As the heavy door of Ashwood Mental Hospital creaked open, a pale, slender woman stepped out. She was Audrey Patel. She covered her aching stomach and dragged her feet to walk, while the murmurs behind her 

followed like shadows. 

Someone whispered, “Mr. Patel’s such a saint. He still sticks with her after she went nuts and hurt others with a knife.” 

Another person said bitterly, “If my wife pulled a stunt like that, I’d kick her out the same day. She’s a total disgrace to Mr. Patel.” 

Someone else chimed in, “If Ms. Patterson’s father hadn’t passed away, and she hadn’t moved in with her uncle, she would’ve married Mr. Patel ages ago. Audrey would never have had the chance.” 

Audrey squinted against the harsh light and gave a bitter little smile. 

Everyone knew the story. She was an orphan girl from some no–name town who somehow married Clayton Patel, a big–shot lawyer with a spotless image. People all said she won the lottery. 

But now, with a reputation for being violent and unstable, fired from her job and fresh out of a mental hospital, she looked even more out of place next to Clayton. 

Audrey thought bitterly, ‘They all think I don’t deserve him. Funny thing is, the one who stuck me in that hellhole and slapped that label on me was my perfect husband himself!’ 

It was July. The sun blazed down, but Audrey felt chilly all over, especially her heart. 

Ashwood had a glossy cover story–something about correcting troubled youth and improving their mental state. But what went on inside was a nightmare. 

1/6 

8:50 pm DDD 

Chapter 1 

20 

Audrey, a 23–year–old grown woman, had been locked in there for a month because her husband claimed she was a danger and needed to have her mind straightened out. 

During the past month, she was punished, starved, locked in pitch–black isolation—until she cracked, until she agreed she was wrong and promised 

to change. 

Now, standing outside, breathing free air again, she watched Clayton hang up a call. His handsome face twisted with irritation. 

“Zoe’s ran a bath for you. Let’s go home and wash off the bad luck,” Clayton said to Audrey. 

Audrey dodged the hand he reached toward her shoulder. 

Clayton was always well–groomed with tailored suits and expensive cologne. But today, he didn’t smell like his usual scent. Instead, he reeked of something sickly sweet, like overripe fruit. That scent made Audrey sick. 

Ignoring Clayton’s grim face, Audrey pulled open the passenger–side door and got in. 

driver, who’d already opened the back door, glanced at Clayton in 

nfusion. 

Clayton watched her, his lips pressed tight. He thought she was clearly still sulking after a month of confinement. He figured she wasn’t used to that kind of strict environment, so she threw a tantrum. 

Though he had his reasons, he still went too far to send her in against her will. So, for now, he didn’t blame her for her little temper. 

He sat in the back seat. The driver closed the door and started the car. 

Audrey turned to the window and closed her eyes. The whole thing a month ago appeared in her mind. 

2/6 

8:50 pm DDD. 

Chapter 1 

It was her birthday that day. Clayton brought home a special guest–his childhood friend, Valerie Patterson, and her three–year–old daughter, 

Luna Patterson. 

While Clayton went to get the cake, Valerie grabbed a fruit knife and pressed it to her wrist, threatening to hurt herself if Audrey didn’t give Clayton back to her. 

Tears streamed down Valerie’s face as she said she and Clayton were meant to be, that she came back to fix what they once lost. 

Audrey lunged to stop Valerie and tried to snatch the knife just as Clayton walked in. 

+20) 

Valerie stumbled into Clayton’s arms, sobbing like she’d just survived a war. “Audrey, please don’t hurt Luna. Clayton and I haven’t done anything. You’re getting it all wrong.” 

Audrey stood frozen with the knife still in hand, her mind blanking out. 

Valerie, still clinging to Clayton, glanced up at Audrey with a smug glint in her eyes. “Clayton only let us move into your house ‘cause we had nowhere else to go. 

“I swear I’ll pay back every penny he lent to us. Just don’t scare my baby, okay? She’s got autism.” 

Clayton wrapped his arms around Valerie and Luna and shot a cold stare at Audrey. “Valerie’s hands are for painting. How could you hurt her?” 

Little Luna, who watched the whole thing, just curled up tighter in Clayton’s arms, shaking like a leaf. 

Audrey let out a dry laugh, more from rage than amusement. 

She thought to herself, ‘So that’s her game. She used my birthday party to air out her affair with Clayton. Either I suck it up and pretend my 

husband’s got no side piece, or I pack my bags and quit the game! 

3/6 

8:50 pm DD 

Chapter 1 

Audrey turned to Clayton, her voice firm. “Believe it or not, she cut 

herself.” 

“No way,” Clayton shot back without missing a beat. 

He was convinced no one knew Valerie’s talent with a paintbrush better than he did. She would rather die than damage her hands. No chance she’d hurt herself just to frame Audrey. 

20 

Audrey scoffed and pointed straight at Valerie. “Then tell me, why did you let them live in the house I bought and even gave them money? You’re keeping her and her kid on the side, and I’m supposed to just be cool with it?” 

Clayton’s colleagues and a couple of his friends were right behind him. Being embarrassed like that in front of everyone clearly rattled him. 

“My hand… Clayton, it hurts,” Valerie whimpered, holding out her bleeding wrist, swaying like she was about to faint. 

Guilt flashed across Clayton’s face, but it was gone in a blink, replaced by anger. He barked at his assistant, “My wife has violent tendencies. Send her to Ashwood Mental Hospital.” 

Thinking back on it, Audrey put on a cold smile, sneering, ‘To protect that woman’s reputation, my husband threw me into that filthy place! 

Clayton must’ve caught that mocking look on her face, because for once, he tried to explain himself, “I sent you to Ashwood to keep things from getting worse. You scared Luna. 

“She had a fever for days. They’ve had a hard time. You shouldn’t trash Valerie like that.” 

Audrey opened her eyes, her gaze turning icy. “I picked the house. I pay the mortgage. They’re living in it and spending money from MY husband. Yeah, clearly I screwed up. I should’ve been more generous, huh?” 

4/6 

8:50 pm DDDD. 

Chapter 1 

Clayton took a deep breath and said, “Vally doesn’t blame you, She’s already dropped the charges. It won’t affect you.” 

Audrey sneered, thinking, ‘Won’t affect me? Due to my so–called violent tendencies you pinned on me, I lost my job three days after staying at Ashwood.‘ 

620 

Clayton and Valerie went way back. Years ago, both Valerie and Clayton’s fathers got sick. Valerie’s father gave up his shot at treatment and donated his kidney to save Clayton’s father. 

After that, Valerie and her mother moved out of town to live with her uncle. The night she turned up again, she was on the run. She was beaten by her husband, so she took her daughter to leave. 

Clayton just happened to be on a business trip in that exact city. He swooped in like a hero, took on Valerie’s divorce case, and brought her and her daughter back to Ironhaven. 

The car slowly rolled into Hightower Homes. Audrey didn’t wait for it to stop but opened the door, got out, and headed straight for the elevator without a glance back. 

She took a long shower and changed into clean clothes. 

When she came out, Zoe was carrying dishes from the kitchen. She said with a smile, “Dinner’s almost ready, ma’am. Mr. Patel picked all your favorites.” 

Clayton was on the couch going through some documents. He looked up over the rim of his gold–rimmed glasses and said, “Dry your hair first. I’ll wait to eat with you.” 

Anyone walking in might’ve thought he was the picture of a devoted husband, setting aside legal briefs to dine with his wife. 

5/6 

8:50 pm DD D 

Chapter 1 

But Audrey knew this was just his usual trick: slap you across the face and then hand you a candy. 

Clayton took off his glasses and walked to the dining table. Pulling out a chair, he said, “It’s a bit late today. I’ll have Zoe buy your favorite fish 

tomorrow.” 

Audrey sat down without a word and picked up her fork. 

Clayton was good at keeping his emotions locked up and hardly ever spoke more than necessary. Most of the time when they were together, Audrey always babbled him with some online gossip just to fill the silence. 

Each time, Audrey would laugh out loud, yet Clayton was just calm and would sometimes give her a look to remind her of being composed. 

Now, Audrey didn’t even look at him. Worse, when he tried to serve her some food, she just picked it up and tossed it back onto the plate. 

chapter 1

Jean Ginger was dead.
She’d made it big all on her own and reached financial freedom before hitting thirty. But just like that, a car accident wiped it all away.
When she came to, she was lying in a ridiculously frilly princess bed.
The headboard was covered with stuffed animals that looked like they belonged in a doll museum.
Her head was pounding as memories that weren’t hers came crashing in.
No freaking way.
She had fallen into a book.
Why was this kind of cheesy plot twist happening to her?
Jean lived for money. Hustling was her life. If it hadn’t been for one random night when she couldn’t sleep and ended up on some sketchy novel site...
She never would’ve clicked on that trashy title, The Real Heiress Awakens.
This story was as cheesy and over-the-top as it gets. The real heiress, Sarah, had everything going for her and the whole world wrapped around her finger.
In her past life, Sarah had it rough. Raised dirt poor out in the sticks, she eventually made her way to Blairford, only to be crushed under the heel of the upper crust. She married the wrong guy, suffered in silence, and died heartbroken.
Only at the very end did she find out the truth.
She was the real daughter of one of Blairford’s elite families.
Given a second shot at life, Sarah made a vow—she was taking it all back.
She sprinted to Blairford to reclaim her place, humiliated the fake heiress who had walked all over her in the past, and effortlessly won the hearts of her rich birth parents and five powerhouse big brothers.
And then, because why not, she snagged the fake heiress’s fiancé too.
Of course, he was the official male lead of the story.
Sarah went straight to the top. Meanwhile, the fake heiress lost everything and became so hated by everyone that she ended up institutionalized.
And wouldn’t you know it—Jean had landed in the body of that same fake heiress with the tragic ending. They even had the exact same name.
She groaned and rubbed her temples.
Should I just start packing and call ahead for a VIP room at the psych ward?
Jean climbed off the bed and froze—she was shorter. Way shorter. She must’ve lost at least half a foot in height.
Her long, elegant limbs had turned into chubby little arms and stubby legs.
The fake heiress she’d become was only thirteen years old.
The upside? The real heiress hadn’t shown up yet to ruin her life.
The downside? She would—just not for a few more years.
Ding-dong.
Her phone lit up on the nightstand with a text.
Jean tapped it open. It was a bank notification.
Her account had just been credited with 500 thousand dollars.
Hold up.
Seventy thousand dollars?
She counted the zeroes like her life depended on it. Yep. Seventy thousand dollars.
Her head stopped throbbing. Her back didn’t hurt. Suddenly she felt like a brand-new woman.
Fake heiress? That’s fine. I’ll take it.
That 500 thousand was just one month’s allowance. She didn’t even have to lift a finger. All she had to do was lie there and watch the money roll in.
Jean had worked herself to the bone in her last life just to earn enough to finally coast. Now? She got to skip the struggle and coast from the start.
She wasn’t about to get into some all-out war with the real heiress.
Come on. This was Sarah—the literal star of the story.
She was just a throwaway side character. What was she even supposed to fight back with?
Better to kick back, cash in, and let it ride.
"I called Ms. Ginger to come down for dinner, but she’s still in her room. She didn’t answer me..."
The maid’s voice floated in from the hallway, full of hesitation.
"I’ll check on her."
That voice came low and smooth, with a cool edge that carried weight. It didn’t ask. It commanded.
Barely a second passed.
The bedroom door opened.
Jean’s reflexes kicked in. She grabbed the plush toy next to her and pulled it into her arms like a shield.
Her hair was tied in twin pigtails. Her eyes went big, round, and glossy like black grapes, making her tiny snow-pale face look even smaller.
She clutched a long-eared bunny to her chest, looking wide-eyed and lost, every bit the picture of sweet, clueless innocence.
That was exactly what Dominic saw when he stepped inside.
Jean was checking him out too—the guy who just walked in, Dominic Ginger.
The Ginger family was basically royalty in Blairford. Powerful, loaded, and admired. And their kids? Total overachievers.
The five Ginger brothers were all stars in their own right. Each one had serious clout.
Then there was the youngest sibling. The original Jean. Awkward. Average. Weird in all the wrong ways.
She barely talked, never opened up, and had the personality of wet toast. Her relationship with the rest of the family was a train wreck. The Gingers gave her everything she needed, but love? Warmth? Not a chance.
So when the real heiress showed up—charming, clever, and all-around lovable—it didn’t take long for the whole family to switch teams. Mom, Dad, and all five brothers started doting on Sarah like she’d been theirs all along, while the original Jean got pushed to the sidelines and forgotten.
That switch-up was a big part of why things had spiraled so badly for her.
Jean barely suppressed a smirk.
The Ginger family can be as rich and powerful as they want. And these oh-so-amazing brothers? Whatever.
She had read the book. She knew exactly where this was going.
Aside from the heroine, every single Ginger turned out to be a villain.
The novel was massive—nearly a million words. The first half? Total power fantasy. It was all about Sarah rising up, taking back everything that was hers. But then things got messy. Real messy. Twists, betrayals, drama galore.
The powerful families in Blairford went to war, and the Gingers got pulled right into the chaos. One by one, her parents and brothers snapped. They got framed, twisted, turned into full-blown psychopaths.
Sarah, being the noble, justice-loving lead, ended up having to go head-to-head with her own family.
So yeah. The Ginger empire was destined to crumble.
Not that it would matter to Jean by then.
She’d already be written out of the story, chilling in her deluxe suite at the psych ward, stacking her cash like the early-exit side character she was.
Jean craned her neck just to meet his eyes. Dominic towered over her like a skyscraper.
His gaze was intense—dark, sharp, unreadable. It was the kind of look that felt like it could cut through skin and bone.
And yeah, the guy was gorgeous. Sharp cheekbones, flawless features, like he’d been carved out of marble by someone with obsessive attention to detail.
“Dinner. Now.”
Dominic Ginger, the eldest son of the Ginger family. Spoken like he ran the place—which, honestly, he probably did. His voice was low and flat, not a trace of warmth or emotion.
Jean’s eyes flicked to his suit. Crisp. Tailored. Impossibly formal for someone just standing in a hallway at home.
Does he ever take a break? Who dresses like that off the clock?
Her childish voice rang out clear as day—in her mind.
Dominic’s gaze paused.
If he wasn’t imagining things, he had just heard—
Jean.
Except the girl in front of him hadn’t opened her mouth.
Dominic’s eyes dipped ever so slightly. His face stayed cool and unreadable, but before he could stop himself, words slipped out—like he was answering something only he could hear.
"I just got back from work."
So yeah. That’s why he was dressed like a walking business card.
Jean froze.
She hadn’t expected this ice-cold big brother himself to say... that much. It was the most she’d ever heard from him.
"Oh, okay..." she said out loud, clutching her floppy-eared bunny and nodding like a good little sister. On the inside, though, she was freaking out.
Holy crap! What is going on? Did the sun rise in the west today? This guy never talks. Did he hit his head or something?
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Right then, everything clicked into place.
He could hear Jean’s inner voice.

The death sentence

Chapter 1

SEDONA

The white lights located on the ceiling in the hospital hallway buzzed silently overhead as I sat in the uncomfortable plastic chai tensed as I clutched my phone tightly in my trembling hands. I had been waiting for nearly forty minutes at this point for my doctor, Dr. Reynolds to call me back with my test results, and the knots in my stomach had tightened with each passing minute as I anticipated the worst.

I couldn't wait any longer. I needed to hear my son's voice.

My fingers moved almost automatically tapping the first number that popped up in my speed dial, which happened to be my husband Logan's, line. I pressed the dial button and watched as the phone rang once, twice, three times before he finally answered.

"Logan, where did you take Nick?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady even as another wave of nausea rolled through me and I forced myself not to throw up on the floor.

"I'm not feeling well. Can you please bring him home? I haven't seen him in three days."

There was a pause on the other end, followed by muffled sounds in the background, it sounded like laughter, maybe? Children screaming with delight in the background.

"Sorry, not tonight," Logan said flatly, his voice carrying that detached tone it had held for the past two months whenever he was addressing me.

My heart sank at his words. "Why not?"

He didn't give an answer. I pulled my phone from my ears and saw that the call was still ongoing so I repeated.

"Logan, I asked you a question. Why can't you bring our son home?"

More silence. I could hear the sounds more clearly now, it sounded like carnival music, and I could also hear the distant roar of a roller coaster. My chest tightened at this.

"Are you with Katherine?" The name tasted bitter on my tongue.

"That's none of your business, Sedona."

The line went dead.

I stared at my phone, my hands shaking so badly I nearly dropped it. None of my business? Our son was with them, and it was none of my business?

Before I could process what had just happened, my phone chimed with a new message. My blood ran cold when I saw Katherine's name on the screen.

I shouldn't have opened it. I knew I shouldn't have, Katherine had sworn to be a thorn in my life, a very painful thorn, but I was a masochist and couldn't stop myself as my fingers moved of their own accord, tapping the notification.

The photo loaded slowly, each picture a fresh stab to my heart. There they were—Logan, Katherine, and Nick—standing in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland.

Logan had his arm around Katherine's waist. Katherine was holding Nick's hand, her perfect smile glowing under the sun. And my baby, nIck was beaming at her with pure adoration, that I hadn't seen in months.

They looked like a family. A complete, happy family.

And I was the outsider.

Shame and fury was fighting for dominance inside me as I pulled up Katherine's number with shaking fingers. She answered on the first ring, as if she'd been waiting for my call.

"Katherine," I said, my teeth gritted with pain as I spat. "I don't care what game you're playing with Logan, but Nick is my son. You can have Logan if that's what you want, but you will never, ever take my child from me."

"Really?" Her voice was light, amused, like I'd just told her a particularly entertaining joke to her. "Why don't you ask Nick about that?"

"What are you—"

"Nick, sweetie, your mother's on the phone. Do you want to talk to her?"

My heart leaped. Yes. Yes, I needed to hear his voice, needed him to tell me that he missed me, that he wanted to come home.

"Mom?" Nick's voice came through, but it wasn't the sweet tone I'd been hoping for. It was annoyed, exasperated. "What do you want?"

"Nick, sweetheart, I—"

"We're having fun. Stop bothering us. You're so annoying."

The line went dead.

I sat there, frozen, the phone pressed against my ear even though there was nothing but silence on the other end. My six-year-old son had just called me annoying. He'd told me to stop bothering them. As if I was a stranger interrupting them and not his mum.

"Mrs. Hayes?"

I looked up to find Dr. Reynolds standing in front of me, a manila folder clutched in his hands. His expression was grave, the kind of look that Immediately told me that he planned on delivering bad news.

"Let's talk in my office," he said gently.

I followed him, on autopilot, my mind still reeling from Nick told me. The office was bigger than I expected, although it had been on autopilot, cramped with medical books and framed diplomas. I sank into the chair across from his desk, waiting for the bad news to drop.

Dr. Reynolds sat down and opened the folder, studying the papers inside for a long moment before looking up at me.

"Sedona, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Your test results show significant abnormalities. Combined with your symptoms—the persistent pain, the nausea, the weight loss—we ran additional scans."

He paused, for a moment before he continued speaking.

"You have gastric cancer. Stage three. It's already spread to the lymph nodes."

The words didn't make sense at first. They were just sounds, syllables strung together. Cancer. Stage three. Spread.

"What does that mean?" I heard myself ask, my voice sounding distant, like it belonged to someone else.

Dr. Reynolds's expression softened with sympathy. "With aggressive treatment—chemotherapy, possibly surgery—we might be able to extend your life expectancy. But I need to be honest with you. Without treatment, you're looking at three months, maybe four at most. With treatment, perhaps a year, maybe more if you respond well."

Three months. Ninety days.

I thought of Nick's face in that photo, smiling up at Katherine. I thought of Logan's arm around her waist. I thought of my son calling me annoying, telling me to stop bothering them.

"Mrs. Hayes? Sedona? Do you have someone you can call? You shouldn't be alone right now."

I shook my head slowly. Who would I call? My husband who wouldn't answer? My son who found me annoying? I'd cut ties with my family years ago when I ran from that arranged marriage, too proud and too in love to ever go back.

"I'm fine," I whispered, though I was anything but.

Dr. Reynolds scheduled a follow-up appointment, handed me pamphlets about treatment options and support groups, said something about hope and fighting spirit. I nodded mechanically, taking the papers he pressed into my hands.

I walked out of that hospital in a daze, clutching my death sentence in a manila folder. The summer sun was too bright, the Chicago streets too loud. Everything still felt like a dream, and I was watching it happen to someone else.

My phone buzzed with another message. Another photo from Katherine. This time, the picture was of Nick asleep in a hotel bed, Logan sitting beside him, his hand gently stroking our son's hair.

I stood on the sidewalk, people rushing past me in their busy lives, and I felt something inside me finally break.

I had given up everything for them. My family, my career, my entire identity. And for what? To be a replacement for the woman my husband actually loved? To be an annoyance to my own child?

I had three months to live. And I was going to die unloved, unwanted, and completely alone.

chapter 1

"Joanna, what are you making a fuss about?"
The tall man in front of her frowned, impatience written all over his sharp features.
His eyes drifted away, and a trace of guilt flashed across his face, though it was hard to notice.
He lowered his voice and said, "You just need to stay with Kayden for one month. That’s all. He’ll give us a Silver-tier gear in return. We need it for the Crucible. Try to see the bigger picture."
The Crucible. In the interstellar world, everyone had to go through it before turning eighteen. It decided which academy they'd end up in, kind of like how high school seniors on Earth apply to college.
And he was asking her to trade herself for it.
Joanna Lane almost laughed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
What kind of person could say something so shameless?
Oh, so I already ruined my image for their tiny benefits, and now he wants me to be generous too.
Do they really think I'm a silly pushover?
And Crucible is important to them, but it's just as important to me!
That was because Joanna wasn't originally from this world. She came from the distant Varuna Galaxy and carried a fully mature soul.
Joanna was reborn into the interstellar age. To expand quickly through space, humanity forced everyone to take combat classes and needed huge population growth. Clones could not bind their souls to the Space Alliance system, so the Alliance paid subsidies to encourage women to give birth, and being single was illegal.
If Joanna failed the Crucible, with her talent, she would likely be treated as a breeding tool by powerful figures.
Interstellar humans lived very long lives. Joanna could be forced to give birth until she was 120 years old and had as many as 100 children.
Joanna herself was her mother's 98th child.
For someone born in the 21st century who believed firmly in staying single and child-free, this was the cruelest curse imaginable.
So, she became an overachiever.
In Grade 10, Joanna awakened as a Summoner and unlocked an S-rank talent. For every monster she killed, she gained 0.01 affinity points.
She was thrilled and believed she would become a powerful Summoner, since affinity points also affected how well contract beasts bonded with their masters.
But she soon learned that being a Summoner cost an insane amount of money. Even the weakest summoning circle for a contract beast cost at least 100,000 Starcoins.
Joanna took out student loans to summon a contract beast, but she failed.
She failed several more times after that, and her debt only kept growing.
With no other choice, she worked desperately at part-time jobs.
At the same time, for the sake of the Crucible, she had to train as a Summoner without a beast. She learned combat skills, defense skills, and healing skills to make up for her weakness and avoid dragging the team down.
She never expected that just before the Crucible, team leader Lucas Harper would ask her to sacrifice herself to a rich kid named Kayden Wright, all to trade for a Silver-tier piece of gear.
Her gaze shifted to the rest of the team.
There was Cedric Hex, the Pyro mage, Bruce Morris, the shadow assassin, and Neil Sullivan, a pastor.
"Do you all think the same way?"
Joanna's eyes were like sharp blades, forcing them to look away.
Cedric was the first to break. He sighed and said, "Joanna, you should understand us too. You're a Summoner who can't summon a contract beast. For all these years, being in our top team has already given you huge benefits.
"The Crucible is the most important selection for us. We don't want to miss this chance, so we can only ask you to leave. We've already chosen an S-rank swordsman, Rhoda Wenric, as our teammate. With her, we're sure to get into a top college.
"And we didn't abandon you either. We transferred you to Kayden's team. He said you'd handle logistics there. You'd just take care of food, clothing, and daily needs. Isn't that what you're good at? Why can't you do it now?"
"You believe whatever he says?" Joanna shot back. "And besides, I'm a combat class. Why should I go do logistics?"
Being logistics staff also meant having children.
What's more, Kayden was a complete jerk and had always had bad intentions toward Joanna. If she were transferred to his team, it was obvious she would only be taken advantage of.
"So, you have to respect yourself. You must not let Kayden touch you, or I won't be able to keep liking you," Neil said gently, but his words were more terrifying than a demon's.
Joanna found it ridiculous.
"Like me? But you're pushing the girl you like into someone else's arms?"
Joanna's heart ached.
She would rather lose this so-called "like", because what she wanted was respect.
Three years.
Three years of effort, three years of giving her all.
She was sold out by these ungrateful people.
Three years like that, and with anyone with even a shred of decency, it wouldn't have ended this way.
Now there was only one person left.
Joanna looked at Bruce.
"Bruce, were you in on this too?"
Among the four of them, Bruce had always had the weakest presence, yet he was the one Joanna took the most care of.
This time, he didn't stay silent.
"Kayden is offering a Silver-tier dagger. That's extremely important to me!"
Haha.
So that's what this is about!
Joanna felt like crying.
"You're all heartless.
"Lucas, three years ago, when we first entered a dungeon, you were the frontliner but couldn't hold back the monsters at all. You were as green as a rookie.
"It was me. I ranked first in combat practice and weapon skills, yet I took on the defense role and held the line with you. I saved you countless times!
"Cedric, you abandoned a teammate right before the exam, kicked me out, already found a replacement, and still talk like you're completely justified.
"Yes, I'm just a Summoner, but in your eyes, am I nothing more than logistics?
"I made all the dungeon strategies. In battle, I always filled in gaps. All these years, you couldn't control your aggro and kept attacking blindly. How many times did I block monster attacks for you?
"Neil, back in the Zombie Hospital dungeon, you were seconds away from having your throat torn out. I pushed you away and got my arm bitten off to save your life.
"Bruce, during the Bloody Campus dungeon, you did something wrong and triggered a beast wave. If I hadn't lured the zombies away alone, our entire team would have been wiped out.
"In these three years, I never made a mistake and saved you countless times, yet now you sell me out and want to kick me away like trash?
"Dream on!"
"That's enough!" Lucas shouted, then looked down at Joanna, who was small in size but overwhelming in presence.
"I'm the team captain. I have the right to start a vote and kick you out. As long as all other members agree, that's enough!
"Joanna, you didn't make mistakes, but your mistake is that you don't have a summoned beast. You're not strong enough. Our team needs stronger people. You were destined to be abandoned. Don't rely on the little affection we had for you and act willful.
"What's the point of crying and regretting now?
"If you had agreed earlier, things wouldn't have turned out this way."
Joanna's face flushed red with anger.
"I treated you as teammates, but all you wanted was to sleep with me?
"Regret? Then let's see who regrets it in the end!"
Joanna turned and walked away.
As she left, she heard the voice of the system implanted in her soul by the Space Alliance.
"Your team captain, Lucas, has initiated a vote to remove you from Team Dawnbreaker."
"Members Cedric, Bruce, and Neil have agreed."
"You have been expelled from the team."

chapter 1

"Noelle Kain! We raised you. Without us, you wouldn't even be alive today! And now you won't even take Viola's place to marry Mr. Menzie? You're nothing but a disappointment!"
Inside the Kain estate, Gresham Kain, Noelle's adoptive father, slammed his teacup down on the table. Tea splashed across the surface, his face contorted with unbridled rage.
"Noelle, we raised you for 18 long years. We're only asking one thing of you—and you won't even do it? You've always been sensible. Don't make us turn on you," Jasper Kain, Noelle's adoptive older brother, said, frowning down at her condescendingly.
"Dad, Jasper, why even waste our breath on her? She's ungrateful!" Elmer Kain, Noelle's adoptive younger brother, snapped with a sneer. "If we hadn't taken her in back then, she'd be long dead! And now she won't even marry Mr. Menzie in Viola's place? We should've left her out there to rot!"
Noelle fell silent, her gaze gliding coldly over their hypocritical faces.
It was exactly like her past life.
Back then, the Kains had used the same "we raised you" guilt trip to force her to marry Sebastian in Viola's place.
She was their adopted daughter, taken in by Gresham at the age of five. In her past life, she'd been grateful to them and done everything they asked—even agreeing to marry Sebastian, who was rumored to be violent, ugly, crippled, and on his deathbed.
After she married him, they forced her to steal confidential information from the Menzie family. In the end, it drove the Menzies to bankruptcy—and Sebastian, who'd loved her deeply, died from the stress.
She'd done all their dirty work for them, yet only in her final moments did she learn the truth: the Kains were the ones who'd torn her away from her biological family!
Viola had been frail since birth and carried the rare Rh blood type. When they were five, Viola was gravely injured and nearly died. That same day, Noelle had a high fever and was admitted to the hospital. The moment the Kains discovered Noelle also had Rh-negative blood, they secretly abducted her.
Just thinking about it all made Noelle's blood boil.
The Kains were the ones who'd torn her from her biological parents, yet she'd foolishly felt grateful and obeyed their every word. She didn't see the truth until they held her down and drained her blood to save Viola—until she felt herself slipping away into death.
"Noelle, we've raised you as one of our own for 18 years. Why would we ever hurt you? The Menzies are the wealthiest family in Riverdale. Marrying into their family is a dream most people could never have," Willow Kain, Noelle's adoptive mother, cooed in that fake, motherly tone as she walked down the stairs with Viola.
"A blessing?" Noelle smirked. "If it's such a wonderful match, why don't you let Viola marry him instead?"
"How dare you compare yourself to Viola?" Willow blurted, her face twisting with disgust.
Viola was her biological daughter, the child she'd doted on and shielded since the day she was born. To Willow, Noelle was nothing more than a stray they'd taken in.
Viola excelled at everything: music, art, and academics. She was still in high school, yet her grades were high enough to gain admission to the top university. Even the younger son of the Menzie family had once taken a fancy to her. Viola was meant to marry into a wealthy, respectable family and become a lady of status. Willow would never allow her to marry a cruel, crippled man like Sebastian!
"Noelle, how could you speak to Mother that way?" Viola frowned, her makeup perfect. Her voice dripped with accusation. "If we hadn't taken you in, where would you be now? Haven't we treated you well all these years?"
Good?
Their so-called kindness meant strapping her to hospital beds for years, draining her blood again and again until she nearly went into shock every single time.
Noelle was repulsed by their hypocritical faces.
She was sick of their lies and said icily, "Stop putting on an act. I'll marry Sebastian."
The second they heard her words, Gresham and Willow finally relaxed.
"But I have one condition."
Their expressions fell at once.
They'd raised her for 18 years, and she still had the nerve to make demands of them?
"What condition?" Gresham asked, his anger simmering. He'd expected her to ask for something absurd.
"My condition is simple: I'll marry Sebastian in Viola's place to repay you for raising me. Starting today, I cut all ties with this family. We're done. No more connection of any kind." Noelle's voice was clear and resolute.
"You want to cut ties with us?" Gresham and Willow froze, completely caught off guard by her request.
They exchanged a quick glance.
Noelle was nothing more than an adopted child. They'd only taken her in because Viola had been frail since childhood and needed a steady blood donor. Now that Viola was grown and healthy, Noelle had outlived her usefulness.
She had no biological family. Even if she married into the Menzie family, she could do nothing to benefit the Kains. With Sebastian's infamous violent temper, she would be lucky to survive the first night.
Countless women had been sent to Melrose Manor. How many had ever returned alive?
Severing ties was exactly what they'd wanted all along!
Gresham agreed at once!
"A verbal promise means nothing. Put it in writing," Noelle said icily.
Gresham immediately had someone draft a formal document to sever their parent-child bond. There were two copies. Noelle took hers.
It clearly stated that she would have no further connection to the Kain family from that day forward.
Noelle folded the paper twice and tucked it into her pocket.
Her eyes were icy.
She turned and walked out.
Outside, the wedding convoy had already arrived.
The Menzie family's procession looked like a scene from a movie, with dozens of luxury cars lined up in a row.
Viola had stepped out earlier to watch the spectacle, but her eyes were now red with envy. She gritted her teeth and sneered at Noelle, "I've heard Mr. Menzie has been crippled for years. He's a hideous monster who abuses women! Any woman sent to him never comes back intact. They end up crippled or dead. You'd better watch yourself once you get there—"
A sharp scream burst from her lips as she clapped a hand to her cheek.
"You bitch! How dare you hit me!"
"Sebastian is my husband now. No one gets to speak ill of him. Utter one more insult, and I'll strike you again."
"You!"
Viola flinched under Noelle's icy stare. With Menzie family members nearby, she didn't dare utter another word for a long moment.
Gus Anderson, the butler of Melrose Manor, witnessed everything from behind her and was immediately struck.
He now regarded Noelle with entirely new eyes.
She was the only person who hadn't believed the rumors and had actually stood up for him!
"Mrs. Menzie, please get in the car!"
He opened the car door respectfully. His demeanor had shifted entirely.
...
Melrose Manor.
The second-floor attic.
Sebastian had already heard that Noelle had stood up for him.
"Mr. Menzie, this new Mrs. Menzie seems quite something. She defended you in person," Duo Menzie said.
He hadn't even met Noelle, but he already liked her.
Primo Menzie stood with his arms crossed. His normally cold expression softened slightly.
Perhaps this new Mrs. Menzie won't be so bad after all.
Sebastian said nothing. His gaze remained cold as he flipped through the dossier in his hand.
Noelle Kain. Female. Adopted daughter of the Kain family. Just turned 18. Senior in high school.
Had she really meant it, or was she just extremely cunning? He didn't believe any woman would willingly marry a man in his condition.
He looked up to see dozens of wedding cars slowly entering Melrose Manor. He shut the dossier and let out a cold smirk.
"Let's go. It's time to meet Ms. Kain."

Chapter 1 She Is a Death Row Inmate

“Eliza, it’s time to go. The cold voice of the prison guard reminded Eliza

Today was the day of her execution.

Inside jail, Eliza sat curled up in the corner; her hair was disheveled, and she looked like a complete mess.

“Where is Zayden? Why hasn’t he come to see me?” Eliza’s voice choked with emotion.

Today was the day of her execution. Was he really that heartless?

+8 Pearls

The guard’s tone carried a hint of impatience as he said, “Today is the wedding between Mr. Zayden and Naomi. He already said he wants nothing to do with you, even until death. Stop wasting our time.”

Upon hearing him, a sharp pain shot through Eliza’s chest.

Naomi! The girl from the Rivers family?

She was also from that family!

A month ago, Zayden was still her husband.

Less than a month after their divorce, was he already in such a hurry to marry Naomi?

Well, of course.

Naomi had always been adored and swarmed by devotion since childhood. She was even Zayden’s first crush.

As for her, she was just a murderer awaiting execution.

Thinking of this, Eliza let out a bitter laugh.

The guard urged her, asking. “If you have any last wishes, speak up. Don’t delay our work.”

Eliza asked, “My parents.. did they ever bring me up?”

The guard roared, “No!”

Eliza had run someone over, causing their death. The Rivers family had long cut ties with her. How could they possibly remember having a daughter as a murderer?

In fact, the Rivers family strongly demanded her execution.

Everyone in Westbrook knew that the Rivers family’s eldest daughter had a low educational qualification and a bad reputation.

Compared to the second daughter, Naomi, who had a prestigious degree and a good image, the contrast was like night and day.

Hearing the guard’s words, Eliza felt throbbing pain in her chest.

That was right. How could she dare to hope her parents, who pushed for her death sentence, would come and see her one last

time?

It turned out that all these years of her life – her cautious efforts and careful flattery–were all in vain.

Whether it was her parents or Zayden..

They had only Naomi in their eyes.

Eliza suddenly felt herself so laughable.

She had humbled herself, endured endless grievance, and she ended up paving the way for Naomi in the end

A bitter smile spread across Eliza’s lips.

1/3

Chapter 1 She Is a Death Row Inmate

Be it Zayden or her parents, love or kinship – if she had a second chance, she wouldn’t want any of it.

The two guards escorted her to the execution room.

She was pinned to the ground; the gun aimed at her heart.

Eliza slowly closed her eyes,

With a sudden jolt of pain, a loud ringing echoed in her ears.

She didn’t know how long it had passed.

Eliza felt her soul detach from her body and then suddenly plummet.

As if plunging straight into the sea, she was freezing cold all over.

Voices of men shouting and whistling enveloped her.

“Damn**,** that was intenset She just jumped without hesitation.”

“Zayden, your clingy girlfriend is really obedient. You told her to jump off the boat, and she actually did it!”

+8 Pearls

“Girlfriend? Come on, Eliza’s not even worth that title. There is no way Mr. Zayden would fall for someone like her!”

What was going on?

Wasn’t she dead?

Before Eliza could make sense of it, the overwhelming suffocation of being submerged in water welled up within her.

She had no time to think as she struggled and surfaced.

She flailed around and finally climbed onto a lifeboat; she looked wrecked.

The mocking voices continued to echo from the ferry.

“She only stays underwater for three minutes. Zayden, I don’t think she likes you that much.”

“Yeah. I thought she was more than this.”

“Zayden, let’s drive the boat off and make her swim back–what do you think?”

Zayden’s group of friends spoke with scorn and disdain.

But on the lifeboat, Eliza felt a strange familiarity hearing those voices.

She looked down at her delicate, fair hands and froze.

She had done housework for years–her hands had long become swollen and calloused. How could they now be so soft and smooth?

ont 

What was going o

Eliza looked around.

It hit her soon–this was Zayden’s 17th birthday party! 

The Rivers Group was a publicly listed company, and it was one of the biggest corporations in Westbrook

So Zayden was a well–known rich kid.

For his 17th birthday, the Holt family had rented an entire ferry to celebrate.

All his friends were there.

Among his friends, Eliza wasn’t on the list initially.

836 AM

Chapter 1 She Is a Death Row Inmate

It was Naomi who said she wanted to attend his birthday party, so she persuaded Zayden to let her come.

Zayden didn’t want to reject Naomi, so he allowed her on board.

The cold sea breeze made Eliza shiver.

+8 Pearls

She spotted Zayden on the deck, he was dressed in a white shirt, his youthful face already showing signs of cold detachment.

Zayden was the school heartthrob–his chiseled face and delicate facial features could captivate anyone.

His mature, serious personality attracted countless girls at school.

He was

never short of people wooing him. But Eliza was the most shameless among them.

That time, she had come to the birthday party and handed the gift that she had spent effort preparing over to Zayden full of joy.

But without even looking at it, Zayden threw it into the sea.

The others jeered, saying that if she dove in to retrieve the gift, Zayden would accept her feelings.

The result was she really jumped.

She couldn’t swim. In the end, she didn’t get the gift back and had to climb onto the lifeboat in humiliation, heartlessly abandoned by Zayden in the sea.

She rowed the lifeboat for three hours before making it back to shore.

Thinking of all the foolish things she’d done for Zayden, Eliza felt laughable.

Staring at the lifeboat beneath her, Eliza’s eyes darkened.

This time, no one would make fun of her again.

With the sound of gas hissing from a valve, screams erupted from the deck.

**“**Holy crap! Has Eliza gone mad?”

Steven Fisher had spent decades desperately clinging to life, dragging himself through one miserable day after another, but in that final moment, death felt like freedom. An honor. During the Battle of the Fallen Eternals, the breathtakingly brilliant Ember Eternal, Bianca White, bloomed like a flower at the end of the world. She shattered all ten Divine Sigils within herself and perished alongside the apocalypse beast. Steven was caught in the blast and annihilated with everything else, but he died without regret. Here

Part 1: Null & Voided

Belladonna

Bella stood in the shower in the Luna’s suite, allowing the warm water to wash over her. She was pleasantly exhausted, Parker had left her suite; he was off to a mating ball in another state. She had four days now, where he wasn’t going to be there inside the pack.

She was his Luna; had been for eight years now, but she was bound to him not by her choice, had been chosen for him by her own Alpha and Luna; just to get rid of her, and she knew it.

She was the youngest child of her father, and unwanted and shunned; a bastard child not born of his Mate bond, and that was why she was hated by the Luna in her home pack.

This allianced mating, that she’d been bound to at just 19 years of age. It was, she believed, her father’s Luna’s way of getting rid of her from their pack, once and for all. The only solace she had was that there was a detailed mating alliance. That did not allow for Parker to bring harm to her.

Parker came to her room, the Luna’s suite every other night to bed her, and though the s*x was good, more than good, damned near on amazing at times, she had to admit, because he wasn’t just a man that came and took what he wanted.

No, he was a man that enjoyed s*x, enjoyed knowing he pleased the woman in his bed, even if she had been sold to him. Parker could spend hours in her bed, touching and tasting her, sometimes all night long. He was not a terrible Mate to her, but he was indifferent most of the time.

She had been given to him to stop a war between their two packs, had been Marked and Mated by him, taken as his Chosen Luna, with full view of rejecting her one-day down the line. She didn’t actually mean anything to him.

He didn’t love her, and she didn’t love him. She could enjoy him being in her bed because of the Mate Bond, enjoyed it a lot, and had been known to scream with pleasure at him having his way with her. He could be utterly insatiable at times, and a part of Bella craved him; as his Mate she loved his every touch. She actually enjoyed her heat when it came, just once a year, spent seven glorious days being mated by him, and the s*x; all rough I’ve just got to have alpha-blooded needs on the surface.

Screamed in utter bliss that week multiple times a day and half all night, but it was the only time he never got out of her bed and slept in his suite.

Every time always ended the same way. The moment he couldn’t scent her heat anymore, he was up and gone from her suite. Eight years of it; nothing had changed for him. Just three days ago, her heat had ended, and he’d left in the middle of the night. She’d not even known, she had been exhausted by them mating furiously that last time, and she had slept like the dead. Then she'd woken up on her own because her heat was over.

This morning, him in her bed for a few hours before the sun rose. It was because he was going away for a mating ball and would be gone for four days. The pack he was visiting was in another state, 12 hours away, unaffiliated to him but a good opportunity for his wolves to pair up.

There was nothing unusual about him being gone for four days, seeing as how far away that pack was, sometimes it was five full days. That was nice for her, he wasn’t one to tax his wolves, and so they stopped overnight on the way there or back if necessary. Not that he informed her of his doings, she just learned it over the years.

Parker didn’t think that he was required to tell her his movements, she was only his Mate and Luna, due to the mating alliance that they had. It didn’t bother her at all, it just meant she had four days to herself this week. He always liked to have s*x before he left and when he got back as well, something about he had an alpha-blooded s*x drive that he needed to sate on a regular basis.

She didn’t argue about it, she had it too, there was no need to either, they both got all the tingly mate bond goodness in that bed of hers. And it was always in her bed. She’d never even seen inside the Alpha Suite; that was not a place for her to be.

Bella dressed for the day and headed downstairs, to get herself some breakfast, where she saw him and his unit all heading across the foyer and out the front door of the packhouse to leave. He nodded to her, but never said goodbye to her. No one here thought anything about it, they all knew she had been given to him. Was not his Goddess-Gifted Mate.

Though the pack here was nice to her, they didn’t treat her badly at all, that had been a surprise to her, and she herself was nice to all of them. She actually liked the pack, and it seemed the pack actually liked her. Looked to her for advice even. She did her Luna duties as was required of her.

She had been sent here against her will, but actually found that she fitted in better inside this pack than her own home pack. She had respect here from this pack, from Parker to a certain degree, she thought.

She’d learned how to be a Luna to this pack, and attended to all of those duties that Parker had tasked her with, when she’d first been brought here. She had even been allowed to study with his pack’s doctor in the hospital, and now, eight years later she herself was a good doctor.

Bella specialized in the delivery of pups, and looking after the she-wolves in labour, using her Luna Calm to help them settle when fully distressed, and things got a bit on the hairy side. She’d not lost a single pup or she-wolf in the past eight years of assisting and then delivering on her own.

She was a fully registered doctor with this pack, and one day when she left, she would be a doctor for another pack somewhere else. That was the goal. Though what the really crazy thing was, was that six months after she went into heat herself, there was always an explosion of pups within the pack.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the pack's doctor, her mentor Annette, she shook her head and had stated “It’s you, you know.” They often laughed and joked about it. Annette had already chuckled just yesterday about getting supplies ready for pups to be born in a few months’ time.

Bella had just snorted and shaken her own head, they were currently going through that now, that heat she’d had last week was completely unexpected and out of the blue, her second one for this year. Had not been expected at all.

Annette’s theory only made Bella shake her head, she thought it was just a coincidence was all. She’d not gotten pregnant once in the past eight years of having a heat once a year.

A part of her was glad of it as well, knowing that there was a clause in her mating alliance that stated all pups she had while still bonded to Parker, were to be given to him. When he found his Goddess-Gifted Mate and rejected her, she had to leave them behind for him to raise. They were his heirs. It was not something she wanted to happen.

She knew that Parker would make her give them up as well. He followed all his alliance dealings to the letter. She also knew it was a clause he’d written into their mating alliance himself. He wasn’t willing to relinquish any child to her, he would be claiming all of them as his heirs. She might be their mother if she ever birthed any pups, but she had no rights to them; that was how she looked at that clause.

She saw him sometimes looking at her, in the weeks after her heat, assessing her, she knew, listening for a heartbeat of a pup. He wanted an heir and she, being Alpha-blooded like he was, their pup would be a pure-blooded heir for this pack. There were no pups, even though she wasn’t on birth control of any kind, he wouldn’t allow it. He was hoping for a pup between them and she knew it.

chapter 1

Sage’s POV
On Alpha Damon's 26th birthday party, our pack was ambushed by rogues.
And instead of accepting my help, my mate shoved me so hard that my back slammed into the wall.
“Go away. I don’t need your treatment!"
I looked around, aware of the shame. When I stared back at him, I said, “You are in critical condition. Please. For once, Damon. Let me treat you.”
Among everyone in the Moonridge Pack, I was the only one who could handle silver without collapsing from it.
So if Damon needed anyone right now, it was me.
But instead of letting me save him, he looked at me as though I were the real poison in his body.
Damon gave a bitter chuckle, though it was strained with pain.
“If you think treating me will make me fall for you suddenly, you are wrong. Nothing will make me sleep with you and touch you the way you want me to.”
Maybe even while dying, he would still find enough strength to mock me.
“I’m just trying to keep the alpha of Moonridge Pack alive," I whispered.
Damon laughed again. “You are disgusting. Even when you know I feel nothing for you except hatred, you are still desperately obsessed with me.”
He then turned to the nearest male healer. “You. Treat me.”
The healer faltered and glanced at me as though waiting for my permission.
I nodded once and gestured toward Damon.
"Attend to your alpha."
He swallowed and moved to him quickly.
No one stopped me as I turned and walked out of the healer’s den.
—
In my room, I stepped into the washroom, shut the door, and turned the shower on.
I slid down the wall, knees pulling to my chest, and cried with my forehead pressed against the damp stone.
Water ran over my hair, my face, my shoulders, carrying streaks of blood down my arms and legs and into the drain.
Damon’s blood.
I scrubbed at my skin until it hurt, but it was not the blood I wanted gone.
I wished agony could wash away the same way.
A voice suddenly entered my mind through the mind link.
‘Sage?’
My eyes flew open.
It was Matron Vivian, the one who raised me and whom I called mother.
I quickly wiped my face even though she could not see me.
‘Yes, Mother’
‘I need you to prepare more supplements for Nova.’ Her voice came crisp and controlled. ‘I do not need to remind you what basic vitamins your sister needs, right? You know her condition. I trust you will make them immediately.’
I stared at the stream of water hitting the floor.
My body still shook from crying, but I forced my voice to be steady. ‘But that will be difficult in a short amount of time. I have a project in the healer’s den. We are currently formulating a new set of pills, and the trials are in a delicate stage.’
‘What is more important than your sister’s welfare?’ Mother exhaled, then continued. ‘Enough. I will not argue about this. I expect them to be ready, and you will deliver them in five days.’
I opened my mouth to respond, but she cut the mind link before I could say another word.
I stayed silent while water kept streaming down my face.
It took me a few seconds to realize that some of the heat on my cheeks was not from the shower.
I was still crying.
Nova was my younger sister, but we were not related by blood.
I was the daughter of one of the Reed family’s servants. My mother died when I was two.
The Reed family had once had a daughter of their own, but she had been abducted by rogues as a pup.
The loss nearly broke Matron Vivian. Her grief was so deep that people whispered she walked the halls at night hearing a child who was no longer there.
In the end, former Beta, Tomas, chose to adopt me to fill the emptiness that had taken root in their home.
For a while, I was enough.
I had clothes. Tutors. Warm meals. A room of my own. Matron Vivian brushed my hair with her own hands and kissed my forehead when I went to bed.
Beta Tomas Reed brought me small gifts when he returned from border meetings. The pack treated me as the Reed daughter, even if some still remembered whose blood actually ran in my veins.
Then years later, Nova was found and brought home by Damon’s father then, the former alpha.
I thought her return would make my life fuller and I would finally have a sister for real.
Instead, the moment Nova came back, I learned exactly how temporary love could be.
Matron Vivian’s hand no longer lingered on my hair. Her smiles became thinner. Her praise became instructions.
'You are the eldest, so you must understand.'
'Why did you not do as she asked?'
'What if she is taken again because you were careless?'
'You must watch over her wherever she goes.'
Every time I hesitated, Mother had the same answer ready.
'If not for our kindness, you would be long gone.'
So I obeyed.
I convinced myself that love required sacrifice.
But worse things came when I reached nineteen and Nova was eighteen.
My childhood friends left me, especially Damon, and all started to get close with Nova.
And on Damon’s 23rd birthday, someone got me so drunk and I almost didn’t know what I was doing.
But I had heard someone whisper in my ears saying, ‘If you really love Damon, go tell him. He also loves you and is just waiting for you to confess it.’
My foggy brain believed it.
So I told him what I felt in front of everyone, screaming to the world how much I have loved him since we were pups.
Only when everyone got silent that I noticed Damon was holding Nova’s hand. And my being sober slowly vanished when he told me, ‘But Nova and I are mates.’
I was ready to back out, but then Nova suddenly cried and said, ‘I’m rejecting you, Damon. I can’t be mated to you while my sister loves you.’
The next morning, Nova cut her ties with our pack.
But she left a note in her room, saying, ‘I need to leave for Sage’s happiness.’
Mother collapsed to her knees.
Pack members began to make rumors about me.
'What did Sage do to drive her away?'
'Poor Nova. She gave up everything for her.'
Mother cornered me again and again, demanding answers I did not have.
“What did you do to her?”
“How long have you been cruel to her?”
“Why would she leave like that if you had not pushed her?”
I told her over and over that I did not know.
I mind linked Nova, begging her to come back and tell them the truth, whatever truth she meant. She never answered me.
Then, one week later, Damon formally asked for my hand to be his chosen mate.
He was alpha by then.
The whole pack saw it as an honor.
Mother warned me to think carefully, but I had been too foolish.
So I said yes.
But after the marking ceremony, I heard him speaking to his friends.
“Love her? No! I will never love Sage."
I had stopped outside the half-open door when I heard my name.
Then I heard the rest.
“I only asked her to be my chosen mate so the rest of her life would be miserable. She may become Luna, but my love will not be part of that privilege.”
I had gone cold all over.
Not long after that, I discovered our common friends hated me too.
“How can Sage be so selfish?”
“She was already the lucky child. Even adopted, Matron Vivian loved her like her own.”
“And Nova was left with nothing.”
“No wonder she left. Sage was too greedy. She shut Nova out so she could keep everything for herself, and now she even got the alpha.”
I confronted them that day, defending myself.
But they looked at me as though my speaking only proved my guilt.
The worst torture began after I moved into Damon’s packhouse.
We slept in the same room, but he never touched me.
At first, I thought it was anger.
Then I understood he was doing it on purpose, especially that I had learned that their connection had been restored.
He would call Nova at night, never through a mind link, always by phone, so I could hear every word.
—
I turned off the shower and stood.
After dressing up in one of my plain house dresses, I left my room and headed toward the medicine library.
If I could not control my life, I could at least control my work.
Then a mind link brushed against my thoughts.
‘Hello, Sage. How are you?’
I froze. 'Nova?'
She laughed softly. 'Hey, I just want to say you do not need to create those vitamin supplements for me. I told Mother I can just buy them from the human boutiques.'
I was about to answer when she continued.
‘By the way, sister, how are you and Damon?’
For a moment, I said nothing.
I simply stood in the middle of the medicine library.
Maybe before, I had never had the courage to even form the thought I was having now.
But after everything Damon had done, the truth stood so clearly in front of me that I could no longer turn away from it.
I inhaled slowly.
Then I said, ‘Nova, I’m finally rejecting Damon.’

Chapter 1Maeve Vance lay on an exam table crowded with monitors and tubing, the cold bite of metal against her back. Somewhere near her head, a man and a woman were talking—close enough that their voices slid right into her ear.The man chuckled. “The Morales family’s ‘oldest daughter’ really drew the short straw. Comes in from the sticks looking for her ‘real family,’ and her dear old dad’s already lining her up to have a kidney taken out. Shame. Pretty face, too.”“Lower your voice,” the woman warned. “She doesn’t even know they’re taking a kidney.”“So what?” he scoffed. “We gave her enough anesthetic to keep her out until the whole thing’s done. The match results come back yet?”“They did,” she said. “Close enough for transplant. Mr. Morales is getting worse—we can’t stall. Surgery’s set for seven tonight.”The man lifted Maeve’s T-shirt, his fingertips drifting over the curve of her waist like he had all the time in the world.“Putting a scalpel to skin this smooth… almost feels criminal.”When he started to lean in for more, Maeve’s eyes snapped open.The air changed—sharp, lethal.The woman went white. “She’s awake! Quick, start an IV push!”The man snatched up the syringe and lunged forward.Maeve’s hand flashed.A slap cracked through the room. The syringe flew, clattering across the floor.“You think you get to touch me,” Maeve said, voice like ice, “with hands that filthy?”He didn’t even have time to breathe before she was off the table. She stepped in hard, lifted a long leg, and drove her heel straight into his chest.He went airborne like a rag doll and hit the wall with a wet sound, blood bursting from his mouth.The woman bolted for the door.She hadn’t even wrapped her fingers around the handle when her whole body seized—numbness blooming instantly from the back of her neck. Something thin and vicious had pricked her skin.She turned, eyes wide.Maeve stood there lazily twirling a sleek, unusual pen between her fingers.The needle had come from inside it.“Y—”That was all she managed before her knees buckled and she dropped, unconscious, to the floor.The man trembled where he lay, panic shining in his eyes. “D-don’t come closer. We were paid. We were just doing what we were told.”Maeve smiled without warmth. “Cutting people open and stealing organs without consent? Doctor, your career’s over.”She didn’t wait for him to beg.She picked up the anesthetic meant for her and returned it to sender—straight into his arm.When both of them were out cold, Maeve brushed at her shirt as if dust had dared to land there.A white lab coat hung on a rack nearby. She slipped it on with unhurried precision, looped a mask over her face, and eased the door open.Then she walked out like she belonged.No one stopped her.No one even looked twice.Those two idiots thought they’d slipped something into her system when they drew blood for a DNA test.They didn’t know she’d been ready for them.A few days earlier, a man had shown up on her doorstep claiming to be her father—saying she was the Morales family’s long-lost child.His name was Luka Morales, a well-known name in Aethelburg’s restaurant scene. Publicly, he played the role perfectly: the remorseful father, heartbroken to learn his daughter had struggled in a rural nowhere with his ex-wife. He wanted to make up for lost time, he said. He wanted to “do right by her.”There was just one condition.Maeve needed to come to a private hospital for a paternity test.Maeve didn’t crave a stranger’s love. But she was curious. Men didn’t suddenly grow consciences like that unless there was something rotting underneath.So she went along with it.Let them think they were running the show.And of course—it hadn’t been simple.Luka hadn’t come looking for a daughter.He’d come looking for a kidney.A spare part to keep alive the precious son he’d had with his new wife—the heir the Morales family had pinned all their hopes on.Fine.Maeve lived by a simple rule: “I don’t start trouble. But if you come for me, I finish it.”If the Morales family wanted to carve her up, she’d make sure they received a gift in return—one they’d never forget.At the same time, on the top floor of the Grand Horizon Hotel, a contract signing was underway.The White family—old money with a century of history—held a position in Aethelburg that other elites didn’t even pretend to challenge.The head of the White family, Andres White, wasn’t old, but he’d already become a legend. In public, people simply called him Mr. Andres.The one lucky enough to sign with the Whites tonight was Anya Morales—a rich-girl prodigy and the newest darling of the hacker world. Her cybersecurity system had won an award not long ago, and in Aethelburg her name had been everywhere.Andres liked talent. He’d reserved her before she’d even finished school.At the signing, Andres had only his closest security and an assistant present. Anya’s parents, of course, were there too—beaming like they’d just been crowned.“My Anya will be in your care from here on out, Mr. Andres,” Luka Morales said, practically glowing.Finally—an in with the White family. He was so thrilled he’d temporarily forgotten the son waiting in a hospital bed for a transplant.Mrs. Morales—Isla—had once been a top-tier celebrity, the kind of woman who’d owned red carpets. She smiled sweetly and praised her daughter. “With Anya’s system running the Grand Horizon, you’ll be able to sleep easy, Mr. Andres.”Andres gave them the polite minimum. “You’re too kind.”Anya stole glances at him over the table.He was devastatingly handsome, but it wasn’t just that. There was a controlled, untouchable air about him—nothing like the spoiled trust-fund boys she’d grown up around.Becoming Mrs. White had been her ultimate dream for as long as she could remember.The room was warm with laughter when the lights began to flicker.Isla frowned. “What’s going on?”A dozen bodyguards moved at once—silent, coordinated, appearing from different positions like they’d been hiding in the walls. In seconds, Andres was surrounded by a human shield.The Morales family barely had time to blink.Then—bang.A crystal chandelier worth more than most houses exploded overhead.The blast triggered the fire suppression system. The ceiling sprinklers kicked on, dumping water in hard, cold sheets.One guard snapped open a black umbrella over Andres with lightning speed, keeping even a drop from touching him.Andres sat back in his chair like a king on a throne, calm and unreadable, not a flicker of surprise crossing his face.Isla shrieked, voice climbing an octave. “Is there a fire?!”Anya forced a steady tone. “Mom. Calm down. Don’t forget whose building this is.”The Grand Horizon belonged to the Whites. And just hours ago, it had officially gone live with Anya’s award-winning security system.So much for perfect timing.A guard shut off the alarm. The sprinklers slowed, then stopped, water dripping from the ceiling in reluctant taps. The umbrella disappeared as neatly as it had appeared.Then the door opened.Maeve walked in without asking.She wore a black baseball cap pulled low, but she was tall, lean, and striking—pretty in a way that didn’t need permission. Even with half her face hidden, she had the kind of beauty that made people look twice and resent themselves for it.When Andres got a clear look at her, something sharp moved in his eyes.Her?His security shifted, ready to intercept.Andres lifted a hand—silent command. Watch. Wait.He wanted to see what game she thought she was playing.Maeve flicked a glance at him, then dismissed him entirely, as if he were furniture.Luka was the first to find his voice. “Maeve, what are you doing here?”At this hour, she should’ve been at the private hospital getting checked for compatibility.Maeve tossed a test report onto the table.“You said if I proved we’re father and daughter, you’d give me half the Morales fortune.” Her voice was light, almost pleasant. “The DNA results are right there. So—are you paying up, or do I need to ask again?”Isla snatched the report and tore it clean in half. “You think you can walk in here with a fake piece of paper and steal my family’s money? Dream on.”Maeve smiled. “I made copies.”Luka’s jaw tightened. “What do you want?”His face stayed controlled, but fear leaked through his eyes in thin, ugly cracks. Had something gone wrong at the hospital?Maeve saw the panic—and deliberately didn’t mention the operating room.“The Morales empire in the food world,” she said, “was built on recipes my mother left behind before the divorce.”“She didn’t fight you because the betrayal broke her. But I’m not letting her swallow that humiliation and call it dinner.”“The conservative estimate puts the Morales family at four billion.” She shrugged. “I’m not greedy. You’ve got three days. Transfer two billion to my account.”Anya’s composure snapped. “Maeve, don’t push your luck. My dad only helped you because you were pathetic out there in the middle of nowhere. Without that charity, you wouldn’t even be qualified to step into the Morales house.”Maeve looked her up and down. “And you are…?”Anya lifted her chin. “The legitimate Morales heiress.”Maeve’s expression brightened in exaggerated realization. “Oh. You’re the clown who won an award with a security system and started calling herself a genius.”Anya’s eyes went red. “Who are you calling a clown?”Maeve tipped her chin toward the chaos overhead. “A real genius doesn’t become a public joke in her own showcase.”Anya’s temper flared. She swung a hand to slap Maeve.Maeve turned her head, letting the strike cut through empty air—then brought her own hand back across Anya’s face.The sound was sharp enough to silence the room.Anya clutched her cheek, stunned. “You hit me?!”Maeve flexed her fingers as if she’d stung her own palm. “You don’t get to start it and then cry when I finish it.”Isla erupted. “You illegitimate little bitch—how dare you lay hands on my daughter!”That word hit Maeve like a match to gasoline.She grabbed a glass of red wine off the table and threw it straight into Isla’s face.“If my mother hadn’t stepped aside for you,” Maeve said, voice low and vicious, “the kids you had by seducing a married man would be the ones with the ‘illegitimate bitch’ label.”Wine streamed down Isla’s carefully maintained makeup, staining her like a bruise.Maeve had never been the kind of woman people could knead into shape.If the Morales family wanted to scheme against her, they could choke on the consequences.Luka surged to his feet, furious. “Maeve! What the hell are you doing, putting your hands on people in public? Do you have any respect for the law?”Maeve’s smile turned razor-thin. “The law? Explain it to me.”Isla wiped at her face, shaking with rage. “Making trouble on Mr. Andres’s turf? You’ll leave here in a body bag.”Maeve turned to Andres. “Is that true?”Andres didn’t move. “Try it and see.”Maeve spotted a decorative baseball bat propped in a corner—some ridiculous luxury-sports décor. She weighed it in her hand, testing the balance.Then, under a roomful of disbelieving stares, she went to work.She smashed every piece of décor she could reach—glass, sculpture, framed art—reducing the elegant private dining room into a wrecked set. Her movements were fast, fluid, almost beautiful in their violence.When she finished, she tossed the bat aside and said calmly, “I tried.”Andres stared.So did every guard and assistant around him.

Chapter 1 His Return

　　_Rowena's POV_

　　My bedroom door burst open so hard it nearly flew off its hinges.

　　"My Luna!" Velvet stumbled inside, her voice sharp with excitement, breathless and gasping. "He's back! Alpha Kaelen has returned! He's in the east wing right now, with his grandmother, Lady Maelis."

　　My hand jerked. The tip of my pen sliced into my finger, but I barely noticed. Only one thought echoed in my mind.

　　Kaelen was back.

　　I pressed my injured finger to my lips, blotting the bead of blood, but I couldn't suppress the surge of joy rising in my chest.

　　It had been three years since I'd last seen my husband—the Alpha of the Moonreign Pack.

　　That time had been our wedding night.

　　We hadn't even had a moment alone before he was summoned to the Federation border.

　　And ever since, I had served as his Luna, holding the pack together with unwavering devotion, counting the days until his return.

　　Velvet, my handmaiden, knew better than anyone how I had endured those years. Kaelen hadn't got enough time to mark me. And Kyra—the wolf inside me—had been so long silent that I'd nearly stopped hoping she would ever stir again.

　　The Moonreign Pack was small, but it was no easy task for a Luna with a fading wolf to care for her ailing mother-in-law, to weather the elders' scrutiny, to balance the pack's countless needs. There were so many nights I had wondered if I could bear it a moment longer.

　　But I had. And now Kaelen was home. He would mark me. We would shoulder the pack's burdens together. Perhaps we would even raise children of our own.

　　Everything was about to fall into place.

　　As these thoughts swirled in my heart, I dressed with more care than I had in years. I fastened my mother's pearl earrings—the ones she had worn as a token of her bond with my father. She had always believed they would guide me toward a marriage as blessed as hers.

　　I believed it too.

　　Earlier that morning, Kyra had stirred for the first time in what felt like forever. She paced restlessly in the depths of my mind, her agitation a strange undercurrent beneath my skin. I had found it unsettling then.

　　But now, I understood.

　　She had sensed what was coming.

　　Kaelen had come home.

　　The walk to the east wing wasn't far, yet each step seemed to stretch endlessly. My usual composure faltered—my stride, once measured and graceful, now carried an unmistakable urgency. But when the doors of the hall came into view, my feet slowed of their own accord.

　　My marriage to Alpha Kaelen Varkos had begun like a whirlwind.

　　After my father and brother fell in battle, one after the other, my mother's health had crumbled. Her only remaining wish was to see me wed—to place me in the care of someone she deemed worthy.

　　Alpha Kaelen was the man she chose.

　　Moonreign Pack was modest in size, but it had its standing. More importantly, its young Alpha was accomplished and commanding. My mother trusted that he would be my equal, that he would protect me.

　　We were not fated mates.

　　But that fleeting wedding night had been enough to sear him into my heart.

　　He had looked as striking in his military uniform as he had in his wedding attire—perhaps even more so, with a new edge of hardness about him. When those dark, fathomless eyes fixed on me, my maiden heart had thundered in my chest for the very first time.

　　"You deserve better than this," he had murmured, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "Wait for me, my Luna."

　　Those words had carried me through three years.

　　And now he was back.

　　I stopped before the doors, steadying myself. Through the decorative glass panel beside them, I caught a glimpse of my own red-rimmed eyes. I took that final moment to check my reflection—to ensure I would meet my husband as the woman he remembered.

　　And that was when I heard it. A voice from within the half-open door. Authoritative. Final.

　　"Rowena has no say in this."

　　I needed less than a heartbeat to recognize it.

　　My husband's voice.

　　"I have already agreed to marry Virella," he said. "It is done. I am the Alpha of Moonreign Pack."

　　The words hit me like a bucket of ice water, dousing every flicker of joy and longing in my chest.

　　Virella? Who was Virella?

　　My husband—the man who had asked me to wait for him—was now planning to marry someone else?

　　I pushed open the door without a second thought, the force of it surprising even myself. Every head in the room turned toward me.

　　Kaelen sat in silence upon his Alpha throne. Grandmama Maelis occupied her customary seat nearby, her face a mask of stern authority. My mother-in-law, Elira, sat just below her, and when her eyes met mine, she exhaled a quiet sigh. The others in the room wore expressions ranging from shock to barely concealed curiosity. But my gaze went straight to the only face I did not recognize.

　　No one needed to tell me this was the woman Kaelen had called Virella.

　　She was not conventionally beautiful, but there was something in her bearing—a slenderness that bordered on sharpness, a self-possession that seemed almost practiced. Her features were finely cut, her dark hair swept back to reveal the elegant line of her throat. Yet her eyes betrayed her. They held too much: greed poorly masked, arrogance barely leashed.

　　I had never imagined that one day my husband would betray me for such a woman.

　　"You said you were going to marry whom?" I fixed my gaze on Virella, but the question was meant for Kaelen. My voice carried a weight that made even the younger pack members in the room straighten instinctively.

　　"Young Luna—" Hannah, the Varkos family's long-serving steward, stepped forward with a strained smile, clearly hoping to smooth things over. "This is merely a misunderstanding—"

　　"I was not asking you." I cut her off sharply, and then, finally, I turned to face my husband.

　　Three years had changed him.

　　He had always been handsome, but now the battlefield had carved something new into him. He sat with a stillness that felt less like composure and more like a predator at rest. Every movement, every shift of his posture carried an undercurrent of danger. This was a man who had learned to make decisions and live with their consequences.

　　He was studying me too, his dark eyes unreadable. But I did not flinch.

　　"I am asking you, Alpha Kaelen." My voice did not waver. "Who did you say you were going to marry?"

　　A cold smile curved his lips, as if my challenge amused rather than troubled him. He reached for the woman at his side and drew her into the circle of his arm with deliberate ease.

　　"I am marrying Virella," he announced. "She is carrying my child."

　　His hand settled upon her belly with a tenderness that made my stomach turn.

　　Only then did I see it—the subtle swell beneath her gown.

　　So. This was the reason.

　　The feeling that seized me defied description. It was as if a hand had reached into my chest, seized my heart, and began to squeeze.

　　I nearly staggered. Velvet's hand caught my elbow, steadying me before I could fall.

　　"Is this the manners you were raised with?" Grandmama Maelis's voice cut through the room like a blade. "Your husband returns after three years, and your first words are an accusation?"

　　"Husband?" I swallowed against the thickness in my throat, but when I spoke again, my voice came out sharper than before. "I have held this pack together for three years. I have spent every sleepless night worrying about his safety. And when he finally returns, he brings another woman into our home. What kind of husband is that?"

　　"Rowena—" Kaelen's voice cut through the air, sharp with displeasure. "Protecting the pack is the Luna's duty."

　　"It was the agreement we made when our marriage was arranged," he added, as though I needed reminding.

　　The words lodged in my throat like glass, but I forced them out. "Then you should also remember that agreement came with the promise of respect."

　　"And have I not given it?" The weight of Alpha command pressed against his every word. "Three years, Rowena. You carry no mark of mine—yet Moonreign has called you Luna. Even knowing you came with no bloodline, no family, no pack."

　　The smugness curling through his tone made my stomach turn.

　　Three years ago, I had been foolish enough to feel something for this man.

　　"So what you're telling me," I said slowly, "is that I've been running your pack, managing your territory, holding your alliances together—and now I'm supposed to step aside gracefully while you parade your mistress in front of me?"

　　A flicker of irritation crossed his face, gone as quickly as it came. "House Varkos honors its word. I made a promise to your mother. I will not abandon you."

　　"But Virella," he continued, meeting my gaze with none of the warmth that had graced our wedding night, "I will also take as my wife."

　　"You've managed the pack well for three years, yes. But you have not given Varkos an heir. Virella carries my child—and she has saved my soldiers, and my own life, more than once on the battlefield."

　　He straightened, as though delivering a generous verdict. "You may retain your title as Luna. Virella will share equal standing with you. Equal rights. Equal voice in the pack."

　　The sheer condescension nearly made me laugh.

　　He hadn't touched me on our wedding night. He'd left at dawn for the front, and by the time he returned, he'd already found someone else. An heir? I would have needed a husband first.

　　And Virella? She'd bled beside him on the battlefield. I had secured supply lines, negotiated alliances, held the pack together so he'd have something to come back to. But apparently, that counted for nothing.

　　My eyes burned, but I refused to let the tears fall. This man had never deserved them.

　　"Equal standing?" My voice came out rough, but steady. "And what makes you think I would accept that?"

　　I lifted my chin, looking him straight in the eye.

　　"If this is what's left of your promise," I said, "then I want none of it."

　　"Let's end this properly, Alpha Kaelen."

　　My words landed like a blade.

　　"I want a divorce."

Lysera is irrelevant

Lysera

It was my twenty-first birthday.

A day I had been anticipating for the past three years. The day I was supposed to finally get my wolf. Instead of my family celebrating me, they were throwing a party for my twin sister because she was finally pregnant for our Alpha.

“The Moon Goddess has been so good to us.”

“Thank the Moon Goddess for blessing our pack with Isyra.”

“She will finally become Luna. It was only a matter of time.”

“An heir is exactly what the pack needs. With all the rogue trouble, we need something to celebrate. Something to lift our spirits.”

Yes. Tonight, on our twenty-first birthday, my twin sister would be crowned the Luna of our pack.

I walked past pack members as they rushed around my father’s compound, bustling with excitement as they prepared the hall for the celebration. A few bumped into me in their hurry, but none of them stopped to apologize.

I didn’t mind.

I was used to being invisible. It was better than having their attention on me.

“Lysera!”

I flinched, snapping out of my thoughts as my mother’s sharp voice cut through the noise. She stood at the entrance of the house, her expression tight with impatience.

“Hurry up. Isyra needs you to fetch her shoes from the top of her dresser. She’s pregnant, after all, so no strenuous activity for her.”

She disappeared back inside before I could respond.

I bit down on my bottom lip at the jab in her words and followed anyway.

When I entered Isyra’s room, the difference between our lives was impossible to ignore.

My room was the smallest in the house, barely half the size of Isyra’s closet. Hers, however, was the largest room in the compound. Even bigger than our parents’.

It looked like something out of a fairy tale. Soft pink walls and silk curtains. A bed fit for a princess.

The brightness of it all made my stomach turn and it was not because I hated pink, but because it wasn’t my sister’s color.

Isyra liked purple. I liked pink.

But my father said pink was for girls, so Isyra liked pink now.

She had always been like that. The perfect people pleaser. And there was no one she wanted to please more than our father.

Isyra and I may have shared the same face, but we were opposites in every way that mattered.

From the moment we were born, my parents noticed the difference. Isyra was loud, smiling, and demanding of attention. She laughed easily, cried beautifully, and reached for everyone who looked her way. I was quiet. I observed before I spoke. I preferred corners to crowds and silence to noise.

To them, that made Isyra perfect.

They praised her confidence, admired her charm, and called her special. They said she was born to lead, born to be seen. I was called difficult, strange, and too withdrawn..

I slammed Springer’s head against the brick of the alleyway. If he breathed, he’d be purple by now. He was 5’9” with nearly white blond hair and violet eyes. It was the bloodline of my sire that gave him those eyes, and I was about to take them back if he didn’t have the money he stole from me and a damned good excuse for his flippant message.

“Grrllbplmm.” Springer gurgled.

My lip curled into a snarl. I wanted to properly crush his throat. After everything I had done for him, for nearly eighty years, the little bastard stole from me!

I’d spent fifteen years tracking him down. All the way to America! I had to live out of a suitcase while trying to figure out where he’d gone! No servant to take care of my needs! Nothing!

It wasn’t until a donor told me about a spell which hid you from others’ sight, that I figured it out. My work was put on hiatus while I tracked my wayward childe. Fifteen damned years!

Going dormant for that long, leaving my territory for that long. I was homeless and reputationless now. Only a rumor, a ghost, in the world of the undead. His little game had cost me everything I’d worked for.

I tightened my grip on his neck. Taking his head off would make me happier than any damage I could do now, but I wanted more than a pound of flesh. Of course he wouldn’t be able to tell me anything if I crushed his throat. At least, not until he healed and I didn’t want to wait that long.

I sighed, let him down, and stepped back. Springer dropped to his knees gripping his throat. I glared at him with disdain.

“Well, where is it?” I growled.

“I spent it all. I’m sorry, master! Please, don’t kill me.” He begged.

He was only a hundred years old, but he’d been trouble since before I brought him over. He wasn’t my first choice for a childe of mine. If not for the fact that his father had been a dear friend of mine, I wouldn’t have.

Chapter 1: Late

Luci Forrester

“I’m late, I’m late…” I mutter as I race through the corridors to get to class. Professor Elkins isn’t always forgiving, and if she makes me stand in front of the class to explain my tardiness, I won’t be able to stand it.

I keep muttering to myself, and I hear the jingle start in my head. The white rabbit in the animated Alice in Wonderland. “I’m late, and I’m late for a very important date. No time to say hello goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m…” I can see the entire movie playing before my eyes.

“AHHH!” I let out an involuntary scream as I crash into a huge hard wall. I glance up and want to die. It’s not a wall I ran into, rather a concrete human body.

My eyes are probably the size of saucers as I stare up into the face of one of the four kings of Kenton. The Reed “brothers” who rule the ice here at Kenton University and then the town along with their parents. I happened to run into the most ruthless one, Easton. He’s the hockey center and the most wanted bachelor probably among all the universities in this state. Which is code for entitled playboy in my book. The puck bunnies line up for him after every practice and game. He’s also the coldest and cruelest of the four.

Great, just what I needed.

My left pointer finger immediately begins scraping its nail along my thumb as I wait for him to explode. He’s not known for his pleasantness, and I pray he doesn’t remember me from the other two encounters we’ve had in the last two years. My thoughts roll around in my head as I shake it a little to focus. That damn white rabbit analogy distracted me.

“I’m…sorry. I was chasing a rabbit.” I say with agitation, and he narrows his eyes at me. They are the most interesting color, like a silver with a hint of the palest ice blue throughout. That nonsense slipped out and I wince realizing he’ll think I’m clumsy and nuts. I concentrate hard to focus and get my thoughts in line. Come on brain!

“Luci!” I hear my best friend cry out from down the hall.

I peer around the massive hockey player and see Syd waving madly at me. The giant in front of me shifts to block my view shifting my attention back to him. Like I could forget he was here. They call him the Icebreaker because he basically mows down anything in his path to get to the goal.

An angry frown appears on Easton’s face as I chance a look back up. “Is that your ‘rabbit’ you were chasing?”

Oh god, his voice. I forgot how it affects you. It’s like the deepest, most gravelly sound I’ve ever heard. Not even in those online videos about the books I read do they sound like that. I can almost hear my eardrum tingling as it rolls through my head.

“Ummm, no. I…”

“Easton!!! Jackson!!!” A loud happy wail followed by a trill of laughter peals from behind me.

I dare not turn to look as Jackson Reed’s blue eyes move from my face to the hall behind me. They narrow more and I wonder if he minds the attention. I had a class with him last year. He ignored me and every other girl in there. He’s as tall as his twin brother which is probably like jolly green giant height. I mean seriously, I could get a neck cramp staring up at these guys. Probably six-six or six-seven. They both have short ash blonde hair and while Easton’s is ruffled and messy, Jackson’s is styled as messily but a bit shorter. It’s very textured and my mind wonders if it’s coarse or soft.

Easton tilts his head slightly as his eyes don’t waver. “Shouldn’t you be running after your rabbit… Luci?”

And now I know what an eargasm feels like when he says my name. What the hell is wrong with me today? This guy wants to kill me, I’m sure, while I’m trying not to drool over his voice. And I shouldn’t, knowing he finds me as reprehensible as the rest of his team.

I nod quickly and begin to step around him, but not before whispering. “Sorry.” Hopefully that doesn't revisit me later with some form of revenge.

I walk fast, darting around the corner and peeking in the thin strip of glass to see Professor Elkins talking. Syd catches my attention and I see her hold up three fingers. I nod and wait to see her reach down before she throws something at the windows on the opposite wall.

Professor Elkins turns to investigate the intrusion, and I slip in the door creeping to the first seat available. Syd gives me a thumbs up with a sneaky grin. Luckily, none of the football or hockey teams are in here or they would draw attention to our subterfuge to make me squirm.

I pull out my notebook silently and begin taking notes of what she’s written on the board. This is one of my least favorite classes, but it’s mandatory for graduation. I do better with numbers than I do dry boring history. They just suit my scattered brain better.

When I was ten, my teacher noticed I was always spaced out except during math class. She called my foster mom, Janet, and had a conference. After that, Janet took me to see a specialist. Mrs. Jenkins had suggested I was struggling with focusing more often than not and might need some additional help. I was diagnosed with ADHD, Primarily Inattentive Presentation or ADHD-PI. Rather than have the typical hyperactive component people expected with ADHD, I was withdrawn and would daydream a lot. Had trouble finishing assignments at school and I was easily distracted. Extremely unorganized and my brain rambles around with the weirdest pattern of thoughts. A lot like living in Wonderland with Alice sometimes. I’d follow some errant thought that occurred after I noticed one word in a sentence and begin to slide down a rabbit tunnel finding other distracting pieces of thought along the way. In the end, I’d pop out on a different scene full of more bright distraction or a whole new set of thoughts. Like what kept happening to Alice each time she thought she had her bearings in the animated movie I’ve seen millions of times.

At least that was the easiest way to describe it to other people like my best friend and to the psychologist when she asked me how my days go at school. I recall the test I took where she mentioned it would tell her how smart I was. Other questions to both Janet and I about how I handled getting dressed or brushing my teeth. What happened with certain foods or clothing textures. A hearing and vision test had to be done even though it confused me at the time. I could see and hear fine. I just didn’t always hear what was said. Janet assured me all the tests were to make sure they didn’t miss anything because sometimes you can have more than one puzzle that needs solving. She always had ways of phrasing things that helped me not feel less than even if it didn’t always work.

It hadn’t been easy to answer any of the questions on the first visit. Janet gently encouraged me to talk to her. Dr. Symon was her name. She had soft golden brown eyes surrounded by the most beautiful olive skin tone and a rich, soft voice. Her hair was streaked with gray and her smile was kind and gentle. She never lost patience with me once I let her in. I was scared though. She might tell Janet something that would have me moving again. Packing up my things and going somewhere new. Janet didn’t fuss at me for not listening. She would take my hands and sit down so I didn’t have to raise my eyes when she talked to me.

Collins, my social worker, came to my next appointment. He always smiled at me and his wife, Althea, would send me two M&M cookie bars each time I saw him. A book as well. My favorite was Freckle Juice by Judy Blume. I still have the copy she gave me. It’s seen better days having been packed to different houses and not always treated with care but it sits proudly on my bookshelf. Seeing him wasn’t always good. My heart would plummet when he’d show up. One time, he had to take me to his office, and I heard two other people talking about me. Not him. They said I was oppositional and defiant. That I was too much work to get through some days compared to their other kids in their home. Those words burned into my brain. Insults tend to do that. I can remember every hurtful thing I’ve ever been called. Every criticism lives on replay in my mind some days when I’m battling myself.

They sent me outside while the three of them talked. I’d sat there wondering how long it would take me to pack my things at Janet’s. Would mean a new school. Different teacher. Mrs. Jenkins was so sweet and nice to me. She never got mad when I took too long to answer a question or finish my worksheets.

When I was called back in, I asked Collins when he’d pick me up for the next house. Janet had immediately knelt on the floor and taken my hands. “You aren’t going anywhere, Luci girl. We’re going to listen to Dr. Symon about things we can do to help you focus and finish things.” She’d gone on to gently explain my diagnosis. Dr. Symon joined her and told me we would talk and she’d help me create a plan to make my days easier.

Janet worked hard to help me. I lived with her the longest period in foster care, almost ten years until I aged out. She took me to see a play therapist and other forms of interactive therapy where I learned some tricks to help me manage my situation.

I met Sydney Olmos at an art therapy class when I was twelve. She was there waiting on her older brother, Banning, who has his own focus issues. She walked right over and introduced herself to me. Turns out we went to the same school and in the same grade, but I had never noticed her. She asked me three questions; my favorite color, favorite food and whether or not I thought Tommy Baldon in our class was cute. After she heard my answers, she declared we would be best friends from then on. And we were. I was surprised. She learned tricks to make sure I stayed focused around her and would defend me when I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It helped that most didn’t pay that much attention to me when she was around. Still don’t to this day, which has never bothered me.

Syd always tells me I’m beautiful, but I’m not too concerned about my looks. One more thing I don't have time to worry about currently. I am what I am and if they only want to judge me on my looks, then so be it. Which is five seven with nothing much to brag about for my figure. My brown hair and brown eyes are nothing special or unique. I have a tiny smattering of pale freckles across my nose and upper cheeks. No where else on my pale skin.

Sydney's the typical American dream girl with golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Only an inch taller than me with a perfect figure and a year-round golden tan. All eyes are usually on her, which helps me a lot. Gives me time and space to organize my thoughts sometimes.

To this day, she is the one person I can call on when I’m having a tough day without guilt stopping me. I have it afterwards but less than with others. Dr. Symon talked about things like that possibly affecting me. Some of it sat in my head but I didn’t really pull it out until later on. Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) that I could experience. Things I would have to work harder to overcome because of my guilt or emotional response to perceived rejection or criticism along with actual rejection or failure.

Masking where I’d try to appear normal to others and hide my ADHD. Dr. Symon cautioned me that masking and RSD could act on a loop driving each other. How this loop could exhaust me and lead to burnout which would make me even more susceptible to the rejection sensitivity. I’d learned that the hard way a few times already.

I saw Dr. Symon regularly for a year and a half. Then she moved away and Janet found me a new psychologist, Dr. Hamilton, who came highly recommended from the state approved list. I didn’t like her as much and left each session feeling like I was failing at managing my issues. She had this air of disappointment. I ignored it and tried harder because she helped the son of Janet’s coworker a lot with his neurodivergence. Her demeanor never seemed to change. Especially after I tried medication and it made everything ten times worse. I felt like my heart was going to explode on one. I couldn’t sleep and my anxiety spiked with the last two. My appetite fell off almost completely with two of them. After trying three different ones, I finally had the courage to beg Janet to give up. I was miserable. Dr. Hamilton wanted to try another, but Janet told her we were done and we could revisit it in a year or when I brought it up. I got a new therapist for other reasons a few months later. He focused on alternative ideas to help me manage things once Janet explained what happened. I last saw him four years ago. At that point, my anxiety was half what it is in the present day. After…. my first year of college it doubled easily.

Class ends as I was vaguely paying attention and Syd comes to wait for me.

“That was close.” She says with a big smile, and I laugh.

“Thanks, Syd. I hit an icy impasse.” She tugs my arm and puts her finger to her lips until we hit the hallway.

“Did he do anything to you?” She whispers worriedly.

“No, I think one of the puck bunnies showed up, so he was more concerned with that. Let me go with a little taunt, and that’s it.” I shrug, and we move cautiously around the corner. “He would have no idea that I run into walls even when I’m fully present. Grace personified I am not.” Thankfully, it's mostly empty. A few people stare at us for a minute. Probably curious if anyone is going to bother me.

"So he didn't remember you from last year?" She asks as we head toward her car.

"Didn't seem to." I say as I climb in. He’d have reason to but not have reason to, I think which sounds screwed up but it’s true. Besides he’d been distracted by the girl calling his name I’m sure. They don’t lack for attention from those. I’m not one of their confident, adoring fans. Which I shove aside before I go down a different rabbit hole comparing myself to another.

Comparison might be the thief of joy for some; for me, it’s more like another way to be passed over even in my own mind.

“Hopefully he forgot.” Syd murmurs.

I nod my head and recall what happened.

Last year, I'd been in the middle of heading to a table in the student center with my lunch. Naturally, I'd been lost in my head trying to organize my assignments for the day. Wasn't paying attention which was completely my fault.

Jim, one of the football players, had tripped me. I went flying as did my tray of food. While the fries and nuggets weren't a problem, the open yogurt cup was. Strawberry yogurt flew out and pelted none other than the quarterback of the football team, Julian. He'd snarled and gotten up shouting obscenities at me. In revenge, he grabbed his water bottle and dumped it on me. My shirt was completely soaked, and of course, it was mostly white, so it became transparent. I'd hunched into myself as they all laughed. It mostly cleared out after that. I sat there until the football team left.

A pair of extremely large feet had come to stand right in front of me. When I dared to look up, I stared into those narrowed angry eyes I admired earlier today. That was the first time I heard his voice. He had blotches of strawberry yogurt on his jeans, and I gasped.

"I... I didn't..." Before I could finish, he had growled. Full on growled like some kind of angry wolf.

"You f*****g did! Here, it's already ruined by you anyway. You should cover yourself!" He said angrily as I stared at the floor both humiliated and furious. I glanced up to see him reach behind his neck with one hand and pull the black hoodie he wore off in one swift, easy movement. He dumped it on my head and strode off. I'd tugged it on, grateful for it while wanting to burn it. All day long, I tried to ignore the scent of it.

Sydney teased me about it, but stopped when I told her the whole story.

"Burn it when you get home. But it's useful for now, babe."

Syd's voice then echoes as she calls me softly. "Luci… Luci… tune back in, babe."

I shake my head. "Sorry, Syd. Are we going to pick up Barrett? I can watch him while you go to the lab tonight."

"I appreciate it. We're going to make it, Luci. Last year of school."

I stem the hopeful joy and answer practically. “Only 155 school days left until graduation. Now to survive the final year of hell.”

Chapter 2: Timing

2287 Words

Luci

I’ve always had horrible timing. Not just with my focus and disorganization issues, but like the universe arranging events in my life. I woke up late this morning after setting my alarm wrong. The coffee shop we stop at for breakfast some mornings was packed which set me back an extra ten minutes.

I am a glutton for routine. Partly because it helps me stay on track and also because boring is comforting. Growing up in foster care, you had to worry about being moved around suddenly. Until I moved in with Janet when I was eight, I moved at least three or four times a year. So doing the same old thing every day works for me just fine.

I'm letting the song lyrics roll through my head as I desperately try to remember the name of the actual song. I should just look it up, but I can only catch one word out of ten each time I hear it. It takes me a minute to realize the girl behind the counter is calling to me.

"Oh, sorry. I'd like a Chai latte and a blueberry muffin."

"Sorry, we just sold the last blueberry muffin to the guy in front of you. How about something else?"

More proof my timing sucks. Great!

I hurry to look into the case. I was really craving a blueberry muffin. One with plump juicy berries and extra streusel topping…

FOCUS LUCI! I shout at myself.

"Umm, how about a cheese danish then."

"And we're out of Chai to make the lattes."

Double great.

"Just a regular vanilla latte then." I say with disappointment.

I walk back to my car nibbling on the danish I didn't want and sip my coffee. It's more acceptable than the danish. That stupid song tune begins dancing in my head again.

After my first class, I call my boss and see if anyone has inquired about me working for them. Mrs. Simpson sighs and tells me it's been very slow lately, but she’s hopeful something will turn up soon.

I hang up with her. I can wait a few more weeks before I really need to be working. I have enough saved to survive easily for another two months. But I don't like to leave that up to chance or get too close to being broke. Unlike a lot of my peers here, I have no one to fall back on if that happens.

I walk into my third class of the day and slither to a halt right inside the door. Usually I get to this class early enough I can get to the seats in the back. But somehow the two football players and the hockey team have shown up way early today.

I take a quick breath and focus on moving to the steps on the side. With luck, I'll walk right past them. But as I pass the second row, I feel the tug on my backpack and barely manage to stay upright.

"It's the curse. Did you guys know she was in here? Maybe we should tell the professor we won't sit in class with such bad luck."

I glare at Deacon White, the wide receiver for the football team. He loves to verbally tease me. Julian, the quarterback is here too. He glares at me with hatred. He thinks he has reason.

I stand still and stare at a spot on the wall before me. Class will start soon enough and they’ll release me. I used to pop off with snide rejoinders but it had no effect and seemed to put a bigger target on my back. My silence has honestly allowed them to mostly ignore me unless they are bored.

"Hey Reed, you seen the curse in here before?" Deacon taunts. In my periphery I spot the four kings.

"I don't look for mice usually." One of the other hockey team members, Maxton Porter calls out mockingly. "She could be fun to hunt though. You'd like that wouldn't you little mouse? If we hunted you. Not that the catch would be anything you enjoyed. We could exorcise the curse finally."

I stepped on his foot a few weeks ago and made him spill his drink on himself. He was flirting with two girls who laughed at him and took off. Since then, he’s been especially hateful.

I see even Deacon raise an eyebrow to that. That sounds dark and disgusting. Kind of like a walking sewer trap that guy. Before I can stop it, my brain is swirling around seeing some tall green goo covered guy that smells like rotting eggs chasing me like in the old Scooby Doo cartoons Barrett watches some afternoons.

"Hey, don't ignore me, you filthy little b***h! You should be glad I even noticed you." A vice-like grip descends on my wrist and my neck. I yelp in pain and fall, but the grip doesn't lessen. Deacon is on his feet.

"I didn't mean for you to touch her man!"

Maxton is staring down at me, his eyes blazing. Suddenly, another hand clamps down on the one holding my wrist. It swallows his and even wraps around my hand a little.

"Release her now! You took it too far, Maxton." Becker Reed's angry voice permeates my fear. "Coach will have your ass if she presses charges."

"Be ready, little mouse. Your time is coming. Press charges, and I'll make sure you really don't enjoy it." He snarls as he stomps away.

Becker holds his hand out to help me up, but I shy away before using the wall to stand up. I'm going to have a set of bruises on my wrist and neck.

"Does your wrist feel broken?" He asks quietly.

"Would it matter?"

I stomp up the stairs to my seat away from them, refusing to cry. I hate this school and the athletic departments. The football and hockey coaches are brothers. Nothing would happen if I complained. They rule the school and then the Reed family rules the city. If I didn't have a full scholarship here, I'd leave in a heartbeat.

Julian scoffs. "I think I'll bounce today. Will tell Coach Humphries she's in this class when I go hit the gym.” He raises his eyebrows at me as he smirks.

I slump down in my seat and make it through class, hardly daydreaming because I'm so angry. My wrist is throbbing too. I need to ice it. I let them leave first, not even moving for almost five minutes after they walk. I do see Becker stare up at me for a few seconds. He's probably worried I'll call campus security and have his teammate benched.

I walk into my next class and take a seat. Before it begins, I see one of the campus clinic nurses walk in. She looks around and then points to me. "Luci Forrester?"

I nod. She hands me an ice pack that can be velcroed around my wrist. "I was told to deliver that by the hockey coach."

I take it wishing I could throw it in Maxton's face instead.

"Thank you." She smiles and walks away.

I leave my last class and decide I will stop and get an iced coffee as a treat for this awful day. I'm almost to the coffee shop when I hear a car going way too fast for this curvy one-lane campus road. I see a young blonde boy stepping off the sidewalk to cross the street. The car isn’t slowing down and I spot why. The driver is holding his phone up at eye level. That boy will be crushed.

"LOOK OUT!" I scream and my feet move of their own volition. I make it to him in time to grab him and throw us both to the ground. I managed to land with him mostly on top of me to avoid scraping him up. Ignoring the pain from sliding across the concrete, I hurry to wrap him up with as much of my body as I can.

The car clips two others racing straight through the spot the little boy was frozen in. He hits a tree not far from us, and I hear other people screaming.

One lady comes up and helps me to my feet. "I saw the whole thing. It's a good thing you were paying attention at that very minute."

More like a miracle I wasn't chasing a heffalump or something similar with my scatterbrain I think. I don't express that.

I crouch down, holding my hand out to him. "Hey. My name's Luci. Can you move your arms and legs, sweetie?"

He nods with tears in his eyes. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

"My knee." I glance at it to see the slight scrape.

"We'll get that all taken care of once the ambulance arrives. What's your name?" A small crowd has formed, but I ignore them and focus on him.

"Co...Cole." He stammers out. His teeth are chattering, and I realize he could be going into shock from the scare. I struggle to focus and remember he needs to stay warm. Quickly, I tug the hoodie over my head and slip it on him.

"Here sweetie, we need to keep you warm. Talk to me ok. What were you doing out here by yourself?"

"My nanny left me. She's mean and she wanted coffee. I didn't want to go. She was mad mad and went inside. I was sposed to wait over there. But the wind took my paper. I chased it.”

My anger spikes at that.

"Cole, how old are you?" The woman who helped me stands listening. I think she's recording it with her phone, but I don't really care.

"Four."

Fucking i***t is my first thought along with needing to take a pair of pliers and a blowtorch to her sorry ass. She left a four year old by himself.

Chapter 1: Extraordinary Game The evening glow bled across the sky, dyeing the world crimson. After school, the classroom emptied out. Only two or three students remained, focused intently on studying for the upcoming college entrance exams. As Su Xuan packed his bag to go home, he was surprised to find an envelope, adorned with a heart, tucked between his books. He didn't give it much thought, simply stuffing the envelope into his backpack with his textbooks before heading home. It was probably a love letter, but at this stage in his life, Su Xuan didn't want to get tangled up in emotional attachments. Because he was a transmigrator. 6 His name and appearance were the same as before he'd crossed over, but his background had been turned upside down. In his previous life, he had a happy family and a beautiful older sister. Now, he was an orphan. 3 Su Xuan's rented room was only a few hundred meters from school, a benefit of the government's support program. Of course, this housing would be reclaimed once he came of legal age. Therefore, he had to find a way to earn enough for tuition before college and save up for future rent. The dorm rooms were too small to hold all of his personal belongings. As for how to make money, Su Xuan already had an idea. While searching online for ways to make money, he'd stumbled upon a mysterious game. The game was currently in its non-wipe closed beta, eagerly anticipated by tens of millions of Players. Su Xuan had been lucky enough to snag one of only a hundred thousand beta slots worldwide. The game's public launch was still three months away. If he could reach a mid-tier level within that time, his money problems would be solved. 5 If he got really lucky and recruited a Rare character, he might even become comfortably well-off! 

I pictured Cassian Valemont epping over the bodies of his four wives. Did they scream? Did he linger to relish the sound, or stride on, already hunting bride number five? 

“Atasha, the council assured us that this marriage is done to appease the young lord. It is nothing but formalities,” my mother’s voice brought me back from my stuper. 

Marriage. 

Yes. A marriage with Cassian Valemont himself. 

I pressed two fingers against the unmarked skin over my heart and tried, one last futile time, to feel even a flicker of fur beneath. Nothing. Empty, the same as yesterday, the same as every day since my sixteenth birthday. 

Wolfless. 

The word echoed with the thunder hammering the council-hall roof. Each rumble felt like the place chanting the verdict I’d lived with for four years: useless, weak, expendable. 

If my wolf had awakened that night, would they still send me north as Cassian Valemont’s fifth bride? 

I dragged my eyes back to my parents. Both of them were silent, both waiting for me to say yes. 

My father broke the silence first. “If you refuse, the treaty dissolves. Nightfall will stand alone. The Alpha King will not protect us when Fang Demon marches.” 

Genevieve, my mother, spoke next. “Think of your sister. Celeste is the future of this pack. We cannot let her marry that man. The north is too far away from our pack. How could she travel-” she paused. “Atasha… you are different. You must marry the lord in her stead.” 

I looked at the face that used to glow with pride. “Lord Cassian has been married four times,” I said flatly. “Three of them died on the wedding night. The fourth lasted a week.” Marrying Lord Cassian would be marrying my own killer. How could they send me to my death? 

My mother didn’t flinch. “He is widowed now,” she replied quickly. “The envoy swore this union is in name only. You will not remain at his castle. After the ceremony, you can live where you choose. Far from him. Peace, Atasha. Freedom. This is what you want.” 

Peace The word rang hollow. 

Four years had passed since my sixteenth birthday, since failed to awaken, and every day since had proven how little they valued a daughter without a wolf 

Now thunder rolled again 

My father bent over parchment, quill scratching out the final terms My mother leaned close. This bargam saves Coleste and secures the pack. You will finally be free of any duties. This is the freedom that you want 

Freedom. A life near the border maybe somewhere no one would bother whispering the word human Hut how could they use the word freedom after trying to convince me to marry Lord Cassian? Right Nothing says freedom like signing myself over to a bride killer 

But if I don’t marry him? Who will? Celester 

I pictured Celeste in white beside the Alpha King. Yes, Celeste should be the one standing next to the Alpha King not to the 

1/4 

2:54 pm 

Chapter 1 

ng’s crazed brother 

55 vouchers 

If marrying Cassian Valemont meant protecting Celeste and securing Nightfall, I’d do it. Even a wolfless daughter could still 

be of use. 

I would save Celeste, even if it cost my life. My hand trembled on the quill, then I willed it still and signed in neat strokes- Atasha Genevieve Black. 

No applause followed. Deals like this didn’t deserve it. 

Near the doors, Celeste caught my eye as she mouthed two words. Thank you. 

I simply gave her a nod. This wasn’t her fault. This wasn’t anyone’s fault. I knew that we were both victims of the circumstances and that, if given a choice, Celeste would never let me marry that beast 

Cassian Valemont will arrive tomorrow night,” my father said. “He will come to get the bride. Prepare your things. We will ensure that your dowry is sufficient. You do not need to think of anything else. 

I nodded as the rain slammed the roof harder. 

As the ink dried, I straightened my back. Then I left the room without another word. 

A marriage to Cassian Valemont. 

The Cassian Valemont. The Alpha’s brother. The one who didn’t follow the council, didn’t answer to the King. The one who ed the King’s Army like a warhound let off the leash. The man who killed every bride they gave him. Perhaps my dream of iving by the borders was nothing but a fairytale. So maybe I wasn’t destined for a life on the border after all. 

Reaching the top of the stairs, I turned right. 

My room was in the attic. It used to be a storage space. 

When Celeste asked for the larger room on the second floor/no one argued. I was quietly told to move upstairs. I never complained. Complaining was pointless when you didn’t even have a wolf. 

Stepping inside, I closed the door behind me. 

The attic felt claustrophobic-its low, sloping ceiling pressing down on a single wooden bed, a battered dresser, and a trunk by the window. A threadbare rug barely hid warped floorboards, and cobwebs clung to every corner. 

Tonight, the wind howled, and rain lashed the panes, lightning carving jagged shadows through the trees. Sadly, I had no ime to linger on the storm. 

r 

Lord Cassian arrives tomorrow. Sweat prickled my palms as I hauled the leather trunk from beneath the cot. With a groan, I flipped it open, and a cloud of cedar.dust revealed the same faded cotton dresses I’d worn since my seventeenth winter. nothing more substantial than a shawl. 

I slipped a hand between the cotton layers. I could already feel draughts knifing through the attic boards. If this room chilled me, what would a northern keep do? 

The north is a land where the sun seldom rises, a place where frost slicks the stones even at noon. And yet here I was, folding lace into my trunk as if it stood a chance against the cold. 

I started looking for something that would at least keep me warm. 

After what felt like forever, I found only one cloak thick enough to call a cloak. It was Father’s cast-off hunting wrap, wool 

Chapter 1 Will You Steal the Bride?

Evelyn Lane was reborn! She had returned to her twenty-year-old self, on the very day she was supposed to marry Ethan Goodwin.

In her previous life, she had fallen for Ethan's sweet words. After they married, she exhausted all her connections, single-handedly elevating the Goodwin Family to become the wealthiest family in Riverdale. And what did she get in return? Betrayal. The man had wrapped his hands around her throat, his face twisted in a vicious sneer as he told her he had never loved her. She had been strangled to death by him!

Right now, clad in a white wedding gown, she was gingerly standing atop a wall, clutching her skirt. Evelyn was stunning. Her bright eyes sparkled like stars, her face adorned with exquisite bridal makeup. Her hair was simply pinned up, secured by a delicate jeweled tiara, her white veil fluttering in the wind.

Chapter 1 She’s Back

At dawn, Odalys Stone cracked open her eyes, the sunlight pouring through the window making her squint.

For a moment, she stared blankly, her mind groggy, before her gaze fell on the crooked calendar on the wall. A bitter smile tugged at her lips.

She was back.

Back to this godforsaken day—the day her life had been ripped apart. The day she was sold into a marriage from hell, betrayed by the very people she had called family, and ultimately killed.

Hatred boiled in her veins, rising like a tide that threatened to drown her. But just as quickly, she forced it down, letting icy calm take its place. Her past life had already wrung every last drop of emotion out of her.

Not this time. This time, she wasn’t that naive, helpless girl. She was alive. And she was here to make them pay, every single one of them.

The sound of heavy footsteps snapped her out of her thoughts. A sharp knock rattled the door, followed by louder, more impatient banging.

Before Odalys could even move, the door burst open with a deafening crash. A tall figure stormed in, grabbing her arm roughly and yanking her up.

“Odalys Stone, are you fucking deaf?” Henry Bennett barked, his grip bruising, his expression one of pure rage.