Chapter 1

The moment my mother called, I had just signed a seven-figure licensing agreement for one of my proprietary rituals.

Her voice was as distant as ever.

"Serena is holding her Bonding Ceremony this weekend.You have to come home."

She hung up.

I opened the family group chat I'd kept muted for months.

As a wolfless, I'd never been included in my family's Mind-link. This group chat was the only channel they were willing to use with me.

My brother Elliot chimed in, which was rare for him. 【Wear something decent. Don't embarrass Serena. Everyone coming from Ashford Pack is a high-ranking Alpha.】

Ethan Cole, who had grown up alongside me, jumped in right after.

【Your First Shift was ten years ago. If you'd just gotten your act together back then, made it into Whitemoon Academy like Serena, you wouldn't be living off scraps in New York.】

I scrolled through the messages, one after another.

I stopped on the one Melanie Reed had sent. Melanie, who used to be my closest friend.

【Hazel, Serena is marrying into Ashford Pack. If things aren't working out for you in New York, just come home. Let Serena find you something to do around here. Anything's got to beat working two jobs.】

Elliot added, 【Even that would be doing her a favor. She spent three months studying and still couldn't tell one basic herb from another. She can't even smell like a wolf.】

Ethan followed.

【She's defective. First Shift failed. Hazel, you're just a defective piece of work.】

I lowered my eyes.

Ashford Pack?

Their Wolf King, Sterling Ashford, had sent three formal invitations through the Dean of Silvermoon Academy, hoping to get thirty minutes of my time. He had been asking for three months.

The messages kept scrolling.

I couldn't be bothered to read any more. I sent a single line: 【OK. I'll be there on time.】

Serena immediately hit me with a Venmo transfer.

$0.01.

The note read: 【For your flight home ❤️ Can't wait to see you, Hazel!!】

Elliot's voice message hit within seconds.

【Serena's Bonding Ceremony is costing a fortune. How could you actually accept? Send it back. Now.】

Ethan followed.

【Even if Serena is about to become Luna of Ashford Pack, that doesn't give you a free pass to guilt-trip her.】

I was about to type back.

Melanie sent a sighing sticker.

【Enough. Can you two lay off Hazel for once?】

【She's the only one in our group whose First Shift failed. She's been avoiding us for a decade. She's finally willing to come back. Don't scare her off.】

I lowered my eyes.

Eighteen years old. Yes.

I had been avoiding them.

Senior year of high school, Serena came back from studying at some remote Pack, and slipped into my little circle with Ethan and Melanie like she'd always belonged.

Just like at home, I became the invisible one again.

We'd be walking down the hallway together, and suddenly the three of them would stop mid-step at the same moment.

Ethan would tilt his chin up slightly. Melanie's eyes would follow his gaze. Serena would lower her head with a small smile.

I stood there beside them.

At first, I'd ask them, confused, what they were laughing about.

Every time I asked, they said it was nothing.

Later I figured it out. They were talking through the Mind-link.

As a "wolfless," I was locked out of that conversation by nature.

But after my First Shift at eighteen, every hour of my life went into the labs at Silvermoon Academy.

I didn't have the time to hide anymore.

A private message from Serena pulled me back.

【Hazel, don't take the Venmo the wrong way.】

Her voice was soft. 【I know New York is stressful, and rent keeps climbing. I just wanted to help out, cover your flight. There's really no other meaning behind it.】

She tacked on a teary-eyed emoji.

Predictably, the group chat filled up again with praise for how "thoughtful" she was.

I took a screenshot of the payment and sent back $0.01.

The chat went quiet for a few seconds.

Elliot was the first to jump in.

【Hazel, what's your problem? Not enough? You're a wolfless. Being allowed to attend Serena's Bonding Ceremony should have you thanking God.

She isn't even embarrassed to have you there, and you have the nerve to complain about her Venmo?】

Ethan added, 【A penny is still a gesture.】

Melanie chimed in. 【Serena actually cares about you. You screenshot her transfer to humiliate her. Did you even think about how she feels?】

I leaned back in my chair and took a sip of coffee.

At eighteen, this would've kept me awake all night.

At twenty-eight, I felt nothing.

Serena sent a voice message.

Her tone was cautious.

【Hazel, I was just so excited when I heard you were coming home. I accidentally sent the wrong amount. Don't be upset, okay?】

【I really do worry about you, out there in New York on your own. I already told Julian to keep an eye out for a job for you.】

【But the standards at Ashford Pack are pretty high. Your situation… honestly doesn't even meet the minimum. Maybe I can get you a spot at the pack house as a receptionist. Or kitchen help. Don't take it personally.】

Elliot sneered. 【What right does she have to take it personally? She has no one to blame but herself. When my coworkers ask about her failed First Shift, I can barely bring myself to say it out loud.】

Ten years ago, the day the academy acceptance letters landed at home.

Serena got into Whitemoon Academy's elite Alpha program.

I got one rejection, and a waitlist notice from a satellite school at a fringe Pack.

My parents booked a two-week Europe trip for Serena and Elliot.

They gave me $50.

Said it was for two weeks of groceries.

They said it without a hint of shame.

"Kids who failed shouldn't get to travel too. That would be unfair to the ones who worked hard for success."

I wanted to tell them that family shouldn't be ranked by a single First Shift.

But then I remembered. The mug that had smashed against my forehead.

I said nothing.

And I never told them what I actually became, that night in the forest during my First Shift.

I am a White wolf.

I never told them the truth.

There was a knock at the door.

Emma, my assistant, stood in the doorway, her voice respectful.

"Dr. Whitmore, Ashford Pack sent another email. This time through Dr. Langley. He called personally. He's asking if you could spare thirty minutes."

The "Rogue Purification" joint research initiative Ashford Pack was leading, backed by East Coast Packs, had already burned through five hundred million dollars.

They'd been stuck for two years on the core ritual for reversing corrupted wolf souls.

And one of the rituals I'd mastered happened to be the key that opened that lock.

Emma paused. "Should I turn them down again?"

I let out a soft laugh.

"No. Tell the Wolf King. This weekend, I'll be in Newport."