Chapter 1Right before the full moon rose, my sister Sabine Nightshade dropped a message in the pack's group link.
[Emergency gathering at the northern border. Alpha's orders.]
I followed the coordinates she sent. Three miles of freezing forest later, I stepped into nothing but abandoned hunting grounds. The kind of place where rogues marked their territory and pack law didn't reach.
Sabine's voice cut through the mind-link, dripping with satisfaction.
"Gotcha! Everyone's at the packhouse, dumbass. Last patrol already headed back—how're you getting home now?"
I stood there while my parents' laughter filled my head through the link.
"She really believed it. I swear, I don't know where she gets that stupid streak."
"We're starting the feast. Walk your ass back."
Then they started arguing over whose bloodline was to blame, tossing the insult back and forth.
Desperate, I reached for Thane Wolfhart through our half-formed mate bond. He answered, and I heard the noise of the pack gathering behind him. His voice came through flat, almost bored.
"Briar, your parents already told you. Figure it out."
"It's not like this is Sabine's first prank. Stop being so dramatic."
The bond went dead.
Before, I would've begged through the link until someone came for me. But this time, staring at the distant glow of the packhouse, I just felt tired.
My sister loved her games, and my whole family loved playing along.
Two years ago, she ground up wolfsbane and slipped it into my drink. I spent three hours convulsing on the bathroom floor.
Last year, she mixed silver shavings into my shampoo. I showed up to a territory meeting with burns across my scalp and chunks of hair falling out.
This year? They know I can't shift right in the dark. So they worked together to dump me in rogue country on a full moon night.
Back home, they were probably sitting around the table, taking bets on how long before I cracked.
I didn't cry.
I turned away from the packhouse and walked into the woods.
---
The darkness pressed in so thick I couldn't see past my own hands.
On my phone—still connected to the packhouse security cameras—I watched my family gathered around the table. Four phones sat in the middle. They were betting on when I'd break and call for help.
Sabine spoke first, confident. "One minute."
When I was ten, during the harvest moon hunt, she poisoned my puppy. I ran to my parents crying, begging them to take him to the healer. They just watched me sob.
"Sabine's messing around. If it dies, we'll get you another one."
My pup died in my arms. Shaking, choking, gone. One minute, start to finish.
No one ever mentioned that replacement again.
My parents went next. They answered together. "Five minutes."
The only time I'd been allowed to join a full moon hunt, Sabine spiked my water with liquid silver. I hit the ground, throat closing, my wolf screaming inside my head. It took five minutes of agony before I finally begged through the link for someone to help me.
I spent that night in the healer's cabin getting my blood filtered. They all went to the bonfire celebration without me.
After that, I stopped going to pack gatherings. Too scared of what Sabine would do next.
Thane used to care. Even with his warrior training, he'd make time to check on me. But now—
He'd been quiet the whole time. Then suddenly he stood, grabbing his coat like he'd just remembered something.
I tightened my grip on my phone, about to send him my location. Then he stopped at the door.
He glanced at the wall clock and said, calm as anything, "Briar won't call tonight."
"Because I just had the border patrol shut down the link relay in that zone. After midnight, she's cut off from all of us."
My stomach dropped.
Sabine squealed and threw her arms around him. "That's why you wanted the northern border so bad!"
"Thane, you're a genius!"
He used to warn me away from that area. Said it was dangerous, full of rogue dens and feral packs. Said he'd never forgive himself if something happened to me out there.
Now he was fine with leaving me stranded on a full moon, just to win Sabine's stupid game.
The whole family cheered, celebrating their newest player. They hugged each other like a perfect team. That's when the last bit of hope in me finally died.
I had maybe a minute of signal left. I pulled up my email and hit accept on the transfer offer—the Winterveil Pack in the Italian Alps, leaving in three days.
I'd been putting it off because it meant leaving my family behind.
But I didn't want this family anymore.
When midnight hit, my phone died. The mind-link went silent. I picked up a thick branch and kept walking.
Somewhere in that cold, dark forest, the fear started to lift.
Turns out when you've got no one left to rely on, you figure out how to rely on yourself.
Chapter 2
By the time dawn broke, I was limping through the packhouse gates with mud caked up to my knees and my clothes torn from brambles.
When I finally got signal and checked my phone, the pack's group chat had blown up. Over a hundred messages.
Photos Sabine posted from the full moon feast. Congratulations from Mom and Dad on her recent promotion to head tracker. Pictures of Thane's perfectly seared venison he'd hunted and cooked himself.
The only direct message I got was from my contact at the Winterveil Pack.
[Take the next few days to settle your affairs. You'll be with us for at least a decade—say your goodbyes. Transport leaves in two days.]
I stood outside the packhouse door for a long time. In my bag, I had five tickets to the regional wolf games. I'd worked double patrols for a month to afford them, planning to surprise everyone.
I'd imagined us all going together. That wasn't happening now. I pulled out the one with my name and shoved the other four under the door.
The next second, the door flew open. Sabine grabbed my arm and yanked me inside. Thane stood there holding a bucket—he dumped ice-cold water straight over my head.
I hit the floor, drenched and shaking.
Sabine squealed. "I bet she cries first."
Thane let out a short laugh. "I bet she loses it first."
Mom and Dad looked down at me, and couldn't stop grinning. "Look at that face! Loser owes three hits to the shoulder."
Finally, all four of them stared at me, waiting.
I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I pushed myself up, ignoring the cuts on my palms that were starting to bleed.
I raised my hand and slapped Sabine's face.
"You all lose. Three hits each."
Sabine's eyes went wide and she let out a piercing shriek.
Thane shoved me back hard. "Briar, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Mom and Dad crowded around Sabine, shielding her like she was wounded. "Why do you have to take everything so seriously? It's just pack family messing around. You're the only one who makes a big deal out of everything."
I hadn't actually planned to hit her. I just wanted to see if they'd think it was funny if Sabine was the one about to get hurt.
Now I had my answer.
The four tickets fell from my bag onto the floor. Soaked through, already trampled under someone's boot.
Sabine followed my gaze.
"A few stupid tickets? Please. Mom and Dad already took me to the games last year. Stop acting like you're better than everyone. You're just a sore loser."
My hand hung frozen in the air. I'd spent my whole life trying to be the daughter who could make them proud, the way Sabine did.
Last month, they'd casually mentioned wanting to go to the wolf games as a family. I remembered every word.
Turns out, they'd already gone. Turns out, their idea of "family" never actually included me.
Mom and Dad glared at me. "You scared Sabine. Apologize to her!"
Thane stepped in, his voice calm and controlled. "Briar, our mating ceremony is the day after tomorrow. Don't make things ugly with your family. It won't look good for you."
Staring at the four of them lined up against me, I almost wanted to laugh.
I'd come back planning to talk to Thane, to call off the whole ceremony.
But now, I decided I'd use that ceremony to finish a game of my own.
One I'd designed just for them.
I grabbed the edge of my wet sleeve and gave Sabine the apology she wanted.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong."
She lifted her chin. "That's better."
Then she turned to Mom, Dad, and Thane with a sly little smile. "The mating ceremony is going to be my masterpiece. Just wait and see."
Chapter 3
I knew something was off the moment Thane suggested letting Sabine plan the mating ceremony. I just couldn't prove it.
Mom and Dad swore up and down. "Briar, a mating ceremony is sacred. You only get one. We'd never let Sabine mess around with something this important."
Thane backed them up. "Sabine just wants to help take the pressure off you. She wants you to look your best when we complete the bond."
I finally let my guard down.
While the whole family was out in town with Sabine, I went through her room and found a USB drive hidden in her desk drawer.
It had a label on it: Briar's Best Moments.
I plugged it into my laptop. The second the first video file opened, low laughter crept through the speakers. Hearing those voices made my skin go cold.
In the video, my parents and Sabine were gathered around twelve-year-old me at a pack bonfire. They kept pushing me to eat something—some kind of dark paste wrapped in leaves.
I remembered asking, voice shaking, "What is this? I don't think I can eat any more."
When I finally swallowed it, ten-year-old Sabine's face went red from holding in her laughter. Then she burst out.
"It's crow guts and beetles, idiot! She's so desperate for attention she'll eat anything!"
I watched my younger self gag and stumble away while Mom and Dad laughed so hard the camera shook.
Another clip autoplayed. Me waking up with a dead snake in my bed, collapsing in a panic. Me locked in the old storage shed overnight, clawing at the door until my hands bled.
My private journal—where I'd written about my first crush on a visiting pack warrior—read out loud at a pack gathering.
I got called "Lovesick Pup" for three straight years.
Every ugly, humiliating, soul-crushing moment. Sabine had edited them all together into one long video, complete with mocking captions and sound effects. She was planning to play it at my mating ceremony. In front of the entire pack and every allied territory we knew.
My parents knew. Thane knew.
My hands went ice cold. My stomach twisted, and this time I couldn't hold it back. I barely made it to the bathroom before I threw up.
Once the nausea passed, I dragged myself back to the computer.
I deleted the videos one by one and replaced them with a different file.
---
When the family came back, Mom called me over. "Your ceremonial dress is here. Come try it on."
I reached for it carefully. Sabine rolled her eyes.
"Oh my god, seriously? Are you that paranoid? Like everyone's out to get you."
I didn't answer her. I just looked at my parents. "Mom, Dad. Do you actually want me to be happy?"
They blinked, then smiled. "Silly girl. What kind of question is that? We might mess around, but that doesn't mean we don't love you."
They took my hands, acting completely innocent about what they'd planned for tomorrow.
Thane walked over and put his hand on my waist. "Alright, that's enough. You know how Sabine is. Don't let her get to you. Once we're officially bonded, I'll keep her in line."
I pretended not to notice the quick looks passing between the four of them, all of them buzzing with excitement at the thought of my public humiliation.
I calmly pulled Thane's hand off me.
"Thanks, Mom and Dad. And you too, Sabine. Since you're my family, I've got a gift for all of you too. You'll get it at the ceremony."
