Viya's POV
Miranda's hands flew to her face, covering both rapidly reddening cheeks as she stared at me with genuine shock. For once in her miserable life, she hadn't seen my retaliation coming.
*Good. Let her be surprised for a change.*
Alpha Edmund and Hailey both looked stunned, their expressions matching Miranda's in their shared disbelief.
I understood why. I'd always been the quiet one, the accommodating one. The Blackwoods' well-trained adopted daughter who swallowed every insult and absorbed every slight without complaint.
But I wasn't that person anymore. Hadn't been for a while now, actually.
Miranda recovered enough to turn toward Alpha Edmund, her hands still pressed to her burning cheeks as fresh tears—real ones this time—spilled down her face.
"I was ju
