I Risked My Life to Awaken My White Wolf for Them, Then Learned It Was a Prank Chapter 01

On Thanksgiving, the whole family was staying at a cabin resort for the holiday.

A group of rogues with masked scents burst in wearing ski masks and carrying silver-bullet guns.

“Your brother owes us three million in gambling debts! So either you hand over a young she-wolf… or we kill your whole family…”

My sister Ivy screamed, sobbing so hard she shook all over.

My mother threw herself in front of her, then turned and knelt at my feet.

“Nora, your sister’s an Omega like me. She’d never survive what they’d do to her. But you’re the only white wolf in the pack. Take her place. Please.”

But my wolf had been asleep for seven years.

I looked at Adrian—my fated mate, our pack’s Alpha.

I wanted to figure out how we could fight our way out. Instead, he pushed me forward with his own hands. “If sacrificing you saves the rest of us, then that’s how it has to be. Don’t be so selfish.”

When it came down to it, both my mother and Adrian had shielded Ivy without a second thought.

Something inside me died right then and there.

I made an excuse about grabbing my luggage and locked myself in the bathroom. That’s where I found it—a bottle of dormant-wolf activator.

The drug would force my sleeping wolf awake. It could also burn through whatever life I had left.

Let this be the last time I save you all.

I was ready to die taking out those rogues. Then the living room erupted in laughter.

Ivy—who’d been sobbing her eyes out seconds ago—was holding up her phone, cracking up.

“Hey fam! Prank successful! My sister almost literally cried to death!”

The masked rogues all pulled off their hoods. They were my brother Mason and a few young warriors from Adrian’s command.

Adrian squeezed my stiff shoulder.

“Relax. Ivy just wanted to film a prank video.”

“It was all fake.”

A burning pain spread from deep in my throat. I stared at their laughing faces.

The debt collectors were fake.

The rogues were fake.

But the dormant-wolf activator I’d just swallowed was all too real.

The ring light shone straight into my face.

Ivy shoved her phone so close the lens almost hit my eyes.

“Look at her face. White as a ghost.”

“When Adrian pushed her out there, she couldn’t even talk.”

Mason tossed the plastic gun onto the table and wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.

“Nora, weren’t you always bragging about your sense of smell? You couldn’t even tell the props were plastic?”

I stood frozen.

A white flame seemed to ignite in my belly. Agony crawled up my spine, like it was trying to tear apart my human body and my sleeping wolf at the same time.

I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was too dry to make a sound.

My mother stood up from the floor and dusted off her dress.

“Alright, stop making that face.”

“Ivy’s account just needs one viral video to land a brand deal. The whole family put on a show for her. What’s the big deal?”

“It’s Thanksgiving. Don’t ruin everyone’s mood on purpose.”

My future mate Adrian wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“Are you really mad?”

“I pushed you out there because it was part of the script. Ivy said it would create the biggest contrast and get the livestream more engagement.”

“Relax. I’m your mate, and I’m our pack’s Alpha. You think I’d actually hand you over to those people?”

He smiled, open and gentle.

As if the Alpha who’d coldly said “don’t be so selfish” just moments ago wasn’t him at all.

I pulled free of his hand.

The drug made my legs weak.

I grabbed the doorframe, and my awakened wolf’s growing claws left deep gouges in the wood.

Twenty-five years of family. Seven years of love.

And none of it meant a thing when views and a prank were on the line.

I forced down the taste of rust rising in my throat. And held Flower—my wolf—back from coming out.

“Are you done filming?”

My voice came out hoarse and unfamiliar.

Adrian frowned, a muscle in his jaw twitching as if he sensed something was wrong.

“What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Your scent’s gotten so weak.”