Chapter 4

Marcus's phone destroyed the last bit of hope I had left.

The day before their departure, he went to take a shower, leaving his phone on the couch.

The screen lit up with a notification from a family group chat.

It was called "We Love Leah."

There were five members.

Dad, Mom, Marcus, Hale, and Leah.

My parents, my brother, the mate who had once been mine, and a girl who didn't share a drop of our blood had made a family of their own without me.

So where did that leave me?

I couldn't stop myself from opening the chat. The message history went back several months.

The group had been created the day they booked the tickets.

Mom had posted photos of Leah trying on her ski outfit.

"Little Leah is finally going on her very first trip!"

Marcus had sent a string of celebratory stickers.

"Anything for my baby sister. Wherever you want to go, I'll take you."

Scrolling further back, I found a voice message from Dad.

"Hale, you're good to Leah. She hasn't had it easy. With you looking after her, I don't have to worry."

Hale had replied right away.

"Don't worry, Mr. Carter. I'll take good care of Leah."

"Nice work, man!" Marcus had cheered.

My brother had pinned both messages at the top.

"Marcus, if Beatrice sees this chat, it'll break her heart."

Leah seemed at least a little worried about me.

"Don't worry. She won't check my phone," Hale had replied.

"She's not even in this group. Stop worrying!"

My brother had reassured her too.

"That's a relief, then. I really don't want to upset Beatrice."

Leah had replied with a sweet little giggling sticker.

She claimed she was afraid I'd be hurt.

Yet the moment she knew I was safely kept in the dark, she relaxed enough to laugh.

I quietly put the phone back where it was, my fingertips ice-cold.

So they had been shutting me out for months.

"What are you doing with my phone?!"

Marcus strode over in his bathrobe and snatched the phone from my hand.

Shaking all over, I turned and stared him down.

"Why am I not in the family group chat?"

The living room went quiet. Mom came out of the kitchen, and Dad came down the stairs.

Leah peeked out of her room.

Marcus froze for a moment, then lifted his chin as if he had every right to exclude me.

"What's it to you? That's where we talk about taking care of Leah. It's not like you're coming on the trip."

"Hale is my fated mate."

I turned to Dad, keeping my voice even.

"When you told him to take good care of Leah, was that because you think the two of them should be together?"

Dad's face hardened.

"You get ruder every day. Leah's father gave his life for Marcus. You're supposed to be her older sister. How can you be so vicious, twisting everything into something ugly?"

Hale had just walked in, and he immediately jumped in to defend himself.

"Enough. You're overthinking this. Leah and I are like brother and sister, nothing more."

So he hadn't even noticed that our mate bond had already been severed.

"That's why you forgot our anniversary, bought her a necklace, and gave me a rogue's fang?" My voice remained flat.

Hale answered without hesitation.

"How many times do I have to explain this? She was upset, and I was just comforting her. Why can't you let this go?"

Leah slowly stepped out, drawing in on herself as she looked at me.

"Beatrice! It's my fault. Please don't be angry. I'm sorry."

Marcus jabbed his finger in my face and roared.

"Enough! Beatrice, are you done? Her father died saving me! If you resent us for repaying that debt so much, then get out of here! This family has no room for a cold-blooded monster like you!"

My brother was telling me to get out of my own home.

Dad watched it all in silence, without saying a single word.

He didn't say Marcus was wrong. He didn't ask me to stay.

I stood in the middle of the room like a prisoner waiting to be judged by a pack tribunal.

My crime was being selfish.

Too exhausted to say anything else, I went back to the attic.

Within ten minutes, the silence outside was broken.

Mom soothed Leah, Marcus comforted her, and Hale did the same.

It was as if the fight had been nothing more than a minor interruption.

The house was livelier than ever.

I heard Marcus moving tables and chairs, followed by the pop of a champagne cork.

They were celebrating before leaving the next day.

Marcus played guitar and sang.

Hale asked Leah to dance.

Their laughter carried straight through the thin walls. In this family, I was the only one who didn't belong.

After nightfall, I began cleaning out the attic.

I gathered up old clothes, notebooks, and every piece of junk Hale had ever given me.

I bagged it all up and dumped it in the trash cans outside the house.

I washed the dress Leah had given me, folded it neatly, and left it beside the air mattress.

At dawn, I left with everything I owned.

The rest of them were still asleep in their warm beds.

This had never really been my home.

The wind swept past me as I walked away.

I never looked back.

At nine that morning, Mom finished making breakfast and called out to Leah.

"Sweetheart, get up and eat! We're heading out!"

As she passed the attic, she gave the door a casual knock.

Once everyone was seated, she finally remembered me.

She went back to the attic door and pushed it open.

"Are you still sulking?"

The attic was empty. Not a single thing of mine remained.

"Where's Beatrice?"

She murmured, her face darkening.

Just then, someone knocked on the front door.

Outside stood an old werewolf with a limp: Arthur Bell, the pack's former Gamma.

He had been wounded in a rogue raid years ago and had rarely taken part in pack affairs ever since.

In his hand, he clutched a brown paper package.