Chapter 1
Annabel POV
That fateful day, as I was cutting rose flowers, a loud scream came from the hallway.
The knife in my hand slipped and cut into my thumb.
Blood rushed from the small wound.
I acted as if nothing had happened.
Two years of living in this house had taught me how to hide my pain.
Showing it never made anyone feel sorry for me. It only gave people something else to talk about.
I pressed my thumb against my dress and let the blood soak into the fabric. Then I picked up another flower stem and continued cutting.
A few seconds later, the scream stopped.
Everyone froze.
But no one moved to find out what had happened.
Then I heard footsteps running through the hallway.
Loud.
Fast and,
Uneven.
Someone was running.
The footsteps passed beyond the wall of the dining hall and faded down the corridor.
Still, nobody moved.
I looked around the table.
Twelve pack elders sat beside Mrs. Ann. Some kept their eyes on their plates. Others stared straight ahead.
No one even looked toward the hallway.
The scream had come from only two rooms away.
Yet everyone remained in their seats as if they had heard nothing.
I understood why.
During my first year in this house, I had learned to stay away from anything that doesn't concern me.
If someone shouted, I kept quiet.
If something broke, I never asked who caused it.
If I heard something I wasn't supposed to hear, I acted as if I had heard nothing.
It was the safest way to live in this house.
"Annabel!"
Mrs. Ann's voice pulled me back to the table.
She pointed at the flowers.
"What sort of nonsense did you put here? Is this what you call a centerpiece?"
"I'm so sorry I didn't realize you wouldn't like it this way." I kept my voice calm. "I'll fix it now."
"You'll fix it? That's all you have to say?"
She picked up one of the roses, examined it, turned it over, and studied it again.
"You have lived in this house for two years, and you still can't arrange ordinary flowers."
She dropped the rose onto the table.
"Two years, Annabel. This is all you can do. Do you know what that says about you? It means you're dull. You don't learn. You can't even do something this simple."
"I'm sorry. I'll redo it."
"Sorry for yourself."
I lowered my eyes.
There was no point defending myself.
Mrs. Ann wasn't asking for an explanation. She wanted me to admit that I had failed.
So I did.
That was how I had learned to keep the peace in this house.
The twelve elders watched without saying a word.
My husband was there too.
Bruce sat across from me, cutting his food.
He hadn't looked at me once.
That was normal now.
Two years ago, it hadn't been.
Bruce was the Alpha of Dotted Pack. He was also the founder of Soulmark, the company that told every pack in the kingdom who was truly mated to whom.
Two years ago, he had placed his mark on my neck in front of the entire pack.
He had told everyone that I was his.
I had believed that meant something.
Now, I wasn't sure what it meant to him anymore.
He could sit across from me through an entire meal without looking at me even once.
I picked up the roses and started again.
Cut.
Turn.
Place.
My hands knew what to do.
I didn't have to think about the flowers anymore. I only had to make them look the way Mrs. Ann wanted.
Then something pulled beneath my ribs.
I stopped.
It was faint, but I felt it.
The sensation sometimes came when Bruce was near.
A thin pull inside my chest, as if something connected to him was tugging at me.
I pressed my palm against my ribs.
Maybe it was nerves.
I had learned not to give strange feelings too much meaning.
But this didn't feel like nerves.
It felt like the bond between us was trying to reach me.
Yet my wolf couldn't answer.
It had never awakened.
I was already twenty years old, and I had never heard my wolf's voice.
Every shifter I knew had heard theirs around the age of thirteen.
Mine had given me nothing.
No second voice.
No response.
No warning.
Only my thoughts.
Most times I wondered what it would feel like to have another voice inside my head. Someone who could comfort me when I was afraid. Someone who could warn me when danger was near.
But there had never been anyone there.
In this pack, being wolfless meant being treated as less than everyone else.
I had learned to live with that too.
They knew me as a human rights lawyer.
They also knew me as a wolfless Omega who had somehow become a Luna.
A Luna who couldn't even arrange flowers properly.
But there were parts of my past I knew nothing about.
I had never known where I truly came from, and no one had ever given me a straight answer.
All I knew was that my past had always been kept from me.
And I had learned not to ask questions.
"Sit down, Annabel."
Bruce finally spoke.
He still didn't look at me.
"Dinner is getting cold."
I obeyed and sat on one of the chairs.
Mrs. Ann continued talking.
First about the flowers.
Then about my manners.
Then about what a real Luna should already know without being taught.
I listened and nodded when necessary.
I had become good at knowing which conversations required a response and which ones did not.
My mind drifted to the case file lying on my office desk.
It belonged to a mother who was fighting her pack for the right to keep her pups.
She had come to me because she believed I had enough power to help her.
She trusted me because I was a lawyer.
She believed I could stand for those who are oppressed. Who could not fight for themselves.
She didn't know that I couldn't even speak up for myself in my house.
I couldn't make the smallest decision without someone questioning it.
I couldn't protect myself.
How was I supposed to protect anyone else?
Then the dining hall doors slammed open.
Jane stumbled inside.
One hand was clutching her stomach.
Tears filled her eyes, and her dress was torn at the shoulder.
"Help me," she gasped.
Her voice shook.
"Please. Someone help me."
Every elder stood.
Chairs scraped loudly across the floor.
Bruce was already on his feet.
Mrs. Ann hurried toward Jane and pulled her close.
"What happened?"
Her voice was sharp but filled with concern. The type she never showed me.
"Who did this to you?"
Jane slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes moved around the room.
Then they landed on me.
I didn't understand why.
I hadn't spoken to her.
I hadn't even moved from my seat.
For one brief second, something changed in her expression.
Then she pointed at me.
"She did it."
Her finger remained fixed on me.
"Annabel attacked me."
I stared at her.
I tried to understand what she was accusing me of.
But my mind couldn't make sense of it.
Mrs. Ann's expression changed immediately.
Bruce looked at me.
My stomach dropped.
Jane pointed at me again.
"She did it. Annabel attacked me."
The room went silent.
Again.
But this silence felt different.
The first time, everyone had acted as if nothing had happened.
Now, everyone was waiting for me to react.
I looked at Bruce.
For two years, I had learned his silences.
I knew when he was angry.
I knew when he was tired.
I knew when he didn't care.
But I couldn't understand him now.
His eyes moved from Jane to me.
Then back to Jane.
"Is that true?"
My heart sank.
He was asking if I had attacked her.
I hadn't.
I opened my mouth to speak.
"I…"
"Annabel!"
His voice stopped me.
He took a step toward me.
Every elder was watching.
Mrs. Ann still had one arm wrapped around Jane.
No one said a word.
I had spent two years trying to live peacefully with everyone in this house.
I avoided anything that could bring trouble.
I had learned when to speak and when to stay silent, when to apologize and when to keep my thoughts to myself.
But now, none of those things seemed enough.
Bruce crossed the space between us in three quick steps.
"Annabel! Tell me what happened. Now!"
His eyes locked onto mine.
And for the first time in two years, I realized that my silence could no longer save me.
