Chapter 1 They Were Watching Me

When the ones who were meant to be your pack, your blood, your home chose to see you as nothing more than a burden, what else was there to do?

I focused on surviving.

I saved whatever little money I could.

I held on to the thought that maybe, someday, the road would take me somewhere better.

It was a thin kind of hope, almost laughable, but it was the only thing that kept me going.

Up until now, I was just me. Ava Grey. Wolfless. Weak. The disgrace of the Grey family.

That was why, yet again this Friday, I worked my shift at Beaniverse, a busy café in the center of White Peak, over an hour away from the pack's territory. Out here, there were no wolves, no ranks, no one looking down on me. Just people in a rush, running on coffee or lost in their screens. Some of them seemed more focused on putting on a show than actually drinking what they ordered.

"Let's go out tonight."

Lisa's bright voice broke through my thoughts while I wiped down the espresso machine.

I didn't care much about the job itself, aside from the money it brought in every week. Still, I liked being here. Because Lisa was here. She was my only real friend, the one who kept reminding me there was a life waiting beyond Blackwood.

"That's not happening. My dad's expecting me back."

The way her lips dipped in disappointment stirred a small warmth in my chest. At least she got it.

Still, she had no idea the truth. My family wasn't human. They were wolves.

My father, the pack's Beta, only let me keep this job because he was sick of having me around the house. And maybe because every bit of money I didn't waste on gas went straight into paying off the debt from my beat-up Taurus. That old wreck sat outside like a loyal mess. It could break down on me any second, but it was the closest thing I had to freedom.

Anywhere was better than going back home.

"You should just move in with me. We could get a place together and do whatever we want, whenever we feel like it." Lisa brought up that same idea during every shift.

I thought about it too. Not for the fun or the parties, but for the chance to get away. To put real distance between me and the pack.

But there was no running from what you were. Not even if you were a flaw. Not even if you were a werewolf who was wolfless.

My glasses kept slipping down my nose, and I pushed them back up with a quiet sigh. I needed a new prescription, but I didn't have the time or the money for it. I was still wearing the same pair my mom had chosen for me years ago. It only made the difference stand out more. Werewolves didn't have bad eyesight.

But I didn't have a wolf.

I flicked a damp cloth toward her. Lisa yelped and jumped out of the way. "I'd leave if I could, believe me. But someone still has to fill those cups before the rush hits."

"I'm heading out," she said, then added with a look, "but you'd feel a lot better if you told your dad to back off. He'd come around eventually. You're not a kid anymore."

That kind of thinking felt like a soft lie.

He was the Beta. I stayed under his control, no matter how much time passed. And even if he ever started treating me like an adult, all it would take was one word from the Alpha to put me right back where I belonged.

"It's just how things work," I said under my breath. She let it go for now, but she never stopped for long. She kept bringing up apartments, schedules, budgets, always patient but stubborn. She wanted me to have a life of my own.

She was the first one who noticed how tightly my family controlled me.

She was the first person who actually cared.

She was also the first to put into words what I could never quite say myself.

"Your family treats you badly. Who even does that to their own?"

Once, they loved me. At least, they did before they started waiting for my first shift.

I still remembered bits of it. Mom used to laugh as she held me close. Dad would lift me onto his shoulders so I could reach for the sky. Jessa and Phoenix loved showing me off, proud to call me their little sister.

That life was long gone.

Then everything changed. Mom grew distant. Dad's gaze turned cold, and one day, he dragged me into the woods and left me there with nothing, hoping it would force my wolf to surface.

It never did.

Closing time at Beaniverse always turned chaotic in the parking lot. Lisa stayed with me every night before I left. Part of her expected my Taurus to give up on me at any moment, and part of her worried someone might come after me.

When I warned her she could end up in danger too, she took my hand and answered without hesitation, "If that ever happened, you'd show up for me. That's why I'm here for you."

I cared about her more than I could say.

And the guilt stayed with me. Because she still didn't know the truth about me. She believed I came from a violent human household, and more than once, I had to stop her from calling the police when I showed up bruised and shaken.

The police couldn't do anything against the pack.

The only way out would be finding a mate, that one person every werewolf was meant to bond with. Sometimes, I let myself believe it could be my escape. Still, the thought scared me just as much. What if there was no bond waiting for me? Or worse, what if I ended up trapped all over again?

The night felt calm, heavy with the scent of rain, as I drove away from the bright lights of White Peak and followed the dark road that led back to Blackwood.

I knew every curve by heart, yet something felt off. The forest looked thicker than usual, and the faint moonlight stretched long shadows between the trees. My grip tightened around the steering wheel until my knuckles turned pale. A quiet fear settled deep in my chest, the same instinct that had echoed through countless hunts.

Without a wolf, I was nothing but prey.

My jaw clenched just as a large figure burst into my headlights.

"Damn!"

I hit the brakes hard. The Taurus let out a sharp screech as it skidded across the road, the tires burning against the pavement. My head slammed forward into the steering wheel. The taste of blood spread across my tongue.

When I lifted my gaze again, the road was empty. Not a trace.

There was no doubt about it. That had been one of Blackwood's wolves.

I had to get back to the house. They might tear me down there, but they'd never go as far as killing me. A healer would always step in, because even someone broken still had their use.

I reached for the keys, and a sharp pain shot through my wrist. A sprain. Great. I forced my left hand to turn the ignition. The engine coughed but didn't catch. I tried again. And again.

"Come on... please..." My voice shook as I whispered.

The night behind me felt alive, breathing in the dark. I almost expected a pair of glowing eyes to slip out from the shadows.

A sudden crack cut through the silence and made me flinch. Slowly, I turned my head toward the window.

At the edge of the woods, two yellow lights hovered in the darkness, locked onto me.

They were watching me.