Chapter 1

The door opened behind me, and I stepped away before anyone could catch me listening.

Margaret stood at the end of the hall. The moment she saw me outside Chloe's room, suspicion flashed across her face.

My mother had barely spoken to me since childhood. I'd learned to build whole answers from the depth of her frown, the direction of her fingers, and the pauses between her breaths.

This time, my mouth moved before my brain caught up. "I just got home. I didn't hear anything."

She studied me for two seconds, then gave a cool nod. No explanation. No question about why I was standing there.

Chloe came out behind her, rubbing her eyes before leaning against Margaret's shoulder. "Why are you still awake, Evelyn? The pack medical center's appointment ceremony is tomorrow night. I'm so nervous I don't think I'll sleep at all."

She lowered her voice as if sharing a secret. "Mom usually guards every word like it costs her blood. Who knows if she'll even bless us onstage?"

I looked at her wide, innocent eyes and almost laughed.

If I hadn't heard Margaret coaching her through the examination moments ago, I might have believed her. I always had before.

At eighteen, I gave up the Northern Royal Academy while Chloe entered the best local healing school. She failed her graduation assessment twice, yet somehow landed an internship at Black Pine Medical Center. Now she couldn't handle a shift-trauma case alone, but she had been approved for the senior healer examination.

I'd always called her lucky.

For the first time, I wondered how many of my mother's words were buried inside that luck.

The ceremony took place the following evening. I had been chosen as the Northern Royal Pack's next Chief Healer, while Chloe had finally become a staff healer. Our names appeared side by side on the lobby screen, with front-row seats reserved for our family.

Dr. Elena Ward, the outgoing Chief Healer overseeing my transition, had come down from the north. After confirming my contract, she approached Margaret and bowed her head, exposing her neck in respect.

"Ms. Harper, Evelyn is one of the finest healers I've ever worked with. The Northern Royal Pack is honored to welcome her."

Elena offered her hand. Margaret glanced at it but didn't touch it.

The smile on Elena's face tightened as her hand hung between them.

I stepped in, as I always did. "She doesn't like speaking in public."

I'd used that excuse so many times it came out smooth. That only made it more pathetic.

Then Chloe's department supervisor walked over. "Ms. Harper, Chloe is wonderful with people. Once she passes the senior assessment next month, we'd like her to lead our wellness program for young wolves."

The coldness vanished from Margaret's face. She clasped his hand and smiled like any ordinary mother who was proud of her daughter.

"Chloe has always had a soft heart and plenty of patience. She won't let you down."

The sentence came out warm and easy, without so much as a pause.

It wasn't a binding blessing, only a mother's approval. I had never received even that.

Elena turned to me. The question in her eyes left me nowhere to hide. "She doesn't hate speaking, does she?"

My nails bit into my palm, but I managed a smile. "She just hates speaking to me."

When it was my turn, Black Pine's Alpha read my appointment letter. The room erupted in applause. Elena stood, and patrol wolves whose lives I'd saved shouted my name.

Margaret sat in the front row with her hands folded in her lap and not a trace of pride on her face.

The host passed her the microphone. "As Evelyn's mother, would you like to say a few words?"

Margaret looked up at me. Her lips parted.

The last ember of hope in my chest flared to life, humiliatingly eager.

Then she shook her head and pushed the microphone away.

Ten minutes later, Chloe received her staff badge. Margaret walked onstage without being asked, straightened Chloe's collar, and said in front of the entire pack, "I'm proud of you, sweetheart."

The crowd laughed warmly.

From behind the curtain, I watched them and felt nothing at all.

On the drive home, Margaret asked about Chloe's first shift, warned her not to skip breakfast, and told her to call if a case became difficult. She never asked when I was leaving.

I stopped waiting for her to care.

The truth was, my mother had once loved me more than anything.

But that changed one afternoon.

When my six-year-old sister, Chloe, ignored every warning and ran beyond the pack boundary, Mom searched for hours before finally finding her covered in mud.

Fear and anger overwhelmed her. For the first time, she lost control of the witch blood running through her veins.

"If you keep running off like this, one day you'll lose your wolf!"

That night, Chloe developed a terrible fever.

Her wolf fell dormant for seven years. Even after it finally awakened, it remained weak and sometimes lashed out whenever Chloe became emotional.

No healer could prove that Mom's words had caused Chloe's illness.

But Mom believed they had.

And from that day forward, she spent years trying to make it up to Chloe.

First, she got her a place at the academy.

Then an internship.

Another chance at the examination.

And finally, the attention that had once been mine.

I had a strong, steady wolf. When I fell, I got up. Because I never cried at Margaret's door, she decided I needed no comfort and would never leave.

In my room, I opened the contract from the Northern Royal Pack and pressed my thumb beneath CONFIRM APPOINTMENT. Then I sent Elena a text.

[EVELYN: I'll arrive on schedule. I also need an application to transfer packs. Please don't notify Black Pine yet.]

Her reply came less than a minute later.

[ELENA: Understood. The north will keep your decision confidential.]

I locked my phone. For the first time, the thought of leaving my mother didn't frighten me.