Chapter 1

Everything went dark at the edges, and I felt myself starting to tip toward the ground.

The squad leader, Leon Sinclair, rushed over, worry written all over his face. "Why are you so pale? Is it your blood sugar?"

He pulled a glucose solution out of his pocket and held it out to me.

"Here, drink this. Don't try to push through it."

I looked up at him, dazed.

It struck me that the kind of concern I'd never gotten from my own family had just come from someone I'd known less than a month.

I reached for the tablet, but my phone buzzed with a string of messages.

It was my sister, Vivian Voss.

She'd sent a screenshot of an order confirmation—a gown worth four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars, along with a transfer of one dollar to me.

[There's a dollar left over after the dress. Consider it a gift. Should be enough for two pieces of candy.]

[Why haven't you accepted it yet? I thought you said you had low blood sugar. I think you're just lying so you can guilt Mom and Dad into giving you money.]

I scrambled to mute my phone, but the old thing was so outdated it kept glitching, and Vivian's voice message played out loud anyway.

Leon's expression went rigid for a second.

My face burned so hot I wanted to disappear on the spot.

More messages kept coming.

In the family group chat, Xavier Voss and my parents started accusing me of faking an illness on purpose. They said I did it just to ruin Vivian's birthday party.

My eyes stung, and my chest ached in sharp little waves.

Furious, I pulled up my spending log since the semester started and posted the full breakdown in the family chat.

Breakfast, half a loaf of rye bread—fifty cents.

Lunch, the cheapest broth and bread the dining hall offered—one dollar.

Dinner, half a loaf of rye bread—fifty cents.

Two dollars a day. That was it.

[Xavier is six foot two and three hundred eighteen pounds. You're so worried about him not getting enough nutrition that you have the family chef send him steak and fresh berries every single day.]

[My total daily spending is two dollars. I've had combat training on top of everything these past two weeks, and I'm burning through way more energy than usual. Is it really that surprising that I got malnourished and lightheaded?]

The group chat went silent for a few seconds.

Mom sent a message first. [Maybe we should give her an extra thousand a month.]

But she deleted it almost immediately.

Then Dad's anger came through instead.

[Lily, what exactly are you trying to say by posting this? That I'm some kind of Alpha who abuses his own daughter?]

[We're just trying to build your independence. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.]

Vivian messaged me privately right after.

[Even if your blood sugar thing is real, I already sent you money for candy, didn't I? Why are you still making a scene?]

[Delete that message right now and apologize to Mom and Dad properly.]

[It's my birthday today. The whole family's looking forward to it. Don't ruin it.]

My hands trembled slightly, my face going paler by the second.

When I turned eighteen, and the academy held its coming-of-age ceremony last year, I'd begged my family for fifty gold coins to buy a proper gown.

Do you know what they said?

My parents voted against it unanimously.

"Doesn't the academy have a uniform? Why do you need new clothes? You're there to study, not to compete with everyone else."

Those words were still carved into my memory, word for word.

I opened the screenshot Vivian had sent.

It was a white, tailor-made gown, cut to perfection, with a wolf pack crest embroidered in silver thread at the collar. Every detail screamed noble heiress.

Four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars.

That amount was enough to cover eighty-three months of my living expenses.

My eyes welled up with tears. But in the end, all I could manage was a bitter little laugh.

I sent the one dollar Vivian gave me back to her. Then, I took the vial from Leon and drank it in one gulp.

The sickly sweet liquid slid down my throat, but my chest felt bitter.

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and quietly thanked him.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Don't mention it. This is just an emergency supply the academy hands out to every squad. It's meant for everyone."

Then he added, "By the way, the academy's recruiting for the Northern Division's isolated combat unit. If you're selected, you go through five years of isolation training. Room and board are fully covered, plus a three hundred dollar monthly stipend.

"I've seen your training scores. Your combat performance is solid. If you want, I can help you submit an application."

I slowly looked up, my fingers trembling slightly.

Three hundred dollars.

To Vivian and Xavier, that was barely worth mentioning. It was less than the cost of a single accessory on a dress.

To me, it was more than I'd dared hope to earn in the past month.

More than that, isolation training meant I could leave this house, at least for a while. I wouldn't have to beg for every tiny expense ever again.

I looked into Leon's sincere eyes and finally nodded.

"I'm in."