**SERA POV**
I found the letter on my pillow.
My hands shook as I unfolded the expensive cream paper—the kind Mom only used for important pack business. For a single, stupid second, my heart jumped. Maybe they remembered. Maybe this year would be different.
*"Sera, we've left for the Alpha's breakfast meeting. There's cereal in the pantry. Don't forget tonight's ceremony. Wear something appropriate. —Mother"*
Not "Happy Birthday." Not "our daughter." Not even "love."
Just instructions, like I was the housekeeper.
I crumpled the letter and threw it across my bedroom. It bounced off the wall and landed next to seventeen others—every birthday letter I'd saved, hoping one would finally say they cared. They all said the same nothing.
Eighteen years old today. Finally, finally legal to leave.
I pulled my escape bag from under the bed and checked it for the hundredth time. Clothes, cash I'd saved from odd jobs, fake ID Riley's cousin made, bus ticket to Seattle. Everything I needed to disappear.
My phone buzzed.
**Riley: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 🎉 Tonight's ceremony, then you're FREE! I'm driving, no arguments.**
I smiled for the first time all morning. Riley Cross—the only person in Silvercrest Pack who'd ever chosen me. She found me crying in the forest when we were twelve, and instead of walking away like everyone else, she sat down and said, "Your sister's a jerk, huh?"
We'd been best friends ever since.
**Me: Thank you for remembering. Pick me up at 7?**
**Riley: Already planning our escape route. Seattle won't know what hit them! 😎**
I should've felt excited. This was everything I'd dreamed about. But as I stared at my reflection in the mirror, all I felt was... tired.
Eighteen years of being invisible does that to you.
I wasn't always the forgotten one. I had pictures hidden in my closet from when I was little—me on Dad's shoulders, Mom braiding my hair, everyone smiling. Then Lyanna turned five and shifted into her wolf for the first time. A gorgeous golden wolf that made the whole pack gasp.
I didn't shift. Not at five. Not at six. Not at twelve when literally everyone else did.
"Late bloomer," the pack whispered at first. Then "wolfless." Then they just stopped talking to me at all.
Even my parents. Especially my parents.
Mom looked through me at breakfast. Dad forgot my name sometimes, calling me "the other one." Lyanna got the big bedroom, the new clothes, the pride in their eyes. I got the attic room and leftovers.
Last year on my seventeenth birthday, they threw Lyanna a huge party—even though her birthday wasn't for three months. I'd asked Mom quietly if we could maybe have cake later, just the family.
She'd blinked like she forgot I existed. "Oh, Sera. We're busy, sweetheart. Maybe next year."
There was no next year. Not here, anyway.
I shoved the escape bag back under the bed and headed downstairs. The house was silent—they'd taken Lyanna with them, of course. The princess always got to go to important meetings.
In the kitchen, I found a note on the counter next to the cereal box.
*"Don't forget—full moon ceremony tonight at 8pm. Alpha Dominic is announcing Kaden and Lyanna's engagement. DO NOT embarrass us by being late or inappropriately dressed. This is important for the family."*
My stomach twisted. Right. The engagement.
Kaden Blackwood—future Alpha, pack golden boy, and the main reason my childhood was hell.
He'd started it all in second grade. I'd brought cookies I made to school, so proud because Mom finally let me use the oven. Kaden took one, bit into it, and spit it out dramatically.
"These taste like dirt! No wonder you don't have a wolf—even your food is broken!"
Everyone laughed. After that, I was the broken girl. The weak link. The Nightshade failure.
Kaden made sure I never forgot it. "Late bloomer" became my nickname because of him. He'd walk past me in the halls like I was invisible, or worse—wrinkle his nose like I smelled bad.
And now he was marrying my sister. Perfect Lyanna and perfect Kaden. Perfect life.
I poured cereal and ate it standing up, not bothering to sit at the table where no one wanted me anyway.
Tonight I'd go to the stupid ceremony because if I didn't, Mom would ground me and ruin my escape. I'd stand in the back like always, watch everyone celebrate their wolves and the happy couple, and then tomorrow—
Tomorrow I'd be gone.
My wolf would probably never come. I'd accepted that years ago. Whatever genetic failure made me wrong, I'd carry it into my new human life and finally be free of pack expectations.
The clock read 2:47 PM. Five hours until the ceremony. Twelve hours until I could leave.
I was washing my bowl when the back door slammed open.
Lyanna burst in, her golden hair perfect, her green eyes bright with excitement. She didn't even glance at me.
"Mom! Dad! You won't believe what—" She froze, finally noticing me. Her smile turned sharp. "Oh. You're still here."
"I live here," I said quietly.
"For now." She laughed, pulling out her phone. "Kaden's father just told us the most interesting news. Apparently, there's an old pack law that—" She stopped, studying me with sudden interest that made my skin crawl. "Actually, never mind. You'll find out tonight."
Something cold slithered down my spine. "Find out what?"
Lyanna's smile widened, mean and knowing. "Let's just say your eighteenth birthday is going to be more memorable than you think, little sister. Much more memorable."
She floated upstairs, humming happily, leaving me frozen in the kitchen.
What did she mean? What law?
My phone buzzed again.
**Unknown Number: Happy birthday, Sera. Tonight changes everything. See you at the ceremony. —K**
My blood turned to ice.
Kaden Blackwood had never texted me in his life.
What the hell was happening tonight?