Chapter 1

My limbs felt like they were filled with lead.

Through the haze, I heard my brother Ryan’s voice outside the cell.

“Mom, dad, please let Ethan out. It’s his awakening day too. He can’t miss his first shift...”

“Enough!” Mom snapped. “Why are you still defending him? Have you forgotten what he was like the first time he showed signs of being more gifted than you?”

I knew exactly what she meant.

I was ten.

During a physical assessment for the pack’s young wolves, I came in first by a wide margin.

I ran home clutching my results, my face flushed with excitement.

“I did better than Ryan!”

Ryan’s eyes immediately reddened.

Mom burst into tears.

Dad stormed over and slapped me so hard I hit the floor.

Blood from my nose dripped onto the paper in my hand.

That night, they threw me out of the house and made me sleep outside in the freezing cold.

By the time they let me back in the next morning, I could barely feel my hands or feet.

“He’s always had to be better than everyone else,” Mom said coldly. “He knew about the prophecy, and he still rubbed it in Ryan’s face. He did it on purpose.”

I sagged against the cell door, too weak even to shake my head.

No, Mom.

I was ten. I was just a kid who wanted his parents to be proud of him.

I understood that they were terrified of losing Ryan.

But why did that mean they had to treat me like the enemy?

I was their son too...

My hand struck the door again and again. I needed them to understand that there really was silver poison in the chains.

“Mom, I’m not a kid anymore,” Ryan said urgently. “I’m not going to fall apart just because Ethan is better at something than I am. And I’m definitely not going to kill myself because his wolf turns out stronger than mine.”

“What if that witch was wrong? You can’t lock Ethan up because of a prophecy—”

“That’s enough!” Dad cut him off. “We are not taking that chance!”

Then he raised his voice toward the dungeon.

“Ethan, we’re doing this for our family. You don’t want your brother swallowing wolfsbane and killing himself because of you, do you?”

“Just stay in there until Ryan gets through his first shift. Then this will all be over, okay?”

I couldn’t answer. The silver poison was already in my bloodstream.

It felt like something was tearing my chest apart from the inside.

And then I felt something even worse.

My wolf was waking up.

Deep inside my mind, a wolf slammed desperately against its restraints, fighting to complete its first transformation.

My bones began to crack. My entire body shook with pain.

I gathered what little strength I had left and pounded on the door one last time.

Mom rushed over and kicked it.

“Ethan! What is wrong with you? Do I have to teach you another lesson?”

Then she pulled the door open. A narrow gap appeared.

A sliver of light spilled into the cell.

My heart lurched.

Was I finally going to be saved?