I was the real daughter. The true bloodline of Blackwood Pack, finally brought home. But the second I stepped through the door, the fake one threw herself into my parents' arms, sobbing. "Dad, Mom, I'm sorry—I just can't call her my sister. She's the one from school. She told everyone my parents were just Omegas. She said my bloodline was dirt. She said it to my face, in front of everyone. And then she let her wolf loose on mine. My wolf hasn't come out since. She won't even respond to me anymore." Mom held her tight, stroking her back, murmuring soft things. Dad turned to me. A low growl rumbled in his chest. His eyes were nothing but disappointment. "I can't believe a few years outside this Pack turned you into this." "Steward—get her out of my packhouse. Blackwood has no daughter who would attack other’s wolf." I stood there, completely blindsided. My hands flew through the signs so fast they blurred. I bullied her? I'm mute. I don't even have a wolf. How could I have done any of that? I stood in the front hall. Fingertips still cold from outside. Victoria was draped over my parents, crying so hard she could barely breathe. Her face was buried against my mother's neck. Her shoulders trembled violently. When she finally looked up, the rims of her eyes were raw and red. "Dad, Mom, you don't know what it's been like." "After the last trial, I placed second among all the young wolves. She went around telling everyone I cheated—that Dad threaten the teachers. That I slept with Xavier to secure my ranking—things I can't even say—" With every sentence, Mom's hand patted harder against her back. Dad's jaw clenched tighter. I opened my mouth. Only air came out. I hadn't spoken a word since I could remember. The healers said something broke in my throat at birth and never healed. My wolf never came either. No voice. No wolf. Just silence. Over the years, I'd gotten used to it. Sign language. Paper and pen. That was how I talked to the world. I raised my hand. My fingers barely started forming the sign for "no" before Xavier launched off the couch. Three strides and he was in my face, towering over me. The disgust in his eyes was barely contained. "Seraphina, how long are you going to keep this shit up? Victoria's wolf won't even surface anymore because of you. And you're still standing there trying to deny it?" I froze. My hand hung in the air. Xavier was Blackwood's only son. From the moment I walked in, he'd been glued to Victoria's side—soft eyes, gentle voice, like she was something precious. When he looked at me, it was like looking at something scraped off his boot. "Brother, don't say that to her…" Victoria tugged gently at Xavier's sleeve. Her voice was soft as water. But every word drove a blade into my chest. "Maybe she just wanted so badly to fit in. Maybe this was the only way she knew how. I don't blame her. Really, I don't…" "That's because you're too damn soft!" Mom pulled Victoria tighter. When she turned to me, her eyes could have frozen the room. "Seraphina, we brought you home to give you a Pack. A family. Not so you could terrorize someone weaker. Whatever gutter tricks you learned out there—you drop them. Now." Dad slammed his knuckles on the oak table. The whole thing shuddered. A vein pulsed at his temple. "Any daughter of mine—even one raised outside these walls—should know what honor means. And what do you do? You walk through the door and hurt Victoria's wolf. You've shamed this entire Pack." The servants huddled near the archway, not even bothering to keep their voices down. "Heard she grew up out by the borders. Ran with the Rogues. No wonder she's rotten inside." "Victoria is the sweetest shewolf in the whole pack. Who would do that to her?" "Look at her, waving her hands around like that. Bet she's faking it. Playing the poor little thing so someone takes pity." Those whispers needled into my ears like pins. I drew a deep breath. Forced myself steady. Reached for the side pocket of my bag. I had a notebook in there—from the academy. I could write it all down. Explain everything. My fingers barely touched the zipper when Xavier grabbed my wrist. His grip was crushing. His knuckles ground against my bones. "What the hell are you pulling out? More lies?" I struggled. Reached around with my free hand, dug into the bag. Managed to pull out the stack of paper. Before I could unfold a single sheet, Xavier ripped it from my hands. Tore it in half. Then again. White scraps exploded into the air. Paper drifted into my hair. I stared at him. Whatever warmth I had left went dead. Victoria let out a sob—right on cue—and buried her face deeper. "Xavier, don't. She was only trying to—" Xavier cut her off. His voice dropped into a snarl. "She's already crushed your wolf and you're still defending her? Someone like this doesn't deserve to walk free in our pack." Dad's face went dark. Completely dark. He jerked his chin toward the steward at the door. When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of an Alpha's command—low, final, and absolute. "Throw her out. This pack has no such daughter."
I curled up on a hard cot in the pack gear house all night. Morning came. The first bell for lessons hadn't even rung. I'd just spread my textbook open when the pack instructor called me to his office. I pushed the door open. Victoria was already sitting in the chair across from him. Her shoulders hitched in little spasms. A handkerchief was balled up in her fist. Her eyes were swollen like walnuts. The second she saw me, she looked up—just the right mix of hurt and fear in her eyes—and shrank behind the instructor. "Seraphina. You're here." The instructor's voice was cold as steel. "Come in and tell me what you did to Victoria yesterday." I stood in the doorway. Didn't move. Victoria began to cry, right on schedule. "Sir, please don't push her. Yesterday she cornered me in the corridor. She called me a cuckoo in someone else's nest—a stray pretending to be Pack. She said she'd make sure I couldn't stay at this academy. I… I was so scared." Her voice was quiet. But every word was razor-clear, like small knives landing one by one. The instructor's face darkened. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed. "I've already called the Alpha and Luna. They'll be here soon." It didn't take long. The office door swung open. My parents walked in. Dad's face was ashen. Mom was holding Victoria's hand, eyes full of tenderness. Dad's voice was barely controlled. "What happened? Did Seraphina bully Victoria again?" The instructor adjusted his glasses. His tone was grave. "Based on Victoria's account, Seraphina has repeatedly verbally abused and spread lies about her at the academy. She even threatened to force Victoria out of school." "This kind of behavior is absolutely not tolerated here." Dad whipped his head toward me. The disappointment in his eyes could have drowned me. "How did I raise a daughter like you? Are you not going to stop until you've dragged the whole Blackwood name through the dirt?" I opened my mouth. Only a thin wisp of air came out. I raised my hand. My fingers barely started the sign for "no" before Dad's palm cracked across my face. The slap rang out—sharp and clean. My head snapped to the side. My ears buzzed. My cheek burned. I stared at him. The tears finally fell. "You dare cry?" Dad's voice dripped with open disgust. "You do something like this and you still have the nerve to cry? You're just playing the victim for sympathy!" Victoria buried her face in Mom's arms and let out another soft sob. "Dad, Mom, don't scold her. I don't blame her." Mom shot me a cold glare. "Born cursed. Wolfless and rotten to the core. All you know how to do is hurt our Victoria!" The office door had been cracked open at some point. A few students peeked in, heads crowded together. Their whispers carried clearly. "So she really did bully Victoria…" "She seems so quiet. Didn't expect her to be this vicious." "Heard even her own parents didn't want her. No wonder she's so twisted." Those words pricked my ears like needles. I took a deep breath. Forced myself to stay calm. I raised my hand again. Signed the words: "I didn't." But halfway through, the instructor cut me off. He frowned, his voice thick with impatience. "Seraphina, can you stop with these cheap tricks? If you have something to say, say it. Stop putting on a show." I froze. My fingers hung in the air. So even my silent defense—the only defense I had—was just another performance to them. Right then, the office door was pushed open gently. A girl stood in the doorway. Her voice was small and shaky. "Sir… she's not putting on a show. That's sign language." Everyone turned to look at her. She kept her head down, fingers gripping the hem of her shirt so hard her knuckles were white. But she gathered her courage and added, quietly: "My brother was deaf. I picked up some sign language when I volunteered there over the summer. What she just signed was 'I didn't.' And… she's really mute. She's never spoken a single word at this school. Everyone knows that. She doesn't have a wolf no one has ever heard her wolf. How could she have bullied anyone like this?"
The air in the room froze solid. The girl stood in the doorway, her cheeks flushed red. But she repeated herself, word by word. "I'm not making this up. " The instructor pushed his glasses up. Skepticism dripped from his voice. "You're sure about that? This isn't something to joke about." The girl lifted her chin. Her eyes were steady. "Sign language has fixed gestures. I wouldn't get it wrong. And—Seraphina has never spoken. Not once." The office went silent. My parents' faces shifted. Mom looked at me. Her lips moved. She seemed about to say something. A flash of guilt—barely visible—crossed her eyes. But then Victoria let out a few sharp sobs. She wiped her tears with one hand and spoke softly. "Sister, even if you're too scared to admit what you did, you can't just hire someone to put on a show and pretend to be mute." Her crying cut like a blade—sliced right through whatever faint guilt my mother had felt. Dad's face went hard. He whipped around to face me, rage blazing in his eyes. "Seraphina, you really are something! To dodge punishment you'd even cook up a lie like this? And drag in an accomplice to act it out? You're rotten to the bone!" I was trembling. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper—my healer's certificate. The one that documented my condition. I wanted to show them. But the second my fingers touched the paper, Dad snatched it away. He didn't look at it. He tore it in half with both hands. The thin sheet became confetti. I stared at him. The tears fell. "You little liar!" Dad's voice was raw with contempt. "You need to be taught a lesson. Learn not to mess with your Alpha. I'll have you sent to the West border, be close to the Rogues may beat some sense into you. Then we'll see if you keep playing this little trick!" Mom turned on me too. She held Victoria close, her eyes full of scorn. "Seraphina, we were so wrong about you. To think you'd stoop this low just to escape what you've done. You're a disgrace." Victoria leaned against Mom's chest. The faintest smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. But her face was still a mess of tears—the perfect picture of a wronged angel. "Dad, Mom, don't be so hard on her. Maybe she's just confused. She didn't mean it…" "Confused?" Dad let out a cold laugh. "She's beyond saving. Someone this twisted will only poison our Pack. I'm summoning Garrett right now to come take her away." The instructor stood to the side, his expression shifting between light and shadow. He looked at me. Then at my parents. In the end, he just sighed and waved at the girl in the doorway. "You can go. We'll handle things here." The girl opened her mouth. She wanted to say more. But the instructor's look stopped her. She gave me one long, final glance—full of sympathy and helplessness—then turned and left. I stood where I was. Looked down at the scraps of paper scattered on the floor. And laughed. So this was it. Everything I had—every last shred of proof—was just a joke to them. I never mattered in this family. Not for a single second. I crouched down slowly. Picked up the pieces one by one. A paper edge sliced my fingertip. I didn't feel it. Compared to the pain inside, what was a little cut?
Watch? https://cps-front.novelix.live/app-api/ext/new/20260619Vjs5PVChgN ? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "Novelix" app ? search for "ni844288", and watch the full series ✨! #Novelix