, I need to get ready for practice.”

I pushed through the three of them.

“What difference does it make, Elena?” one of the followers asked, when I’d passed.

“Shut up!” Elena snapped.

Pride shot through me. Her jealousy was my victory.

She’d tried to make my life hell and I finally flipped the table on her.

All thanks to Asher.

I just hoped she never learned the truth.