Chapter 1

My grandmother called almost immediately. I could hear the old grandfather clock in her study, each measured tick striking slowly against my heart.

“You’ve finally made up your mind?”

I stood in front of the sink and watched the current carry the moon crest into the corner.

“I have.”

“Blackridge sent the alliance contract three years ago,” she said after a pause. “You were the one who insisted that Everett and the others had grown up with you, and that surely one of them would choose you sincerely.”

I said nothing.

Because I truly had believed that once.

Everett had stood in front of me when a rogue wolf lost control and attacked. Nolan had carried me halfway across the city when wolfsbane poisoning left me unconscious. Julian had defended me at an academy assembly when rumors spread about my bloodline. Rhys had fought a hunter who crossed our border and broken the bones in his hand protecting me.

Each of them had given me a little tenderness. It had never been much, but it had been enough to keep me tangled in four almost-romances for years.

I kept thinking that one of them, at least, would look back and truly see me when I came of age.

But tonight, no answer had come.

All I had received were the pitying and amused looks of every guest in the pack.

I ended the call, dried my hands, and returned to the banquet hall.

My place at the head table was gone.

The silver-edged place card engraved with ELARA STERLING had been pushed aside and replaced with Mira’s name.

She sat in the future Luna’s chair, wrapped in Nolan’s coat, wearing my Moon Crown. A moonstone bracelet glittered at her wrist.

It was not an inexpensive piece.

Only the week before, Mira had told me through tear-filled eyes that her treatment had already cost too much and that she could not possibly accept even a decent dress.

Now the gemstones flashed white beneath the lights, bright enough to sting.

Everett saw me first. His brows drew together.

“Where did you go?”

I looked at the place card that had been removed.

“Where is my seat?”

Mira stood so quickly that she looked ready to faint.

“Miss Elara, I didn’t know this was your place. I felt dizzy, and they told me to sit down for a little while.”

Julian put a hand on her shoulder and gently pressed her back into the chair.

“Stay seated. You’re the birthday girl tonight.”

Then he turned to me, wearing his usual easy smile.

“Elara, it’s only a chair. This really doesn’t need to become an issue.”

I held his gaze.

“Tonight is my coming-of-age mate selection.”

“I know.” Julian swirled the wine in his glass. “The ceremony isn’t going to become invalid because you gave up your seat for a few minutes. Don’t make the evening uncomfortable for everyone.”

Nolan finished checking Mira’s complexion before looking up at me.

“Mira’s emotional state was highly unstable a moment ago. She has only recently returned to pack life, and she still has no sense of security.”

His voice was as precise as if he were delivering a report to the council.

“As the future Luna, you should understand that stabilizing her condition matters more than applying pressure to her in public.”

Rhys leaned back in his chair. The silver lighter between his fingers snapped shut.

“Elara, don’t make us restrain you in front of everyone.”

Everett spoke last.

He held the highest rank of the four, and everyone had always assumed he was the most likely to become my mate.

“Sit beside me.”

He said it as though offering to add another chair at his side was generous compensation for everything he had done.

In the past, I would have gone to him.

I would have told myself that Everett had still made room for me in the end.

This time, I only smiled faintly.

“No, thank you.”

Everett’s expression darkened.

Mira bit her lip, and tears quickly rolled down her cheeks.

“Is it because I took Miss Elara’s seat? I can stand. I really can. I never should have sat here in the first place...”

Everett immediately leaned down to soothe her.

“No one is asking you to stand.”

Rhys looked up at me, warning already hardening his eyes.

I did not look at any of them again.

I crossed the room to my grandmother, bent close, and murmured in her ear.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to the Council Hall to register my union with Callum.”