Chapter 1

Catherine's voice echoed in my ears like a bad dream.

"Why don't I take Jasper instead? Madeline's wolfless—she's too fragile. Julian's built like a warrior—he can actually protect her."

I jolted awake, last life's memories crashing over me like a rogue wave during a blood moon.

Before I could spit a word, Catherine played the saint, beaming at Julian. "Julian, Madeline's in your hands now. You have to keep her safe."

I shot her an ice-cold glare, watching her fake-ass performance. My gut twisted to stone. Without a wolf to share the pain, I have to suffer it all on my own.

In my last life, I'd fallen for that bullshit hook, line, and sinker. After she'd claimed Jasper with his powerful wolf, I'd hesitated. She'd "generously" offered a swap, acting like the perfect big sister who cared about pack bonds.

What a joke. When Dad's rival pack had kidnapped us, Julian could've torn through them single-handed—his wolf was apex predator material. Catherine's wolf was strong enough to fight, too.

But she'd just screamed through the mate bond, "Jasper, save her first!" knowing damn well I'd make him choose, and he'd pick the wolfless girl out of pity.

She'd gotten her dream Alpha and the reputation of being a "selfless pack princess."

Not this time. I cut her off cold: "Fine."

Her face? Pure shock. Her wolf probably recoiled through their bond. No rejection? No begging? Priceless.

I locked eyes with her, smirking like the predator I'd learned to become. Last life, I was too soft, too desperate for pack acceptance. This time? She'd learn what a wolfless girl with nothing left to lose could do.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper. His scent hit me: scorched earth and rain. In my last life, he was the one who died protecting Catherine while I bled out. This time, his golden eyes held a spark of something new. Hope.

"Hell no!" Dad's Alpha command rolled through the room like thunder, his wolf's dominance pressing against everyone present. Everyone except me—the wolfless daughter who couldn't feel the full weight of his power. "You're the Midnight Frost pack heiress, Madeline. Your bloodline matters, even if your wolf disappeared. That scrawny slave is a broken Omega and half-dead. How is he going to protect our pack's future?"

I stared at him, my heart turning to permafrost. In his eyes, I was just the disappointing daughter of the Luna he'd been forced to mate for political alliance. Catherine—the bastard child of his true mate, his fated bond—was the only one who mattered. He'd deliberately chosen the "broken" twin for me, ensuring I'd always be vulnerable, always lesser.

The pack politics were crystal clear: he'd mated Mom for her father's territory, but he'd found his fated mate in his mistress. When Mom discovered the affair and the pregnancy, she'd withered away, her wolf dying of heartbreak before her human body followed. The day after her funeral, he'd brought Catherine and her mother home, forced me to call his bastard "sister" and watch his mistress take my mother's place as Luna.

I'd thought blood meant something in the pack hierarchy. But he'd chosen Jasper, knowing he was "damaged goods." This whole "choice" ceremony? Pure theater. Julian had been Catherine's from the moment they'd arrived.

Catherine exhaled dramatically, all fake concern as her wolf probably purred with satisfaction, tugging Dad's arm. "But Madeline, she needs—"

Jasper cracked. "I'm no cripple!"

The sound of bones shifting filled the air like the crack of gunshots. His shirt exploded as his torso expanded, revealing scars that looked like silver burns across skin that rippled with barely contained power. Thick, midnight-black fur sprouted along his spine and forearms as his fingernails elongated into four-inch obsidian claws. He didn't fully shift—this was a combat form, designed for maximum lethality in close quarters.

He launched into a brutal display that had Catherine's wolf whimpering and Dad's Alpha instincts snapping to attention. His fists moved like pistons, each strike cracking the reinforced concrete floor of our pack house training room.

"I carry the blood of the Sterling pack!" Jasper snarled, his voice a guttural growl that made every wolf in the room submit slightly—except Dad, whose eyes narrowed with sudden interest. "I will protect Miss Catherine Collins with my life and honor!"

My heart shattered all over again. Five years by my side in my past life, playing the helpless, broken slave who needed my protection. He'd never shown even a hint of this raw Alpha power. Now? Barely a minute with Catherine, and he was displaying his wolf's strength like a peacock in mating season.

Silent Julian finally piped up. "My skills are top-notch, too. Let me guard Miss Catherine Collins!"

"Alright, boys. Fight for her. Winner becomes Catherine's personal guard and potential mate candidate."

They exploded into violence.

It wasn't a sparring match; it was a bloodbath. Jasper fought dirty, his Molten Gold eyes burning as he aimed a disemboweling strike at his own twin’s throat. He treated Julian like a Rogue, not a brother.

Julian held back, parrying with his forearms, but as Jasper’s claws raked across his chest, drawing crimson streaks, something in the "cripple" snapped.

Julian’s shadow seemed to detach from the floor. He shifted into violence. His eyes bled into a Blood Moon Red, a terrifying hue that signaled a Feral state. He lunged from the wheelchair, his "paralyzed" legs driving into Jasper’s ribcage with the force of a battering ram. The sound of Jasper’s ribs breaking echoed off the stone walls.

Jasper edged him out by a hair, pinning Julian to the floor by his throat, claws hovering over his jugular.

Dad slapped Jasper’s shoulder. "Jasper is Catherine’s now. A fine Enforcer."

Then, he looked at me with total indifference. "Julian, you’re with Miss Madeline. Try not to die in the first week."

Catherine's fake tears? Gone. He was the "Prettier" wolf—sleek, strong, and clearly obsessed with her.

Then Julian dropped to his knees at my father’s feet, his human form shivering as the red faded from his eyes. He looked at me, then back at my father, his face twisted in a mask of pure disgust.

"Send me back to the black market, Alpha. Please."