Chapter 1My daughter ate wolfsbane.
It started with a few photos circulating on the students' phones. Everyone said they were of her. Ms. Bennet, their teacher, smiled in front of the whole class and said, "Who knows which one of your boyfriends took them."
My daughter cried and said, "They're my brothers!"
The teacher just shrugged. "Fine. Brothers. Four men with four different last names. They're all your brothers."
My daughter came home crying. The school said it was just kids joking around and not to make a big deal out of it.
I made four phone calls that night.
The next morning, four Maybachs blocked the school entrance. The principal's legs gave out when he saw who got out of those cars.
My daughter was curled up on a hospital bed, thin beyond recognition. The pack doctor had done everything he could to undo the damage the wolfsbane had caused.
The moment I saw her, my legs went weak.
"Cerise…"
She didn't respond. Her pupils were glassy, staring at the ceiling.
The pack doctor pulled me outside. "I did my best to flush out the toxins, but the wolfsbane already caused irreversible damage to her body. And her mental state isn't good. You should spend more time with her…"
I could barely sit through the rest of his sentence.
My lively daughter. My healthy little wolf. Why would she suddenly choose to swallow wolfsbane?
I went back to the room and sat by her bed, waiting quietly for her to wake up. I held her hand. It was cold. So thin I could feel every bone.
"Cerise." I bent down and pressed my cheek against her fingers. Hot tears hit her skin. "Can you tell Mommy? Why?"
Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
I waited.
After a long time, she finally spoke. "They said my brothers were my boyfriends…" The moment she started talking, the tears fell.
Rage exploded inside me. "Who… who started it?"
Cerise turned her face toward me. "Wilma Bennet."
Wilma Bennet was their herbalism teacher.
"She said in class that if my four brothers with four different last names weren't my boyfriends, then they must be bastards Mom slept around with from different rogues…"
"Everyone laughed. After that day, no one talked to me. There were notes on my desk every morning."
I was shaking, barely holding it together. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I went to the principal." Cerise's voice cracked. "But his son was the one spreading the photos! Those photos of me! But they kept laughing at them anyway. Pointing at me. Whispering. Because I rejected him as my mate. I tried to fight back against the rumors, but Mr. Hale just said, ‘It's just a joke, don't take it so seriously.'"
"Korbin Hale found out I complained, and he spread the photos even more. They all said I was guilty because I made such a big deal about it."
Every word out of Cerise's mouth twisted the knife deeper. I forced myself to stay calm, told her to rest, and walked out holding her backpack. That's when the tears came.
Then I saw the notes sticking out of her bag. I shouldn't have looked. But the words were too ugly to ignore.
"Cerise, which dad did your mom run off to last night?"
"How many scents has your mom's wolf been with now?"
"Heard you turned down Korbin. Stupid move. Without him, no wolf would ever want you as a mate anyway."
The rage made me strangely calm.
A few minutes later, I closed my eyes and reached out through the mind link. My wolf howled inside me.
The first to answer was Alden Sterling. His howl was always steady and strong.
"What's wrong, Mom?"
"Your sister's in trouble."
"What?"
"She swallowed wolfsbane. She's in the pack hospital. She's been lied about, bullied by classmates, humiliated in front of the whole class by her teacher…" I could barely get the words out.
Alden paused. Then, "Where is she now?"
"At Briarhold Pack's hospital."
"I got it. I'm on my way."
I didn't hear his voice again, but I knew he would come.
The second to answer was Edmund Vale, which surprised me. He was the head of the Joint Wolf Council for all the packs and always busy.
"Mom?" His voice was thick with exhaustion.
"Cerise is in trouble."
A long silence. Then Edmund's voice turned cold as ice, like he was facing an enemy.
"I'm coming."
The third to answer was Peregrine Croft. His voice was usually as cold as a glacier, never warm.
"Mom?" But with family, he was always gentle.
"Someone pushed your sister so hard she ate wolfsbane."
Anger flared through the mind link. Peregrine's breathing turned ragged.
"Who did it."
"Come home first."
"I'll be there tonight."
The fourth to answer was Gideon Riven. He was usually the cheerful one, just as loving as the rest. I figured he'd answered so late because he was in surgery. I worried about him too. "Gideon, I know you're saving lives right now, but can you come to Briarhold Pack's hospital? Cerise… she needs you… I need you…"
I thought about how Cerise looked in that bed and couldn't finish the sentence.
"Cerise ate wolfsbane…"
"I heard you."
Gideon's voice had no emotion in it at all. Nothing like his usual bright self.
"Be right there."
I hugged Cerise's backpack and cut the mind link. From the bottom of my heart, I prayed that my family's support would be enough to pull her through.
Chapter 2
At four in the morning, I sat in the dark woods, unable to sleep.
I'd found Cerise's diary crammed with writing. I shouldn't have read it. But I needed so badly to understand what had happened to her.
This is what Cerise wrote:
"Why? Why is all this happening to me? Will tomorrow be better? Will the day after? What about after a week? Is it my fault? Should I laugh along when they laugh?"
"You're fine, Cerise. Tomorrow will be better. Just face it with a smile. Don't worry, Mom."
"I never took those pictures. I'd never show guys something like that. How do I explain that? Why won't they believe me? Should I just ignore them? Their laughs make me sick."
"Should I not have said no to Korbin Hale?"
"I don't want to go to school anymore… Mom asked why… I didn't want to answer."
"The graffiti on my desk won't come off."
"I need to buy a new textbook."
"I want to change my haircut."
"I can't go home smelling like dead rat."
"This day is so long. Just end already."
"The boys all left for work. It's just me and Mom now. So I should protect her. Don't let her worry. It's okay, Cerise. This will all pass."
The diary slipped out of my hands and landed on the grass.
I thought she was just stressed about school. I thought she was just being quiet because of puberty.
I brewed wine from sunrise to sunset every day. I thought paying for her tuition was the best protection I could give. I didn't know she needed me to care about how she was feeling inside.
She got humiliated. Pushed into eating wolfsbane. And she didn't say one word to me. Because she knew how hard I worked to raise five kids alone. She didn't want to be a burden.
But what gift is better than seeing your kid happy and healthy?
The diary fell open to the last page. Just one short line:
"I'm sorry, Mom. I can't hold on anymore."
My face was wet with tears.
The sky was just starting to lighten when I heard footsteps in the forest.
Alden reached me first. He was still wearing his leather armor, the scars on his face standing out. His yellow-green eyes were full of worry. He smelled like pine wood. He was a warrior for Clearbrook Pack, just back from the pack border.
His fellow warriors—his pack brothers—came with him.
"Alden, call us if you need anything," one of them said. "You're our future Alpha. Your sister is one of us now."
Alden's voice came out rough. "Thank you… but give me a minute with my family."
He came to me, and I didn't hold back. I pulled him into my arms and sobbed.
The second to arrive was Edmund.
He was still wearing his dark blue Wolf Council robe, the cuffs unfinished. His gray-green eyes were heavy. Any wolf who'd done something wrong would take one look at those eyes and be terrified.
Peregrine came third.
He wore a black hood. Mysterious. But his face looked like a movie star's, and his pale gray eyes had she-wolves falling all over themselves.
He stopped cold when he saw me clinging to Alden, sobbing. His mouth pressed into a hard line.
Gideon was the last to reach me—but not because he was late. He'd gone to the pack hospital first. Checked Cerise's chart. Used his medical skills to diagnose her himself. Then he came to join our family meeting.
The first thing he said was: "One more hour, and we would have lost her."
His eyes were sky blue. The color of a winter afternoon.
I told them everything. Their faces got darker with every word.
"I know you boys don't always get along." My voice came out cold. "But tonight, I'm ordering you. You will stand together to protect your sister."
Chapter 3
They aren't mine by blood.
Over twenty years ago, I found Alden in the woods. He was three. I found Edmund at the edge of a cliff, abandoned. I adopted Peregrine out of the foster care. I discovered Gideon stuffed inside a cardboard box at the pack border.
Add my birth daughter, Cerise Elms, and that made five kids to raise.
So I worked. I brewed wine from sunrise to sunset. The wolves around here lined up to buy it. That was how I scraped by raising them.
There were a lot of problems along the way. Mostly the four troublemakers. Peregrine and Alden fought each other. Edmund bit the neighbor's sheep to death. Gideon played pranks on strangers.
And when they went through their first shifts, I stayed up with them all night so they wouldn't lose control.
I'm not their birth mother. But they grew up smelling my scent. We formed a bond that nothing can break.
After they learned to shift, they finally grew up into gentlemen. They built their own careers and moved out.
I never took credit for any of it. I just needed to know they were safe somewhere I couldn't see.
They grew up just fine. My only wish left was for Cerise to grow up fine too. To get through her first shift.
My husband died in an accident. Cerise is my only birth child.
Alden and his brothers treated her like treasure. They always called her their little moon goddess.
I thought so too. Cerise never fought with anyone. She never hurt small animals. She was the easiest kid, which was why I missed her pain completely.
"Cerise's school is on Briarhold Pack's territory." I steadied my voice and looked at my sons. "The principal is Rooklyn Hale. The wolf spreading fake photos of my daughter is Korbin Hale."
"Hale." Peregrine frowned. "That sounds familiar."
"Common last name," Gideon said with a shrug. "Half my patients are Hales."
"But it's not common in Briarhold Pack." Alden was the oldest, the most steady. "Briarhold Pack's Alpha has that last name."
"So you're saying Korbin Hale has connections." Peregrine shot Alden a look. "That's why he thinks he can hurt Cerise without consequences. Don't tell me you're scared. You're just a warrior right now. You haven't taken over Clearbrook Pack yet. You don't want to pick a fight with Briarhold Pack's Alpha."
"Even if I were just a regular wolf, I'd fight for my sister." Alden's glare was ice cold. "What about you? Does your current position even let you fight anymore?"
Peregrine's pale gray eyes flashed with anger. Those two never got along.
"Enough. Don't make Mom worry about you two." Edmund put on his Wolf Council demeanor. He'd been the peacemaker since they were kids.
"People are saying we're not a real family because we've got four different last names. Are we going to let them be right?"
"And our Cerise…" At her name, everyone went quiet.
"We need to make those people pay." Alden's voice was hard. "We can do it the civil way. Or not."
"Whatever connections they have, ours are bigger." Gideon looked at Peregrine with a smirk.
Peregrine just blinked, all innocence.
