*~~Chapter One~~*

{~~Avery Sterling~~}

Love, that emotion is such a hoax. Actually, it’s not. It’s beautiful with the right person, ugly with the wrong person. But I can’t have the beauty or the ugliness when my love is unrequited. When I first met him, the Medic alpha in training, I was enamored. Mostly due to the fact that our pack has never had a medic alpha before. They’re usually assigned to the bigger, and more popular packs, ours was none of that.

I was delighted. At the age of eleven, I was getting into the phase of having crushes, and the thirteen-year-old medic alpha was right in my sight. He was smart, charming, too good to be training to work in a pack like ours.

No offense. I know my father worked hard but we had to be honest.

I hoped he’d notice me, and we’d become friends. Move from friends to lovers. Yes, I had it all planned out in my head. I knew when we’d get married and have children, and blah blah blah.

I was learning what it meant to love, and he was befriending my sister. Never sparing me a glance.

Here’s the deal, I- Avery Sterling, rank 404 blue nurse omega in the making- was never number one at anything. Not with Ava around. Ava was my twin. My parents' golden eye, the pack’s most beloved, and everyone’s favorite person.

Where I grew up nerdy, shy, and unable to talk to the guy I was crushing on. Ava grew up bold, protected from all harshness by everyone’s love. She was gorgeous, she was given better genes. We were both pale, blonde with blue eyes, but even someone with a glass eye could see that Ava did it better.

Her blonde hair was lighter, her lips fuller, her eyes brighter- making the blue seem almost angelic- and she was a total Barbie girl. She loved pink, and she made sure everyone knew it. It looked amazing on her, and she never had to worry about having a crush who didn’t like her because they loved her.

Ava took the rank 208. In our world, wolves are ranked in numbers and categories. From the age of six you know your assigned future, that was the deal. That was how the wolf world worked.

If you’re in the one hundred to five hundred mark, then you’re destined for greatness in the field of healing, and medicine. The color added to your rank determines the specific part of the job you’ll have.

Color blue is a nurse.

I was given nurse in training from four hundred, meaning I was just close to not being in the healing factor. Which is trouble for an omega. If we can’t heal then we have no place in a pack. Nurses work under the medic alphas who have ranks of zero something. Meaning they are beyond the exception- like Logan Grey. The man who had my heart in a cage he never knew about.

My sister was always destined to be greater than me, of course, she not only ranked higher than me, but she got the rare color rainbow. The rainbow means the omega can decide what she wants to be.

She chose fashion stylist, because why not leave what your calling is and spread your wings? My parents, although worried, were proud of her. She received this color at sixteen. The rank comes in at six, the color comes at sixteen.

No one cheered for me. No one said congratulations. My parents didn’t even ask. Who cares about Avery when you’ve got Ava to make everything right?

My blonde hair was darker, my eyes were sharp blue they were a darker shade, it’s like the world wanted us to really be polar opposites. And Ava rode the fame and love. She didn’t care enough about her twin. Hell, she’s called me Francis once. She doesn’t know my name.

I’m her literal shadow. And when logan fell for her, I told myself I should have expected it. Why would he choose me over her? When has anyone chosen me?

Guys went out with me to get to her. They dumped me when she was available. If she said the sky is pink they’d believe it.

I got better grades and graduated top of my class, but no one cared. My parents cheered for her when she graduated on that same day they forgot to do the same for me. They bought her ice cream, and Logan took her on a road trip to Paris.

I got a job to buy myself a cake. When I applied to get into the college of my dreams, I knew I’d get in. And once I did, I left. I wanted to be somewhere where nobody could compare me to Ava. I left my heart with the boy who never acknowledged me, as he fell deeper for the sister who sometimes forgot I existed.

Life was different out of my pack. I made friends, avoided relationships, and made my way to being the best nurse I could be.

So one day a medic alpha could choose me to work at his side. I graduated at eighteen and spent six years perfecting my skills.

I had no intention of returning back, especially when an offer came from a bigger pack. That was until i got the SOS from my mother.

The message gave me mixed feelings.

Mom: Ava is missing. We need you to come back home.

I stared at this message for days. Unsure of what to make of it. Ava was missing..... I must be cruel because I didn’t feel one hundred percent bad about that. She did absolutely nothing to get anything she had. She was just prettier. And that was enough for the world.

But at the same time, I’m not barbaric. My twin is missing and my parents are freaking out. So of course, like the good daughter I am, I went back to our small pack.

Only to find that things had changed. The once moon fire pack had been changed to the bleeding star pack, and it was bigger. And better than I’d ever known it to be.

I frowned upon arriving at my childhood home. It’s no longer what it used to be. Almost like it had been left untouched for all the years I’d been gone.

Discomfort and dread hit me instantly. I slowly got out of the car, paid the fare, and dragged my bags towards the front door. I’d barely touched the porch when the door sprung open, jolting me, and my parents ran out.

I clutched my fingers around the handle of my bag, prepared to fight them if they tried to... um, I don’t know. Steal my kidney for their perfect daughter.

Instead of doing something horrible to me, they engulfed me in a hug that sent all the alarm bells ringing in my head.

They didn’t hug me for any of my birthdays, they didn’t give me any affection period. Either they’re dying, or I’m about to be deceased.

“Uh, are you guys okay?” I had to ask when they wouldn’t let go. A full-minute hug? Yeah, fuck know. They’re plotting something.

“We’re just happy to see our daughter,” Dad said. He kissed my cheek and offered to carry my bag. Mom urged me towards the house, and the red flags have never been brighter. A scent caught me off guard.

One I hadn’t gotten a whiff of in years. What is he doing here?

I asked myself as I found logan in the living room. He’d aged so well. Grey stormy eyes, sharp features, his raven black hair was slicked black and the thin-rimmed glasses resided firmly on his nose. He looked... I swallowed, I am over this crush. I swear I am.

Or I thought I was but god, is he so much more.... he’s just more of everything he used to be. Except, something is missing. Not the hyperactive blonde I called my twin. But the spark of happiness, the light of life that used to be in those eyes.

He looks.... colder. What happened?

“Logan, she’s here.” my mother announced. And out of a reflex, I turned around to face the staircase. Waiting to see Ava come down.

Surely that’s why Mother said that. When Ava didn’t arrive, I noticed I was being stared out.

“Okay someone needs to explain. What is going on? I thought you called me because Ava’s missing.”

Logan scoffed. “Missing. What a joke.” he got up, and walked off toward the kitchen.

What was that? Logan worships my sister. I’m missing something.

I went towards the couch and dropped into it. “What’s going on?”

my father sighed. He pulled my bag next to me and lowered onto the spot next to me.

“Logan proposed to Ava six months ago, she said yes.” my father said.

I don’t know why my heart seemed to crack. I should be over him. They were in love. Of course, he’d propose.

“She said yes, then proceeded to steal from us and him and run off with some guy. An alpha of another pack. Logan said she told him, he wasn’t alpha enough for her. She wanted someone in charge of his own pack.” my jaw dropped. She did what?!

She stole from our parents, from logan- “Wait how much did she steal?”

“Four hundred thousand dollars from logan. And basically, everything we had. She knew the passcode to the accounts. She... we never saw it coming.”

She stole from them, said logan wasn’t alpha enough for her and dipped. That doesn’t sound like Ava at all. Wow, holy shit.

“So why am I here? Do you need me to find her?”

My mother shook her head. “No, we’re broke, Avery. We need money, and the only one offering to give us a good settlement is Logan. In return, you marry him.”

I shot out of the seat. “No, no no. He’s in love with Ava!”

“Correct.” Logan’s deep voice made me jump as he finally came out of the kitchen. “I am in love with your sister. I’m not mad she stole from me. I’m mad she dumped me over the letter. She didn’t even return the ring. If you marry me, I can secure you a job as my medic, and your parents don’t have to be homeless.”

this can’t be happening. They’re not going to goad me into marrying him- I just.... I can’t do it.

I want to marry him so much. But not when he’s... he’s not even mad that she stole from him. That’s love right there, and it isn’t aimed at me.

I looked at the state of this house. I grew up here. And now it looks like my parents stand the chance of losing it. Of course, the one time they need me, it’s for their own benefit.

I have to think about this. Can i really alter the course of my life just for something my sister did? Yes. Do I want to? no.

But I’d be married to logan. Ugh, why does that seem so good? I’d be Mrs. Grey. Legally his wife. But he doesn’t love me.

Still, I’d be his wife. Oh boy, this is tough.