Chapter 1

My engagement ring struck the metal trash can with a sharp clink.

My brother Cade’s brow furrowed.

Before he could speak, Bianca laughed.

“There you are! Alice. What do you think of the gown?”

She stepped away from the altar and turned, letting the skirt sweep across the flagstones.

My gown.

The seamstress had needed four fittings to get the neckline right. Then, two weeks ago, Mom had called to say Rowan wanted a different design.

I’d tried it on once. The zipper wouldn’t close.

Mom had promised to get it fixed.

Now I knew why she hadn’t.

“Rowan and I saw it in the boutique window,” Bianca said. “I said it was gorgeous, and he actually remembered.”

She held out her left hand.

“And look. The exact ring I wanted.”

I remembered sitting beside Rowan at the jeweler’s, studying two velvet boxes.

“Why do we need two?” I asked.

Rowan smiled. “In case something happens to the first one.”

Bianca tipped her hand toward the light.

“Rowan told me you helped with all the planning. Seriously, what would I do without you?”

Behind her, white roses climbed the wooden arch overlooking the pines.

I’d chosen this spot because Rowan had proposed here.

Apparently, I’d chosen the flowers, the music, and the menu for a bonding ceremony that had never been meant for me.

A small, ugly laugh escaped me.

Rowan’s gaze snapped to mine.

For a moment, he looked like the man who used to notice when I went quiet.

Then Bianca asked, “Well? Don’t I look beautiful?”

“You look beautiful,” he said quickly.

Then Dad called out, “Let’s get some pictures before we lose the light.”

“Good idea.” Cade lifted the camera hanging from his neck. “Family photo. Come on, everybody.”

Mom hurried forward to straighten Bianca’s train. Dad took his place beside her.

Cade pressed the camera into my hands.

“You’re better at this. Get a few of us.”

He joined them before I could answer.

There they were: my parents, my brother, my sister, and the man I was supposed to bond with tonight.

I waited for someone to notice I wasn’t in the picture.

No one seemed to care.

Then Rowan looked past the lens at me.

His smile faded.

“Just a few,” he said quietly.

I knew that look. For nine months, it had come with the same reassurance: things would go back to normal.

Whenever I complained, whenever I asked for my life back, he made another promise.

After the trip. After she settled in. After her next appointment.

There was always something we had to get through before it could be my turn.

I raised the camera.

Through the viewfinder, Bianca stood exactly where I’d imagined myself standing.

“Closer together!” someone called.

Bianca shifted toward Rowan.

A woman near the front raised her glass.

“To our Alpha and his beautiful Luna!”

Applause broke out.

My wolf stirred, a low whine pressing against my ribs.

Rowan heard it. His eyes found mine over the camera.

He took a step forward.

Bianca caught his sleeve.

“Is something wrong?”

Her voice was suddenly small.

He stopped.

“No,” he told Bianca.

Then he stopped trying to come toward me. He just looked at Bianca.

My finger found the shutter.

Click.

Mom leaned toward Bianca, beaming.

Click.

Dad rested a proud hand on her shoulder.

Click.

Someone set off a confetti cannon. White petals burst overhead, catching in Bianca’s hair.

The pack cheered.

I kept taking pictures.

Then an elder stepped forward with the ceremonial mantle.

I lowered the camera.

It was deep green, embroidered with the Blackwood crest. Rowan’s grandmother had worn it when she became Luna.

Last winter, Rowan had draped it over my shoulders in his study.

It suits you, he’d said.

Now the elder held it out to him.

My pulse beat hard in my throat.

He could refuse this much. He could say the mantle wasn’t part of the arrangement.

Bianca looked up at him expectantly.

He took it.

As he settled it across her shoulders, she glanced past him at me.

The corner of her mouth lifted, just enough for me to see.

She’d won, and she wanted me to know it.

“Get this one,” my brother called. “This is the important shot.”

I lifted the camera again.

By the time I lowered it, the guests were moving toward the lodge.

Warm light spilled through the open doors. Someone called Bianca’s name, and Mom guided her inside.

Dad followed. Then my brother.

Rowan lingered.

His gaze dropped to my bare finger.

“Where’s your ring?”

I looked toward the trash can.

Before he could follow my glance, Bianca called from the doorway.

“Rowan? Why are you outside?”

“Wait here,” he told me.

Then he went inside.

I stood beneath the arch until the last petals stopped falling.

“Miss?”

A server approached, carrying a seating chart.

“The reception’s started. Should I have someone bring in another chair?”

Through the windows, I could see the head table.

Bianca sat beside Rowan. My parents and brother surrounded them.

I’d checked that seating plan myself.

Three hundred guests. Three hundred places.

Mine was supposed to be beside Rowan.

I shouldn’t have needed an extra chair.

“No,” I said, handing her the camera. “That’s okay.”

My phone vibrated.

An email from the Northern Pack Council.

Your flight departs Friday at 9:10 a.m. All details of your assignment and destination are strictly confidential.

Three days.

Inside, my family raised their glasses for another toast.

No one noticed I was missing.

I turned toward the parking lot.

I was done asking for a place at their table. Done trying to belong in this family.

Three more days, and I’d leave them all behind.