Chapter 3

The next morning, the sound of helicopter blades woke me.

I stepped onto the balcony and found my family gathered on the landing lawn, dressed for a day in the capital.

Rosalie spotted me and waved.

“Aria! Why aren’t you ready? We’re shopping for the Academy today.”

I frowned. “When was that decided?”

“Callum told everyone in the group chat last night.” She lifted her phone. “Didn’t you see it?”

I checked mine. There were no new messages.

“What group chat?”

Rosalie’s smile faltered.

“The one Callum made a few days ago—”

Julian cleared his throat, cutting her off.

“It’s mostly jokes and random videos,” he said. “We didn’t think you’d be interested.”

His fingers moved across his screen. A second later, my phone vibrated with an invitation.

Rosalie’s Royal Court

Five members: Father, Mother, Callum, Julian, and Rosalie.

Five people.

A complete family without me.

“Go get dressed,” Mother called. “We’ll wait.”

I returned to my room and had barely pulled a dress from the wardrobe when the roar of the helicopter grew louder.

By the time I reached the courtyard, it was already lifting from the lawn.

My phone buzzed.

A message from Julian.

The pilot said there wasn’t room for another passenger. Stay home today. We’ll bring you something.

The Ashwood family owned three helicopters. No one had considered taking another.

I typed a reply.

Okay.

Then I watched them disappear over the forest.

It wasn’t the first time Rosalie had taken my place.

When Mother brought her home seven years ago, Rosalie was terrified of sleeping alone. Mother moved another bed into my suite so I could comfort her through her nightmares.

Six months later, Rosalie said sharing a room made her feel like a guest.

Mother gave her my suite in the Alpha family wing and moved me across the hall.

The following year, Rosalie wanted the adjoining room as an art studio. I was sent to the guest wing.

By the third year, visiting Alphas needed those rooms, so Mother moved me into an old apartment above the stables.

It had a bedroom, a small bath, and a narrow window overlooking the training grounds. It was perfectly comfortable by ordinary standards.

But it was no longer inside the family residence.

We lived on an estate with more than thirty rooms. Space had never been the problem.

I had gone from sharing my suite with Rosalie, to surrendering it, to leaving the Alpha wing, and finally to living outside the main house.

Now there wasn’t even a seat for me in the family helicopter.

My phone vibrated again.

This time, it was a Council travel notice.

Your seat to the Moonridge northern territory has been confirmed.

Departure in three days.

When the family returned, night had already fallen.

Rosalie entered first, followed by servants carrying garment bags and boxes stamped with the names of the capital’s finest ateliers.

“We brought you something,” she said brightly.

Julian approached me with a small velvet box.

“For leaving without you,” he said. “Consider it an apology.”

I opened it.

Inside lay a delicate platinum bracelet set with tiny moonstones.

For one foolish second, warmth stirred in my chest.

“Thank you,” I said.

Rosalie set a large jewelry case on the table, barely containing her excitement.

“You should see what Julian won at the Full Moon auction.”

She opened the case.

A rose-gold necklace rested against black velvet, its moonstone pendant shaped like a pair of wings.

I recognized it immediately. It was a one-of-a-kind piece by Celeste Laurent, the most sought-after jeweler in the northern packs.

Julian had once told me her work was too expensive to justify.

Rosalie lifted the necklace toward her throat.

“Isn’t it beautiful? Julian knew I’d been dreaming about it, so he kept bidding until everyone else gave up.”

Then Rosalie glanced at the bracelet in my hand.

“Oh, that came with the necklace,” she said. “The auction house included it as a complimentary collector’s gift.”

My fingers tightened around the velvet box.

Julian had spent a fortune buying Rosalie the necklace she wanted.

And the gift he brought home for me was the free item that came with it.

04

Rosalie touched the moonstone pendant at her throat.

“Julian, you shouldn’t have spent that much. The final bid was insane.”

Julian shrugged.

“You’re starting at the Royal Wolf Academy. You deserve at least one piece made especially for you.”

Mother leaned closer to admire the necklace.

“It’s beautiful, Julian, but you’ve already done so much for her.”

Julian smiled. “I wanted her to have it.”

I looked down at the platinum bracelet in my hand.

A small black tag hung from the clasp.

FULL MOON AUCTION—COLLECTOR’S GIFT

Rosalie glanced at me, then at the necklace case in her hands.

“Aria, don’t you like it?”

I didn’t reply.

Her fingers tightened around the case.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how you’d feel.” Her voice grew quieter. “Julian wanted to bring you something because we left without you, and the bracelet is lovely. But it came free with my necklace. I should’ve realized that might hurt you.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“This is my fault. I wanted the necklace so badly that you ended up with the complimentary gift.”

“Rosalie—” Mother began.

“I always get the best of everything.” Rosalie’s voice broke. “And Aria is left with whatever remains. I’m so selfish.”

Mother hurried to her side.

“Don’t say that. None of this is your fault. Julian bought the necklace because he wanted you to have it.”

Rosalie shook her head and unclasped the necklace. She placed it back in its case and pushed it toward me.

“No. If this has hurt Aria, then she should have it. I don’t want it anymore.”

Mother immediately stopped her.

“Don’t be ridiculous. It was chosen for you.”

Tears slipped down Rosalie’s cheeks.

“But Aria must feel terrible. Ever since I came into this family, she’s had to give up so much.”

Her gaze moved to the small case on the side table.

Inside lay Grandmother’s moonstone cuff.

It was made of white gold, engraved with the Ashwood crest, and set with a moonstone that had been passed through our Luna line for generations.

Grandmother had placed it on my wrist shortly before she died.

Rosalie picked it up.

“What if we trade?” she asked. “Aria can have my necklace, and I’ll take this. Then we’ll both have something special.”

I stood so quickly that my chair struck the floor.

“No.”

Rosalie flinched and almost dropped the cuff.

“My grandmother left that cuff to me,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“That’s enough, Aria.” Callum stepped between us.

“Rosalie offered you a one-of-a-kind Laurent necklace for it,” he snapped. “That old cuff has been sitting in a box for years. Why are you acting as if she tried to steal it?”

“Because it’s mine.”

Julian caught my arm.

“Your father walked away from that attack because Rosalie’s father lost his wolf,” he said. “Is one cuff really too much to give her?”

“You can’t replace an heirloom.” I insisted.

“Then I’ll commission another one,” Julian said. “It’s only jewelry.”

“It is not only jewelry.”

“Enough.” Father’s Alpha command silenced the room.

His cold gaze settled on me.

“Rosalie will have the cuff. Her father sacrificed his wolf saving my life. You can give up one piece of jewelry for his daughter.” His tone left no room for argument. “This discussion is over.”

Mother held Rosalie while she cried. Callum and Julian watched me, waiting for me to stop making things difficult.

They all expected the same answer.

I wanted to ask why, if Rosalie’s father had saved Father, I was always the one expected to repay the debt.

Why did every act of gratitude begin with taking something from me?

But I swallowed the questions.

They had never listened before, and there was no reason to believe they would start now.

In three days, I would be gone.

The cuff would be the last thing they ever took from me.

“Fine,” I said.

Rosalie wiped her tears.

“Thank you, Aria.”

I returned to my room and closed the door.

When Grandmother gave me the cuff, she had fastened it around my wrist herself.

“This belongs to you,” she had said. “No one has the right to take it away.”

She had been wrong.

Three days later, the household was awake before sunrise.

Servants loaded Rosalie’s luggage, art cases, and new wardrobe onto the family jet. Mother checked every case twice.

Before they left, Mother handed me a boarding pass.

“Your flight leaves at noon,” she said. “It lands shortly after ours.”

There had been room on the jet. They had filled it with Rosalie’s belongings instead.

“I’m leaving now,” I said.

Mother was adjusting Rosalie’s coat and didn’t look up.

“Rest on the flight. We’ll see you at the Academy.”

Rosalie waved as she climbed aboard.

“See you there, Aria!”

I watched the jet roll toward the private runway.

Then I returned to my room, collected my suitcase, and took the Council car waiting beyond the estate gates.

I wasn’t going to the Royal Wolf Academy. I was reporting to Moonridge.

At the northern terminal, my phone filled with messages.

Aria, the airline says you never boarded. Where are you?

Call me immediately.

I removed every member of my family from my contacts and turned off my phone.

When the Council aircraft lifted above the clouds, the Ashwood territory disappeared beneath me.

For the first time in my life, I felt no urge to look back.

Whatever debt they believed they owed Rosalie was theirs to repay.

I would no longer be the price.