Chapter 2

After a night curled up on the foldout couch, I woke with a stiff back and aching shoulders.

The kitchen was already busy.

Mom was frying broccoli. Connor sat at the table on his phone, while Jasmine fixed her hair in the full-length living room mirror.

I’d barely got up from the couch when Mom spoke without turning around.

“There’s cereal and milk in the fridge. Get yourself something if you’re hungry.”

There were only four breakfasts on the table.

Buttered toast for Dad, an omelet for Connor, a chicken sandwich for Jasmine, and a blueberry tart for Mom. Everyone’s favorite.

Nothing for me.

I opened my mouth to tell her the foldout couch was uncomfortable.

Then I looked at those four plates and changed my mind.

What was the point? She hadn’t even thought to make me breakfast. Why would she care how I’d slept?

“Mom, are there any eggs left?”

“In the fridge. Cook some yourself. I’m busy.”

Connor glanced up between bites of his omelet.

“Abby, how much longer are you staying?”

“Jasmine needs the living room to practice. Your couch is in the way.”

I stared at him in shock.

“But I just got here.”

He looked back at his phone.

“I’m just asking. I’m not kicking you out. Why are you looking at me like that?”

Mom brought over the broccoli and gave him a light pat on the head.

“Enough. Eat your breakfast. Abby just got home. Leave her alone.”

Then she turned to me.

“But Jasmine does have another dance competition coming up. She needs room to practice. Clear your things out of the living room today so she can use it.”

“Where am I supposed to sleep?”

“Move a few things in the storage room. There’s enough space for the foldout couch. You can sleep in there.”

I’d been starving a moment ago. Now I had no appetite at all.

After breakfast, Dad picked up his jacket. He stopped by the table on his way out.

“Your mom said you wanted to talk to us last night. What about?”

I set down my cup.

“I wanted to tell you I’m going to Silverfrost Pack……”

“We can’t hear you. Tell us later. Your dad has patrol.”

Mom cut me off and handed him his lunch bag.

I froze. Only then did I notice how loud everything was.

Connor was playing a game on his phone with the sound turned up. Beside him, Jasmine kept asking Dad to watch her new dance steps.

There was noise everywhere. No one was listening to me.

Dad gave Jasmine some attention before turning back to me.

“We’ll talk when I get home.”

That morning, I sorted my clothes in the living room while Mom talked to our neighbor, Mrs. Hollis, on the porch.

They’d left the door partly open. I could hear every word.

“Abby had her awakening yesterday, didn’t she? How did it go?”

“Fine, I suppose. She hasn’t mentioned any problems.”

“What’s she planning to do? Join the patrol?”

“I don’t know. Things have been so busy, I haven’t had a chance to ask. She never tells us anything.”

Mrs. Hollis lowered her voice.

“Well, she’s an adult now. She ought to find something to do. Otherwise, let me tell you—”

“Oh, she won’t sit around. She’s always been like that. Never liked being at home.”

For a moment, I wanted to open the door and tell Mom the truth.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like being home. There had never been a place for me here.

I was the extra person no one noticed.

Then Mom’s phone rang, cutting through my thoughts.

She usually took calls on speaker, and I could make out Connor’s teacher on the other end.

After just a few words, she rushed inside for her bag.

She remembered to speak to me as she passed.

“Connor got into a fight. I have to go sort it out.”

“Have yesterday’s chicken for lunch. And wash Jasmine’s dress. She spilled juice on it this morning.”

Before I could answer, she slammed the door behind her.

Opened shopping bags littered Jasmine’s floor. Clothes she’d tried on covered half the bed.

The dress lay across the back of a chair. Its tag was still attached.

I picked it up and checked the price. It cost twice my monthly allowance.

The orange juice on the skirt was still wet. It left my hand sticky.

My phone buzzed as I put the dress in the washer.

Someone had posted a video in the new warrior group chat.

Several warriors were practicing hand-to-hand combat on Silverfrost Pack’s training grounds. Beyond them stretched a pine forest. The border patrol had just changed shifts.

A she-wolf named Greer sent me a private message.

“I’ll show you around when you get here. I’ve already picked up your training gear. Just need your boot size.”

I sent her the size, then played the video again.

For years, I’d gone to the training grounds before sunrise. I’d wanted to become a warrior and protect my pack ever since I was little.

Now I’d awakened such a powerful wolf. I finally had the strength to follow that dream.

I replied to Greer.

“Thank you. I’m leaving the day after tomorrow.”