Historias cortas de Familial Bond Werewolf y novelas ambientadas en Countdown

My Alpha Mate, Damon Ashford, missed our son Finn's sixth birthday—because he was too busy tending to his adopted sister's pup. That night, while packing up Finn's room, I found a recording in his mechanical wolf toy. A tiny, childish whisper. "Little wolf, my daddy's not here. Will you stay and grow up with me instead?" The next day at the pack school, the instructor casually asked why Finn's father hadn't shown up for the ceremony. Finn gripped his crayon and answered softly: "Daddy's busy. He's the pack's Alpha." "His time belongs to his work. It belongs to Aunt Serena, because she needs his care. But it doesn't belong to me." The parents nearby shifted, at a loss for words. But I felt nothing. Just the quiet, final snap of disappointment. A month later, Damon finally remembered. He wanted to make up for the missed birthday. He walked into the pups' room and saw Finn sorting through identity cards. Finn slipped the card with Damon's face into the "Pack Members" slot. Then left the "Family" column completely empty. Damon reached for it, but Finn looked up, eyes distant and cold. "Alpha Ashford. Please don't put the card in the wrong place." "Dad belongs in the family. You only belong to the pack." The color drained from Damon's face. Instantly.

That winter, our whole family went skiing in Aespen, Amestia. It was a popular spot for werewolf nobles and the wealthy. Then, the avalanche struck. My father's first instinct was to scoop up Summer—his sleeping adopted daughter—and flee. My mother, panicked, still made sure to grab the stray puppy Summer had found. They returned to the Moonshadow Pack that same night, posting a flood of photos online and rejoicing over their miraculous escape. Not one of them remembered me. Their biological daughter was still buried beneath the snow, waiting for rescue. When I was finally rescued, I did not look back. I took my mentor's offer to study abroad and left the pack behind. I moved to Cascade City to study medicine. No more pleading, no more shrinking myself in hopes of earning back my family's love. Yet they only seemed more disgruntled. "Rose, why aren't you competing with Summer for our attention anymore?"

Three days before our bonding ceremony, my mate—Adrian Carson, the Alpha of the Nightfall Pack—placed two velvet boxes on the table. The first box was deep blue. Inside was a set of moonstone jewelry he'd paid a fortune for at an auction. The other contained nothing more than a black leather bracelet that had come free with his auction purchase. It didn't match my dress at all. For the first time, I pointed to the jewelry before anyone else could. "Can I choose first this time?" Adrian gently stroked my cheek. His voice was cool as he spoke beside my ear, "Your sister has always had to be first in everything. If she's not the first choice, she doesn't want it. And you don't care about these things anyway. You'll be fine with whatever's left." I looked at Adrian's matter-of-fact expression and said nothing. I simply felt something inside me disappear. Ever since I was little, I'd always been the shadow behind my sister, Nora Rose—quiet, unnoticed, never fighting for anything. I even had to wait for Nora to blow out the candles on the birthday cake first. Even our bonding ceremony three days from now had been postponed several times for Nora's sake. I pushed the leather bracelet back across the table. "Give both of them to Nora." For the first time, I didn't want to be the one who was left with the leftovers.