My feet pounded down the staircase while fury surged through me. By the time I reached the bottom floor, my heart was hammering so hard I could barely hear. The family had just entered the house. Arabella stood in the foyer talking animatedly about something. She was smiling, laughing with ease despite allher horrific actions. The sight of her made something feral rise inside me.
"I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" The words exploded out of me. Everyone froze. I was sure they’d never heard me yell before, not like this.
"Ivy?" Clara said, looking at me with alarm, her eyes wide. “What is going on?” She demanded, and I zeroed in on Arabella.
"You stole my profile!" I screamed at her. The smile vanished from her face, replaced by panic. I barrelled toward her, but one of my fathers stepped in front of me, his arms stopping me within two feet of reaching her.
"What are you talking about?" She stammered, her eyes looking around nervously, grasping at her mom for protection.
"You submitted my compatibility profile! Yours was so bad they banned you from the database!” I cried out. “Pack Vale matched withme!"
The room went silent, and my fathers exchanged confused looks. Clara stepped forward, her face icy as her muscles tightened. She hissed at me through clenched teeth.
"Ivy, calm down and stop this nonsense at once!" Normally, an order from her would have me subdued and giving up. But I was beyond that now.
"No. Arabella is a liar and a thief!” I growled, turning to face her. “Tell them, Arabella!” I ordered, and she looked panicked. “Tell them, or I can just bring down the documents, and we can all see just how poorly you scored to bebanned from the matchmaking database!” My words were so biting that my family collectively flinched. They had never seen me like this before. And for the first time, I wasn't interested in calming down.
Arabella was pale as she stood there, too shocked to respond. I was glad to finally see her panic about something. My father stepped forward.
"What is she talking about?" He asked.
Arabella looked between them, then over at me, hatred suddenly on her face. “Okay, so what? So what if I did? The truth is, they would never have wanted you if they knew it was you.” She turned to the rest of the family, who were looking at her with surprise. “Come on, it's no big deal! Ivy had a better result than me, but Pack Vale was already basically courting me anyway! It made sense to give them that nudge!” She said, and I scoffed at her excuse.
My father looked at her with raised eyebrows. “It's true, then?” He asked, looking concerned. Clara was quiet for a moment, and I stood there, triumphant. Finally, finally they would see the truth. Arabella had gone too far.
Then Clara spoke, her voice small and wavering, in that way that always made my fathers succumb to her wishes.
"Oh no." Her soft cry filled the room as she looked at them, her eyes pleading - but behind them, I saw her calculating.
"Arabella made a mistake. But we can fix this." She said, holding her daughter close to her. I stared at her, but Clara was pleading directly to my fathers now. “We have to stay the course. It’s not a huge deal - the girls are so similar anyway, but Arabella was clearly the favorite from day one. So she gave them a little motivation, so what. They can’t even tell. They already love Arabella.” I stared at her incredulously. She looked between my fathers, gauging their response. “Think about it. If they were to find out now, they might back out of all the business deals. The company would suffer. Arabella’s reputation would suffer needlessly.” Clara’s words were sad and she nearly whined as she held Arabella.
My fathers didn’t recoil or look at her like they were appalled. If anything, they actually seemed to be considering her.
“What?” I yelled, my anger so palpable that I could feel the sweat gathering on my skin. “You can’t be serious!”
"They're already courting her," Clara said. "If Pack Vale finds out, they'll never trust us again."
I looked around the room, but my fathers seemed to be nodding along like this made sense. I looked at Arabella, who quickly stood next to her mom, facing the pack.
“It makes more sense this way,” She said, and I felt my skin heat up with rage.
“You absolute piece of-” My words were cut off.
"You're better suited for this," Clara interrupted, grabbing Arabella's hand. "You're already established publicly. You're comfortable with packs like them." She said, and I felt sick.
"That’s your reaction? To help further this lie?" I said, incredulous. Clara's expression hardened.
"They've already chosen Arabella." She said with finality.
"No," I said, but my bottom lip was trembling. Even now, even after everything, the family was still choosing Arabella over me. And she realized it, too. A cruel smile spread across her face.
"Come on, Ivy, did you really think Pack Vale would choose you over me?" She said, her face dripping in mock sympathy. “The lab results don’t really matter. They can’t even tell.” She moved closer, and I sucked in a breath at her audacity. "You hide in a lab all day. You’re socially inept, and no one would ever look at you and think you could belong with a pack like them.”
The words hit me again, the insults reaching my deepest insecurities. I faltered, and Arabella could see it.
"Honestly, Ivy, even if they found out, they'd still choose me. The truth is, they were never yours. They’re mine.” She said it as if it was already true - she was still, after all this, trying to steal my pack.Mine.
Hearing that word made me snap. Every instinct in my body rebelled against her claim on them. The distance between us disappeared, and before I knew it, I was on her. My hand reached for her, and my fingernails caught on her cheek, dragging it down as I lunged at her.
