CHAPTER ONE- AN UNEXPECTED NIGHT 

THALIA 

I was going to fall.

My fingers slipped against the wet stone ledge, the rain making everything slippery and far more treacherous. 

This was insane. This was absolutely insane.

But I didn't let go.

Instead, I gritted my teeth, adjusted my grip, and jumped down. 

The grey servant's dress I had stolen clung to my legs, the black mask hung around my neck, bouncing against my collarbone with each terrified movement. I almost fell sneaking out of my own house to attend my own brother's party. The absurdity of it, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The sounds of the party grew louder as I approached the ballroom. I hoped this outfit would help me do what I hoped to do best—avoid my parents. Neither of them wanted me here, they had made it very evident when I got locked up in my room. 

'For my own protection' they had said. 

The ballroom had been transformed into something from a dream.

I had never seen so many powerful wolves in one place. Alphas and their families, dressed in silks and jewels. Their power was terrifying, even from here.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting light across hundreds of elegantly dressed wolves. White roses, Lucian's favorites, naturally filled the marble columns. The orchestra played on a raised dais and everybody moved so gracefully I felt instantly out of place. 

Despite being the first born of the Ashen family.

This was the world I had been born into.

The world I had never been allowed to see.

They say every wolf has their place in a pack, I thought bitterly. But they forgot to mention where a wolf like me belonged in their perfect world.

"Move." 

I jumped as a server nearly collided with me, balancing a tray of champagne-filled glasses.

"Sorry," I mumbled, pressing myself flatter against the wall.

He didn't even spare me a glance. I probably passed off as a clumsy little omega to him. And I wasn't even an omega. I grabbed an empty tray from a nearby service table and stepped into the ballroom like my disguise required. 

Four steps forward and I bumped into another body. 

"Ah—watch where you're going will you?” 

My eyes went wide and I immediately lowered my eyes. It was my brother. Lucian had that lazy smirk on his lips, but his amber eyes and brows were drawn tight. 

“Are you trying to soil my suit, wolf?” His finger slid under my chin and I internally gagged. Lucian would take a liking to anything in a dress. But I couldn't let him figure out that it was me behind the mask and outfit. I mumbled a half-assed sorry and walked away quickly. 

“Don't run from me. I don't bite.” 

I rolled my eyes. I hoped the idiot fell into a ditch somewhere. 

Most people had nothing but love for their siblings, but my case was different, and if you were in my shoes you would've thought the same. I was a year older than he was and yet I was treated smaller—I get it, he's the big bad wolf who did our family name proud by shifting into a glorious wolf on his fifteenth birthday. 

And I was the daughter who embarrassed my parents by shifting into what seemed more puppy than wolf. Since then cleaning up after him, dedicating my life to making him the perfect son had been all I was good for. Even today I had made his breakfast, and the day before that, and the year before that. 

"Ladies and gentlemen." 

Every wolf in the room turned toward the source of the voice. The tray shook in my hands. 

Headmaster Valdren Dwayne stood at the top of the grand staircase.

He was impossible to miss, with silver-gray hair falling to his shoulders and his skin the rich color of caramel. But it was his eyes that commanded attention. Pure molten gold. It was said that he hailed directly from the ancestral line of the first primordial wolf.

He wore traditional ceremonial robes rather than modern formal wear, and somehow that made him seem even more formidable. 

The crowd parted instinctively as he descended the stairs. My father, Marcus Ashen stepped forward with my mother at his side. The most powerful wolf family in the north, bowing to this man.

"Headmaster Valdren," Father's voice was highly respectful. "You honor us with your presence.” 

He smiled a little, obviously pleased by the decorations that had been done exactly as he asked without a single ribbon in the wrong place. 

"The Selection will proceed," he turned to the crowd and announced. "and those chosen will resume at The Howling Spire in three days time." He held up the list that contained the name of those already nominated. Lucian's was number four. 

"Those who are not..." He paused. "Will have time to reflect on their inadequacies."

I was well aware of the unspoken statement, failure to be selected equaled the disgrace of the individual and their family. And out of the twenty names on that list, only ten would be selected.

But Lucian never failed.

The ceremony began with traditional formality until finally...

"Lucian Ashen."

The room erupted in loud applause with my parents barely holding back their victorious cries. 

“So dramatic.” I murmured to myself. It wasn't like we weren't expecting him to be picked. 

When the applause finally died down, there was no Lucian. 

My father's brows furrowed, he looked around and so did the crowd.

Where was Lucian? 

I felt a hard slap on my shoulder. 

“Why are you still standing there waiter, go and find the son of the Ashen family. Now!”

What? Since when did waiters become finders or bodyguards?

“Wait—I…” 

“Now!” 

“Okay. Okay. I'm going.” I held my palms up in surrender before angrily stomping away, trying not to cause a scene. Where the hell was he anyways? I walked out of the party hall, about to go back to the house and check his room. But the sound of hard footsteps caught my attention. I followed the sound and it led me beside the hall.

“Lucian!”

My brother lay on the ground, pale, without a pulse. The figure stepped back when I arrived and fear took root in my chest. I couldn't tell who it was or what gender they were, but they had killed Lucian. At his own party. 

Before I could say a word they fled. 

I should have stayed. I should have cradled my brother's corpse and screamed for help.

But instead, I ran.

My feet pounded against the marble floor as I tore after the assassin. Wolves scattered around me, too shocked to register what was happening. 

"Stop!" The word ripped from my throat.

The figure was fast, impossibly fast, but I knew these grounds better than anyone. 

They reached the bottom of the staircase, running faster than I could reach. But I wasn't about to stop. I gathered every ounce of strength in my legs and leaped. For one weightless moment, I literally flew with my hands outstretched, reaching for the cloak, for any part of the assassin I could grab. But I missed a step, and the next thing I heard was the crack of my own ankle and the impact of my skull crushing against the bottom of the stairs. 

The last thing I registered was the feel of warm liquid pouring out from my busted head. And the distant sound of my mother wailing about the two bodies that lay outside the hall. Lucian's and mine. 

The fate of our entire family had been sealed in one night.