The Queen of the Exiles

School

Amanda Dillinger woke up at her usual time of 0430, just because she had to burn the excess energy she always had before she could even think of anything else. Lycans usually lead very active lifestyles in their Packs, but as it was just the two women, Amanda had to improvise a training course that would allow her to keep fit and not go crazy. It had been an everyday thing for over 8 years, when she got her Lycan on the night of the full moon of her 8th birthday.

As one of the Royal Family, even the humans had been able to tell she was different. The relentless torment causing her to learn how to conceal the scent of her Lycan, just so she could have peace at school. When she heard her mother's alarm go off at 0600, Amanda knew it was time to get ready so she could be to school by the time the bell rang at 0800. She jumped into the shower, her bright fire red curls tightening as the got soaked before she lathered the shampoo through her hair and rinsed it. Fortunately it didn't take long for her to get ready, making it upstairs just as the coffee she and her mother enjoyed every morning finished so she could pour them each a cup as her mom walked into the kitchen a few seconds later.

"Morning sweetie, ready for school?" Margaret Dillinger asked her daughter as she was handed a steaming hot cup of coffee.

"As ready as I will ever be, its not like I am going to be making a bunch of friends there." Amanda said glumly as she actually had some human friends she loved hanging out with. They even knew she was a Lycan, thinking it was cool how she was pure white, unlike every other ugly brown or dark black one they had seen their entire lives.

"You don't know that, maybe they will surprise you there. I know there will be a bunch of students just like you from all over the country. Maybe you can make friends among them?" Margaret suggested making her daughter sigh.

"It's just another year until college, so why bother? I wanted my senior year with my friends, not a bunch of loser snobs that think they are better than everyone else." Amanda said as her mom put a set of keys on the countertop.

"Well maybe if you show them they aren't better than everyone, you can make some friends that way. Most of our kind respect strength and power. Plus a new car never hurt to impress anyone." Margaret replied sliding the keys to her daughter who was stunned when she saw the Konigsegg Symbol on the key.

"You didn't?" Amanda asked her mother who had a smile. She had a poster of the very car she wanted, that happened to be a Konigsegg One in metallic pink.

"I told you that I had to special order your birthday present and it would be late. Seems that the color you want isn't a standard option." Margaret said as Amanda rushed around the counter and hugged her tightly.

"Thanks mom." she said not knowing how she deserved something like this.

"No racing the other kids, no matter how fast they think their car is." Margaret said as Amanda rushed to the garage to see her new car that she had no idea had been delivered the day before.

At exactly 0730 Amanda drove into the school parking lot, surprised that there were already a bunch of cars there for the students who stayed in the school dorms. She parked in one of the spots close to the administrative building, going in to finalize her registration and get her class schedule. She was glad she got there early, as by the time she alone had finished the rest of the exiles and rogue wolves had joined the line, with only a few people manning the desk to work through all the students.

Amanda made a dash for her first class, glad that all of her credits had transferred from the human school to this one. As soon as she walked into the gym however there was a teacher waiting for the students to arrive.

"Have you shifted?" he demanded roughly glaring at her as it was clear he was a member of one of the Packs.

"Excuse me?" she asked him stunned he would blatantly ask something so personal before he even knew her name.

"Are you 16 yet?" he demanded as Amanda nodded her head. "Have you shifted since your birthday?" he demanded before she found an opportunity for malicious compliance.

"Since I turned 16, no." she replied honestly. Starting at a new school she didn't want anyone to know that she was a freaky white Lycan. Not that she cared, but as a kid more than once she had been called exactly that because her color wasn't normal. Children of any species could be extremely cruel, having experienced more than her fair share of it.

"That side, welcome to preparing physical fitness, preparing to shift." the teacher said pointing to the bleachers on her left as she grabbed her bag and went over to sit down so she could read her book before class started.

She could hear the other kids slowly making their way into the classroom, filling the seats in furthest away from her in the front row next to the window. She was studiously ignoring the whispers of how someone like her could be in the advanced placement classes, especially because this school has the most rigorous standards for their advanced placement courses. Not even them tossing paper balls was enough to get her to stop reading, glad when she finally smelt another exile enter the room quickly followed by a few friends that came and filled in some of the seats around her as she heard the 2 minute warning for class to start, just before the teacher rushed in and threw her stuff on her desk just in time to catch the next paper ball flying towards Amanda.

"That kind of treatment will not be tolerated from any student in my class room. If you have an issue with respecting your peers, no matter what disagreement you have with them, you will not be welcome in this classroom. Is that clear Mr. Finnigan?" Mrs. Toyanaka asked him clearly irritated as she looked at the floor. "I will give you until the time the bell rings to clean these up. For each one I find on my floor after the bell rings, you will get a weeks detention." she said throwing the ball of paper into the waste bin with clearly practiced precision.

The other exiles were surprised as the kid quickly got out of his chair and rushed to the aisle to start picking the balls he had thrown earlier away, sweating the time he had until the bell rang as he quickly gathered them. He had just thrown the last one away when the bell rang and he rushed to his seat as Amanda kicked one she had hidden under her shoe into the aisle he hadn't gone down where the teacher was already picking up 2 more that he had missed.

"3 weeks detention beginning at lunch Mr. Finnigan. If any of you are caught doing something like this in my class moving forward, it will be a week suspension for each one. Mr. Spencer, how kind of the Prince to show up late. You can join Mr. Finnigan in detention for today. Find a seat now!" she ordered as she looked over the class. "For those who do not know me, I am Mrs. Dani Toyanaka. This will serve as both home room for the first 15 minutes of class, as well as Advanced Placement Physics level 3 for the remaining 75 minutes." she said as she began going over not just the class rules but the school rules as well.

She brokered no disruption in her classroom, and it seemed even the Prince knew not to put a toe out of line in class, as it seemed he was well aware she could discipline him within the confines of the school rules. Amanda even got the distinct impression that if this school ever had to call home, it wouldn't be something to look forward to.

It wasn't until lunch that she saw her younger half brother, washing dishes behind the counter next to the boy who had been throwing the paper balls at her before her first class. Both of them glared at her as she went through the line, grateful that this school would actually let her get as much as she wanted to eat. She sat down at a table by herself, ignoring the flares of the Pack Students who went to this school, even if they weren't from the same Pack. It was a term they used for those who enjoyed the perks of a Pack, just like most Pack Wolves called them Rogue.

There however was a distinct difference between a Rogue and an Exile, mainly to do with how badly someone has messed up. Refusing to follow the orders of the Alpha of a Pack, would get you exiled. More serious crimes like r**e and murder would have you cursed as a Rogue. It slowly drove the creature mad, as well as covering them in a taint that was easily identifiable, no matter which species Rogue it was. Exiles however could find another Pack, so long as the Alpha of that Pack was willing to accept them. Most Wolves weren't Exiled for long, as they would either join another Pack, or be killed by Rogues. Her mother that was one of the rare few who survived as a Lone Wolf, especially because Wolves were very social creatures.

So when others started sitting beside her at the table, those in her classes so far sitting nearest, she saw it as an opportunity to make some new friends. "Amanda Dillinger." she said introducing herself.

"Amy Peterson and my twin sister Nancy." the girl next to her said introducing herself and her sister who was sitting across from Amanda. "We are from Hanover, where are you from?"

Amanda nodded knowing Hanover was another of the Human Cities where Exiles could find sanctuary if they couldn't locate a Pack to take them.

"Outside of Darlington, about 7 miles up the road." Amanda replied before they just started talking about the school and what they would be able to find in the Human city. Despite coming here, they knew outside of the school it would be best to mingle with the Royal Pack as little as possible.