Lost Alpha: Switched At Birth

Evangeline Snow was not nearly as unconcerned as her parents.The moment I pushed the cart into her quarters, her gaze landed on me, sharp and unyielding. I lowered my head, shrank in on myself as I had in the Gathering Hall, but it returned the opposite result. Where the pack nobility ignored my huddled form, Evangeline's gaze narrowed, piercing as ever."You'll get a curve in your spine," she hissed, rising with the fluid grace of a hawk, circling its prey from high above. "Straighten up, slave."I obeyed instinctively, back cracking straight as an arrow as I pushed further into her space."Better, but still... pathetic. Your name, it's Aurelia, yes?" Her painted lips twisted with a scowl, as if the taste of my name was an insult to her refined palette."Yes, young miss," I replied, nodding my head as I finally came to a stop beside her drawing table. I slowly, carefully unloaded the cart of her meal, presenting it in her preferred fashion. At least, I hoped it was still her preferr

It was a small blessing that my seventeenth moon day fell on one of my days off. I don't think I could have survived Delta Hester's displeasure at me taking the entire day off otherwise. Small mercies found me in those days, and I never forgot to thank the Moon Goddess for the reprieve.But that was the only small mercy that graced me on my seventeenth.All day, I felt a gnawing in my stomach. A deep ache that made me feel sick, as though starving. But the thought of eating made me want to throw up. I drank water and did my best to stay confined to my quarters, but the heat was unbearable. Not outside. Outside, it was overcast, and the winds were high, threatening a storm.Inside my body, though, fever burned hot and high.When I was a young girl in the kitchens, one of the older girls worked on the day of her seventeenth moon, and she complained of mild fatigue and increased hunger. She said it was like getting her period, but a bit worse. Hotter and mor

Dragging myself out of bed the next day was nearly impossible.The medicine Doctor Andromeda gave me lingered long after the moon set and the sun crested over the mountain range surrounding Snow Pointe. I barely slept. Unless fading in and out of consciousness counted. To me, it didn't.When my vision finally focused, the shack was lit in the soft glow of dawn.Damn it! I'm late!Delta Hester's ire awaited me. I knew I was doomed to suffer the second I entered the packhouse. All servants were supposed to report before dawn for kitchen duties. I was at least two hours behind. But even the impending doom of Delta Hester's rage wasn't enough to lift the lead from my veins.Arya whimpered in my mind, still muted and motionless after last night.Arya?Nothing.Can you speak?No response.Fear prickled along my spine. What if Andromeda's treatment kept me from being able to join with my wolf a

I woke alone.No, not alone. Arya whined within me, urging me to wake with every pained whimper. Her voice was weak and raspy in my head. She beckoned me, her thready tone a constant pleading in my mind.Aurelia? Please... please wake up.I'm here.Thank Goddess. I'm so glad, but... Something is wrong. I begged her to explain, but she went silent. Still. I hated that feeling. More than the needles and IV lines poking out of my arms. More than the pounding in my head and the ache of my ribs. More than the dizziness and the utter isolation I felt in that familiar hospital bed. I hated the absence of my wolf the most.I'd spent most of my life alone. But it was never as lonely as having her vanish from my thoughts."You're awake." Doctor Andromeda's voice sliced through the air, cold and clinical. "I was worried you wouldn't wake for a few more days. Your condition was deplorable."I flinched at her sharp tone, the familiar sludge of guilt turning my stomach sour.Why did she have to sa