Chapter 3

My father froze.

"What? Mr. Ashford isn't coming? This is Julian's Bonding Ceremony. Two Packs joining. How could he not be there?"

Serena sighed.

"Julian said there's a very important guest coming from New York these next few days. Mr. Ashford has to receive them personally. He genuinely can't get away."

Elliot frowned. "Who is it? More important than his own grandson's Bonding Ceremony?"

"I don't know either," Serena said, shaking her head. "Julian just said the person's from New York. Mr. Ashford went through several intermediaries. Waited nearly three months just to secure this meeting."

Melanie looked baffled. "What kind of big shot has that kind of nerve? Ashford Pack's stature is what it is. Mr. Ashford waited three months?"

Ethan scoffed. "Right? So what if they're from New York. Bigger deal than Serena's Bonding Ceremony?"

Serena waved her hands quickly. "Don't say it like that. Julian said this person holds a ritual that could resolve a critical problem for Ashford Pack. Mr. Ashford said if they can lock in this collaboration, Ashford Pack will be sitting on top of every other East Coast Pack for the next decade."

She paused. Her eyes drifted casually toward me.

"Hazel, you've been in New York for a long time. Ever heard of anyone like that?"

I shook my head.

"Not sure."

Elliot scoffed. "She's a wolfless who couldn't even keep her own wolf. What would she have heard? Serena, don't try to include her in every topic. She can't keep up."

I kept eating and didn't say anything.

What was I going to say?

That the person Mr. Ashford had been trying to meet for three months was me?

They'd only burst out laughing, then decide I'd lost my mind.

After dinner, I sat for a while and was about to get up when my father suddenly called after me.

"Hazel, your mother cleared out your old room a few days ago. You haven't been home in ten years. She doesn't say it out loud, but she's never stopped thinking about you."

He added with a smile, "Fresh sheets and pillowcases. Your mother picked them out herself."

The words had barely landed when my mother came out of the kitchen wiping her hands. Her tone was flat.

"That room's for Melanie tonight. Hazel, you can make do on the couch."

The smile on my father's face froze.

Melanie looked up from the couch, glanced at me, and the corner of her mouth twitched up.

"Mrs. Whitmore, I feel terrible about this. I can just book an Airbnb."

My mother's voice left no room for debate. "You come by so rarely. How could I let you stay somewhere else? Hazel is family. It's only one night on the couch."

I stood by the table, silent.

"Hazel?"

My mother's voice pulled me back.

She was frowning. Probably annoyed that I hadn't immediately agreed.

I stood up.

"No need. I've already booked a hotel."

Her face darkened.

"What's that supposed to mean? You have a home and you'd rather stay at a hotel? The couch isn't good enough for you?"

I picked up my coat and started toward the door.

"I'm used to sleeping in my own bed."

Behind me, my mother's voice dropped into a mutter. "This child… ten years away and her temper's grown. Every word gets thrown back at me."

The door closed behind me.

Ten years ago, the girl who woke up sweating on that couch would have gone off and cried in secret, unable to understand why her mother treated someone else's daughter better than her own.

The Hazel of ten years later doesn't do that anymore.

Deposits kept rolling into her accounts. Licensing fees for her rituals. Dividends from cross-Pack collaborations. Consulting fees from the Council.

Every number came with more zeros than she could bother to count.

She had long since stopped needing anyone else to be good to her.

She was good to herself. Without any restraint.