Chapter 2

Friday. I landed in Newport.

No one came to pick me up.

I called an Uber Black and rode straight to my parents' front door.

Melanie was the one who opened it.

She froze for a moment. Something subtle flickered across her eyes.

"Hazel… I almost didn't recognize you. New York has been kind to you, hasn't it? Who would've thought a wolfless could survive that well outside a Pack."

I didn't answer. I walked past her.

Serena's eyes swept over the watch on my wrist, then the trench coat I was wearing. She pressed her lips together.

"Hazel, we're all family here. There's no need to overdo it for appearances. How many credit cards did you max out for this?"

Ethan laughed.

"Impressive, Hazel. Been out there long enough to pick up on knockoffs."

I looked at the faces in front of me.

Ten years, and they hadn't changed much.

Elliot had put on weight. Melanie had picked up fine lines at the corners of her eyes. Ethan's hairline had noticeably receded.

Serena, on the other hand, was carefully polished. Like a porcelain doll someone had spent a lot of time packaging.

What they all had in common was the same faint condescension in their eyes when they looked at me.

I raised an eyebrow.

"From the day I left home until now, I've never once mentioned my income to any of you. I've never sent any of you a private message complaining. Where exactly are you getting your assessment of me?"

No one had an answer.

My mother came out of the kitchen and set a dish on the table. She glanced at me.

"You don't have a wolf, and you don't have any real skills. What kind of decent job could she land? Three thousand a month at most."

My father clapped me on the shoulder. "That's enough. We're all family here, no strangers. No one's going to laugh at you for struggling. Let's just eat."

Eight dishes on the table. Ethan and Melanie both let out an admiring "wow."

"Mrs. Whitmore still remembers I love roasted ribs."

"That lemon cream salmon I raved about last time. Mrs. Whitmore made it again."

I glanced across the table.

Everyone had their favorite dish in front of them.

Even the golden retriever curled up by the couch had a small bowl of beef, portioned out just for him.

Only I had a plate of green salad.

At the table, my mother personally sliced off the most tender piece of rib and slid it onto Serena's plate.

"These past few years, we've invested in a few properties along the Newport coast. One for Elliot. One for Serena. We're living in one, and there's a smaller one out for rent."

She looked up at me. "Hazel, Elliot is the Alpha heir of this family. Serena is an Alpha female, marrying into Ashford Pack. It's only right they get properties. You don't even have your own wolf. Why should they have to share what's rightfully theirs with you?"

I set down my fork and let out a laugh.

"So property distribution in this family is based on shifting rank now? Not on the number of biological children?"

The table went silent.

My mother's face flushed dark red. Her hand came down hard on the table.

"Hazel! Ten years you don't come home, and the second you do, you're giving me attitude?!"

"If I'd known your First Shift would fail, I should've sent you off to the Omega servant quarters the day you were born! Would've saved us the humiliation!"

Exactly the same as ten years ago.

The night after my First Shift.

The mug came flying at my forehead.

Warm blood dripped onto the hardwood floor, drop after drop.

She had that same expression then.

Ten years. I had long since given up on that thin sliver of maternal love.

At this moment, I felt nothing.

My father stepped in to smooth things over. "Your mom talks tough, but she's soft underneath. Don't take it to heart."

He laughed and changed the subject. "Serena, a friend of mine got hold of a bottle of Soulmoon Wine. Wine that used to only touch noble lips. I'll give it to Mr. Ashford tomorrow. He'll love it."

Serena pressed her lips into a smile. But her eyes flickered away.

"Dad… Mr. Ashford. He might not be able to make it."