Chapter 1

Julia’s POVNo one remembered my eighteenth birthday.I stared at the kitchen ceiling as I listened to my family bustling around downstairs, preparing for another normal Tuesday. My eighteenth birthday—the day every werewolf waits for, when I would finally awaken my wolf and become a full member of the pack—and it might as well have been any other day.It wasn’t really surprising. Three days ago, we’d celebrated Eric’s twenty-first birthday with a massive party. My parents had transformed our backyard into party central, with fairy lights, a DJ, and enough food to feed half the pack. Eric, the golden child, the future warrior, the high school football coach at just twenty-one, deserved nothing less.I rolled out of bed and caught my reflection in the mirror. At least the baby fat that had plagued me throughout childhood was gone. My face had thinned out in high school, but it was too late—the damage to my social life was already done. “Chubby Julie” had stuck, even if the chubbiness hadn’t.“Julia! You’re going to be late!” Mom called from downstairs.