Chapter 37
Vedant
Fortunately, the article found me before it made its way to my father. Emblazoned in bold type was the accusation: “Orphan Girl Manipulates Pack’s Most Eligible Bachelor.”
I know what I’ll see before I can even open the link.
And then she’s there, in my living room, smiling because she has no idea that someone is spying on her and recording just outside the door.
My blood runs cold as I read the first paragraph of the article that accompanies it. Every word drips with venom, like whoever the anonymous author was had a clear bias.
Chiara’s name is twisted into a caricature of desperation, her kindness reduced to some cheap ploy to wring money and connections from me. They call her an opportunist carelessly and dismiss the real reason she was in my home with such ease.
And me? Sure, they describe me as an eligible bachelor, but I am also made to look like the victim, the fool she ensnared with her wiles.
Of course, the article was posted anonymously as well. There is no one who would proudly attach their name to this trash. I can’t believe this high school gossip has found its way into a reputable news source.
I slam my laptop shut. No sooner have I done so than my father bursts into my room. There is no knocking to herald his arrival, just the door being thrown open.
“Look at what that girl has done to us now,” he hisses. And I know without asking that he is referring to the girl who was filmed without her consent and not the one carelessly circulating the video she sneakily took.
I’m glad I at least had a moment to view it and begin processing it so I wasn’t entirely blindsided.
“It’s circulating fast,” he adds. “I told you, Vedant, that associating with her would bring nothing but scandal. But of course, you didn’t listen. And now look!”
“That’s a lie,” I snap. “Every word in that article is false.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You seem to keep saying that. Keep siding with her all you want, but it would be helpful if you would start proving the things you say sooner rather than later.”
And I will. In that moment, I determine that this is exactly what I’ll do.
He leaves with a slam of my door, and I take it as a cue to exit shortly after as well. My pulse is thrumming with fury.
Someone wanted this story out there and wouldn’t let it fade into the recesses of social media. And they were stupid enough to leave a trail.
But at the same time, I know it can’t be Alice. She’s not exactly the smartest person I’ve ever met, but she wouldn’t be this stupid. Not after I confronted her about it the last time, and certainly not after she tried to convince my father against Chiara with a few well-placed texts.
Plus, she’s the type of person who would have proudly attached her name and face to something like this. No, she will have thought she had exhausted all of the angles available to her. This is someone else, I just know it. Someone new.
It doesn’t take long to find it. All I need to do is have a well-placed call with the school’s top student in the coding and computer sciences department, Alex, subtly drop my name, and I almost immediately get a response. Within minutes, the nerdy kid who once copied my homework is paying back the kindness tenfold with a single name: Jonathan Silverthred.
I recognize the name immediately. It might not be Alice, but Jonathan is someone very close to her: He’s her cousin.
I grit my teeth. Jonathan is a few years older than us, no longer in high school. He wouldn’t care about this petty drama unless someone made him care.
Maybe I gave Alice too much credit in my earlier assumption.
When I find her at school, she’s closing her locker at the end of the day and turning from me with a flick of her ponytail, pretending not to notice me until I say her name.
“Alice,” I grit out between my teeth.
She freezes, every muscle in her stiffening. When she finally turns, she does so slowly, with such hesitance its almost comical.
“I’m only going to ask once,” I say, stepping closer and holding up my phone. “Did you know your cousin was behind this?”
Her lips tremble before forming the weakest defense imaginable. “Of course I sent him the video, but I didn’t know he would—”
“So you did know. You knew it was him, and not only did you not stop him, but you didn’t tell me what was going on after it was released. I had to find out, like everyone else, that you conveniently spread that stupid footage of my guest at my house even further to a fucking journalist.”
Her eyes dart away. “Jonathan told me that the world deserved to see Chiara as she truly was. Maybe then you would too.”
I exhale slowly, keeping my temper on a leash, but it’s wearing thin. “You could have come to me as soon as it was published, Alice. Instead, you let this drama unfold. Again.”
I step closer to her, enough to smell the guilt wafting from her. Intermingled is the smell of fear. I inhale deeply.
“This is the last time, Alice. There will be no more.”
And then I leave her and her fearful scent as I tear out of the school.
When I return home, I find my father immediately. He’s exactly where I expected him to be, sitting behind his large, ornate desk.
I practically throw my phone in front of him with the evidence Alex took for me. All of the data is there, right down to the traceable IP address.
“It was Alice’s cousin,” I said. “She gave it to Jonathan, and he spread it. The woman you think would make the perfect Luna for me sure has a big mouth on her.”
My father thoroughly sifts through the evidence, trying to find flaws, but he is seeing exactly what I saw as well. It is damning.
“You see?” I say evenly. “Chiara’s name was dragged through the mud because of jealousy yet again. That’s the truth.”
He leans back, silent for a long moment, before gritting out, “By spreading this rumor further and not coming to me with it, Jonathan has tried to drag our name through the mud. I cannot allow it. He will be removed.”
“Not just removed,” I say. “I want him cast out.” I would not be satisfied until he was made a rogue as a consequence to his actions.
My father sighs, but he does not deny me this. And I know then that it is a victory of sorts. It’s the first time I’ve won against him in years.
Chiara
The next day, I hear the whispers as I pass by in school, but for once, they are in my favor.
Jonathan Silverthred has been exiled from the pack. And better yet, it was Vedan’t investigation and evidence that were responsible.
I duck my head as I hear snatches of this news, hoping that my true feelings don’t peek through. But I can’t help but smile at the floor as I hurry to class. Because I know that it is more than another exile, at least to me.
It means that Vedant was so displeased by the recent article, he hunted down its author and had them punished.
Am I crazy for thinking he might have done it all for me?
He believed me, and he fought for me. But shame twists my gut when I remember that he doesn’t know all of me.
He doesn’t know Iris.
Maybe it’s time to tell him the truth, my wolf suggests.
But that seems too dangerous, too fast, too explosive. It would change everything forever.
Because if Vedant would do all this for a woman he only thinks he knows… What would he do if he knew the whole story?
I’m not sure I’m ready to find out.
