Chapter 2

"Once Eliana leaves for the border, we should turn the Omega quarters into a hall of heroes."

It was four days after the move. My mother spoke calmly as she cut her eggs at the breakfast table.

My father nodded. "Good idea. Chloe's father's things, and the other fallen warriors… they need a proper place."

"I'll do it!" my brother Jasper piped up. "I'll design it myself. It will be the grandest memorial in the whole territory."

I sat at the far end of the table, sipping my water.

No one asked if I wanted to go to the border.

Just yesterday, my father had officially announced that I must complete a two-year deployment there to "prove I was worthy of the Luna title."

It wasn't a question; it was an eviction notice.

They just assumed I would quietly pack my bags and obey.

They just needed me gone. To make space for this "honor."

They were going to erase every trace of me.

Not even a single brick would be left.

Like I never lived here at all.

That afternoon, I was sorting my luggage outside the Omega quarters.

Rhys strode over, two gift boxes in his hands.

One was a large, elegant velvet box. The other was a small, plainly wrapped one.

He walked right past me to Chloe, who was strolling in the garden, and handed her the big box.

She opened it. Inside lay a single, polished wolf fang.

My breath caught.

It was Rhys’s first wolf tooth. From when he was a pup.

In our tradition, an Alpha’s first tooth is a link to his heart.

"For you," Rhys said, his voice low and soft. "Wear this. You’ll always feel the pack’s protection."

Chloe gasped. "Oh, Rhys, it's so precious!"

Rhys smiled. Then, as if he’d just remembered I was there, he turned and held out the small box to me.

"This is for you."

I opened it. A cheap, flimsy metal chain. Something you'd buy at a tourist stand in a human town.

I looked up at my mate.

"Rhys, I'm allergic to cheap metal. It makes my skin break out in sores. Did you forget?"

He flinched. His eyes darted away for a second. "Sorry, I've been busy. I forgot. Just… hold onto it for now."

For now.

He wouldn't even promise to get me something else.

Just a careless handout to shut his mate up.

That evening, the wind was biting cold.

I stood outside the main house.

In my pocket was the signed contract with the Institute.

A part of me was still holding on.

I was their daughter. I was supposed to be part of their future.

I wanted to go inside, to tell them where I was going. To see if they'd even try to stop me.

But then I heard my father's sigh through the door.

"Eliana's been acting strange since she moved to the Omega quarters. Are we being too hard on her?"

My heart leaped into my throat.

"Don't be soft, Alistair," my mother's voice was cold steel. "She needs to be tested. That's the only way she'll be ready to be Luna. Compared to Chloe, who lost her parents, Eliana has a complete family. She’s lucky. She shouldn't be complaining."

Lucky?

My wolf let out a desperate whimper inside me, curling into a tight, painful ball.

This was my family.

Calling it "training" while they stripped me of everything.

I touched the contract in my pocket. My gaze turned to ice.

I turned my back and melted into the darkness.

They didn't need to know.

The next morning, the mood at breakfast was celebratory.

"Take a hundred thousand dollars from the pack funds," my father said to my mother. "Chloe's coming-of-age ceremony has to be the grandest event we've ever held. I want every pack to know the Silver Moon Pack honors its heroes' children."

A hundred thousand dollars.

That was three years of the pack's savings.

I stared into my bowl of oatmeal.

I thought about my own ceremony a year ago.

That day, Chloe had a nightmare and a panic attack. She was rushed to the pack hospital.

My parents, my brother, and my mate all ran to her side. They stayed with her all night.

I was alone in the huge mansion.

I sat at the long dining table, lit my own candle, and ate a small, cold cake by myself.

Across the table, Chloe seemed to sense the tension.

She looked at me, a little embarrassed.

"Eliana," she said, her voice small, her eyes innocent. "We don't have to spend so much. Maybe… maybe we can just make my ceremony a do-over for yours? We could celebrate together."

I looked up into her apologetic eyes.

I smiled. "No, Chloe. That honor is all yours."

I knew she didn't mean any harm.

She was just living under the halo of being a "hero's daughter," enjoying all the privilege that came with it.

But it was suffocating.

I couldn't stand it for one more second.

That night, the light in my room burned out.

I sat in the dark. My phone buzzed. A secure text from the Institute.

The sender: Chief Scientist, Dr. Kian Asher.

[Eliana, we are thrilled to have you. Your 'Bloodline Sense' is a rare gift, one not seen in centuries. It is the key to unlocking the secrets of the ancient wolf gene. The entire team is waiting for you. You will be irreplaceable to us.]

"Irreplaceable."

I traced the word on the screen. My wolf purred, a low, steady sound in the darkness.

In this house, I was a shadow they could erase at any moment.

But out there, someone saw my real worth.

Someone was waiting for me.

I stood up and tossed the cheap metal chain from Rhys into the trash can in the corner.

Nineteen days left.

It was time to live for myself.