Chapter One

Sera’s POV:

"Maybe she's just human, John. Maybe we need to accept that."

The words drifted from the Alpha's office window, and I froze with the wool blankets clutched against my chest. Mom's voice, the one she used when she was trying to be gentle about something that would cut me open.

"She's not human." Dad's voice came out rough, angry in a way that made my stomach twist. "Don't say that about our daughter."

"I'm not trying to hurt anyone, but it's been two years past when most wolves emerge and tomorrow she turns eighteen without any sign..." Mom's voice cracked, and that was somehow worse than if she'd just said it mean. 

"What if we're setting her up to get hurt? What if she finds her mate tomorrow and he rejects her because she can't shift? You know how this works."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. The blankets slipped from my hands and hit the ground with a soft thud that felt too loud in my ears.

"Pick those up, kid."

I spun around and there was Gamma Luca, watching me with those eyes that saw too much. My face burned hot because he knew I'd been listening and there was no point pretending otherwise.

"I was just..." But there was nothing to say that wouldn't sound like a lie, so I bent down and grabbed the blankets, my hands shaking so bad the wool kept slipping through my fingers.

"Your mom's scared." Gamma Luca crouched down next to me, helping gather what I kept dropping. "Scared parents say stupid things. Doesn't make it true."

"But what if it is true?" The words came out strangled, like something was sitting on my chest. "What if I never shift? What if I'm just... broken?"

"You're not broken." He said it flat, like it was fact and not opinion, but I could see the worry in his face that he was trying to hide. "Your wolf will come when she's ready."

"Everyone keeps saying that." I stood up fast, too fast, because I needed to get away from the pity in his eyes. "But what if everyone's wrong?"

Gamma Luca opened his mouth but Alpha Kieran's voice cut through before he could answer.

"Luca, you out here? We need to check the perimeter before tonight."

"Yeah, coming." Gamma Luca straightened up and squeezed my shoulder once before heading toward the Alpha and my dad—his Beta who were walking out of the office. Dad's face was tight, stressed in a way that made guilt crawl up my throat because I was the one causing it.

"There's my girl," he said when he saw me, and his whole expression shifted into something softer, something that was trying too hard to look normal. He knew I'd heard them. I could see it in the way he pulled me against his side, holding on tighter than usual.

"Hey," I managed, even though my voice sounded wrong.

"You excited about tomorrow?" Alpha Kieran asked, and I wanted to laugh because how was I supposed to be excited when my own mother thought I might be human?

"I guess so."

"You guess?" Gamma Luca raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow you turn eighteen. You'll be able to sense your mate if he's of age. That's huge."

"Right, if he'd even want me," I said before I could stop myself, and Dad's arm tightened around me like he could squeeze the words back inside.

"Don't talk like that." His voice went hard. "Any male would be lucky to have you as a mate."

"Even without a wolf?" The question hung there between us, heavy and awful, and nobody said anything for too long.

"Your wolf will come," Alpha Kieran said finally, using that gentle voice he saved for when he was lying to make someone feel better. "Two years is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Some wolves emerge late and they're the strongest ones."

I'd heard that before too. Heard all the explanations and reassurances and none of them changed the fact that my brother Ash had shifted at sixteen and seven months, that Alpha Kieran's son Cade had shifted at barely sixteen, that Gamma Luca's daughter Sage had shifted at seventeen. Everyone in my generation had their wolves except me.

"I know, Alpha." The words tasted like ash in my mouth but I said them anyway because what else was I supposed to do?

"You're perfect the way you are," Dad said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head, and I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt.

"You have to say that because you're my dad."

"And if any punk tries to tell you different, we'll beat his ass into next week," Gamma Luca said, reaching over to mess up my hair.

I jerked back, swatting at his hand. "Don't touch my hair."

"Aw come on, it looks better like this." He was grinning but Dad held me in place while Gamma Luca ruffled my curls into a frizzy mess, both of them laughing like this was funny instead of the worst day of my life.

"At least Sage isn't here to see this." I tried smoothing down the red chaos on my head but it was hopeless. The thought of Gamma Luca's daughter seeing me like this, disheveled and pathetic, made something twist in my chest. We'd never gotten along, not the way everyone expected us to since our dads were best friends.

"I hate you both, I muttered instead," but they just laughed harder.

"Alright, enough messing around." Alpha Kieran clapped his hands together. "We've got work to do before tonight. We'll see you later, little one. After midnight we'll celebrate your birthday properly."

They walked off and I stood there holding the blankets, trying not to think about Mom's words echoing in my head. Maybe she's just human.

I forced myself to keep moving, setting up the logs around the fire pit, spreading the blankets even though we didn't need them because werewolves ran hot. Even the ones like me who might not have a wolf at all.

Hours later I sat by the fire while old Norton told his vampire story, the one where the number of vampires grew every time he told it. Everyone laughed and I laughed too even though nothing felt funny. The pack had shifted and run into the forest, their howls drifting back on the wind, and I was here like always. Watching the pups. Tending the fire. Pretending my heart wasn't breaking into smaller and smaller pieces.

Just after midnight they started coming back, walking out of the trees in groups with that loose, satisfied look people got after a good run. I was about to ask why they'd returned so early when Mom and Luna Skye appeared carrying a cake between them.

Three tiers covered in white frosting and sugar flowers with two candles burning on top. One and eight. My throat closed up.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," Mom said, and her eyes were too bright like she'd been crying earlier.

"Thanks." The word came out rough.

Luna Skye hugged me after Mom let go, whispering, "I hope you find your mate soon, honey. I hope he's everything you deserve."

Everything I deserve. Right. What did I deserve without a wolf?

"Time to make a wish," Dad said, appearing beside me with that same too-tight smile from earlier.

"Ash isn't here yet," Mom said, looking toward the forest.

"He's with Cade and Sage," Luna Skye said. "They went deep."

"I can wait," I offered, but Mom was already tapping her foot with that impatient energy she got when my brother was being thoughtless.

Then I heard them. Footsteps crashing through underbrush and Ash came running out of the trees with Cade behind him, and Sage trailing after, her hair perfect even after a run.

"Sorry, sorry, we lost track of how far we'd gone," Ash said, but I wasn't listening anymore.

The wind shifted and brought a scent with it, dark and rich like cedarwood soaked in rain, and it slammed into me with enough force to stop my heart. Every nerve in my body caught fire, my skin prickling with heat that had nothing to do with the flames in front of me, and I knew. I knew this was the mate bond everyone had been talking about, knew it with a certainty that went bone deep.

My eyes found Cade across the clearing.

He'd gone completely still, his whole body locked up tight, and he was staring at me with an expression I'd never seen before. Shock. Confusion. Something that looked almost like horror.

No. Please no.

Not Cade. Not the Alpha's son, the one who was strong and perfect and everything I would never be.

"Sera?" Mom touched my arm. "You need to blow out your candles, baby.”

I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't do anything but watch as Cade's face shifted from shock into something else, something that made my stomach twist into knots because I recognized it now.

Disappointment.

He was my mate.

And he looked at me like I'd just ruined his life.