POV: Aria
I wake up to the sound of my sister's laughter cutting through the walls like a knife.
"The ceremony will be perfect, Mother," Vivian's voice drips with false sweetness. "Damon says I'll be the most beautiful Luna the pack has ever seen."
My stomach twists. One more day. Just one more day and I'll never have to hear her voice again.
I sit up on the lumpy mattress that barely fits in this converted storage closet they call my room. No windows. No heat. Just cold concrete walls and the constant reminder that I'm not wanted here. The calendar on the wall shows tomorrow's date circled in red ink—my eighteenth birthday. Freedom day.
I've been crossing off days since I was sixteen. Seven hundred and thirty days of surviving in a pack that treats me like garbage. Seven hundred and thirty days of being the Winters family embarrassment. The girl whose wolf never came.
Through the thin walls, Mother laughs at something Vivian says. My chest aches, but I've learned not to cry about it anymore. Tears don't change anything.
I pull on my oldest jeans—the ones with holes in the knees—and a faded t-shirt that used to be Vivian's before she threw it away. Everything I own is either too small or falling apart, but it doesn't matter. Tomorrow, I'll leave Crimson Ridge Pack forever and start over somewhere else. Somewhere no one knows I'm defective.
The hallway is empty when I sneak out. Good. I don't want to see Father's disappointed face or Mother's cold eyes. I definitely don't want to see Vivian looking perfect and smug like always.
Outside, the morning air bites at my skin. Pack members are already moving around, heading to work or school. I keep my head down as I walk toward the community center. Mrs. Chen passes by with her daughter and pulls the little girl closer, like whatever's wrong with me might be contagious.
"Isn't that the Winters girl?" someone whispers behind me.
"The one without a wolf? So sad. Her parents must be ashamed."
I walk faster. By now, I should be used to the whispers. But each one still stings like a tiny cut that never quite heals.
The community center is already busy when I arrive. My boss, Mr. Russo, glares at me from behind the front desk. "You're late."
"I'm five minutes early," I say quietly.
"Don't talk back. Mop the floors. The garbage needs taking out. And the bathrooms haven't been cleaned since yesterday."
Of course they haven't. That's my job. Everything dirty and disgusting is always my job.
I grab the mop and bucket without arguing. Mr. Russo pays me almost nothing, but it's the only job I could get. No one else would hire the girl without a wolf.
Hours blur together. Mop. Clean. Scrub. Serve lunch. Clean again. My hands are raw and red by afternoon, but I don't stop. The faster I work, the faster time passes.
"Aria!" Mr. Russo barks. "Pack gathering tonight. Mandatory. Don't be late."
My heart sinks. I forgot about the gathering. Of course there's one tonight—it's to celebrate Damon and Vivian's engagement. The whole pack has to attend and pretend to be happy for them.
The thought of seeing Damon Steele makes my scar ache. I touch my left arm where the thin white line runs from elbow to wrist. A "accident" from when we were kids. At least, that's what everyone called it when Damon shoved me into a glass door.
He's made my life torture for as long as I can remember. Tripping me in hallways. Destroying my homework. Calling me "worthless" and "defective" in front of everyone. When we were younger, I tried to understand why he hated me so much. Now I just try to stay away from him.
And tomorrow he'll be my problem anymore. Tomorrow, I disappear.
The gathering starts at sunset. I stand at the very back of the crowd, trying to blend into the shadows. The stage is decorated with flowers and lights. Alpha Rowan stands in the center, powerful and intimidating. Beside him is Damon—tall, handsome, and cruel. And next to Damon is Vivian, wearing a dress that probably costs more than everything I own combined.
"Tonight we celebrate the union of two powerful bloodlines," Alpha Rowan announces. His voice carries across the silent crowd. "My son Damon and Vivian Winters will be mated in three months, strengthening our pack's future."
Everyone cheers. I feel sick.
Damon's dark eyes scan the crowd. For one horrible second, they land on me. His expression twists with disgust before he looks away, like even seeing me is painful for him.
Something hot and angry rises in my chest. I hate him. I hate all of them. And tomorrow, I'll finally be free.
The gathering drags on forever. Speeches. More cheering. Vivian kisses Damon on stage and everyone applauds like it's the most romantic thing ever. I want to scream.
Finally, it ends. I escape before anyone can talk to me—not that anyone would—and practically run home.
In my tiny room, I pull out my backpack and check it for the hundredth time. Three shirts. Two pairs of jeans. My grandmother's photo. And the envelope with two hundred and seventeen dollars—every penny I've saved from my awful job.
It's not much. But it's enough to buy a bus ticket far away from here.
"One more day," I whisper to the empty room. "Just survive one more day."
I lie down on the thin mattress and close my eyes. But sleep doesn't come. My body feels weird. Hot, then cold, then hot again. My skin tingles like something is crawling underneath it.
Maybe I'm getting sick. That would be just my luck—to get sick right before I finally escape.
The hours tick by. Eleven o'clock. Eleven-thirty. Eleven forty-five.
At exactly midnight, pain explodes through my body.
I bite my pillow to keep from screaming. My bones feel like they're breaking apart and putting themselves back together wrong. Fire races through my veins. My skin stretches and burns.
What's happening to me?
Then I feel it—something inside me waking up. Something that's been sleeping my whole life. Something powerful and wild and ancient.
My wolf.
After eighteen years of nothing, my wolf is finally coming.
But this doesn't feel like the stories I've heard. This doesn't feel normal. The power flooding through me is too strong, too intense, like something that should be impossible.
My back arches off the bed. I can't hold back the scream anymore.
Through the pain and terror, one thought cuts through my mind clear as crystal: Whatever's happening to me right now is going to change everything.
And not in a good way.
The last thing I hear before the darkness swallows me is the sound of my door crashing open and my mother's horrified gasp.
Then nothing.