Chapter 1: The Five-Year Lesson

When the woman named Felicity threw red wine all over me, every high-ranking werewolf in Grayhaven was waiting for me to snap.

For the past four years, every woman Julian had chosen to take my place at the Winter Moon Thanksgiving banquet had ended up in a fight with me. The worst time, I’d nearly forced her wolf to the surface in a room full of guests.

But this time, I just looked at Felicity.

And smiled.

Those heels are too thin for the cobblestones in Old Town.

I’ll have my assistant bring you another pair.

My husband, Julian Hawthorne, went still.

He was the heir to the Hawthorne bloodline and the next Alpha of the Stonebridge pack. He stood there, shielding the woman in his arms, studying me with an expression I didn’t recognize.

He didn’t understand.

He thought this five-year lesson in obedience had finally earned him a victory.

We had signed our marriage contract and inter-pack alliance five years ago. Every year since, he’d picked a more suitable she-wolf from the East Coast to stand in for me—a wolfless woman from Red Mesa—at the Hawthorne family’s private Thanksgiving banquet on Tidewatch Island.

By Stonebridge custom, only a partner presented to the matriarch and elders could qualify for the Luna investiture. Julian had never given me a mate mark, and he had never allowed me to recite the Luna oath.

He said he was helping me rein in my southern wildness. That once I learned some grace, he would finally make me Stonebridge’s Luna.

And I played my part, acting the jealous, furious, uncontrollable wife.

But the game was over.

The five years Wyatt and I had agreed on ended this Thanksgiving.

If Julian humiliated me one more time, I had to go home to Red Mesa with Wyatt.

The Calloway family and the Red Mesa pack were out of patience.

So when Julian fastened the Hawthorne family’s antique lunar watch—what should have been mine—around Felicity’s wrist, I didn’t cry. The gold, moonstone-set watch was reserved for Luna candidates being taken to Tidewatch.

And when he tossed me an ordinary steel watch, calling it a reward for my good behavior, I didn’t get angry.

I just filed it away.

He didn’t know that every act of condescension, every humiliation, was burning through the last of the Calloways’ restraint toward Stonebridge.

Felicity was still performing.

She clutched Julian’s arm, her eyes filling with tears.

Clara, I really didn’t mean to.

She was an assistant from the Stonebridge bloodline archives, Julian’s publicly chosen companion for the banquet. A full wolf and an approved coastal bloodline—that alone made her more suitable than me in the Hawthornes’ eyes.

Julian patted her hand, then turned to me with a frown. The air filled with the scent of cedar that always came off him when he was annoyed—the silent warning of an Alpha heir.

I smoothed the wine-soaked hem of my dress and stood a little straighter.

It’s fine.

Then, my eyes on Julian, I added, This won’t be your concern for much longer.

He didn’t understand. He thought my sudden obedience made him look good.

I was already dialing Wyatt.

Wyatt, the five years are up.

Come take me home.

An assistant quickly brought over a brand-new pair of flat ankle boots.

I didn’t let her help. I bent down and changed Felicity’s shoes myself.

Then I glanced at the antique lunar watch on her left wrist, and at her empty right wrist. I took off the steel watch Julian had just tossed me like a stranger and fastened it onto her myself.

The modern one is more a young woman’s style. And when you go to Tidewatch for Thanksgiving with the Hawthorne elders, wearing a watch on both wrists will show everyone just how prepared you are.

Felicity clearly hadn’t expected that. Her breath hitched, and the scent of nervous acid cut through her cloying floral perfume.

Julian’s face darkened.

He grabbed my wrist, his grip hard enough to crush bone. The raw pressure of his wolf flared with it, and the nearest Stonebridge members instantly fell silent.

Clara Calloway, who gave you permission to give away something I bought you?

I was wolfless. I couldn’t retaliate with my own wolf’s pressure. But I lifted my head and met his eyes, which were already rimmed in pale gold.

Since when is she an outsider?

I watched his expression falter for a second before I pressed on.

Would you really bring an outsider to Tidewatch and put her in the seat reserved for the future Luna?

Julian didn’t answer right away. His gaze turned heavy.

The wine had soaked through my dress, turning cold against my skin. Without a wolf to give me extra warmth, I started to shiver.

I pulled my hand free and stood straight.

Excuse me. I’m going to my room to change.

I could feel Julian’s eyes on my back the entire way.

Only after the bedroom door clicked shut did I let my shoulders slump. My chest felt tight, as if pinned under something heavy, and it was suddenly hard to breathe.

I changed my clothes, and my phone lit up.

It was Wyatt.

Clara, he still isn’t taking you to Tidewatch. You lost. Come home with me. Red Mesa roast beef tastes better than seafood chowder any day.

I stared at the message, my eyes burning.

Before I could reply, a pair of cold hands settled on my waist from behind.

Julian pressed close to the back of my neck, his soft laugh edged with mockery.

I knew you were faking it. If you really didn’t care, why are you hiding in here to cry?

I killed the screen before he could see it.

I was just thinking about how ugly I’ve been for the past five years.

Looking back, I was always losing control, always seething with jealousy. I’d shown my teeth to every she-wolf who came near him, all for a position that had never really been mine. I barely recognized that woman anymore.

Julian turned my face toward him.

He meant to kiss me, but I turned my head just in time.

His lips only brushed my cheek.

His expression went cold, though his fingers still dug into my chin.

So now you understand how embarrassing you’ve been all these years.

Just then, Felicity’s voice came from outside the door.

Julian? Are you ready?

The malice in his eyes sharpened.

Should I let her come in?

My body went rigid.

He seemed to lose interest at my reaction. He let me go, his fingers brushing slowly across my lips.

Clara, being the wife of Stonebridge’s future Alpha isn’t as simple as living under the protection of the Calloway family back in Red Mesa. You need to learn to accept the choices a pack has to make.

Be a little more sensible, and maybe next year I’ll take you to Tidewatch to meet my grandmother and the elders.

I watched him turn, put his arm around Felicity outside the door, and walk away. Slowly, I lowered my eyes.

But Julian, we don’t have a next year.