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All Chapters of Three Years a Guest, No Longer Your Daughter: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Chloe turned my place card facedown, slid it beneath her plate, and took the chair beside my mother. She thought the flowers blocked my view.A welcome-home banner hung over the hall. Elders, warriors, and pack representatives waited with drinks in their hands to meet the Alpha's long-lost daughter, whose name was now under somebody else's dinner plate.“Nora, would you mind sitting down there?” Chloe pointed to the end of the table. “I've always sat next to Mom. Anywhere else would feel weird.”My father signaled a server to bring another chair. I stayed where I was. “We agreed on the seating last night. Why's my place card under your plate?”Her smile faltered. She tucked her hair behind her ear. “It's just dinner. You're not seriously upset about this, are you?”I pulled out the card and set it upright. “I'm asking why you moved it.”The conversations nearest us died down. Adrian came over and rested a hand on Chloe's chair. He'd started handling most of our father's administrative

Chapter 2

Lucas was putting away his medical bag when I got back. Chloe sat by the fireplace in my mother's shawl. Adrian handed her chamomile tea while Cole plugged in her phone.My mother looked relieved to see me, then frowned. “Come say something to your sister. She thinks she ruined the evening.”I hung up my coat and approached the sofa. “Does she still need medical attention, Lucas?”“She's settled. A quiet night should help.”“I'm glad.” I turned to my mother. “What do you want me to say?”“Tell her you don't blame her.”“I don't blame her for being ill. I mind having my name hidden under a plate and our plans changed without asking me.”Cole straightened. “Can you give it a rest? She's had a rough night.”“When do I get to talk about mine?”“Does it have to be now?”Two months earlier, he'd promised to take me to a hockey game for my birthday. I waited by the door in my coat. His message arrived after the game had started: Chloe's ex had turned up at a party, and she didn't want to be a

Chapter 3

I arrived twenty minutes early. The registrar checked my documents and confirmed everything was ready. All we needed was the Alpha to lead the oath.I finally put my backup copies away.My mother straightened my collar. My father spoke to the elders at the front while my brothers stood by the first row. Beside Mom, Chloe raised her phone. “I'll get it on video.”“Thanks.”Five minutes before we were due to start, her phone buzzed. She stared at it, then grabbed my mother's hand. “Why are they taking my things out?”The house manager had sent a photo. Boxes stood neatly inside the adjoining suite, and workers were replacing the curtains in Chloe's old room.My father glanced at the screen. “We discussed this last night. Nora gets the sunny bedroom. You're moving into the bigger suite. You agreed.”“I thought they'd wait until I got back.” Her fingers tightened. “They can't just go through my things.”Adrian enlarged the photo. “Nothing's been thrown away. Look, it's all packed.”She wou

Chapter 4

Nightfall was building a network of clinics and rescue stations along a closed border. The first assignment lasted five years, with no outside visitors or private communication. Everyone joining the project became a pack member and transferred their residence, medical care, and employment records.Maeve had explained all of this when she first offered me the position. I'd told her my family was waiting for me.Now I read every page and called her. “I've gone through it. I'm ready to sign.”“I want you here, Nora. But I need to know you're accepting the job. Five years won't get shorter because they apologize tomorrow.”“I understand the salary, the position, and the commitment. I should've answered two months ago.”She didn't argue. We'd worked on two projects together. My qualifications, references, and background check were already on file; all she needed was my acceptance.She sent the onboarding checklist. I uploaded my signed contract, identification, and medical history. Under Em

Chapter 5

At the worst of it, I couldn't hold the water bottle. Maeve unscrewed the cap and waited until I could sit up before passing it back.She didn't ask whether I regretted leaving. There was a healer ahead, a room ready for me, and people expecting us. We kept going.Two notifications remained on my phone, both received before we'd crossed. The first came from Blood Moon's finance office.[Your eligibility for the family living allowance has been revoked.]The second was from Cole.[Not even past the border and you've lost your funding. You can still turn around.]I opened the account statement I'd downloaded earlier. In thirty-six months, I'd never claimed a cent.My first week home, my father had explained that the allowance supported relatives who didn't work for the pack. I'd told him I earned my own money. Neither he nor Cole had bothered to remember.I saved the statement, left the family chat, and turned off my phone.At check-in, a receptionist gave me a work phone that operated i

Chapter 6

Five years after leaving, I walked into Blood Moon's council hall again.My mother knocked over her water getting up. She reached for me, then stopped halfway across the room. “Nora. You cut your hair.”“It's easier for work.”Adrian pulled out a chair. I thanked him and set down my laptop. Cole stared at my Nightfall ID. Lucas, thinner than I remembered, studied my face.My father sat at the far end of the table. “I didn't think you'd accept.”“The fund receives Council money. It's due for review. My colleague Vera will be auditing it with me.”Vera presented her authorization and sat beside the secretary. Chloe stayed close to Mom, the moonstone bracelet still around her wrist. “We've planned lunch,” she said. “Mom wanted to make sure we had your favorite—”“Let's start. I have plans after the meeting.”She fell silent. My father studied me, then signaled the finance manager to begin.Chloe ran the fund. It paid for the rehabilitation of warriors injured in border attacks and had rec

Chapter 7

The source files arrived half an hour later. Vera overlaid the two signatures; even the gray specks from the scan matched. The contract had reached finance through Chloe's assistant, Tara.“I'll get her here,” Chloe said, taking out her phone. “We can clear this up.”My father put his hand over the contract. “Hold on. Nora, if your personal documents are involved, we'll handle the rest ourselves.”“Vera will handle it. I won't sign the findings concerning my identity.”“You know what I mean.”I looked at his hand. “This is Council money for injured warriors. Using your daughter's signature doesn't make it a family matter.”“We can replace the money.”Vera slid the original into an evidence bag. “Repayment will be recorded. So will the falsified authorization.”My father let go.I recognized Tara when she arrived. Five years earlier, she'd carried Chloe's evening dress into the welcome dinner. Now she stopped in the doorway, staring at the screen. “I made the electronic contract.”Cole

Chapter 8

That evening, Chloe texted asking to talk alone. I gave her ten minutes at my temporary office.She arrived without Tara, carrying the bracelet box. “I brought it back.”I didn't take it. “Returning that won't change the audit.”“I'm not asking for a trade. Why do you always assume I'm working an angle?”I waited. She rubbed her thumb along the box's edge before finally speaking. “I knew they'd promised it to you. Mom said once you stopped asking, she'd buy you something else. I let her.”“What about the welcome dinner?”“I moved your place card. I wanted to see if you'd put up with it.”She didn't call it a joke this time.“And when I wouldn't, you got to tell everyone I didn't want you in the family.”Her eyes filled. “I was scared. Thinking they might love you more made it hard to breathe.”“I'm not questioning your treatment. I'm asking if you ever suggested one of them stay with me.”She opened her mouth, then shook her head. “When they were all around me, I felt safe. I knew you

Chapter 9

Three weeks later, I received the independent findings. Chloe had been removed from the fund and sold part of her stake in the brand to repay the four hundred thousand dollars. The rehabilitation facilities were paid first.Repayment didn't erase the separate complaint over my stolen identity. Tara would answer for preparing false documents, too. Her cooperation stayed on record, but it didn't make her innocent.My father's authorization appeared in the final report. For the next year, every Council-funded Blood Moon expense would require independent oversight. Being family no longer got anyone around the controls.I returned for the project handover on the day the report was published. My mother waited in the hallway with the bracelet box. “Chloe didn't send me.” She opened it. The scratch beside the stone hadn't changed. “I gave it to her, then told you I'd saved it. I wanted you to call me Mom without having to admit what I'd done.”I accepted the box. “Now you've told me the truth.

Chapter 10

Ten months later, I moved into my own house: two bedrooms and a small backyard. Mine was the only signature on the purchase agreement, and the mortgage came out of my account.Ruth's blanket went over the armchair by the window, her sewing box beside it. She used to say you hadn't really moved in until things were where you liked them. I unpacked the last box and put everything where I wanted it.Maeve and my coworkers helped with the move. Ronan sent a grill and said the team finally had somewhere new to eat. It was my birthday that week.Mom had asked two weeks ahead if they could visit. I invited them for Saturday afternoon, until six.They arrived on time. My father brought no guards. Mom carried a rosemary plant, my brothers had the groceries I'd requested, and Chloe held a bakery box. “Blueberry pie,” she said. “Maeve told us that's what you wanted. I asked her first.”I let them in. Nobody wandered upstairs or asked which room could be kept for family.When Cole noticed we were

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