The Alpha Chose My Sister

My birthday party is over before it even started. It has been replaced by a funeral.

The birthday decorations are being taken down. The streamers are on the floor, trampled under people's feet. White cloth is being hung up. We have a funeral to attend.

My sister's funeral.

In the werewolf world, your sixteenth birthday is everything. It is the day you meet your wolf for the first time. The day you shift. The day you stop being incomplete and finally become whole.

The transformation ceremony is sacred. It happens under the full moon. The whole pack gathers to witness. You stand on a raised platform, and when the moon reaches its peak, your wolf comes forward. Everyone watches. Everyone sees what kind of wolf you become.

I have dreamed about this moment since I was a little girl. I used to imagine what my wolf would look like. What color her fur would be. Whether she would be fast or strong. I would watch the older kids shift for the first time and think about how magical it looked. How everyone would cheer and celebrate. How proud their parents looked.

I have been waiting for this day for years.

But my hopes were not just about meeting my wolf. They were about something else entirely.

My personality has always been a bit withdrawn. A bit quiet. I am not like Chloe or my brother. They are bright. Outgoing. Easy to love.

I am none of those things.

My parents have always loved Chloe and my brother more than me. I have known this for as long as I can remember.

My birthday is only one week apart from Chloe's. Every year, they made us share a party. Every year, Chloe blew out the candles first. Then they would stick new candles back in the same cake and tell me to blow them out. Second. Always second. Like an afterthought. Like I was borrowing my sister's celebration.

Sometimes, I would watch my mother look at Chloe with pure love shining in her eyes. With admiration. With pride that came from deep in her soul. She has never looked at me that way. Not once.

Even objectively speaking, Chloe is enough outstanding. At school, everyone knows her, while I am invisible. Many people probably do not even know we are sisters.

She is also our pack's future Luna. She and Noah, the Alpha heir, are like a golden couple. Perfect together.

They have been together for years. Since we were children, our parents believed they were meant for each other. For twenty years, no one in our Pack has ever imagined our Pack's future Luna would be anyone else. The best looks. The best mate. The most parental love. She has it all.

This year was supposed to be different.

This year, because I needed to meet my wolf, because the transformation ceremony required it, I was finally getting my own night.

And there was another reason this party mattered.

My father is the Beta. People pay attention to the Beta's family. Everyone wanted to see what kind of wolf I would become. What rank I would hold.

The guest list was massive. Pack members. Wolves from allied packs. Even Council representatives.

I thought about every detail for weeks. The theme was brown. Brown like my hair. I imagined brown streamers hanging from the ceiling. Brown tablecloths covering every table. Brown and gold flowers arranged just right. The ceremony space in the backyardI pictured it perfectly. Candles lining the path. A raised platform in the center. Everything elegant. Everything beautiful.

I will never use any of it now.

***

Chloe died last night.

The food is still sitting on the tables. But the party is gone.

They are repurposing everything for the funeral. The decorations that looked too joyful are being taken down. The ones that can pass for mourning are staying.

The cake is sitting on the counter. Chocolate. Brown and gold frosting.

Someone picks it up. Carries it to the trash can. Throws it away.

I never got to taste my own birthday cake.

***

Flashback

The party was supposed to start at seven.

Guests began arriving on time. By seven-thirty, nearly everyone was here.

Everyone except Chloe.

"We should start," I told my mother at eight o'clock.

"We are waiting for your sister."

"But Mom"

"We are waiting for Chloe."

I did not argue. I never argue with my mother. There is no point.

The guests were starting to whisper. I could see them checking their watches. Looking at each other. Looking at me.

'They probably think this is my fault somehow. That I did something to make Chloe late.'

By nine o'clock, my father tried to speak to her. "Grace, we need to begin. The timing is critical for Zoe's shift."

"Not without Chloe."

"She is probably just running late"

"She would not miss this. Something is wrong."

I stood there quietly. I did not know what to say.

At first, I wondered if Chloe was jealous. If she was upset that my party was more elaborate than hers had been. But that seemed unnecessary. This was the first time my party was bigger than hers. Maybe the only time it ever would be.

Two hours passed.

Two hours of standing there in my dress while everyone waited.

I tried not to think about how this felt familiar. How it always seemed to go this way. But I could not help it.

My mother would not budge.

And then I thought of something.

Something I did not want to think about.

Yesterday night, Chloe saw that message on my phone. She said she wanted to come with me.

'What if her not being here has something to do with that?'

My stomach turned.

But no. That could not be it.

'She probably just got delayed. Something else came up. Something that has nothing to do with the text message.'

I did not want anyone to know about the text message. I could not tell them.

But more time passed. My mother's face kept getting paler. The guests kept whispering.

'What if something really is wrong? What if Chloe is hurt?'

My chest felt tight.

'But if I say something... if I tell them where I think she might be... they will want to know how I know. They will ask questions. They will find out about the text message.'

I could not let that happen.

'Maybe I am wrong. Maybe she is fine. Maybe she will walk through the door any second now and everything will be fine.'

But she did not walk through the door.

'What if she needs help? What if she went to the forest because of the text message and something happened?'

I felt sick.

'If something happened to her and I said nothing...'

I could not live with that.

"Mom." My voice came out small. "I think... I think Chloe might be in the forest."

Everyone went silent.

My mother's head turned toward me. "What?"

"I think she might be in the forest. Near the old creek."

My father was already moving. "I will go. Alpha Marcus, with me."

They shifted before they even reached the tree line.

The guests stayed. Waiting. The whispers got louder.

I stood there. My hands were shaking.

'Please let her be okay. Please.'

Thirty minutes passed.

Forty-five.

Then my father walked back.

He was walking slowly.

In his hands, he carried torn fabric. Blue fabric. Chloe's dress.

Blood covered it.

"Grace." His voice broke on her name. "She is gone. There was... there was too much blood. She is gone."

My mother stared at him. Just stared.

Then she made a sound I have never heard before.

"No."

She collapsed. Someone caught her before she hit the ground.

She sobbed. Screamed. Her whole body shook.

Then she went still. Completely still.

When she looked up at me, her face had changed.

"How did you know where she was?"

My throat closed.

'I knew this would happen. I knew they would ask.'

"How did you know, Zoe?"

"I just... I thought"

"My daughter is DEAD." Her voice cracked. "And you knew exactly where to find her."

She stood up. Took a step toward me.

"What did you do?"

"I did not do anything"

"LIAR!" She lunged. My father grabbed her. "You did something! You know something! TELL ME!"