Chapter 1
My family ignored my calls while I was dying in our basement. They thought I was trying to ruin my younger sister's graduation.
That night, my brother finally came looking for me. My sister wanted the cookies I used to bake for her.
I was right beside him when he demanded that I come home.
He couldn't hear me. My body was still downstairs.
At midnight, my soul floated out of the basement.
Upstairs, my brother, Blake, shoved open my bedroom door. He looked around the empty room and scoffed.
"Aren't you a little old for hide-and-seek?"
Normally, I would have argued. This time, I drifted beside him and tried to speak. He didn't hear a word.
Blake called my phone. When I didn't answer, he picked up the journal on my desk and flipped to the last page.
At the top, I had written a number: 99.
It was the exact number of times this family had let me down, abandoned me, or chosen Celeste over me in the past years.
He frowned, glanced no farther, and tossed it onto the floor. Then he left me a voicemail.
"Celeste wants your homemade cookies. Stop playing games and come back here to make them. It's her graduation day, Mara. Don't ruin it. Get home within the hour and I'll forgive you."
He pocketed his phone and went downstairs.
Our parents were in the living room with Celeste, our younger sister. Graduation gifts lay open around her feet.
"Mara's not in her room. She's not answering, either," Blake told them. "You know what she's like. She disappears and waits for us to beg her to come back."
Dad shook his head. "We've spoiled her. No one contact her again. Let her cool off. She'll come crawling back tomorrow."
Celeste slipped her hand around his arm.
"Don't say that, Dad. What if something happened to her? I'll text her. She might answer me. We're close."
I watched over her shoulder as she typed.
[Hope you enjoyed getting torn apart by those rogues. Who are you screwing now? The party was great without you, btw. I wish you'd just drop dead.]
She sent it, deleted it from her screen, and began another message.
[Mara, are you okay? We're all worried. If you're angry, take it out on me. Please come home.]
She held up the phone for our parents to see.
Mom put an arm around her. "You're always thinking of your sister. This isn't your fault, sweetheart. Mara's being immature."
Immature.
That was what they called it when I wanted them to remember something that mattered to me.
Earlier that day, I was supposed to receive the pack's Distinguished Service Award for my research. It was given only once every two years. Celeste's college graduation fell on the same day, and I knew which ceremony my family would attend.
I had told them not to worry about mine.
I wasn't trying to compete with her. I had only wanted them to remember why I was dressed up, where I was going.
I was about to leave for the ceremony when three rogue wolves entered the house. My old, unlit moonstone was in my pocket. My phone was in my hand.
One of the men blocked the front door. The other two came toward me.
"How did you get in?" I backed away. "Where did you get a key?"
He held up a keychain. I recognized Celeste's charm.
They seized me and dragged me down to the basement.
"You're staying here today," one of them said.
I fought to get free. When that failed, I begged them to let me go.
"I won't tell anyone. Please. Just don't kill me."
They pinned me down, forced themselves on me, and bit my neck while taking photographs. I kept struggling. In the fight, the back of my head struck the corner of a table.
Blood spread beneath me. One of the men swore. Then they ran, leaving me on the floor.
My phone had fallen a short distance away. I dragged myself toward it. My hands wouldn't do what I wanted, and I had to press my cheek against the screen to keep it still while I tried to call.
I reached for my family through our pack link, too. A wolf could feel a family member's mortal distress through that connection. They had to know I needed them.
For a moment, I felt them on the other side.
Then they shut me out.
My calls went unanswered. A message from Mom appeared instead.
[Faking suffocation again? Drop the act! Your father and I don't have time for your drama. We've already severed our pack link to you!]
Blake's connection was gone as well.
I tried one more number.
Adrian, my mate, answered.
"Help me," I said. "Adrian, I'm dying."
"Mara, enough. This is Celeste's big day. I already told you I'd make it up to you with a graduation present! How much attention do you need?"
A graduation present.
He didn't even remember I was getting an award today. His mind was entirely consumed by Celeste's graduation.
I tried to tell him I was in the basement. He ended the call before I could get the words out.
I lay beside the phone and waited for it to ring again.
It never did.
Now I could see them gathered upstairs, still certain I would come home when I wanted something. All that separated them from my body was a closed basement door.
Sooner or later, someone would notice the smell.
