Chapter One

“Mommy, look at the pretty butterfly.”

“Oh, that’s an emerald swallowtail sweetie. Christopher, look at what our daughter has found.” I can hear her voice calling out to my father, but I am enthralled with the beautiful green wings of the delicate creature in front of me.

Today is my 10th birthday and my parents always bring me to Century Park to celebrate. The park is one of my favorite places, because there is always something to do or something new to see. I love watching the river from the gazebo and seeing the ducks float lazily along. The people milling about on the walking paths, and the birds flitting through the trees. Even though my parents are the Alpha and Luna of our pack, they always take my birthday as a special day for just us.

Out of nowhere, there is a really loud bang, and it immediately catches my attention. I jerk my head around to see my father falling to the ground, my mother rushes to him, but there is another really loud bang and she falls next to him. All at once it was as if time had stopped. I knew something was terribly wrong.

I hear people screaming and running, but I feel frozen. My body is unusually cold, and suddenly, I can no longer breath.

With a startled gasp, I woke up and realized that it was my recurring nightmare. Julie had thrown ice-cold water on me to wake me up.

“Wake up, you dumb slob. How could you oversleep today of all days?” Her voice grated upon my eardrums with her nasally high-pitched shrieks. “Get up now, you lazy bum. There is still so much to get done.”

With those words, she reached to grab my hair, but I was too quick for her and scrambled up towards the end of my mat. Julie continues to rant while I quickly threw my thin t-shirt on, followed by my old worn-out jeans.

“Sweetheart, why all the noise?” My Aunt Lily must have heard Julie ranting because she came running in.

“Jadenne purposely slept in because she knows how important today is to me, and she doesn’t want me to be happy.” I rolled my eyes. I had seen Julie play this bit on her parents too many times to even be bothered by it anymore. Any time her mother comes in, she tries to act like she is some innocent victim when in reality, she is truly a villain. I finished pulling on my jeans as Lily comforts Julie.

“Jadenne, please hurry up; you know that today is Julie’s 18th birthday. It’s a very special day for her.”

With that, my aunt adoringly patted Julie’s cheek, and a pang of jealousy shoots through me. Today is also my 19th birthday and I would give anything to be with my mother today. Once Lily left my room, Julie returned to berating me as I hurried to slip on my shoes. In my head, I started cursing Julie for her perfect life. I thought I was doing it in my mind when I heard the sound of my own voice. I tried to stop the words from coming out but it was too late. I realized that I had voiced my thoughts out loud.

CRACK

My head snapped sideways at the vicious slap Julie lands across my cheek. “If you ever talk to me like that again, I will tell my father and have you banished. You already reek, might as well be a lowly rogue too.” Finally, Julie had her fill of me and left my room. With tears in my eyes, I quickly swept my hair up into a low ponytail. I listened closely to ensure that no one was coming near my room before I wedged the loose floorboard up from its spot and glanced at the only picture I had left of my parents. Oh, how I wish they were still here today with me, but fate is cruel, and this is my life now. I looked into the warm brown eyes of my mother and imagined her telling me Happy Birthday. With a sigh, I slowly replaced the board, stood up and started to mentally prepare myself for today.