Chapter One: Paige

Trigger Warning:

Chapter Thirty-One includes a domestic violence and attempted sexual assault scene.

Another warning will be placed at the beginning of the chapter of the trigger.

Truth or dare, I text him, hoping for any lifeline. Maybe he’ll tell me it was a misunderstanding.

Truth, he responds, and my heart picks up its pace.

Did you ever love me, or was it all a ploy to get laid? I type, barely able to see through my forming tears. I follow this text with the three photos of him and Amber looking real cozy with each other.

Three little dots appear and disappear.

I throw my phone against my wall and scream into my hands.

Why did he have to pick Amber to cheat on me with?

The one girl that can make me feel insecure is the one girl that Cory screws behind my back.

My tears turn into audible sobs. I try to suffocate myself into the pillow, hoping to suffocate the pain.

Those tears carry me to sleep, where nightmares await me.

---

“Paige, get up! We’re going to be late for school!” Peyton screams as he’s knocking on my door.

I wake up, and for a minute, I’m at peace. That minute ends too soon. Sadness overwhelms me as I remember the last twenty-four hours. The whimper in my head tells me that my wolf, Ash, feels the pain as well. Of course, she does. She’s a part of me.

I consider staying in bed, but there’s something about staying at home that doesn’t sit right with me. I want to go to school. I want to show Amber and Cory that they didn’t hurt me that badly. It doesn’t matter if that’s a total lie. They don’t have to know the truth.

This desire to prove them wrong is the only thing that pushes me to climb out of bed and get ready for school.

Looking at the clock, I know I have exactly thirty minutes before I have to leave.

Guess I’ll just skip that shower. I’d rather concentrate on covering up the evidence of my pain.

I go to my closet and pick out some ripped jeans with a low v neck shirt.

Simple, but enough to show Cory what he’s missing.

Seriously, Paige? Ash’s voice booms inside my aching head.      

What?

Why do we want to show him what he’s missing? Leave it alone.

For a wolf, she hates confrontation, or maybe that’s a trait she picked up from me.

He hurt us, and we can’t let that stand.

Ugh, he’s probably not even our mate. Why should we care so much?

Because I loved him, I admit.

A mistake I won’t make again.

Ash, understanding the pain of betrayal, retreats to the back of my mind, leaving me to stun Cory alone.

I get dressed, adding a push-up bra to make my cleavage look extra nice today. It’s always a nice revenge to show a guy something he can’t have. I go to the bathroom to add some natural makeup, only applying mascara to my big, green eyes and some blush to make my pale skin look a little more alive. My auburn hair is still twisted in yesterday’s braid. I release it and watch my strands fall into nice red waves. Loving the look, I skip the brush and add some hairspray.

“Paige! Let’s go!”

“Okay, okay! Chill out.” I reply, not hiding my annoyance with my twin.

Twins are uncommon among werewolves. Boy/girl twins are even more rare, but here we are.

I open the door, and there my twin brother stands. I look at him, and even though we are twins, we look so different. He looks more like my father with his golden-brown strands and big brown eyes. Standing at 6’, he towers over my 5’6 frame. That still doesn’t stop me from snapping at him.

“What is your problem today?”

“I have business to deal with.”

I see a glint in his eyes, and I know he’s planning something. I wonder what it is, but I don’t ask. The less I know, the better. Plausible deniability.

He opens the front door, and the chill of this October morning hits me. October is usually my favorite month. The leaves, the pumpkins, the undeniable energy of mystery in the air. Today, October is bleak though. I pull open the door to my black sedan and sit in the driver's seat. I’m stuck taking Peyton to school now, too, since our parents took away his car for underage drinking. For wolves, our parents are strict. My parents run the pack and us like we have some remarkable thing to live up to. We are a small pack of one-hundred and fifty, but we border a bigger pack, Aurora Flame. They have double the amount members.