Chapter 1

This was the first time I'd eaten out of a trash can.

Staring at a pile of meat scraps, wilted salad, and mixed-up fried mushrooms, I picked the only thing that was still somewhat clean. A piece of black bread. The second the wheat smell hit my nose, the cramping in my stomach eased.

I shoved the bread into my mouth as fast as I could.

Everyone in the courtyard was watching. Not a single person looked surprised.

Because my poverty was no longer a secret at this school.

Eating out of the trash was just a matter of time.

On the first day of freshman year, my mom told me I'd completed my awakening and was a mature Alpha now. Time to handle things on my own.

She bought my plane ticket. Right before boarding, she sent me one last message.

"Your teacher Ms. Laura is my close friend. I'll send your living allowance to her from now on. If you need anything, go to her."

When I saw that message, I wasn't thrilled. I was an adult now, after all.

But to put my mother's mind at ease, I went to find Ms. Laura the second I arrived.

"Here's two hundred. You're a grown Alpha now. Time to learn how to budget."

Ms. Laura pressed down on my shoulder and kept going, right into my stunned, blank face.

"As a proper student, you should learn to survive on two hundred. The school's far from the city anyway. There's nothing expensive to spend on out here."

I didn't respond right away. I just asked one more time. There was no way my mom didn't know that a single monthly dose of suppressant for an adult Alpha during the full moon costs two hundred on its own.

"My mom really set it at this amount?"

Ms. Laura straightened up. The warm, leaning-in posture was gone.

"You're a grown Alpha. Can't you read between the lines of what your mother expects?"

"Time to learn about money. She's not going to baby you like she did before your awakening."

"Besides, as the future heir, you need to prove through hard work and sacrifice that you're worthy of carrying that responsibility."

I don't remember how I left her office.

All I remember was the weather being terrible that day. Because I was soaked in sweat.

My mother is the Beta CEO of the Blood Moon Group. She controls the entire city's suppressant supply chain.

Her most spoiled pony, Bobo, gets fed three hundred a day in premium grain.

She even keeps a backup supply of five-hundred-a-pound top-grade feed, just in case Bobo's appetite dips.

And for me? Two hundred. Not a day. A month.

That works out to six dollars and sixty cents a day.

The school did have subsidized meals, but training was intense. Everyone needed supplements and late-night snacks to keep up, or they'd burn out and fall behind.

The cheapest plain bread meal was three bucks. Two meals a day, that's six. Plus one nutrition tube at night, one more dollar. That's already two hundred and ten for the month just on food.

Then there were toiletries. Toilet paper, shampoo, body wash. Another two hundred, easy.

And textbooks. Even secondhand, at least three hundred.

Two hundred a month, no matter how you dress it up, was not survivable. Especially during the start of the semester.

I stared at my phone. My finger hovered over the call button, stretching out and pulling back four or five times, before the fear of not making it won out. I dialed my mom.

The phone rang a few times before her hurried voice came through.

"What is it? I'm in the middle of the quarterly supply-chain summit!"

I paused for one second, then got straight to the point.

"Mom, it's the start of the semester. There's too much to pay for. The money you gave me isn't enough."

I was about to list exactly where the money was going, but she cut me off first.

"Laura and I already calculated your expenses. If you're careful with your spending, it's more than enough."

"Stop living like a princess. You're at school, not on vacation."

"I'm swamped right now. If you need something, talk to Laura."

She hung up.