Living in the Shadow of My Sister

Nadia's POV

I stood on the grand terrace of the Alpha's mansion, feeling the cool evening breeze kiss my skin as the moon hung heavy and full in the sky. It should have been a day of celebration, of joy, for it was the 17th birthday of both me and my twin sister, Gloria. But as always, she stood in the center of everyone's attention, and I was just a shadow at her side. I forced a smile, my cheeks aching with the effort, as pack members showered her with gifts and praise.

"Congratulations, Gloria! Such a strong and promising young wolf," they would say, their eyes lighting up as they spoke of her early awakening last year. She had shifted into her wolf form at just sixteen—a rarity that set her apart from others, who usually waited until their eighteenth year. The pack elders adored her for it, whispering about her destined greatness. Meanwhile, my own wolf still lay dormant, as silent as a grave. No one looked at me the way they looked at her. Not even close.

"Nadia! Happy Birthday!" an elder exclaimed in passing. I nodded, offering a polite smile, but his eyes quickly darted back to Gloria, who was laughing at some joke. His excitement for me was only an afterthought. I knew I should be happy for my sister. After all; she was my other half. But today, all I could feel was the emptiness, the weight of expectation crushing down on me. I was the Alpha's daughter without a wolf. Weak. An embarrassment to the Ambersy name.

Then it happened. The moment that shattered everything.

The first howl split the air like a knife through flesh. Then came the screams, the roaring of men and wolves. Chaos erupted around me as the world turned crimson with the blood of my packmates. I saw a flash of fur and fangs—a rogue wolf, its eyes wild with a hunger for violence, lunged at a young warrior, tearing into his flesh.

My heart pounded in my chest, my breath catching in my throat. Father —where was Father? I saw him then, my father, the Alpha, rushing to the front lines, barking orders. His eyes blazed with fury as he tried to rally the warriors. "Everyone, to your positions! Defend the pack!" But then, panic spread through the ranks as the Beta's voice boomed, "We've been poisoned! They've suppressed our ability to shift!"

I felt the blood drain from my face. The warriors tried to shift, their faces contorted in concentration and horror, but nothing happened. No fur. No claws. No howls of transformation. Only the rogues remained in their wolf forms, a sea of snarling beasts, tearing through our defenseless warriors like paper.

I couldn't move—couldn't think. I was frozen in place, watching in helpless horror. A rogue—a monstrous wolf with yellow eyes and foam dripping from its jaws—leaped at my father. He fought bravely, with fists and steel, but it wasn't enough. I saw the blood—so much blood—as the rogue's teeth sank into his neck. He went down with a choked roar, eyes wide in shock and rage, and I felt something inside me shatter.

"Father!" My voice was a raw scream, but it was lost in the chaos. My mother, our Luna, rushed to his side, trying to pull him back, but more rogues swarmed them. She fought fiercely, her eyes blazing with determination. I saw her break a rogue's neck with a twist of her hand, but then another lunged at her from behind. She fell to her knees, clutching her bleeding side, and I could see the life draining from her eyes. She reached for Father's hand, but both were gone too soon-too fast.

"No! No!" I tried to run to them, but a warrior grabbed my arm, yanking me back. "You can't, Nadia!" he yelled. "You need to—" His words cut off as a rogue leaped upon him, ripping out his throat. His blood sprayed across my face, hot and sticky. I stumbled back, my legs trembling beneath me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I was going to die here.

A rogue wolf lunged at me, its teeth bared and eyes gleaming with hunger. I closed my eyes, bracing for the end, but a powerful growl pierced the chaos. I opened my eyes just in time to see a flash of white—Gloria's wolf. She collided with the rogue, knocking it off course. She was a blur of fur and fury, ripping through the rogues with a savagery that took my breath away.

"Run, Sunshine!" she shouted through the mind-link, her voice fierce and commanding. "Run, now!"

But I couldn't leave her. Not her too. "Gloria, no!" I cried, but she wasn't listening. She was fighting off three rogues at once, her beautiful white fur matted with blood—hers and theirs. She killed one, then another, but a third rogue sank its teeth into her neck. I saw the light in her eyes flicker, her body shuddering under the weight of the wound.

"No! Gloria!" I screamed, feeling the world collapse around me as I watched her fall, her body going limp in the dirt. She had fought for me, died for me. I should have been the one. I should have—

A roar tore through the chaos, a sound so deep and filled with wrath that it seemed to shake the earth itself. My vision blurred with tears, but I saw him then—a tall, powerful figure cutting through the rogues like a force of nature. Alpha Lucas Casimir of the Lockheart Pack, Gloria's intended mate. His eyes burned with rage and grief as he laid waste to the rogues that remained. His warriors followed his lead, and soon, the ground was slick with blood and bodies.

But it was too late. Far too late.

I knelt beside Gloria's broken form, numb to everything. I could hear my heart breaking with every ragged breath I took. She was gone. They were all gone. And I was alone.

Alpha Lucas's shadow fell over me, and I looked up my vision swimming. His eyes were wild, filled with a hatred so raw that it made my blood run cold. "Why are you still breathing?" he spat, his voice a low, venomous growl. "Why did she have to die for someone as useless as you? A girl without a wolf who couldn't protect her own pack!"

His words cut deeper than any blade. My lips trembled, but no words came out. What could I say? He was right. Gloria, my parents, my pack—none of them deserved this. And I—what was I? A weakling. A disgrace. My sister had died saving me when it should have been the other way around.

Lucas's hand gripped my arm, hauling me to my feet. "You don't get to die here," he said, his voice cold and unforgiving. "You'll come with me. And you'll pay for what happened today."

I didn't fight him. What was the point? I had nothing left. As his warriors took me away, my mind whispered to me, a bitter, broken thought. If I had known it would come to this, I would have prayed to die instead, I should have been the one to die, not her. Not Gloria.

But fate had other plans. And I was about to face them, whether I wanted to or not.