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Section 1
### Chapter 1: o r p h a n
S hivering, I clung to my brother's hand, squeezing it so tight that he tried to shake me off. He always held my hand, always had since we were toddlers. Even if I was close to cutting off the circulation to his hand. Ares shoved me behind him and blocked my view of what was going on. There was so much red. The floors were stained with it and my daddy's shirt was soaked in it. He disappeared for a second but caught up with us the moment I thought he wouldn't come back. He fell twice and when he tried to stand the second time, his knees shook and gave out. Ares looked back and froze. "Take her and go !" Daddy yelled at us with his eyes ringing amber. Ares blocked my view again and we moved down the hallway. "No! We have to go back and help him!" I cried but I wasn't strong enough to resist him. "We don't have time." The rest was an evasive memory. Mommy appeared in front of us and ushered us into a tiny room with an urgent tone. " In here ." She locked the door behind us and I noticed that her hands were shaking. "Are you cold, Mommy?" I asked, walking up to her and hugging her. I tried to give her all the warmth I had. She enveloped me in a tight hug and kissed my forehead. "Of course not, my little Claire-bear," She smiled at me and that's when I saw the blood trickling down her cheeks. Her eyes were bleeding. "Mom?" Ares asked quietly, noticing too. Her eyes rolled back into her head as her arms left my shoulders and she collapsed to the ground. "Mom?" Ares shook her shoulders but she didn't respond. " Mom !" He shook her more roughly as he drowned in panic. She opened her mouth but no words came out. Ares let go of Mommy's hand and it fell limply to her side. As he left, I rushed to her side and squeezed her hand until she woke up. Why wasn't she moving? Why was she ice cold, when just a second ago there was so much warmth? Why wasn't she breathing? I didn't understand. "Why won't she wake up?" I wailed. "Because she's dead." Ares grabbed my hand and tore me away from our mother. "They both are." My brother died that day. Eyes that were once so full of light were gone and replaced with a hollow shell. It was then that I knew he would never be the same. I hugged myself when it was obvious he wasn't going to comfort me. They couldn't really be dead, could they? We were supposed to be a family forever. There had to be something we could do. It couldn't end like this. "Why would anyone want to hurt us? We didn't do anything wrong. Who would do this to us?" All of these questions echoed in my head like a curse. "Alpha Troy," He sputtered and said a word starting with an "f" that I didn't recognize. Outside the snow was still falling. It never stopped. My family was ripped away from me forever. . . by the one they called Troy .
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### Chapter 2: s i s t e r
W hat does it mean to be a Trueblood? Part of the strongest, biggest, oldest, and most powerful bloodlines in the entire werewolf world? It means that my brother is a stinking moron. He was the Alpha of the pack and so technically the Alpha of me—which was completely unnecessary because I didn't need someone to boss me around. But he was the only family I had left and it wasn't like you could choose who you were related to. He sent me away to an insanely boring town, with only three stop lights I might add, to live out my entire life. It was total hell. I was prohibited from making any friends in case they found out about my secret, not that I minded much. Everyone my age just wanted to move far away and I didn't blame them. Ares said he sent me here for my safety but I couldn't see how living in this black hole would protect me. I would be better off living with the pack but no , my brother ordered me to stay here. My theory was that he just didn't want to deal with me. The only good thing I was looking forward to was beginning my senior year of human high school. Ares told me this would be my last year and that we would talk about my future at some point. I couldn't wait to leave. The school barely had two hundred students and more than half of them didn't talk to me. Every day was the same and nothing changed. Like I said, an insanely boring town. And I, Claire Trueblood, would do anything for a little fun. .•*•. "McDonald," I cringed when I heard my fake last name. I spun around and saw Shane run up to me. It looked like he'd just woken up, probably since he never slept for more than six hours. Unlike me, Shane actually did his homework while I kind of "accidentally" forgot. Ares can deal with it. "Minkin," I waited for him to catch up so we could walk together. "Did you do the math homework?" He asked as we headed to lunch. Shane and I had almost every class together, considering how small the school was. Math was my worst subject and he wanted to tutor me but I told him he'd be wasting his time. I was terrible at math. "Was I supposed to?" I asked innocently. "Uh, yeah, it counts for ten percent of our grade," "Oops. Forgive me, I was doing something else that was more important." I sighed dramatically and he cocked his head. "Like what?" "Watching my toenails grow." Shane chuckled and we made our way to our usual spot on the bleachers outside. Fresh air always made me feel better on days like these. It should have been a crime to be forced inside a building for seven hours. "So what are your plans for the weekend?" Shane asked while taking a huge, and I mean huge , bite into his ham sandwich. He ate like six meals a day. "I don't know." It was still summer so Cashmere, my personal servant, and I could get out of our shared guest house. After the whole Holly incident with Alex, my brother was very hesitant to trust the Omegas but Cashmere had served me since birth and we were pretty close. "Me neither." "You aren't going to try out for soccer again?" "Nah, soccer's passé." Funny thing was Shane used to be popular. As the new kid in town last year and the last transfer after me, everyone wanted to be his friend. He was the starter for our soccer and baseball teams and was invited to every party Layla threw when her parents were out of town. Then he started hanging out with me and it was like he became invisible to the whole school. He wasn't welcome at the cool kids table anymore and it didn't take long for him to quit all of the teams he'd signed up for. Whenever I joked about his fall from grace, he brushed it off and said Layla and the others did something that made him see who they really were. But I often wondered if him associating with me got him excommunicated. "You aren't going home this weekend?" Shane asked. Shane also knew about Ares, to an extent. I always complained about him. He knew that my brother lived far away and that he didn't let me go home. "Not yet. Still waiting for him to call me back." I answered and watched as he finished his first sandwich and moved on to his second. Shane was such a glutton. He was about to take a bite when something behind me caught his eye. "Incoming," Layla Pryde and the rest of the cheerleading squad were making their way towards us. Great. "You need to move. This is our spot." She demanded like she was the queen of the school. I learned a long time ago to ignore her and not even bother with a waste of space like her. "Since when?" Shane asked. "Since I, the captain of the cheerleading squad, decided we need this space for practice." She crossed her pom poms over her chest. How ridiculous could she be right now? "There's tons of space on the other side of the field," he shrugged. Shane was the only one who ever stood up to her. It was also a part of why I liked him. "I want this side. I don't want to face the sun." "Well I don't see your name on it." Layla didn't like that. "Why don't I go and get the principal and she can have this all sorted out." She took a step closer as if she could intimidate us. "Go ahead." The more unbothered he acted, the more frustrated she became. Layla grabbed my backpack and threw it over her shoulder onto the ground. "Hey!" I objected. She tried to grab my coffee that was by my feet but we got to it at the same time. "Okay we get it, we'll leave," I pulled the cup back but she wouldn't let up. "Now let go!" "No." "Let—" She released her grip and the coffee spilled all over the front of my shirt. On top of that, I lost my balance and tripped forward. My cheek scraped against the track as I fell to the ground. "Claire!" Shane immediately rushed over to me. Her friends laughed but I wasn't embarrassed at all. I was angry . Compared to other wolves I had excellent self control. I had always been the peaceful one who never turned to blood and violence. But not this time. My temper snapped and I had this insane urge to break her neck. I wanted to show her and everyone in this town that I was a million times stronger than they'd ever be. They would think twice about challenging the Alpha's sister. But showing my true form would jeopardize more than just my safety. It would mean the end of werewolves for all eternity. There would be no going back. I could feel my wolf pushing against me and I knew she was winning. Remember your anchor. Before I lost control of my wolf and phased right in front of everyone, I grabbed my backpack and ran back inside the school. I sprinted down an empty hall and into a handicap bathroom. I needed to calm down. I wouldn't kill anyone. Not even Layla, no matter how much I wanted. This wouldn't be my villain origin story. With shaking hands, I took out my phone and called Ares. It was a long shot and a last resort but I needed someone familiar to talk to. I needed hope to cling onto. "Hello?" he answered on the fifth ring. "Ares!" I exclaimed, a little startled to actually hear his voice after going so long without it. "I've been trying to call you for weeks. Why aren't you picking up?" "I've been very busy." His tone was flat. "Why are you calling? Are you safe?" Perfectly fine. Not that he would know. "I hate it here, Ares. I feel so alone. When can I come home?" "You know the rules." "But I want to come home—" "We'll discuss it later after you finish the school year." That wasn't until another ten months! Did he think I had the patience of a saint? "Why can't we discuss it now? I almost phased in front of everyone, Ares. This time I controlled it but maybe next time I'll let my wolf out on purpose." It was never a priority with him. Even his own blood, his only blood, was never enough for him. I just wanted my brother back. "I have to go. I'll call you back." He always said that but never did. "But—" The line went dead and he was gone. I punched the phone into the bathroom wall with my fist. If I were human just like everyone else in this school my bones would shatter. But there was only a slight bruise forming on my knuckles where it connected with the concrete. What could he possibly be busy with? Ares has been thinking about what to do with the enemy Alpha , Cashmere had said when I asked what was going on back home. Tell me how it was fair that the enemy who murdered our parents got more of his attention than his own sister. That's right, it wasn't. Well if the enemy was taking too much of his time, why didn't I just do everyone a favor and eliminate him? My breaths were steady now because I knew what I had to do. I was going to murder the murderer my brother was protecting. I threw whatever was left of my phone in the trash and splashed some cold water on my coffee-stained shirt. Then I opened the door. To my complete horror, Shane was standing right next to the bathroom. My heart dropped. Had he just heard our entire conversation? Thank you for reading! This is the sequel to Alpha Queen but you don't need to read the first book to understand this story. Vote and comment if you liked it ♡
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