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Istrodedown the hallway to begin my morning routine of waking up my brothers, one that I’d done nearly my entire life. I stopped in front of my youngest brother Vander’s door, and held my knock. Vander was gone. It’d slipped my mind that he’d left home to go up north on a little “journey of self-discovery” after failing to get into the Dawn Academy’s renowned Fighting Arts School. It’d always been Vander’s dream to become a fighter, so his decision to leave was understandable. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a bit jealous. Being an omega gave Vander certain family advantages that Mother and Father would never allow for the rest of us alpha brothers, especially me. I was the eldest, after all. I had a responsibility to my family to take over as clan leader, and that meant handling many family affairs, including wrangling my younger brothers on my parents’ behalf. There’d never been time or the opportunity for adventure in mylife.

Ipassedthe door to Loch’s old bedroom. My youngest alpha brother was a married man now, and had moved out of the family home about three years ago. Nowthat’d been a surprise. Loch had always been the least disciplined of the family. It was always difficult for the youngest alpha, especially when you’re the youngest of three other alphas. I understood Loch’s struggle, but never eased off him. I felt like the only way I could fulfil my duties as his older brother was to be as strict with him as Mother and Father would be. In the end, I supposed it worked out. He made his way through the Fighting Arts School with exceptional marks, and the omega he’d initially been wed to through an arrangement between families turned out to be perfect forhim.

At twenty-seven,I was still single. The eldest, a graduate of the Dawn Academy’s Alpha Leadership College, and by all rights the most eligible bachelor of the Luna brothers. In the back of my mind, I suppose I always believed that I would be the first to find love because of what the Teller had told me about my birthmark, but here I was, without even one single relationship under mybelt.

I’d never stopped believingthat the mark meant something special, even though I kept my feelings about it completely to myself. I would look at it sometimes and wonder if there really was a person out there with a paw print that matched the dark smudges of skin, like brown ink spilled onto my thigh. It did feel a little ridiculous, believing in something like that, especially as I got older. Maybe Father had been right allalong.

Iraisedmy hand to knock on Arthur’s door, but he opened it before I could. “Morning,” he said, and I moved aside to let him pass. The two of us walked together down to the dining room where we were meant to join Mother and Father for familybreakfast.

“You know,Christophe, I don’t need you to come knocking on my door every morning. I don’t require any wakeupcall.”

“Aforce of habit,”I said, readjusting the cuffs of my shirt and straightening my jacket. “Now that Vander and Loch are gone, I don’t have anyone to boss around. Be kind to me and let me continue to do the one thing I’m goodat.”

Arthur cracked a smile,and we turned down the hallway lined with tall, painted portraits of our ancestors, the eyes of whom felt as if they were tracking us as we walked. When we were children, my brothers would follow closely behind me every time we had to walk through this hallway, each of them holding on to the other’s arm or shirt. The paintings made me feel just as uneasy, but as the eldest brother I had to put on a braveface.

The Luna familywas one of the oldest in Wolfheart, and our clan, the Crescent Moons, was one of the most powerful. Any anxiety I used to have walking through this hallway of my ancestors had long disappeared and been replaced by pride. Each portrait reminded me of the great men and women who had come before me, and who had worked to protect this family’s legacy. At the end of hallway on opposite walls were paintings of Mother and Father. Eventually, my portrait would be included here, along with the portrait of my futuremate.

IfI ever found one.

It wasn’tlike the chance hadn’t ever come up in the past. I’d had relationships, but none of them ever seemed to work out. Whose fault it was, I don’t know. Maybe it was mine. Maybe I was holding on to the hope that my fated soul mate was really out there,somewhere.

“Excited for Ian’s party?”Arthur asked. Ian was our soon to be four-years-old nephew, Loch’s little boy. Mother and Father had arranged for there to be a big celebration for his birthday tonight, and several of the wealthiest and most powerful allied clans had been invited. For Mother and Father, it would be a chance to schmooze with the other family heads, make new connections and re-polish old friendships. For young alphas like Arthur and myself, it meant getting friendly with all the other eligible betas and omegas from other families. Arthur was teasing me. He knew my outward stoicism towards romance was a front. Of course I was excited at the prospect of meeting someone. Meetingthesomeone.

It was difficult being highborn.There were expectations of us to mate with someone who was worthy, which basically meant other highborn or those with some kind of status, and now that I’d graduated from the Academy, it’d been difficult to meet new potential mates. Also, I was so damn busy all the time with my duties—looking out for my brothers, helping my parents, learning the skills I’d need to eventually become clan leader. It was all so overwhelming, andsometimes…

Sometimes I wishedI could just escape from it all. Leave it allbehind.

“Nowhere near as excited as you,”I said. “Try to behave, Arthur. It’s Ian’s birthday party, not a matchmaking party. Don’t make anyone feel uncomfortable. I know how damn forward you can besometimes.”

“Ihaveno idea what you mean,” he replied coyly. “I’mfriendly.”

“You’re a flirt.”

He shrugged.“And you’re a prude. Lighten up, Christophe. You know Mother and Father arranged this thing as an excuse for us to meet somehotties.”

“Idon’t knowif I’d put it that way,” I said. He was right, but I was trying to be proper. Again, force of habit. Maybe I was a prude, but I felt like I had to be one. There was a lot riding on my shoulders, after all. But Iwasexcited. Who knew, maybe something would actually happen tonight? I’d do my duty as host and the eldest, but once the pleasantries were out of the way and everyone was settled, I’d make my rounds just likeArthur.

Well,maybe notjustlike Arthur. I’d be morerestrained.

“Good morning, Mother. Father,”I said as we entered the dining room. The two of them were already at the table eating their breakfast, staring at theirtablets.

“It’s goingto snow up there,” Mother said. “Do you think Vander isalright?”

“He’s fine, Stella,”Father said. “Good morning, Christophe.Arthur.”

“Good morning, boys,”said Mother. “Wow. Look at this.” She pointed at her tablet. “‘Mysterious string of break-ins in the Blackwood District, third clan estate targeted.’ They still haven’t caught this thief? How frightening. And the Blackwood District is so close tous.”

“Do the police have leads?”Iasked.

“It doesn’t seem like it,”she said, scanning the article. “They slip in and out undetected. It says that sometimes they don’t even notice anything is missing until weekslater.”

“Must not have been stealinganything important, then,” Father said, looking back to histablet.

“Brushingup on the current events, eh, Dad?” Arthur said, clapping Father’s shoulder on his way over to the serving table. I followed him. The table was stocked with the usual spread of breakfast items, all prepared by the wait staff of the Luna household. Cereal, freshly baked loaves of bread, cut fruit, plump sausages, thick cut bacon, eggs, grilled tomatoes, baked potatoes tossed with caramelized onions, piping hot soup, and pitchers of milk, coffee and tea. I chose a few of my favorites—I loved the way our chef made the bacon, crispy, but not enough so that it wasn’t slightly fatty and juicy. Arthur took a bowl of cereal and somefruit.

Father grunted.“Just like you ought to be. You know the Rose Claw, Crooked Tail, and Golden Forest clans will be here tonight? Along with the Ice River clan, of course. Three of the wealthiest, most well-bred clans in Wolfheart, and all their leadingmembers.”

Arthur shrugged.“Just show me to the single ones, and I think I’ll befine.”