To ruin an Omega

Chapter 91: Mirror Mirror 2

FIA

The boutique felt like stepping into a different world. Everything gleamed. The marble floors reflected the chandeliers overhead. The air smelled expensive. I had never been somewhere like this before.

Maren walked ahead of me. Her boots clicked against the floor with confidence I didn’t feel. She knew this place. Knew how to move through it like she belonged. I followed her toward the back where racks of evening gowns stretched along the walls.

“We need to find you something stunning,” Maren said. She pulled a dress from the rack. Deep purple with intricate beading. “Something that says ’I’m the Luna of Skollrend and you will respect me.’”

I touched the fabric. It was softer than anything I had ever worn. “I don’t think clothes can say all that.”

“You’d be surprised.” She hung it over her arm and kept looking. “Clothes are armor. The right dress can make you feel invincible.”

A sales associate appeared. She had the kind of smile that was probably practiced in a mirror. Professional. Warm but not real. She took the dresses Maren had selected and led us to the changing rooms.

The space was bigger than my old bathroom in Silver Creek. Mirrors lined every wall. I could see myself from angles I usually avoided. Maren hung the dresses on hooks and stepped back.

“Try them all,” she said. “Don’t hold back.”

I started with the purple one. The beading was heavy. Beautiful but too much. I looked like I was trying too hard. The next was black with a high neckline. It made me look severe. Cold. I tried three more. Each one felt wrong in different ways.

Then I saw it. The pink fabric that caught the light. Simple but elegant. I pulled it from the hanger and slipped it over my head. The material whispered against my skin. I worked the zipper up and turned to look at myself.

The dress fit like it had been made for me. The neckline was modest but flattering. The skirt fell in soft waves to the floor. I looked like someone important. Someone who deserved to wear something this beautiful.

Maren had stepped out to look at jewelry. I heard her come back. Heard her footsteps stop.

“Oh my goddess,” she said. “You look divine, Fia.”

I turned to face her. She was holding a pearl necklace. Her eyes were wide. Genuine admiration on her face.

“Really?” The word came out barely louder than a whisper.

“Really.” She moved behind me and clasped the pearls around my neck. They were cool against my skin. Perfect. “You have to get this.”

I touched the necklace. Looked at my reflection again. The girl looking back at me didn’t look like someone who had ever been rejected. Who had been treated like she was nothing. She looked confident. Strong.

“I’ll keep it then,” I said.

Maren grinned. “Good. We should probably get more though. A Luna needs options.”

She was already pulling another dress from a rack near the entrance to the changing area. I stepped out of the booth to see what she had found. The boutique seemed brighter now. Less intimidating.

“Fancy seeing you here, Fia.”

The voice froze me in place. I knew that voice. Had heard it my whole life. Sweet on the surface with poison underneath.

I turned. Hazel stood a few feet away. She wore a midnight blue dress that hugged every curve. Her hair was perfect. Her makeup was perfect. She looked like she had stepped out of a magazine. But it was her smile that made my stomach drop. That particular smile that meant trouble.

“What are you doing here, Hazel?”

The question came out harder than I intended. Defensive. Hazel’s eyes moved from Maren to me. She laughed. The sound echoed off the marble and mirrors.

“Shopping,” she said. She turned in a slow circle. Showing off her dress. “You?”

I swallowed. My throat felt tight. I turned to Maren. “We should leave.”

I tried to walk past Hazel but she shifted and blocked my path. Her smile never wavered.

“Rude,” she said. “I’m sure the guilt of what you did is still eating you up but it’s all good.” She tilted her head and studied me like I was something interesting. “Now that you’re here, sister, we should catch up. Talk about your life at Skollrend. Shop together.”

“I’m good.”

I tried to move around her. She sidestepped again. Her hand caught my wrist. Gentle but firm.

“Don’t tell me you’re being treated like a prisoner.”

“She’s not,” Maren said. Her voice was sharp.

Hazel turned her attention to Maren. Looked her up and down the way someone might examine a piece of furniture they were considering buying. No. This was that look you gave something before you discarded it.

“I know most Lunas,” Hazel said. “You don’t remind me of one.” She paused. “You sure know how to dress like one though. But don’t let a good fashion sense let you forget your place, Omega.”

“I’m no Omega.” Maren’s jaw tightened. “You’re different from the stories people tell about you.”

“Forgive me for being a little bitter that my sister over here stole what should have been my life.”

Heat flooded my face. I stepped between them. My body moved before my brain caught up.

“That’s enough,” I said. “Maren, we should go.”

“You’re right, Luna Fia.” Maren turned. “We should leave before I lose my temper. Some tramps aren’t worth fighting against.”

The slap came so fast I barely saw it. The sound cracked through the boutique. Maren’s head snapped to the side. She stumbled back a step. Her hand flew to her cheek.

“How dare you?” Hazel’s voice shook.

Maren touched her face. Then she laughed in what sounded like a low rumble. There was figment of danger underneath. She fixed her hair with her free hand.

“It must be the truth,” she said. “Given how hard you whacked me.”

Hazel turned to me. Her eyes were bright with anger. “Is this how the lowborns of Skollrend speak to people above their class?”

“Oh, I respect Fia.” Maren’s voice was ice. “I wouldn’t respect you even if you were a fucking Alpha though.”

Hazel raised her hand again. I opened my mouth to shout. To stop her. But a different sound cut through the air.

Click.

The sound of a gun cocking. I turned. The sentinel who had driven us stood behind Hazel. His weapon was raised. Pointed directly at her.

“I suggest you drop your hands before a nice bullet helps you out,” he said.

Then came another click. This was a different gun. I watched as a sentinel emerged from the changing booth behind Hazel. He had his weapon trained on our sentinel.

“Watch your tongue when you speak with my mistress,” he said.

Everything was happening too fast. I could see other shoppers starting to notice. A woman near the front grabbed her companion’s arm. Pointed. This was going to explode into something worse.

“Drop it,” I said to our sentinel. “Normies could walk in and see this.”

He hesitated. His finger stayed on the trigger. I used the commanding voice I had tried in my head. The one that expected to be obeyed.

“Now.”

He lowered the gun. Reluctantly. I then turned to Hazel’s sentinel.

“Drop yours too.”

He didn’t move. If anything, he kept his weapon trained on our man.

“I am a daughter of Joseph Hughes, your Alpha. Would you defy me?”

The sentinel’s eyes flickered. Uncertainty crossed his face. Then he lowered his gun. Hazel turned to him and scoffed. Then looked back at me with something like amusement.

“Power does look good on you.”

She closed the distance between us. Her perfume was overwhelming this close. She leaned in. Her breath tickled my ear.

“However, never forget who put you there.”

I met her eyes. Held her gaze. I didn’t look away even though every instinct screamed at me to back down. To be small. Hazel’s smile widened.

“Ooh, are you going to kill me with your eyes, little sister?”

“You should watch your tongue when you speak to the Luna of Skollrend.” My voice came out steady. Stronger than I felt. “I can tolerate disrespect. My mate however will not.” I took a breath. “Put your sentinel in check because in another situation, family will not be there to ease the tension you started. You of all people should know that sometimes the fire you start, don’t burn the way you expect.”

I turned to Maren. “We should go. We still have a lot to shop for after all.”

I had taken maybe two steps when I felt it. The pearls around my neck pulled tight. Then snapped. The sound of them scattering across the marble floor filled my ears. I spun around.

Hazel’s hand was raised. Coming toward my face.

I caught her wrist. My fingers closed around it. Time seemed to slow. I could see surprise flash across her face. I could see the exact moment she realized I wasn’t going to let her hit me.

Then with all the pent up rage that had built inside me, I slapped her.

The sound was louder than when she had hit Maren. Sharper. My palm stung. Hazel’s head turned with the force of it. A red mark bloomed on her cheek.

Satisfaction rushed through me. Hot and sweet. I had wanted to do that for years. Every time she had looked down at me. Every time she had made me feel small. Every insult and dismissal. All of it channeled into that one moment.

“How dare you, Hazel.”

She held her cheek and stared at me like she didn’t recognize me. Like I had transformed into someone else entirely.

“You slapped me?”

“You deserved it.”

The words hung in the air between us. Hazel’s eyes narrowed. But beneath the anger I saw something else. Uncertainty. Fear maybe. I had never stood up to her before. Never fought back. She didn’t know what to do with this version of me.

I turned to Maren. “Let’s go.”

Maren nodded. Her own cheek still bore the mark of Hazel’s hand. But she was smiling. We walked past her and our sentinel fell into step behind us. I didn’t look back. I didn’t give Hazel the satisfaction of seeing if her reaction had affected me.

My hand still tingled from the slap. The pearls were scattered somewhere behind us. Ruined. But I didn’t care. Something had shifted. Some invisible weight I had been carrying had lifted. I had stood up for myself. For Maren. And it felt incredible.