One

In a sparsely decorated room, as opposed to the opulence of the grand house, a girl lay on the bed.

Her chestnut brown hair fanned out on her threadbare pillow as she clutched a worn bunny close to her.

Her eyes were crinkled shut and her deep brown brows were drawn together. Suddenly, her pretty facial features relaxed and her cherry red lips curved into a small smile.

“Really? Me?” she muttered in her sleep.

Suddenly, a loud female voice called her name from behind the door of the bedroom.

“Aria Jean!”

The door slammed open and jerked Aria out of her sleep. Her eyes snapped open and tried to focus on the female figure at the edge of her small bed.

“Wake up, Aria! Don’t you know what today is?” the female voice said again, sounding cross.

Aria’s eyes finally focused, and locked on to emerald green eyes just like eyes. It was her twin sister, Ellie Jill. She sighed and sat up.

Ellie’s eyes followed every movement she made with disdain until their eyes met again.

“What is it, Ellie?” she lamented as she stood up from the bed and stood toe to toe with her second half, her carbon copy whose eyes reflected nothing but disgust, disdain and a little bit of anxiety.

Ellie tossed her hair with more bravado than she was feeling and crossed her arms, “Firstly, Aria, you don’t get to call me Ellie. Only families can do that.”

The remark hit the spot as Aria winced slightly. Ellie smiled with petty satisfaction before she continued. “Secondly, it’s my birthday today, or have you forgotten?”

“Our birthday, you mean. Or have you forgotten, sis?” Aria replied drily, examining her short, unmanicured fingers.

Her twin sister scoffed.

“We may share the same birthday, Aria, but trust me, we are not sisters, and we are not family,” she chuckled in mockery, “Or have you forgotten that nobody likes you? You are a slave.”

“Well, you never let me forget, so…” Aria responded in an unbothered tone, “What do you want from me?”

“Well, I need you to go to the mall and pick up the dress that my dad ordered for my birthday party this evening. Also, the shoes and matching purse too.”

“Well, since it’s your dad who ordered the dress, then maybe he should send someone to get it for you. I could be less concerned, dear sister, after all, today is about you, not me, as you always say,” Aria retorted, brushing past her dumbfounded sister to the small dresser behind her.

She opened a drawer and picked out a pair of neat but old underwear, then quickly stripped out of her old cotton pajamas and wiggled into a threadbare teddy bathrobe.

“Would you leave? I want to have my bath and get dressed. I have chores to attend to for your birthday party, and I would like to start early so that I can have the rest of the day to myself,” Aria said.

Ellie huffed and started to leave the room, but she paused at the door, “Dad will hear about this,” she sneered as a parting shot.

Aria rolled her eyes and continued to the bathroom. She could hear the pack helpers bustling downstairs, putting things in place for the coming-of-age party of Alpha Hendrix’s daughters…no, daughter.

Alpha Hendrix had two children, but he only considered one as his child. And, so did the rest of the pack.

Lamenting her woes was taking too much time, so Aria Jean continued under the weak spray of the shower.

***

Aria had just finished bathing when she stepped into her room, dressed in a neat plain dress. Her father stood by her door sneering at her while Ellie stood beside him with a smug expression on her face.

“What did you tell the Princess of this pack?” he asked.

Aria scoffed, she knew she should be used to it by now but she just couldn't. Why would they treat her like dirt for eighteen years of her life? She looked exactly like Ellie so what made her different?

“Hi, dad,” she smiled wryly at him.

Ellie gasped while Aria’s smile faded when she saw the Alpha’s face.

“How dare you?!” he snarled.

Aria shivered. He had asked her not to call him her father ever but Aria had hoped he would make an exception for her today since it was her coming-of-age ceremony. But the look on his face told her otherwise.

“I’m sorry. I just thought you would make an…”

The loud bang of something interrupted her, making her jump. It was her father. He was staring at her with rage in his eyes as he glared at the wall beside her head he had smashed in.

“Call me dad once more and I’ll smash your head instead of that wall!” he threatened.

Aria gulped, visibly shaken as tears filled her eyes. “Yes, sir.”

“Ellie tells me you don't want to assist in the preparations. Be downstairs to do all the chores in two minutes,” he ordered.

Aria nodded while keeping her head down. Then she heard Ellie’s soft voice.

“If only my mother was alive to witness this day, if you hadn't killed her with your witchcraft, I'm sure she would have been so happy.”

Then she sniffled and hugged her father.

Aria kept her face to the ground but she knew Ellie was provoking her dad on purpose preferably so he would hit her.

“I curse the day you entered my family and ruined it!” Alpha Hendrix yelled bitterly.

When they left, Aria sank to the floor and cried bitterly. She had always been humiliated every day because her mother had died while giving birth to her.

Aria wondered if her life would be better if her mother was alive. She was still in tears when her father’s voice roared through the pack house.

“Slave, get down here right now!”

With a quiet sigh and resigning to her fate, Aria went to answer her father who had reduced her status in the pack to nothing.

***

The party was in full swing at the Grand Hall of the Blood Moon Pack packhouse. The elegantly dressed guests were starting to arrive—the Alphas, Lunas, and Betas of the other packs in the North American Clan of Wolves.

The dripping, intimidating aura of power permeated the room. Normal wolves should cower and suffocate under such power, but Aria Jean Hendrix could hold her head high because she was an Alpha’s daughter.

She was supposed to be the second belle of the ball beside her elegantly dressed twin sister, but she was forced to melt into the crowd and become invisible because she was the supposed evil twin and the slave of the pack.

This night was to be the final judge. Whoever found their mate among a set of identical wolf twins in werewolf culture was the true wolf or heiress, and the second twin was to be cast out. Aria hoped that she was the twin to have a mate.

Although she wasn’t dressed as beautifully as Ellie, she hoped that her dress—which she made by herself—was beautiful enough to attract male attention. She also swept her hair into an updo to expose her neck, which she dabbed with some perfume oil.

From her hidden alcove, she could see all that was happening at the party. Her father and her sister greeted every guest graciously like the perfect hosts, leaving her out as usual.

Her eyes spied the buffet table, and as if on cue, her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that she had not eaten more than a croissant and a rushed cup of weak black tea.

Careful not to be spotted by her sister and her father, she meandered her way to the buffet table.

As she was helping herself to the assortment of snacks and finger foods, she kept looking back to keep Ellie in her line of sight. When she was sure that Ellie was still busy, she relaxed and continued to stuff her face.

Aria was so engrossed in the food she was relishing that she did not hear the two sets of footsteps approaching her—one from the front and one from behind.

She did not see the sudden shadow that stood in front of her. She only perceived the spicy aroma of a male’s perfume in passing.

Aria Jean Hendrix only stopped when she heard the word “Mate” from a deep, smooth baritone voice in front of her and above her.

Her croque monsieur sandwich fell from her hand as everything went pin-drop silent.