I Predicted Every Trap the Fake Heiress Set for Me

Chapter 2

Mom came to my room to talk about transferring me into Mia's class.

"It'll put my mind at ease knowing your sister is with you.'"

The cameras scattered around the castle must have made Mia cautious, because she had stopped causing open trouble. Instead, she seized every opportunity to perform acts of sisterly love.

At dinner one night, five roasted turkey legs sat on the platter, yet Mia insisted on placing hers on my plate.

"Evelyn suffered out there for over a decade because of me," she said, the very picture of a concerned sibling. "I want her to have mine. Just a little gravy is enough for me."

Her hypocrisy was enough to curdle my stomach, but Mom, Dad, and my so-called brother lapped it up every time.

Whenever Mia made a gesture like this, Mom was quick to chime in. "Mia has become so thoughtful. You're finally acting like a real big sister."

And Adrian would immediately jump to her defense. "Mia, none of this is your fault. Here, take mine. You need to keep your strength up."

I looked between them, seeming concerned. "Is the Blackwood Pack going bankrupt? Why are we passing a single turkey leg around like a relic?"

Dad slammed his obsidian dinner knife onto the table with a c***k. "How dare you, Evelyn? Mia is trying to extend an olive branch. You don't have to accept it, but do not speak so disgracefully of the Pack!"

I looked down at the turkey leg. It was drenched in hot sauce. "I'm not hungry."

They always seemed to forget that I couldn't handle spicy food.

The table was laden with Mia's favorites, fiery grilled meats and stews swimming in chili oil.

Dad took my refusal as another tantrum and began to berate me. Naturally, Mia only made things worse.

"Dad... Evelyn hasn't eaten a thing," she said, her voice trembling. "Why don't I make her something light and take it up to her room? I don't mind if she hits me or screams at me. I stole more than ten years of her life, after all. She has every right to hate me."

"Don't bother," Dad snapped. "Let her starve."

So I did.

For two days, no one noticed that I'd barely eaten. It wasn't until my grandmother, the former Luna, came to visit that my hollow cheeks finally drew attention.

She tore into Dad the moment she found out. "How can you be so heartless? She is your own flesh and blood!"

Dad immediately went on the defensive. "Mom, we have never mistreated Evelyn. Tell her, Evelyn. Have we ever mistreated you?"

I gestured to the table laden with bright red, chili-stained dishes. "I can't eat spicy food."

Dad froze.

Adrian, however, barely looked up from his phone. "Then rinse the sauce off. Stop acting like such a victim."

Of course.

Why would any of this matter? It wasn't as if anyone cared how I felt.

I told Mom again that I refused to be in the same class as Mia, but she insisted I give it a chance. She told me to stop being so pessimistic. We were family, she said. Mia would never hurt me.

*****

Three days after I transferred to Mooncrest Academy, Lillian Carter's ancient wolf-fang pendant vanished.

Lillian never let anyone touch it. It was a family heirloom she had only just received at her full-moon coming-of-age ceremony, and that very morning, she had proudly shown everyone the pack crest carved into the back.

"Evelyn, you were the only one in the classroom just now." Mia approached me, concern etched onto her features. "Is it possible you took Lillian's pendant by mistake?"

"I didn't take it."

But judging by the looks on the surrounding faces, no one believed me.

New transfers were easy targets at a pack academy, and Mia had been quietly feeding the prejudice against me. No one had suspected me at first; she had simply nudged them in my direction, one whisper at a time.

"I heard she used to dig through garbage."

"No wonder she stinks.*

"Isn't she Mia Blackwood's sister?"

"That's what they say, but who knows? They don't even look alike."

Mom and Dad had been so terrified of upsetting Mia that they had never publicly acknowledged my Alpha bloodline to the other packs.

As a result, everyone believed Mia was the Blackwood Pack's trueborn daughter, while I was just some distant relative from the borderlands.

I finally raised my voice. "I am not Mia Blackwood's sister."

The whispers died instantly.

"Her biological mother switched us at birth and left me to rot in the Northern Territory for 15 years. Mia Blackwood and I share no blood. I am the Blackwoods' biological daughter and the true Alpha blood."

Mia's face grew paler with every word. By the time I finished, tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was swaying on her feet as if she might faint.

Then, someone slapped me.

The impact stung my cheek, shocking me silent.

"Evelyn Blackwood!" Adrian loomed over me, his face twisted in rage. "So this is how you bully Mia when we're not watching? You disgust me!"