Chapter 1

I had only been watching for a moment when Catherine suddenly threw herself at me, clutching the hem of my skirt, eyes brimming with tears.

"Hazel, I'm begging you, please let Lucas go!"

"If you'll just let him go, I'll give him to you! Please, stop torturing him!"

I frowned down at her.

In my last life, I hadn't stood by. I'd thrown myself between Lucas and the men beating him, and in the chaos, one of them clubbed me with a stick.

He told me he owed all that money because his sick father needed treatment.

I didn't want to see him beaten again, so I paid off his debts.

It wasn't until much later that I learned Lucas had known in advance I'd be passing through that street.

He had let me see him being beaten on purpose.

He knew I was his fated mate, and he knew I had romantic illusions about what a fated mate was supposed to be.

He bet I wouldn't be able to walk away.

So he set the whole thing up, just to make me pay off his debts.

And the money wasn't for his father's medical bills.

He was a compulsive gambler. He'd burned through every cent he had, and when that wasn't enough, he'd taken out loan-shark money to keep gambling. That's how the debt got so big.

His father really was sick. That part was true.

But every penny of the family’s money had gone to the gambling tables, and his father eventually died untreated.

In my last life, because I stepped in, Catherine never showed up that day.

I didn't find out until the day I died that Lucas had only ever loved Catherine.

Looking back now, the two of them had been planning to use me from the very beginning.

And somehow, I never noticed.

"I'm not the one collecting the debt. If you want someone let off, go beg his creditors."

My voice was flat.

Catherine's sobbing was drawing more and more onlookers.

She wailed her accusations through the tears.

"If you hadn't made his life hell at the company, if you hadn't blocked him at every turn, why would he need to borrow money for his father's treatment?!"

"Even if the company belongs to the pack, even if you're the Alpha's daughter, you can't just do something this cruel!"

Lucas struggled to his feet, pulled Catherine against him, and looked at me with contempt.

"Hazel, threatening me like this won't make me love you."

The crowd around us began to mutter.

"So that's the Alpha's daughter. I'd heard she was a real piece of work."

"This is outrageous. How can the Council of Elders allow her to throw her weight around like this? Someone should report her!"

I shook my head and looked at Lucas.

"Fine. What do you want, then?"

Something flickered in Lucas's eyes — triumph, barely hidden.

But he made his voice generous, like he was doing me a favor. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in this debt. Pay it off, and I'll let it go."

"As for what comes after — that depends on how you behave."

I nodded, and pulled a checkbook out of my bag.

Lucas's eyes lit up. He let go of Catherine without thinking and stepped forward.

I clicked open my pen, smiling. "How much do you owe them?"

Lucas's eyes shifted. "Five hundred thousand."

If I remembered correctly, I'd paid three hundred thousand last time.

I laughed inside.

I was bailing him out, and instead of being grateful, he was inflating the number to skim some off me.

The collectors stood around him, silent. They didn't care if Lucas was lying — they just wanted their money back.

Only one of them, a black-haired man, frowned slightly. He looked disgusted.

I noted everyone's reactions, but didn't sign yet.

Instead I raised my voice for the collectors to hear. "I'll pay his debt, but for that kind of money, I need to know how it was racked up. What if the number is wrong? My family's money doesn't grow on trees."

A flash of panic crossed Lucas's face. He shot a quick look at the lead collector.

The man caught it, opened his mouth — and I held up a hand to cut him off.

I pointed at the black-haired man and looked him in the eye.

"I want him to tell me."

I gave him a small smile. "Just the truth. That's all."

The black-haired man had clearly already lost any patience with Lucas. He didn't bother covering for him now.

"February 25th this year — borrowed thirty thousand. Funds went straight to the casino's account."

"March 13th — twenty thousand. Casino account again."

"…"

"As of October 18th this year, total borrowed: three hundred thousand. Every dollar of it went to the casino."