Celeste's POV
I woke up to screaming.
My eyes snapped open, and for a second, I didn't understand what I was hearing. Then I recognized the voice—Aria. My pathetic little sister was screaming like someone was killing her.
I smiled in the darkness of my room. What trouble had she gotten into now?
But then I felt it. A ripple of power moving through the house, making my wolf sit up and take notice. That wasn't normal. That was the feeling of a first shift happening nearby.
My smile disappeared.
No. Absolutely not. Aria couldn't have a wolf. She was supposed to be defective, broken, worthless. That was the whole point of her existence—to make me look better in comparison.
I threw off my silk covers and ran to the window. The moon was full and bright, lighting up our back lawn. And there, stumbling toward the forest, was a silver wolf.
Silver.
My wolf was golden, like my mother's. My father's was brown. Everyone in our family had normal, ordinary colored wolves.
But Aria's wolf was silver—bright as starlight, beautiful as moonbeams, impossible to look away from.
"No, no, no!" I pressed my hands against the window, watching her disappear into the trees. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Tomorrow was MY engagement party. Dante was coming to finalize our wedding plans. I was supposed to become Luna of the Silverwood Pack, the most powerful position any she-wolf could have.
And now Aria—stupid, clumsy, worthless Aria—had a wolf. A beautiful, rare, silver wolf that would make everyone stare at her instead of me.
I grabbed my phone and called my mother. She answered on the first ring, her voice sharp. "Celeste? It's three in the morning. This better be important."
"Aria shifted," I said. The words tasted like poison in my mouth. "Her wolf is silver."
Silence. Then my mother whispered something I couldn't hear. When she spoke again, her voice was shaking. "Are you certain?"
"I watched her run into the forest. Mom, what are we going to do? If people see her wolf—"
"I'll handle it." My mother's voice turned cold and hard. "Go back to bed. Tomorrow is your day, Celeste. Nothing is going to ruin it. Do you understand? Nothing."
She hung up.
I stood at my window for a long time, staring at the forest where my sister had disappeared. My wolf was pacing inside me, agitated and confused. She'd felt that power too. She knew what it meant.
Aria wasn't just a late bloomer. Her wolf was strong. Maybe stronger than mine.
I thought about the prophecy my mother had told me about years ago, the one she'd made me swear never to mention. Something about a second daughter born under a broken moon. I'd never understood why my mother looked so afraid when she talked about it.
Now I was starting to figure it out.
My phone buzzed. A text from Dante: Can't sleep. Keep thinking about tomorrow. Can't wait to see you.
I stared at the message. Dante Blackwood—strong, handsome, powerful Dante—was going to be mine. We'd been engaged since I was eighteen. Three years of planning, of pack politics, of preparing to be the perfect Luna by his side.
Aria wasn't going to take that away from me.
I typed back: I can't wait either. I love you.
He responded with a heart emoji. I turned off my phone and climbed back into bed, but I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was silver fur and the way power had filled our house when Aria's wolf emerged.
---
The next morning, I was up at dawn. I spent two hours getting ready—the perfect hair, the perfect makeup, the perfect dress. Light blue, Dante's favorite color. By the time I walked downstairs, I looked like a princess.
Aria was in the kitchen, scrubbing the stove. She looked awful. Her face was pale and sweaty. Dark circles hung under her eyes. Her hands were shaking.
"Good morning, little sister," I said sweetly, pouring myself coffee. "You look terrible. Didn't sleep well?"
She didn't answer. She just kept scrubbing, her head down.
I noticed red marks on her arms, like burns. Shifting for the first time was painful—I remembered that. But I'd had my mother and the pack doctor to help me through it. Aria had probably suffered alone in that basement room all night.
Good.
"Dante arrives in four hours," I said, sitting at the kitchen table. "Everything needs to be perfect. Did you finish the bathrooms?"
"Yes," Aria whispered.
"What about the guest rooms?"
"Yes."
"The garden?"
"Yes."
I sipped my coffee, watching her scrub. "You know what's funny? Today's your birthday. You're eighteen. Happy birthday, Aria."
Her shoulders tensed, but she said nothing.
"I got you a present," I lied. "Want to know what it is?"
She kept scrubbing.
"I'm giving you the gift of staying in the basement during the party tonight. You don't have to serve or clean or do anything. Just stay down there, out of sight, where you belong." I smiled. "You're welcome."
My mother walked in, already dressed in an expensive pantsuit. She looked at Aria with cold eyes, then turned to me. "Celeste, darling, you look beautiful. Is everything ready?"
"Almost," I said. "Though the kitchen could be cleaner." I pointed at a spot on the floor that was already spotless. "Aria, you missed a spot."
Aria looked at the floor, confused. There was nothing there. But she got down on her hands and knees anyway and started scrubbing the clean floor.
My mother nodded approvingly. "Good. Dante's parents are very particular. I won't have them thinking we run a sloppy household." She poured herself coffee and sat next to me. "Did you choose your outfit for tonight?"
"The silver dress," I said, then froze. Silver. Like Aria's wolf.
My mother's eyes flickered toward Aria, who was still scrubbing the floor. "Perhaps the gold one would be better."
"Yes," I agreed quickly. "Gold is better."
We talked about the party, about the wedding plans, about how proud my father was that I was marrying the future Alpha. Aria scrubbed the floor the whole time, invisible as furniture.
At exactly noon, I heard cars pulling up the driveway. My heart jumped. Dante was here.
I ran to the front door, smoothing my dress. My mother followed, her fake smile already in place. My father came down the stairs, looking important in his Beta uniform.
The Blackwood family stepped out of their black SUVs. Dante's father, Alpha Marcus, was huge and intimidating. His mother, Luna Sarah, was elegant and cold. And then there was Dante.
He was twenty-one now, tall and muscular with dark hair and green eyes that made every girl in the pack go weak. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans, casual but somehow still perfect. When he smiled at me, I felt my wolf purr.
"Celeste," he said, walking up the steps. He kissed my cheek, his hand resting on my waist. "You look beautiful."
"So do you," I breathed.
But something was wrong. Dante's smile didn't reach his eyes. He looked distracted, almost confused. His wolf was restless—I could feel it through the pack bonds. He kept glancing around like he was searching for something.
"Is everything alright?" I asked.
"Yeah, I just—" He shook his head. "I had the weirdest dream last night. Never mind. It's nothing."
Our parents were already inside, talking business. Dante and I walked through the house together. I showed him the decorations for tonight's party, the flowers I'd chosen, the menu I'd planned. He nodded and smiled, but his mind was somewhere else.
We passed the kitchen. I saw Aria inside, still cleaning. She had her back to us, but the moment Dante stepped into the doorway, she froze.
And Dante froze too.
He stared at her back like he'd seen a ghost. His whole body went rigid. His hand tightened on my waist so hard it hurt.
"Dante?" I said. "What's wrong?"
Aria slowly turned around. Her eyes met Dante's, and I swear the air in the room changed. Electricity crackled between them. Dante's wolf surged to the surface, making his eyes glow.
"No," he whispered. "That's impossible."
Aria's face went white. She looked terrified and angry at the same time. Then she did something I'd never seen her do before—she growled. A real wolf growl that made my own wolf submit.
Dante stepped toward her. I grabbed his arm. "Dante, what are you doing?"
He didn't seem to hear me. He only had eyes for Aria. "You," he breathed. "Last night, in the forest, that was real. That was—"
"Nothing," Aria interrupted, her voice shaking. "It was nothing. Stay away from me."
She ran out the back door, leaving her cleaning supplies scattered on the floor.
I stared at Dante. His eyes were still glowing. His wolf was going crazy inside him—I could feel the power rolling off him in waves.
"What just happened?" I demanded. "Dante, look at me. What's going on?"
He finally tore his gaze away from the door and looked at me. For just a second, I saw something in his eyes that made my blood run cold.
Regret.
"I need to talk to your sister," he said.
"What? Why? She's nobody. She's just—"
"Where is she?" His voice was hard, commanding. His Alpha power pushed against me, making me step back. "Celeste, where does Aria sleep?"
My mind was racing. Something was very wrong. Dante had never cared about Aria before. He'd spent years tormenting her, calling her worthless, making her life miserable.
And now he was looking at her like she was the only person in the world.
"The basement," I heard myself say. "She sleeps in the basement."
Dante was already walking toward the basement door.
And that's when I understood.
The mate bond. The pull between wolves that couldn't be denied. The most powerful magic in our world.
Dante had found his mate.
And it wasn't me.
It was my worthless, wolfless—no, not wolfless anymore—little sister.