I’d been gone too long. This home where my brother and I had lived for over a decade was unrecognizable, transformed into something utterly foreign. 

The photos of my brother and me that once hung in the living room had vanished, replaced by pictures of him with Selene. 

The cream-colored sofa I’d begged my brother to custom order was gone, replaced by a pink one I detested. 

My bedroom had become completely unrecognizable. All my belongings had disappeared, and the entire room reeked of another she-wolf’s scent. 

“Is that you, Skye?” 

Selene emerged from my brother’s bedroom with a smug smile dancing on her lips. 

“You’ve been away so long, so I invited Selene to move in. Her leg—it’s permanently damaged from when you burned her with that fire. You should help take care of her.” My brother walked over, wrapping his arm possessively around Selene’s waist. “I had someone clean out the small attic room. That’s where you’ll be staying now.” 

I glanced up at the dark room above. A musty odor wafted down—it used to be where they stored hunted game. 

It was fine. At least I had somewhere to sleep. 

At the rehabilitation center, eight of us were crammed into one airless cage. 

During hot weather, I’d often wake in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, feeling like a boulder was crushing my chest, making it impossible to breathe. 

But even that wasn’t the worst of it. The most terrifying part was that one of the handlers was a pedophile. Not long after I arrived, one night while I was half-asleep, I felt someone touching me.