Chapter 1Just because I came out sixty seconds after my twin brother, everything that should've been mine had to go to him.
The Alpha title. Every first-place ranking in training competitions.
Didn't matter that I was way stronger than him.
Didn't matter that I drew every single tactical map for the Pack.
Those sixty seconds changed everything.
At least I still had Nightglass—the tattoo shop I built from scratch.
My one escape. My one thing that was actually mine.
Never thought it'd become the leverage Dad used to force me into backing down again.
But this time?
I'm fucking done giving in.
...
My twin brother came into the world sixty seconds before I did.
Those sixty seconds meant he'd wear the Alpha crown someday.
Fast forward eighteen years, and that same minute screwed me over at Westbridge Academy.
The scoreboard lit up over the training grounds.
Declan Vale.
Number one.
Next Alpha of Greyhaven Pack.
Everyone went nuts cheering for him.
I scanned down the rest of the names.
Two.
Three.
Four.
I wasn't anywhere on it.
Sixty minutes before that, I'd put Declan flat on his back while four teachers and three hundred kids watched.
His shoulder ate dirt first.
My claws were an inch from his jugular.
They all saw it happen.
Declan caught my eye from across the field.
Just for a heartbeat, I saw guilt flash across his face.
Then Brielle came flying at him, arms everywhere.
"You're amazing! I totally knew it!"
My half-sister had on her cheerleading outfit with some sparkly silver thing in her blonde hair.
Seventeen years old, gorgeous.
And seriously talented at playing the victim when adults were around.
Declan hugged her back.
Dad walked over and congratulated him with a handshake.
Alpha Grant Vale didn't even glance my direction.
Coach Miller tracked me down by the equipment shed about twenty minutes later.
"Arden."
He sounded exhausted.
I kept wrapping up the tape from my hands.
"So where do I actually rank?"
He shut the door.
"Top of the list."
I let out a bitter laugh.
"Then why's my name missing from the board?"
His jaw clenched.
"Your dad had a chat with Principal Morris this morning."
Naturally.
"He said the future Alpha can't graduate ranked under his sister."
"And just erasing me entirely?"
"According to him, putting you second would raise too many questions."
My knuckles had split open during the match.
Little drops of blood welled up in the cracks.
I focused on that instead of losing it.
"Thanks for being straight with me."
"Arden, I tried to fight it—"
"But you changed the board anyway."
He had nothing to say to that.
By the time I got home to the Pack House, they were already throwing a party.
A massive banner stretched across the dining room.
CONGRATS TO OUR FUTURE ALPHA.
Declan's medal sat dead center on the table.
The medal I'd actually won.
Dad was pouring himself scotch.
"Shut the door."
I did.
Lenora perched next to him.
She'd married into the Luna position less than twelve months after Mom died having us.
She always wore white when she wanted to look angelic.
Brielle draped herself on the arm of Lenora's chair.
Declan stood over by the window.
"You made your brother look bad today," Dad said.
"I won the fight."
"That's the entire problem."
My wolf tried to claw her way up inside me. I shoved her back down.
"You're the one who told me to compete."
"I expected you'd use some common sense."
"You expected me to throw the match."
Lenora let out this dramatic sigh.
"Why do you always have to make everything so difficult?"
"It was literally a combat test."
Her eyes went cold.
Dad set his glass down hard.
"Declan needs the Pack's respect. He's going to be Alpha. You're not going to trash his reputation over some school competition."
I turned to my brother.
"You good with this?"
Declan finally looked at me.
"I came out first."
"By sixty seconds."
"Sixty seconds still counts."
He moved closer.
"It was decided the second we were born."
His eyes dropped to the black ink stains under my fingernails.
"Anyway, you've got your tattoo place, right?"
"What's my shop got to do with anything?"
"You've already got your own business. Your own income. Your own thing."
He gestured like that explained everything.
"Why do you need to come after my Alpha position too?"
Nobody handed me Nightglass Tattoo.
I started sketching designs for money when I was fifteen.
I scrubbed that empty storefront myself.
I saved for six months to buy my first tattoo gun.
Not one person in this room contributed a dime.
Lenora slid a folder toward me.
"Speaking of the shop, Brielle needs a design for the graduation showcase."
I didn't touch it.
"She can do her own."
Instantly, Brielle's eyes got all watery.
"I just wanted some help."
"Then ask me yourself. Don't have Lenora boss me around."
Dad's voice went arctic.
"You'll do the design."
I stared at the medal on the table.
Then at the folder.
One kid got my victory.
The other got my labor.
There was never anything left over for me.
"Fine," I said.
That night, I went back to Nightglass Tattoo.
The shop smelled like antiseptic, paper, and ink.
It was the only place with my name on the door.
I sat at the counter and pulled up the North Coast Advanced Academy website.
I'd had the application sitting in my drafts for almost a year.
Always found some excuse not to send it.
Declan needed training help.
Dad needed reports done.
Brielle needed another drawing.
Greyhaven needed me.
Or at least that's what I kept telling myself.
I attached my actual combat scores, my design portfolio, and Nightglass's financial records.
Then I hit submit.
Chapter 2
Next evening, I stayed late finishing a black rose on someone's shoulder blade.
By the time I sanitized everything and locked up, it was almost midnight.
Rain followed me home to the Pack House.
Kitchen lights were still on.
I opened the fridge.
Every shelf had labels.
DECLAN – TRAINING MEALS.
BRIELLE – PROM PREP.
GRANT AND LENORA.
Nothing with my name on it.
Lenora walked in wearing a silk robe.
"What're you doing?"
"Looking for food."
"Should've eaten at your shop."
"You didn't save anything for me?"
She crossed her arms.
"Declan has a strict diet plan. Brielle's getting ready for prom. You own a business. Pretty sure you can afford to feed yourself."
"I live here too."
"Then start acting like you're part of this family."
She walked off before I could ask what that was supposed to mean.
I found some stale crackers in my backpack and headed upstairs.
My bedroom door wouldn't open all the way.
Boxes everywhere.
Brielle's shoes, dresses, and makeup were piled against my bed.
A clothing rack stood where my desk used to be.
The other half of the room had maps, training files, and a second computer setup.
Declan sat in my chair.
"What the hell is this?"
He didn't look up.
"Dad wants a strategy room for my transition."
"This is my bedroom."
"You're barely ever here."
"Because I'm working."
"Exactly."
He scrolled through a map I'd made for him last month.
"Brielle needed more closet space. I needed somewhere quiet. You've got the apartment over Nightglass."
That apartment had no heat and a busted window.
I'd crashed there twice during bad weather because Lenora had locked me out.
"So you both just took over my room."
Declan leaned back in the chair.
"Don't start with this."
"Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"At your shop. Isn't that what you wanted? Independence?"
Brielle showed up in the doorway.
"Are you mad about my stuff?"
"Move it."
Her lip started quivering.
"Mom said you wouldn't care."
"Well, I do."
"You have so much room at Nightglass."
There it was again.
The shop I built from nothing was now the excuse for why I didn't deserve food, space, or a place in my own house.
Declan stood up.
"Quit making her cry."
"I just asked her to move her boxes."
"You're being aggressive."
His hand clamped around my wrist.
Right where it was already bruised from him grabbing me after training.
Pain shot up my arm.
"Let go."
"Apologize first."
My wolf surged up.
The air shifted.
Declan's grip loosened.
For half a second, fear flickered in his eyes.
Then he dropped my wrist.
"Go cool off."
I grabbed my backpack.
"Gladly."
I spent the night on the ratty couch above Nightglass with my jacket as a blanket.
Six the next morning, Brielle showed up at the shop.
Carrying two coffees.
"Truce?"
I didn't take one.
She set them on the counter.
"I need that design today."
"I never said I'd do it."
"Dad said you would."
"Dad doesn't own my work."
She looked around the shop.
One wall was covered with photos of my tattoos.
Wolves, flowers, names, scars transformed into art.
"Everyone already knows you're talented," she said. "I never get to be special."
"Then make something yourself."
"I can't draw like you."
"That doesn't mean you get to take my stuff."
Her expression hardened.
The sweet little sister act vanished for a moment.
"You make everything so complicated."
She left without the coffee.
That day, I had clients all day.
Until nighttime came around did I finally have time to organize my stuff.
That's when I realized my graduation sketchbook was missing from my locker.
So was my original Greyhaven crest design.
Chapter 3
I found my stolen work blown up on a screen twenty feet high.
Westbridge Academy had packed the graduation hall with students, teachers, and families from three different Packs.
Brielle stood front and center in a white dress.
My wolf crest design loomed behind her in silver and black.
Every single line was mine.
Even the tiny crescent moon I'd hidden in the left eye.
My signature mark.
"First prize in the Westbridge Graduation Design Competition," the principal announced, "goes to Brielle Vale!"
The place erupted.
Dad jumped to his feet first.
Lenora was clapping with her hands pressed together like she was praying.
Declan was grinning.
I started walking toward the stage.
Brielle spotted me. Her smile faltered.
"Arden," the principal said. "Please sit back down."
"That design's MINE."
The applause cut off.
Brielle clutched her award.
"What are you doing?"
I connected my phone to the presentation system.
My original files appeared on the screen behind her.
First draft.
Second draft.
Timestamps.
Client notes from Nightglass Tattoo.
"Revoke the award," I said.
I looked straight at the principal.
"And give credit to the actual artist."
Lenora rushed to the stage.
"This is just a family misunderstanding."
"No. It's theft."
Brielle started crying.
"I didn't steal anything! Mom said the design belonged to the Pack!"
"The Pack didn't create it."
"You have everything!" she shouted.
Her tears came harder when people turned to stare.
"You've got an Alpha wolf! You've got your shop! You win every single fight! I just wanted Dad to be proud of me for once!"
Dad stepped between us.
"That's enough. Arden, you're going to tell the principal you gave it to her."
"I didn't."
"You'll fix this embarrassment right now."
"The embarrassment is your daughter stealing from me."
His face changed.
Not because Brielle stole.
Because I'd said it where everyone could hear.
Declan came up behind me.
His hand locked onto my injured wrist.
"Do what Dad told you."
"Get your hand off me."
His Alpha command slammed into the room.
"Submit."
My knees didn't buckle.
My wolf exploded forward.
Power rolled out of me and shattered his command like glass.
Declan staggered backward.
Gasps rippled through the hall.
Nobody moved.
Everyone felt it.
My Alpha power was stronger than his.
Dad looked around at all the watching families.
Then he leaned in close enough that only I could hear.
"Nightglass Tattoo operates on Greyhaven territory."
Ice flooded through me.
"You wouldn't..."
"Keep running your mouth and that shop loses its permit by sunrise."
Lenora's hand landed on my shoulder.
"We let you play around with your little hobby to keep you busy. Don't mistake tolerance for freedom."
They'd stolen my ranking.
Taken over my room.
Ripped off my designs.
Now they were going after the one thing I'd built myself.
I could call them out right here in front of everyone.
Expose the whole mess.
And tomorrow morning, Dad would shut down Nightglass, freeze every Pack-connected account tied to my business license, and trap me here before North Coast could respond.
So I dropped my hand.
Brielle's tears magically stopped as she smiled.
"Fine," I said.
Dad's shoulders relaxed.
"The design stays under Brielle's name."
"Sure."
"With one condition."
I pulled a folded paper from my bag.
"Sign this."
He barely glanced at the first page.
"What am I looking at?"
"School permission form for my final term. Sign it, and I'll tell the principal I gave her the design."
Lenora snatched the paper and shoved it at him.
"Just sign it already. Everyone's staring."
Dad scrawled his signature.
Alpha Grant Vale.
Handed it back without reading the header.
TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION FOR NORTH COAST ADVANCED ACADEMY.
I turned to the principal.
"The design was a gift for my sister."
The lie tasted like ash.
Scattered applause started up again.
Brielle clutched her stolen award.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I checked the screen.
APPLICATION ACCEPTED.
REPORT IN SEVEN DAYS.
Dad had just signed away the daughter he'd never bothered to see.
