THE ALPHA WHO HATED ME - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

EVANGELINE POINT OF VIEW
Friday morning feels like walking into a trap.
I know something is wrong the moment I step into the main hallway. Students cluster in tight groups, their whispers following me like poisonous smoke. Their eyes hold a different kind of cruelty today. Not just disgust or pity.
Excitement.
Like they're waiting for something to happen.
My hands shake as I approach my locker. The metal door is covered in new graffiti, words carved deep enough to scar the surface permanently.
THIEF.
LIAR.
TRASH.
Each word hits like a physical blow. But underneath the slurs, someone has scratched something worse. Something that makes my blood turn to ice.
"GO DIE."
I stare at the message until the letters blur together. My wolf stirs restlessly in my mind, sensing danger but not understanding where it's coming from.
"Admiring your new decorations?"
I spin around to find Madison standing behind me, her lips curved in a satisfied smile. Sarah and Emma flank her like bodyguards, their faces bright with malicious joy.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I whisper.
"Really?" Sarah tilts her head with fake innocence. "You haven't heard the news?"
My stomach clenches. "What news?"
"About your little shopping spree yesterday," Emma adds sweetly. "In the lost and found."
The words don't make sense at first. Then understanding crashes over me like ice water.
"I didn't steal anything."
"Didn't you?" Madison pulls out her phone and scrolls through something. "Because we have some very interesting evidence that says otherwise."
She turns the screen toward me. It shows a photo of my backpack, unzipped, with expensive jewelry spilling out. A diamond bracelet. Pearl earrings. A gold necklace.
None of it mine. None of it anything I've ever seen before.
"Where did you get this?" I breathe.
"Security cameras are everywhere in this school," Sarah says with a smirk. "Amazing what they can capture when no one's looking."
"That's not real. That photo is fake."
"Is it?" Emma asks. "Because Principal Morrison seemed to think it was very real when we showed her."
The hallway around us has gotten quieter. Students press closer, drawn by the scent of drama like sharks to blood.
"You planted that stuff in my bag," I say desperately. "You set me up."
Please believe me. Just someone... anyone... believe me. My heart pounds like it's begging to be heard louder than their lies.
"Such serious accusations," Madison says, her voice dripping with mock concern. "From someone who's already been caught red-handed."
"I never took anything from anyone."
"The evidence says otherwise."
A new voice cuts through the growing crowd. "What evidence?"
Everyone turns to see a girl I don't recognize pushing through the circle of students. She's tall with wild red hair and green eyes that seem to see everything. Her uniform is wrinkled like she doesn't care about rules, and there's something about her that makes the crowd step back without thinking.
"Who are you?" Madison demands.
"Maeve," the girl says simply. "And I asked about evidence."
"This has nothing to do with you," Sarah snaps, her voice tight with irritation.
Maeve looks at me, then at the graffiti on my locker, then back at Madison's group. "Someone's being accused of theft. That concerns everyone who cares about truth."
"The truth is right here," Emma says, gesturing at Madison's phone. "Photo evidence of stolen goods in her possession."
Maeve steps closer and examines the screen. Her expression doesn't change, but something shifts in her eyes.
"Interesting angle," she says after a moment.
"What?" Madison's confidence wavers slightly.
"The camera angle. See how it's looking down into the bag? That's not from the security cameras in the hallways. Those are mounted at eye level."
Madison's face goes pale. "I don't know what you're implying...."
"I'm not implying anything. I'm stating facts." Maeve pulls out her own phone. "Like the fact that this photo was taken at 3:47 PM yesterday. According to the time stamp."
"So?"
"So Evangeline was in detention until 4:15. I have the sign-out sheet right here." She shows her screen to the growing crowd. "Hard to take stolen goods out of your locker when you're sitting in room 205 with Mr. Garcia."
Murmurs ripple through the students. Confused whispers. The energy shifts as people start to question what they're seeing.
"That doesn't prove anything," Sarah says quickly. "She could have put the stuff there earlier."
"Could have," Maeve agrees. "Except the jewelry was reported missing at 3:30. Ten minutes before this photo was allegedly taken. Kind of hard to steal something that hasn't been reported missing yet."
The crowd goes quiet. I can see doubt creeping into their faces as they process what Maeve is saying.
Madison's phone trembles in her hand. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't I?" Maeve steps closer to Madison, and despite being the same height, she somehow seems to tower over her. "Because I also know that the lost and found was cleaned out at lunch yesterday. By you three. I have witnesses."
"That's a lie," Emma squeaks.
"Is it? Hey, Tyler!" Maeve calls to a junior boy standing near the lockers. "Didn't you see these three coming out of the lost and found yesterday with a bag full of stuff?"
Tyler looks nervous but nods. "Yeah. Madison said they were doing volunteer work."
"Volunteer work," Maeve repeats slowly. "How noble. And conveniently timed."
Madison's composure is cracking. Her perfect mask slipping piece by piece.
"This is ridiculous," she snarls. "We don't have to listen to this."
"You're right," Maeve says calmly. "You don't. But Principal Morrison might be interested in hearing how three students cleaned out the lost and found, then somehow jewelry from that same collection ended up in a staged photo."
"Staged?" Sarah's voice rises to a screech. "How dare you...*
"The metadata on your photo shows it was edited at 6:23 PM," Maeve continues relentlessly. "After school hours. Funny how evidence keeps getting created when no one's around to witness it."
The crowd is openly staring now. Phones are out, recording every word. The hunters have become the hunted.
"You can't prove any of this," Madison says desperately.
"Actually, I can." Maeve holds up a flash drive. "Security footage from the hallway camera. Shows all three of you accessing Evangeline's locker at 3:45 yesterday. While she was in detention."
Madison's face goes completely white. Sarah and Emma look like they want to run.
"Funny thing about those cameras," Maeve continues. "They're motion-activated. So every time someone opens a locker, it records. Including when you planted evidence to frame an innocent student."
The silence that follows is deafening.
Then the whispers start. But this time, they're not about me.
"They framed her?"
"That's so messed up."
"I can't believe they would do that."
"Why would they go that far?"
Madison tries one last desperate play. "You can't trust her. She's nobody. Just some weird girl making up stories."
But the damage is done. The crowd has turned. They can see the truth in the fear on Madison's face. In the way Sarah and Emma have started backing away from their leader.
"Principal Morrison's office," Maeve says simply. "Now. All of you."
"We don't have to..."" Madison starts.
"Actually, you do." Principal Morrison's voice cuts through the hallway like a blade. She pushes through the crowd, her face thunderous. "My office. Immediately."
Madison, Sarah, and Emma walk away like condemned prisoners. Their heads down. Their perfect reputations in ruins.
Ronan is nowhere to be seen in the crowd. His absence feels as loud as his presence would have been.
The crowd begins to disperse, students hurrying to spread the news of what just happened. For once, I'm not the one being whispered about.
I turn to thank Maeve, but she's already walking away.
"Wait," I call after her.
She pauses and looks back. "Yeah?"
"Why did you help me?"
For a moment, her expression softens. "Because someone should have helped you a long time ago."
"I don't even know you."
"You don't need to know someone to do what's right." She glances at the graffiti on my locker. "Besides, I know what it feels like when the pack turns on you. You're not the only one."
The words hit deeper than comfort. There's pain in her voice. Experience.
"Thank you," I whisper.
She nods once. "Watch your back, Evangeline. This won't be the end of it."
Then she's gone, disappearing into the crowd like she was never there at all.
I stand alone in the hallway, staring at my vandalized locker. The words are still there. The hatred carved into metal.
I reach up and start scraping at the "GO DIE" with my fingernail. The letters resist, but tiny flakes of paint come away. It's a start.
But something has changed.
For the first time since this nightmare started, someone stood up for me. Someone saw the truth and wasn't afraid to speak it.
Someone reminded me that not everyone in this school is my enemy.
My wolf doesn't whimper anymore. She paces now, alert, angry, ready. There's something else there too. Something that feels like hope.
Celeste's plan failed. Her perfect frame job fell apart because one girl refused to stay silent.
One strange, brave girl named Maeve who appeared when I needed her most.
I don't know who she is or why she helped me.
But I know one thing for certain.
I'm not as alone as I thought.