Chapter 4

I thought being reborn would let me avoid all the dangers if I just stayed careful enough.

Turns out fate had other plans—I still ended up kidnapped by Dad's rival pack.

When cold steel pressed against my neck, I didn't struggle. Instead, my fingers quietly found my phone's emergency beacon, sending a silent distress call to every Midnight Frost wolf in range.

I closed my eyes as the terror from my past life's kidnapping crashed over me. But this time, my heart remained strangely calm. I already knew how this would play out.

The rogue leader toyed with his silver blade, voice dripping with cruel amusement. "Miss Collins, think your daddy will save you first, or that golden bastard daughter of his?"

I stayed silent, just listening to the sounds outside the abandoned warehouse. My human hearing might be weaker than a wolf's, but I could still catch the distant rumble of approaching motorcycles.

Sure enough, within minutes, the heavy iron doors exploded inward. Two figures burst through in perfect synchronization—Julian and Jasper, their wolves' fury making the air crackle with supernatural energy.

Their eyes immediately locked onto Catherine, who was curled up in the corner, playing the perfect damsel in distress. Her scent was carefully modulated—just enough fear to trigger their protective instincts, not enough to seem weak.

Jasper's voice carried an urgency I'd never heard before. He rushed to Catherine's side in three powerful strides. "Don't be afraid. We're here now."

Julian followed immediately, and they positioned themselves back-to-back around Catherine, forming an impenetrable supernatural barrier. Their combined Alpha presence made even the rogues take a step back.

Through the entire rescue operation, neither of them so much as glanced in my direction.

The rogue leader's laugh was harsh and mocking. "Looks like the Midnight Frost pack really doesn't give a shit about their second daughter."

He suddenly pressed the silver blade to my throat, and I felt my skin burn where it touched. "Move another step and the wolfless bitch dies!"

I saw Jasper's movement pause for just a heartbeat. But instead of looking at me, he turned back to Catherine and whispered, "Keep your eyes closed, sweetheart."

The next second, he grabbed a metal pipe from a nearby rogue and carved a bloody path through our captors, his enhanced strength and speed making him nearly unstoppable. His target was always the exit near Catherine.

Julian was even more direct—he kicked the iron door clean off its hinges with supernatural force, his voice a commanding growl. "Move! Now!"

They swept Catherine between them toward safety. As they passed my position, she lifted her eyelids just enough to meet my gaze. There wasn't a trace of guilt in those blue eyes—only a flash of secret satisfaction.

The silver blade pressed deeper, burning my throat, but I closed my eyes with strange peace settling over me.

So this was their choice. No matter how many times I lived this life, it would never change.

Just then, police sirens wailed outside the warehouse.

The rogues panicked, shoving me aside as they fled toward a hidden passage in the back. Their supernatural speed made them blur in my peripheral vision.

Jasper's group was already escorting Catherine to safety when they passed the passage entrance. For just a moment, Jasper seemed to hesitate. He glanced back toward the warehouse interior, his golden eyes searching.

But Catherine's soft whimper drew his attention back, and they disappeared into the night.

The sirens grew louder. Soon I was alone in the empty warehouse, surrounded by the lingering scents of fear, blood, and supernatural fury.

The Midnight Frost pack, Jasper, Catherine—all these people and obligations that had tangled around me for two lifetimes. It was time to end it all.

While the police secured the crime scene, I slipped through the same passage the rogues had used, emerging in a narrow alley behind the warehouse.

I changed into the plain t-shirt and jeans I'd hidden in my bag, pulled a baseball cap low over my face. In the shadows of the alley sat an unremarkable old sedan, engine running.

The window rolled down to reveal Tom's weathered face—my mother's most trusted driver before her death. He'd returned to his hometown after the funeral, but he was the first person I'd contacted after my rebirth.

Tom's voice was thick with emotion. "Miss Madeline, everything's arranged just like you asked."

As we drove out of the city, I looked back one last time at the Midnight Frost territory sprawling under the twilight sky. The Collins family mansion sat like a fortress among the trees, its windows glowing with warm light that had never been meant for me.

From this moment forward, Madeline Collins was dead.

In her place rose someone with a single purpose: reclaiming everything that had been stolen from my mother.

The wolfless daughter was gone.

What emerged from those shadows was something far more dangerous—a woman with nothing left to lose and two lifetimes of betrayal to repay.