I sat at the breakfast nook in the kitchen, poking at a plate of waffles while staring out the window. My heart hurt, and the house seemed more like a prison with each passing minute.

"Hey..." Harmony said, entering the kitchen.

I stood, dumped my plate in the sink, and brushed past her.

"Come on, Ell..."

"Don't. Talk. To. Me."

She sighed heavily and left the kitchen through the opposite door.

"You can't be mad at her forever," Mom said, standing in the library that was right outside the kitchen.

"Sure I can."

"It's not her fault."

"Mom, I don't care. I'm hurting. Why can't she, him, or you seem to understand that? I'm feeling emotions over here. Not to mention the complete humiliation of them marking each other in public."

"Ellie, come on now."

"No, Mom. Why can't anyone just let me be sad? Why can't anyone understand that I'm hurting right now? I may forgive them eventually, but right now, no."

"This is an exciting time for your sister. You should be happy for her."

"I don't want to be happy for her. I've loved Alex for as long as I can remember. I was convinced he was my mate. He's not. I'm not going to be able to just turn that off right away."

"Honey, when you meet—" I cut her off before she could finish.

"No, Mom. I'm not staying. I'm not helping Harmony plan her future with the man I loved. Ashley and I are leaving for a few weeks after finals."

"Leaving? Where?"

"Everywhere. We're going to visit the other packs and just get away."

She tsked and shook her head. "I don't like that idea. We don't just leave the pack."

"I don't belong here, Mom. I'm not dealing with her being the next Luna. I can't."

I felt tears spill down my cheeks. She sighed heavily and nodded.

"I have to go to school. I'll see you later."

I grabbed my bag off the table that sat in the corner of the foyer and made my way to the front door. My heart dropped seeing Alex's car sitting in the driveway. I could feel vomit rising in my throat.

"Hey, Ellie, you wan—"

I turned and walked away from him before he could even finish.

"Hey! Come on! Don't walk away from me!"

"Don't talk to me."

"I'm your future Alpha. You can't speak to me like that," he yelled.

"I just did. Leave me alone."

"Ellie!"

"Stop, Alex!" I shouted. "I'll tell you the same thing I told my mom. I'm going to be in my feelings right now. You marked Harmony in public. At our birthday party. You could have had the decency to talk to me first. A heads up. Something. But no. I didn't even get that. You literally pushed me out of your way."

"El..."

I looked up when I heard the familiar beeping of Ashley's car. "Come on, loser," she said. "Get in."

I smiled lightly and hurried to her convertible. She lowered her sunglasses a bit, wrinkling her nose at Alex.

"Ew. He's at your house."

I nodded. "Let's just leave."

"So, I have news for you."

"News? It's seven a.m. What news?"

"I'm magical."

"How, Ash?"

"How pissed would you be to take all of your finals today and just leave tomorrow?"

"What? How? Why? That's a lot of tests."

"Dean Anderson heard about what happened and called me this morning."

"Why did he call you?"

"Duh, Ellie. He knows we're BFFs. Anyway, can I finish?"

"Yes, please finish," I said, rolling my eyes.

"So, I shared our plan with him, and he was actually supportive of it. He said we could take all the rest of our finals today and just be done with it if we wanted."

"Is that really possible? Just like that?" I asked.

"Yep."

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "That's three finals back to back to back today. Why is he being so accommodating?"

"He's a good guy, even though he can be strict. He genuinely cares about us."

"I see. Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Let's leave tomorrow."

"What about your parents?" Ashley questioned.

"Mom is too preoccupied with Harmony to notice that I'll be gone for a few days. Dad, on the other hand, might miss me. I'll talk to him tonight."

It might be difficult to persuade Dad. He could be stubborn. But he always has great advice and I know he cares about us, especially Tristan, who he's grooming to take over for him as Beta someday.

I didn't really feel like I fit in anywhere anymore. I just kind of existed in the family.

"Want to go in through the back?"

"Of course."

"We can take the back hallways to the office and get our tests."

I nodded as she pulled into a space in the far corner of the lot. I grabbed my bag, and we hurried inside before anyone could see me.

The back halls were creepy and always very dimly lit, with a weird, dank smell.

"It's creepy back here."

"Yeah, but you don't have to see anyone," Ashley said.

"True that."

She pulled out a key ring and opened an unassuming wooden door labeled 'office'.

"Good morning, Mable," Ashley said to the white-haired woman sitting behind the desk typing away on her computer.

"Oh, good morning, dear." She looked over at me and gave a pitying look. "Hi, sweetheart, how are you?"

"I'm okay, Mable. Thanks for asking."

"Is Dean Anderson in?"

"In his office."

Ashley turned on her heels, grabbed my hand, and dragged me down a long hallway. She knocked lightly on the glass door before entering, not giving the dean time to answer.

"Morning, sir."

"Ladies."

"Is it okay if we get started on those tests? I'm expecting it to take all day."

"Of course." He held out two thick folders.

My stomach dropped to the floor.

"You ladies can take them in the library. I already let Miss Greene know that you'll both be in there all day."

"Great. Thanks!"

"Uh, Miss Lunaire, can you stay back for a second?" he asked.

I sighed inwardly. "Of course."

He motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs in front of him. "I heard what happened last night."

I nodded.

"Ashley also filled me in on your plans."

"Okay."

"She also told me about what happened when you shifted."

I groaned. "She is such a big mouth."

"She was right to tell me."

"Do you plan on telling anyone?"

He shook his head. "No, but..."

"Ugh—but?"

"But, I do have some ties to the royal city."

I furrowed my brows. "Okay?"

"The archivist at the royal library is a friend of mine. She has access to very, very old documents. Documents that you may find interesting."

"Sir?"

"I made a phone call after I spoke with Ashley. When you make your way to the royal city, be sure to go to the royal library and ask for Anna Oakly."

"Anna Oakly?"

He nodded. "Yes. She knows about your special situation; you can trust her. She's very knowledgeable in this subject and can help you do some research."

I nodded. "Uh, thank you Dean Anderson. I really appreciate it."

"It's not a problem. You're a good kid. Very smart, and you were done dirty by this whole mating thing. I really am sorry, and I do understand you needing to get away. Please be safe while you're traveling. Be wary of the rogues that are roaming the borders of all the pack territories."

"I will. Thank you again."

I stood and hurried from his office.

"What was that about?" Ashley asked.

"Let me tell you." I explained everything he said as we walked to the library.

I did my best to ignore the stares and whispers from everyone in the hallway.

"Ellie!" I sighed and turned to see Rich running toward me.

"Goddess, what does he want?" Ashley groaned.

"What?" I asked.

"I heard you're single again."

"Yeah? And?"

"Well, since I'm single now..."

"I'm stopping you right there." I held up my hand. "That's an immediate no, Rich. No."

"What? But why?"

"You're not my mate. There is no spark. No desire. It's a no."

"We could do a forced mate! How about that?"

"Ew, no!" Ashley grabbed my arm and dragged me away from my sister's now ex-boyfriend.

We took up a table in a far room of the library and shut the door. The day was about to get ridiculously hard, with the massive amount of testing we had to get done by 3:00 p.m.

But then we were free. We could leave.