Zoey
The day Alpha Kyle Locke came to deliver the marking token, he brought two, just like always, and let my sister Serafina Voss choose first.
One was a custom-made moonstone collar, a specialty piece from Frost. The other was a wolf fang pendant, the kind sold in every shop in town.
Neither of us said anything. Everyone just waited for Serafina to reach out first. Never mind that this token had been chosen for my marking ceremony with Kyle, not hers.
But this time, I moved first.
My fingers landed on the moonstone. I spoke before anyone else could.
"Can I be the one to choose, this time?"
Kyle frowned. "Ella, Serafina's health is delicate. The moonstone will help settle her wolf. Yours is already steady. The pendant is more than enough for you."
I didn't pull my hand back.
I looked at the two tokens in front of me, and it finally hit me. Every choice in my life had been made exactly like this. Serafina's blood ran nobler, so she always got to choose first. I was the one who gave ground, every single time, right up until Kyle came along.
Everyone had expected Kyle to pick Serafina as his Luna. In the end, he chose me instead.
I thought, for once, I was the one who'd been chosen, not the one left with the scraps.
It took me a long time to understand that the position of Luna was mine, but the priority behind it always belonged to Serafina.
Not this time. I wasn't going to be the one who came second, not anymore.