Chapter 1

Sloane's POV

My pencil scratched across the page, sketching out the human skeletal system. Finals week at medical school, everyone around me looked half-dead from cramming. I'd been camping out at this corner table for hours, my anatomy books spread everywhere like I was building a fort.

Studying was my escape. Here, nobody stared at me. Well, not for the usual reasons anyway.

Ring ring ring!

My phone went off way too loud. Half the library turned to glare at me. Great. The screen showed "Victoria" and I frowned.

Why's my stepmother calling? She usually pretends I don't exist.

"Hello?"

"Sloane!" Victoria's voice was shaking. "You need to come home right now! Martin's had a heart attack! The doctor says it's serious!"

My pencil hit the floor. I jumped up so fast my chair made this awful scraping noise. More angry looks from the other students.

"What?! How is he?" My heart was pounding. Yeah, Martin's been a drunk and a gambler for years, but he still raised me after my parents died.

Victoria was crying now. "The doctors are working on him, but you should hurry. This might be... this might be the last time you see him."

Everything felt like it was spinning.

"I'm coming," I whispered, already shoving books into my bag. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

I raced through the paperwork for emergency leave, then caught the next train home.

The train felt like it was crawling. I pressed my face against the window, watching trees blur past while my mind raced.

My birth parents used to be the Alpha and Luna of a small pack. They died in some war when I was too little to remember. I only know bits and pieces from what the pack elders sometimes mention.

Before the current Alpha King made the Pack Peace Protection Act, wars happened all the time. Small packs like ours had to kiss up to bigger ones like Frostbite Pack for protection. The noble packs would start fights between smaller packs just to get more territory and taxes.

My parents died in one of those stupid wars. Our original pack just got absorbed by the one we're in now. I don't even remember their faces.

But losing them wasn't the worst part. This thing on my face, that's been my real curse. Without thinking, I touched my left cheek, making sure my bangs covered the huge dark red birthmark that goes from my cheek all the way to my forehead.

Ever since I could walk, kids pointed and called me "monster" and "freak." After my parents died, it got worse. "Even the Moon Goddess thinks this kid's ugly," they'd whisper.

At least I had Emily for a while.

Emily was amazing. She was Martin's wife, and she never cared about my birthmark, never made me feel broken. She'd touch my face and say, "Sloane, you're mama's most beautiful baby."

Martin was good to me back then too, since he used to be my father's beta. Sometimes he'd look uncomfortable when he saw my mark, but he tried to hide it. Emily would buy me cute hats and scarves so I could go out like a normal kid.

"Everyone's beautiful in their own way," Emily used to tell me, putting her hand over my heart. "Your beauty's right here."

But those happy days didn't last.

Cause after our pack got absorbed, Martin's status basically plummeted. Sure, our quality of life didn't drop that much, but he just couldn't handle the fall from grace. So he started gambling for kicks. At first, Martin started gambling small at first. A few coins here and there, then bigger bets. Soon he was losing money we couldn't afford. Drinking became his way to escape, and Emily and I became his punching bags.

I still remember the first time he hit me. "Raising a monster like you is the worst luck I've ever had!" The words hurt more than his fist.

Emily always tried to protect me, but she got hurt too. One night Martin came home wasted, pointing at my face and screaming, "That ugly mark is the curse you brought to our family!" When Emily stepped in front of me, he shoved her so hard she cracked her head on the table...

The blood trickling down Emily's forehead. That image still makes me sick.

Emily died when I was thirteen. Heart problems from stress and trauma, the doctor said. Right before she died, she grabbed my hand and whispered, "Sloane, forgive mama for not protecting you anymore. Remember, you're more beautiful than anyone."

After Emily died, Martin seemed sorry for a while. I thought maybe he'd change. Then Victoria showed up with her daughter Scarlett.

Victoria took one look at me and couldn't hide her disgust. "Martin, how could you adopt such a... such a child?" Right in front of me.

Scarlett was five years younger but learned fast. "Ugly sister, why don't you look in a mirror?" Those were literally the first words she said to me.

The train whistle snapped me back to reality. We were almost at Moon Shadow Pack territory.

These past few years with Victoria and Scarlett have been hell. But still, I was stuck living with them.

I walked from the train station toward our house, automatically fixing my bangs to hide my birthmark. Some neighbor kid spotted me and yelled, "Scarface Sloane's back! The ugly freak came home!"

I bit my lip but kept walking. I'd heard worse. Right now I was too worried about Martin to care about some brat's comments.

I dragged my bag through our front gate and hurried to the house, my heart hammering. But when I got to the door, I stopped dead.

Through the window, Martin was sitting in his old armchair, reading a newspaper. His face looked perfectly healthy - no sign of someone who'd just had a heart attack. He was even humming to himself, with a steaming cup of tea next to him.

My bag hit the ground hard.

What the hell? Wasn't he supposed to be dying?

Anger and confusion twisted in my chest as I stared at my completely fine adoptive father.

"Dad? Your heart..." I called out, pushing the door open.

Martin looked up, seeming a bit awkward as his eyes flicked to my bangs. "Oh, Sloane. You're back."

Before I could demand answers, Victoria came out of the kitchen with the biggest smile I'd ever seen on her face. It was so weird it made my skin crawl.

"Sloane! My dear daughter! You finally made it home!" She held out her arms like she wanted to hug me.

I stepped back fast. Since when is my stepmother excited to see me? Usually she looks at me like I have some contagious disease.

Every time she's looked at me before, her eyes were full of disgust, like my birthmark might somehow infect her precious daughter.

"Dad's heart attack..." I started, confused, keeping my hand ready to protect my bangs.

Victoria waved it off. "Oh, that! The doctor said it wasn't serious, just some irregular heartbeat. A little rest and he'll be fine."

Irregular heartbeat? On the phone, she clearly said heart attack and that he was dying!

Before I could ask what the hell was going on, Victoria grabbed my hand with fake warmth. She seemed unusually excited about something today.

Her eyes were gleaming in a way that made me really uncomfortable.

"Sloane, do you know what? I have the most wonderful news to share with you!"