Chapter 1

After I accepted the invitation, my body wouldn't stop trembling.

No one at home noticed this.

Hale bustled back and forth, carrying Leah's freshly cleaned snow boots, a sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Out of habit, I handed him a damp towel and told him to take a break.

He didn't take it. His eyes were fixed on Leah.

"Leah, your boots are packed, and your passport is on the nightstand. Stay close to us on the mountain."

Hale stepped around me and led Leah straight to her room.

He passed right by me without so much as a glance.

In five years, Hale had never been that attentive to me.

Even when I was injured defending the border and asked him to come pick me up, he'd always find some excuse not to.

Later, I found out he had spent that entire day with Leah at an amusement park.

Seeing me just standing there, Mom gave me a push.

"Go clear out your room. We have too much to pack and nowhere to put our luggage."

"Then where do I sleep?" I asked flatly.

Mom thought for a moment, then pointed at the attic.

"Move up there for now. Once we leave for the trip, you can move back into your room."

"The attic doesn't even have a window," I said.

"It's only a few days. Besides, didn't you live in the attic when you were little? You're not going to make things hard for Leah over something this small, are you?"

Thinking I was about to make a scene, her expression turned cold.

But I was too exhausted to argue. I simply moved into the attic.

My mind drifted back to childhood, when Leah first joined our family.

That year, Marcus wandered off to the border while fooling around and got caught in a rogue attack.

When Gavin saw the rogue draw a silver dagger, he stepped in front of Marcus and took the blade through the heart.

As the pack's Luna, Mom had been the one who sent Gavin to bring Marcus home that day, so she could never forgive herself.

The day Leah was brought home, Mom held her and cried for hours.

"From now on, you're my child. No one will ever mistreat you."

Then she turned to me.

"Our family owes Leah a life debt. She gets the best of everything first. You'll move into the small room next door. We'll get a bigger house soon."

A few days stretched into seven years. And nothing had changed.

The attic was barely twenty inches high. As an adult, I could only crawl through it, and the floor was coated in dust and mold.

There were no vents, only the electric hum of a fluorescent tube.

An air mattress on the floor passed for a bed.

That night, Mom made Leah's favorite barbecue.

Marcus piled meat onto Leah's plate while Hale picked the bones out for her.

I sat at the far end with nothing but an empty plate in front of me.

No one noticed that I couldn't reach anything.

Not until my stomach cramped with hunger did I get up and walk to the grill.

The moment I speared a few leftover pieces of meat, Mom rapped me on the hand with a spoon.

"Beatrice, why haven't you changed your clothes? All that dust on you is making Leah cough. She barely eats as it is, and you're only making it harder for her to eat."

I set down my plate and tossed my utensils into the trash.

Leah stood up uneasily.

"Mom, I just choked a little. Beatrice, I can go make something you like."

"Why bother with her? We're supposed to be celebrating your time off, and her being here is already ruining the mood!"

Marcus cut Leah off.

I looked at Hale, sitting beside Leah.

He said nothing, just reached over to straighten Leah's apron.

His expression was calm and gentle, without a hint of contempt, yet it hurt more than if he'd simply yelled at me.

He wasn't deliberately shutting me out. Deep down, he simply believed my hurt had nothing to do with him.

I went straight back to the attic. I was starving, but I had no appetite left.

Lying on the air mattress, I read up on the Wasteland Pack.

The Alpha King wanted to turn it into a fortified stronghold unlike any other pack territory.

It meant a five-year posting, with no trips home.

"We trained under the same mentor, and he spoke very highly of you. You're a pureblood and highly capable—exactly what we need. All you're missing is some field experience and a chance to prove yourself."

He praised me. He believed in me.

I hadn't told anyone. No one would care even if I did.

In this house, my bloodline and my achievements had never been worth noticing.

Five days left until I had to report in.

Then I would disappear from this family for good.

It would probably be a long time before they even noticed I was gone.