Chapter 17 My Sister, The Devil
LYRA
My palm clutches my cheek, heat stinging across my skin. Shock floods through me as I stare at the girl who just slapped me and threw hot coffee on me. But the shock and embarrassment I feel is far worse than the coffee stain or the way its hotness burns my skin.
“Are you deaf or what?!” She snaps and raises her hand again.
But before she can land another strike, Reid steps between us. Her palm hits his arm instead. She freezes, eyes widening as she realizes who she just touched.
Reid doesn’t move. He stands perfectly still, but I can see the shift in him. A cold darkness settles in his eyes. It’s the same look he wore that night Dean tried to force himself on me.
“Touch her again, and you’ll regret it.” Reid’s voice stays calm, almost too calm. But the chill in it freezes the whispers around us. The hallway drops into dead silence.
He turns to me, worry written all over his face as he inspects the coffee stain. “Are you okay?”
I nod.
The girl regains herself, face red with rage. She doesn’t try to hit me again, but her glare slices right through me.
“Then ask that slut why she tried to steal my boyfriend!” She screams.
My breath catches, my eyes widening. Steal her boyfriend? What is she talking about?
Murmurs ripple through the hallway, though quiet and cautious. It’s easy to tell no one wants to draw Reid’s attention or provoke him.
“What are you talking about?” I force out, even though humiliation claws at me. My heart races, but I’d rather face this head-on than let her drag my name through the mud.
She scoffs. The look she gives me is poison.
“Really? Acting innocent now?” She crosses her arms, chin lifted. “I expected this. That’s why I came prepared. You’re so done, bitch.”
She stretches her hand to her friends. One of them quickly gives her a phone. She unlocks it, scrolls, then shoves the screen in my face.
“Those texts! Aren’t they from you? Isn’t that your fucking number?”
I read it.
My stomach drops. I can barely breathe.
Text messages. Dozens. Messages confessing feelings to someone named Greg.
And they were all sent from my number.
“How… how is this possible?” I whisper, staring harder at the screen, forcing myself to read every word again. “This isn’t me. I swear it isn’t…”
She laughs softly but without humor. “Sure. Let’s see how long you keep that up.”
She scrolls again, and pushes the phone right up to my face.
My world stops.
The whispers around us grow louder with more shock and judgments.
It’s a half-naked photo of me, in the bathroom.
The same photo I sent to Dean weeks ago, because he wouldn’t stop pressuring me for sex.
My throat closes up.
How did they get it?
In an instant, Reid snatches the phone from her hand. She jerks back, eyes flaring between outrage and disbelief.
“Why are you protecting her?!” she screeches. “You saw what that little slut did!” She points at me viciously. “She sent naked photos to my boyfriend and provocative texts! She tried to seduce him and take him from me!”
“I swear… I swear I didn’t do it.” My voice breaks as tears spill down my cheeks without warning. I shake my head, desperate and lost. It feels like I’ve fallen straight into a nightmare and someone forgot to wake me up.
I don’t even know who the fuck her boyfriend is, let alone flirt with him. I’ve never sent those messages. They don’t make sense…
I freeze the next second. Realization rushes through me.
Roxanna.
She’s the only one besides me who knows my phone password.
My pulse thunders as last night’s words echo in my head.
“I’ve always hated you anyway.”
“This is just the beginning of your misery.”
My mouth dries instantly. Did she… did she actually do this? Is this her way of breaking me?
I scan the hallway, blinking through tears. It doesn’t take long to find her.
She’s leaning against her locker, surrounded by her friends. When our eyes lock, she gives me the smallest smile. It’s barely there, but enough for me to notice.
I understand her silent message.
My suspicions were right. She did this.
Anger ignites in my veins like wildfire. Burning, suffocating rage. I push past Reid without thinking and march straight to her.
“You did this, didn’t you?” My voice trembles. My chest feels like it’s about to explode. “You stole my phone. You sent those texts pretending to be me. You used that picture! Didn’t you?”
Roxanna’s expression shifts instantly, morphing into fake confusion and pure innocence. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Why would I do something like that to you? You’re my sister.”
A bitter laugh tears from my throat. I didn’t know she was this good at pretending. She’s a natural villain. She could literally win awards for her performance.
“You fucking pathological liar,” I spit. “Why are you doing this to me? You slept with my boyfriend behind my back, and now you’re trying to ruin me because I finally see who you truly are?”
Gasps and murmurs erupt behind me.
“What is she doing? Trying to blame her own sister?” Someone whispers.
Roxanna’s eyes glisten with fake tears. She steps closer and takes my hand like I’m the one who needs comforting.
“I already explained things to you, Lyra,” she says softly, so fragile it makes me sick. Tears glide down her cheeks. “Dean came to me. He said you two were over. He couldn’t go on with the mating arrangement because the pack would never accept a wolfless Luna. He said you understood. If I’d known he was lying… I’d never have let him into my bed…”
Before she finishes, my palm meets her cheek in a brutal slap.
She crashes to the floor, and the hallway erupts in shocked gasps.
“She’s gone crazy.” Someone hisses.
Maybe I have. I don’t fucking care!
“I swear I’m going to kill you!” I lunge at her, ready to tear her apart. But strong arms wrap around me from behind, stopping me. I don’t have to look to know it’s Reid.
“That’s enough, Lyra,” he says quietly.
“Let go of me! Let go!” I thrash against him, wild with rage. I want to claw her perfect face until the whole world sees what she really is. I don’t give a fuck about the consequences. I don’t care about anything!
Not until Roxanna’s eyes lift behind me.
Her hand cradles her cheek. More tears slide down. “Father.” She whispers.
I go still, and turn around.
Father’s standing behind us, two council elders beside him. The disgust on their faces is obvious. But it’s nothing compared to the disappointment in Father’s cold eyes.
“You two,” he says. “Meet me in my office.”