Chapter 2: Was I Really That Ugly?

Am I really that ugly?

On my way home that evening, someone asked for my social media handle again.

After turning him down politely, I walked slowly along the road alone.

The overcast midsummer dusk was a bit chilly, and the air was thick with the humid scent of incoming rain.

I passed a shop window and caught a glimpse of my reflection.

On a face the size of a palm, the features were exquisite, vibrant, and alluring.

Further down was the result of a year of hard training.

A tight waist and abdomen, well-proportioned limbs-no longer bloated or heavy, but athletic, nimble, and bursting with the explosive power unique to a young werewolf.

I still remembered how my friends used to look at me with envy.

"I spent the entire summer fixing my makeup and hair, and I'm still not as good-looking as you just showing up. Every time we go out, everyone looks at you.”

"People compliment me when I go out alone too. So this is what it feels like to walk with a true top-tier beauty. God, I'm dying of jealousy."

I knew-I was very beautiful now.

Strangers bought me drinks, offered to pay for my coffee, or came over to the training grounds just to get a chance to talk to me. The people asking for my contact info were too many to count, and a few talent scouts even came to invite me to shoot for werewolf magazines.

But before I was with Knox, it wasn't like this.

Ever since I was little, I was fat.

In high school, I was nearly two hundred pounds, my eyes squeezed shut by the fat on my face.

Bloated.

Obese.

Round face.

Fat pig.

All those nasty words, I had heard them all.

I was always full of self-doubt. The fatter I was, the less I dared to dress up, and the less I dressed up, the uglier I felt.

I had boys I secretly liked too, but whenever they found out about my crush, they felt insulted and cursed at me viciously.

Yet every time I wanted to lose weight, my parents would persuade me not to force it.

They said I was cute like this, and there was no need to change myself for other people's judgment.

The Willowmere Pack valued strength more. They were heavy-set themselves, so they didn't think obesity was a big deal.

My teenage years were spent in the midst of other people's ridicules.

Until I met Knox in a game.

He was attracted by my voice and insisted on adding me as a friend. After playing together a few more times, we gradually became familiar.

After spending time together for a while, Knox confessed to me.

I struggled for a whole night.

From the limited information, I knew Knox came from an extraordinary background.

He seemed to be the next Alpha of a powerful Pack. Someone had accidentally slipped up during a game.

Although his face never appeared on his PackFeed, there were many photos of him vacationing all over the world. Snow mountain hunting grounds, island territories, hot spring estates ...

The camera always captured his back.

Broad shoulders, long legs, an outstanding build.

The hotels he stayed in were very expensive.

And me? Nearly two hundred pounds, my entire face hidden behind round contours.

I knew he liked my voice, but once he saw the real me, he definitely wouldn't like me.

But I really liked him.

Being with Knox was so easy. The gentle warmth about him could make anyone drop their guard.

Whenever I was sad or frustrated, he could always say the exact right words to comfort me.

In my lonely youth, he was like a gift sent to me by the Moon Goddess.

In the end, I agreed to be with him.

I tried desperately to hide all my secrets: weight, selfies, anything that could expose my real appearance.

I tested Knox too.

"What if I'm not good-looking?"

He replied quickly: "With a voice as sweet as yours, how could you not be good-looking? Babe, stop teasing me."

"Babe, when can we meet? I miss you so much."

I fell silent for a long time, not replying.

That very night, I finally made up my mind to start losing weight.

I had to get thin. Completely.

It didn't matter if I couldn't sleep from hunger every night.

It didn't matter if acid reflux caused stomach pains.

It didn't matter if I collapsed from exhaustion during training.

No matter how my parents urged me to take one more bite, I firmly refused.

My goal was only one: to lose weight.

I lived like this for nearly a year.

During that time, I didn't eat a single high-calorie food, doing intense physical training classes and long-distance runs every day.

Finally, I lost the weight.

From two hundred pounds to one hundred and seventy-five pounds, then to one hundred and thirty pounds, and finally settling at one hundred and ten pounds.

I started learning skincare, makeup, hair styling, and dressing up.

During this year, Knox said several times that he wanted to come see me, but I found excuses to reject him every time.

Because I always felt I wasn't pretty enough yet.

Until the eyes of the boys at school gradually started to change when looking at me.

Until love letters started appearing in my locker.

Until strangers would stop me on the street with blushing faces, telling me I was very pretty.

Until the instructors at the training grounds praised my wolf form for becoming lighter, sleeker, and more athletic.

Only at that moment did I suddenly realize-

So, I really had become beautiful.

I finally had the courage to go see Knox.

We agreed to meet for the first time the night before the Freshman Ball.

But ...

All the warmth was a complete illusion.

I thought all those words of affection were real.

Thinking back now, he hadn't even told me his real name.

Even the name Knox was something I learned from that gamer who accidentally let it slip.

He never liked me.

Not for a single second, never.