Chapter 1 Birthday Surprise
ADRIANA
I stared at the text on my phone, reading it for the third time, a smile tugging at my lips.
‘Come over tonight. I have something special planned for your birthday. Love you.’
Landon is the best thing I never thought could happen to me. We’ve been together for five years and he still found ways to make me feel like I mattered. In a world where my own family forgot my birthday—really, they didn’t give a shit what happened to me—Landon was my light. He saw me.
I touched the promise ring on my finger. He’d given it to me last year on this very day. A simple silver band with our initials engraved inside. “A promise,” he’d said, “of forever.”
I’m finally eighteen. I’ve been waiting for this since I turned fifteen. The day I would finally shift, finally get my wolf. Then maybe things would be different and I’d finally be whole.
I let myself in with the spare key he’d given me, ready to surprise him.
The smile slipped off my face when I heard a weird noise as soon as the door opened.
“Landon?” I called out to the mostly dark apartment.
Instead of his familiar voice, I heard that sound again. Louder. Like someone was having sex.
I moved further towards it, wanting to confirm. There has to be some type of mistake. My heart was in my stomach when I reached the doorway to Landon’s bedroom. The door was wide open.
My feet stopped moving. My brain refused to process what my eyes were seeing.
The people in bed having sex.
No…
My knees buckled and I almost lost my footing. I gripped the doorknob tightly, unable to tear my eyes away from what I was seeing. Lisa and Landon…having sex.
My sister and my boyfriend. They were too busy locked in each other that they didn’t even hear me. They still didn’t notice me standing right there.
“Fuck, i’m so close, harder baby.” Lisa’s moan rang in my ears as Landon pressed her down against him, grasping her waist and pushing her closer to his groin. He rasped out a curse and kissed her hard, moaning into her mouth.
Five years disappeared without a trace.
My gaze settled on Landon’s wrist, where the bracelet I had crafted for him on our third anniversary remained attached to his hand, the same hand now gripping my sister’s butt, bringing her closer to his groin.
I couldn’t look away, no matter how hard I tried. When his eyes finally opened and his sex crazed gaze met mine.
He didn’t stop.
“Landon?” My voice cracked.
Lisa saw me then. And instead of stopping, instead of showing even a shred of shame, she smiled and kissed him deeper, her eyes locked on mine the entire time.
“Adriana—” Landon started, but Lisa cut him off.
“Oh, don’t stop on her account.” She pulled back slightly, that wicked smile still on her face. “Did you really think he wanted you?”
I couldn’t breathe.
“You, with no wolf? When you can’t even shift?” She laughed, the sound cutting through me like glass. “Please. You never deserved him anyway.”
My hands were shaking as I twisted the promise ring off my finger. The ring he’d given me. The ring that was supposed to mean forever.
I threw it at them. It bounced off Landon’s chest and clattered to the floor.
Then I ran.
I didn’t stop until I reached the park close to the packhouse. My lungs felt tight, like someone had tied them together into a knot.
I collapsed on a bench. Unable to hold everything in anymore, I screamed loudly. Not caring that there might be people close enough to hear me. I screamed until my throat hurt and my eyes burned.
Violent, ugly sobs that shook my entire body followed. I kept seeing them, hearing them. I couldn’t get the sound out of my head.
My own sister. My blood.
The betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound she’d ever inflicted. And there had been many.
I don’t know how long I sat there, but the sky had darkened when I finally stood on shaking legs and made my way back to the pack house.
“Look at the wolfless girl!”
“Someone’s been crying.”
“Aww, what’s wrong? Boyfriend finally realized what you are?”
I ignored the whispers and laughter that followed me as I walked through the pack house corridors, my eyes still red and puffy, my face blotchy from crying. I kept my head down and tried to make it to my room.
“Adriana!”
My father’s voice boomed through the house. I flinched.
“Adriana! Coffee! My office! Now!”
Of course he’d need something from me. Not “happy birthday.” Not “are you okay.” Just demands.
I changed direction toward the kitchen, my legs feeling like lead.
I was preparing the coffee, hands shaking slightly, when I heard movement behind me. I knew it was her because she always wore the same offensive perfume everyday.
“Well, well. Don’t you look pathetic.”
Lisa stood in the doorway, that same cruel smile on her face.
“Did you really think crying would change anything?” She walked closer. “You know what the difference between us is, Adriana? I’m better than you in every way. Prettier. Stronger. Better in bed, apparently.”
She laughed at her own joke.
I pressed my palms against the counter and closed my eyes. I didn’t have time for her. “Lisa, please—”
“Please what?” She moved faster than I could track, and suddenly she was right in front of me. “You’re nothing. You’ve always been nothing. And now Landon knows it too.”
I stepped away from her and picked the tray holding the coffee and cups. She followed me. I didn’t see her hand move in time. Not until she slammed it hard. I hissed as the scalding coffee went everywhere. The tray clattered to the floor. Hot liquid splashed across my hand and down my leg, burning through my jeans. Shattered ceramic cut into my palm as I instinctively tried to catch the falling cups.
I screamed.