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She brought the cake out from the pantry and set it in the center of the table. It had three layers, pale frosting, and thin curls of lemon peel arranged on top.

Trevor pulled out his phone. “I need a picture.”

“You have thirty seconds before I cut it,” Julie said.

Every phone in the room began vibrating. Not one or two. All of them.

The table came alive with rattling, buzzing, and overlapping notification sounds. Caldwell covered his ears. Mom stood immediately, her posture changing before anyone had checked the screen.

My own phone vibrated in my pocket without pause.

“What happened?” Mason asked.

“Council alert?” Mom asked.

I pulled out my phone. I’d received an invitation to join a new app. As soon as I clicked on the link, a notification banner crossed the screen.

You have been added to THE PACK.

Then another.

Grandma Ruth: HELLO FAMILY

Trevor: why are we here

Karen: What is this?

Mason: Did the old chat get compromised???

Grandpa Alfonse:

The messages multiplied too quickly to follow.

“Is it a new group chat? I want to be added,” Jason said.

“No can do, buddy.” Julie ruffled his hair. “You know the group chat is only for ages fifteen and up.”

Jason crossed his arms. “But I’m fourteen and the son of the alpha. That should count for something.”

Mom smirked and pretended to look at her watch. “In eight months, when you turn fifteen, you can be added.”

I looked around the table. Everyone was staring at a screen except Grandpa, who was watching the cake.

A gray head appeared in the kitchen window. Grandma Ruth had apparently slipped outside without anyone noticing. She pressed her face close to the glass, grinning with open pride.

“I set up a new group chat on a new app,” she called through the window. “I thought with all the changes possibly happening with the development and wanting to make sure we’re being as safe as possible, it just made sense to move to a more secure app. This one’s supposed to be much safer than the old one.”

I stared at her, my jaw dropping open in shock. “You moved us all over to a new app by yourself?”

Grandma bristled behind the glass, her chin tilting up with fierce indignation. This was a woman who had survived ninety-three years of far greater challenges than an app store. “I’m old, not an idiot.”

My phone vibrated again.

Then again.

The chat continued flooding.

Hilary: Mom, why are you outside?