Spring4Lilliez
They say the pack is supposed to be your sanctuary, but for me, the Sunforth Pack is a gilded cage where the bars are made of whispers and cruel laughter. My name is Nova Collins, and in two weeks, I turn eighteen. Most girls in the valley are dreaming of the Moon Ceremony and finding their fated mates. Me? I'm just trying to survive until graduation without being tripped in the hallway or shamed by my own mother for the way my body is built.
I'm the Gamma's daughter, yet I live like a ghost in my own home. My mother, Lorelei, looks at me with a disgust that matches her wolf Aurora's cold green eyes. To her, I'm an eyesore-too much hip, too much spirit, too much "space" taken up. My father, Samuel, used to be my hero, but the rogue wars have turned him into a stranger who hides behind the Alpha's orders. Even Colton, the boy I've loved since I was eight, looks at me through the lens of the lies Maureen Gale feeds him.
The only things keeping me grounded are my baby brother Noah-who I suspect carries a secret in his blood that could burn this pack to the ground-and my art. In my hidden cabin, away from the snobbish glares of my sister Ginger and Luna's sadistic whims, I paint the world I wish I lived in.
But something is changing. I can feel Starla stirring beneath my skin. Dawn's birthday is tomorrow, and mine follows. I have a feeling that once the clock strikes midnight on the 29th, the girl they used to kick around is going to disappear. I'm tired of being the Sunforth's punching bag. If they want a monster, I'll give them a rare one. If they want beauty, I'll show them what stars look like when they finally decide to fall.