Chapter 1

After the Alpha Trials ended, every single one of my childhood friends abandoned their plans to stay with their own Packs.

One by one they changed their minds and decided to join the wolf patrol stationed along the northern border of the werewolf continent.

""Look, using alliances, treaties, and arranged pairings to climb the ladder—that's our parents' idea of fun. No political ambition is worth more than the five of us together," said Adam Richardson, my fated mate.

He was the absolute center of our group. Tall, good-looking, stronger than any of us.

My eyes lit up every time I looked at him.

A spark flared in my chest, and without a second thought I wrote to Captain Marcus, who commanded the northern patrol, and told him I wanted to join.

Even though I was the Alpha princess of the Silvercrest Pack. Even though my father had already been preparing me to inherit his position as Alpha.

The day Captain Marcus wrote back, I ran to Adam and the others with my acceptance letter, buzzing.

"Finally got that idiot Molly off our hands," Scott crowed.

"If she doesn't go north, Grace will be the one who has to serve at the border."

I stood outside the door, clutching my envelope, frozen.

"Right. Grace failed the Trials, so she’d definitely be sent to the border. As long as Molly volunteers to go north, Grace won’t have to,” Grant said in a low voice.

"Molly really is an idiot. She's been glued to us since we were kids, always running around like a tomboy. Does she really think she's some princess with a bunch of men at her feet?" Eric let out a sneer.

Their words sent a shudder through me.

I pushed the door open. Surprise flashed across every face.

But Adam was as unruffled as ever.

"Weren't you always telling us to be nicer to Grace? Now we're treating her like a princess. What are you crying for?"

"Just go north on your own. We'll bring her up to visit you as soon as we can."

I gave a bitter smile.

Didn't they know?

My early-admission application to Captain Marcus's program in the north had already been approved.

And I'd signed a confidentiality agreement.

They'd thrown me away for Grace.

And I'd decided to give the rest of my life to the entire werewolf continent.

From this moment on, nothing was going to stand in my way.

...

"Molly, you didn't throw a fit. You really have grown up."

Adam had clearly braced himself for tears and a tantrum, but I just stood there quietly.

"If I threw a fit, would you come north with me on patrol?"

My childhood friends frowned.

Adam adjusted his glasses. "We did want to join the northern patrol originally. But Grace said she couldn't handle the weather up there. She begged us to stay with her."

The others chimed in.

"Molly, you've got Alpha blood. You've been climbing trees and hunting with us since we were kids. You're tough. Grace is too delicate. The Pack capital suits her better."

"Then why did you lie to me?" Tears slid down my face. My inner wolf was howling.

Adam said nothing, but something impatient moved behind his eyes.

As though I shouldn't be questioning him. As though I should just stupidly go along with whatever he'd arranged, the way I always had.

There are five Alpha families on our continent, each governing its own Pack.

Our territories border one another and together form the werewolf continent.

At the center of it all sits the capital.

I was the only she-wolf among the children of the five Alpha families. The adults doted on me. My childhood friends protected me.

When we played house, they used to fight over who got to be my brother.

And Adam was always my groom.

We grew up together in noise and laughter.

It never once occurred to me that a day would come when we'd have nothing left to say.

The silence settled again.

"Grace's eighteenth birthday is in a few days. Don't make things difficult for her over this."

Eric broke it first.

He was a careless athlete; I'd scolded him more times than I could count for forgetting things. And yet he remembered another girl's birthday perfectly.

I forced a smile. "I already have a gift ready. That designer bag she's always wanted."

"I bought her that bag ages ago. Give her the moonstone necklace. That's what she wants now."

Eric rubbed his nose, indifferent.

Adam went still, then shook his head at him.

The moonstone necklaces were what let our five families reach each other when the Mind Link didn't work.

I closed my hand around the moonstone I'd worn since I was a child and shook my head.

"Then give her the dolls."

And this time, before I could react, Eric strode past me and scooped up the five dolls we'd made of ourselves.

"Here. You can keep yours. She said she only wants the four of us."

The little doll with two braids sat alone in the cabinet.

I finally spoke up.

"Eric, we made those when we were eight. I'm not giving them away."

I went after him, but the others stepped into my path.

"If you take those, we're done. I'll never speak to you again."

Eric stopped. He didn't turn around.

"Fine. Then we're done. Don't you say that every single time you're mad?"

I tried to go after him again, and Adam caught my arm.

"Don't, Molly. Be generous. You've had so much since you were born. Grace hasn't."

"She's an orphan."

"We just love her a little more. Don't be petty about it."

Hadn't I already given her enough?

She struggled in school, so I gave up my free time to tutor her.

She'd never traveled, so I paid out of my own pocket and took her everywhere.

She had no friends, so I even introduced her to my childhood friends.

And in the end, I was the one they threw away.

I turned to the boy I'd quietly loved for six years.

"Love her a little more? And what about you, Adam? Did you lie to me because you have feelings for her?"

"You accepted my confession because you knew I'd never do long distance, and that I'd absolutely follow you to the border. Didn't you?"

"Molly, no. I've liked you for years. Grace is your best friend. I just didn't feel right leaving her alone."

Adam pulled me into his arms.

So he felt fine about me going north alone?

I let out a slow breath, as if that could ease the ache in my chest.

"I promise I'll visit you every month. All right?"

Adam reached up to wipe my tears, and I turned my head away.

His fingers froze. His brows drew together.

"Molly, stop. Can't you be mature about this? Grace just needs looking after."

See? Even when he was trying to comfort me, he couldn't go one sentence without bringing her up.

"Grace and the others are waiting for me. We'll talk when you've calmed down."

He glanced at his phone.

"We're heading out now. You guys start with a few songs."

Adam smiled as he sent a voice message to the group chat, then hurried off.

I checked my phone on instinct.

Nothing.

The five of them had left me behind and made a new group.

Meanwhile, there hadn't been a message in our six-person group chat in a very long time.

I wiped my eyes and typed with shaking fingers.

"Captain Marcus, I'll report to the northern research institute by the end of July."