Chapter 1

Vivienne and I were twins.

When we were born, our wolves couldn't have been more different. Mine was powerful. Hers was barely there.

To save her, my parents made me undergo the Wolf Power Transfer — a ritual that permanently siphoned my strength into Vivienne.

They did it over and over, year after year.

At first, everyone was grateful for my sacrifice.

But as Vivienne kept getting sick, everyone's world began to revolve around her. She grew jealous of my health. She started smearing my name, taking everything I had.

My parents sided with her completely.

I gave up everything.

Everything except the one person I loved — Damien Blackwood.

Damien was heir to the Alpha King title of the entire Southern Territory.

But when I first found him, he'd lost everything. An ambush had left him blind, stripped of all wolf senses, unable to even hear. His own family had abandoned him in a remote cabin, written him off as useless.

I stumbled across him during a hunt.

After that, I snuck out every day to take care of him.

He once asked me my name.

I traced a single letter into his palm — "W."

He couldn't see me. Couldn't hear me. But he would describe what he imagined I looked like. He'd hum melodies from memory to make me smile. On stormy nights, he held my hand tight to calm me down.

The night before the Healer came to restore his senses, he held my hand and swore a solemn vow.

He said I'd be the first person he recognized. That he would mark me. That we'd be together forever.

But on the day of the healing, my parents found out Vivienne wanted Damien too.

They locked me in a silver cage for three days straight.

They stood before Damien with Vivienne and lied to his face — swore that Vivienne was the one who'd been caring for him all along.

When Damien's senses returned, the first person he saw was Vivienne.

He thought the "W" I'd traced in his palm meant two "V"s pressed together.

He never questioned it. Not once.

The healing was a success. Damien reclaimed his position as Alpha King heir.

He and Vivienne became official. The Mating Ceremony preparations began.

I tried to explain, over and over. No one believed me. Not until I was dead.

This time, I looked my parents in the eye and spoke the most brutal oath I could muster before the Moon Goddess.

"I swear to give up Damien forever. If I break this oath, let my soul and my wolf be shattered together."

I held their gaze. "Happy now?"

My parents stared at me in shock.

In my past life, I would have died before making that oath.

My mother recovered first. She stepped forward with a practiced look of relief and patted my shoulder.

"Good. You've finally come to your senses. Damien's about to propose to your sister anyway. Getting involved would only end badly for you."

I said nothing. I turned and went back to my room.

A little while later, Vivienne sent me a message.

"Damien says your scent feels familiar. He wants to talk to you."

In my past life, I'd believed every word.

I'd rushed over, heart pounding, convinced Damien had finally remembered us.

I pushed open a half-closed door and saw Damien shirtless, pinning Vivienne beneath him on the bed. His mouth was on her neck, his breath ragged as he claimed her.

It had all been Vivienne's doing — she wanted me to see them together with my own eyes.

This time, I glanced at the screen and deleted the message.

I didn't want to see either of them ever again.

I pulled out my suitcase and started packing. Quietly. I just wanted to leave.

But Vivienne wasn't done.

That evening, while I was upstairs packing, she brought Damien home.

I froze for a moment, then understood exactly what she was doing.

If I wouldn't come to them, she'd bring the show to me.

Soon, sounds drifted up from the living room — Damien and Vivienne together. Vivienne's moans, deliberately loud, carrying through the floorboards.

I kept my back to the door and shoved clothes into my bag.

My hands were shaking. I couldn't stop them. But I didn't stop packing either.

Going through a drawer, I found a memory stone.

In my past life, I'd spent every coin I had to have a witch seal away my memories — every moment Damien and I had shared in that remote cabin.

I'd planned to show it to Damien, to prove everything.

But the Healer had warned me that Damien's wolf was still unstable. Too much shock could strip his senses away again. So I'd waited, hoping he'd remember on his own.

This time around, I had no use for the memory stone anymore.

The sounds from downstairs went on for a long time.

I finished packing.

Eventually, the house went quiet.

I stood up and headed downstairs for a glass of water.

At the top of the stairs, Vivienne was waiting.

She leaned against the banister, her shirt tugged low. Damien's fresh bite marks blazed red across her neck, impossible to miss.

She blocked my path, her voice low and dripping with satisfaction.

"You heard all of that, didn't you? He only loves me."

"What exactly are you still holding on to?"

I looked at her, expressionless.

"Move."

I tried to step around her.

That was when Damien walked out from the kitchen.

In that exact instant, Vivienne let out a shriek.

She threw herself backward and tumbled down the stairs, grabbing my arm as she fell, dragging me down with her.

We crashed to the bottom, one after the other.

Vivienne had a scratch on her arm. Nothing more.

She curled up on the floor, clutching her arm, crying like a wounded animal.

My forehead had slammed into the sharp edge of a step. Warm blood poured from my hairline, streaming down half my face.

Vivienne looked up at Damien with tear-filled eyes, her voice trembling violently.

"Why does she hate me so much..."

"I just wanted to talk to her..."

Damien's jaw tightened.

He crossed the distance in two strides, scooped Vivienne off the floor and into his arms.

He checked her arm, his eyes full of concern.

He never once looked at me. He stepped right over my body lying in a pool of blood.

He carried Vivienne toward the door.

"You'd better pray she's alright."

The door slammed shut.

Years of forced Power Transfers had gutted my wolf. I'd lost the healing ability every werewolf was born with.

The pain dragged me under. My vision went black at the edges.

Before I lost consciousness completely, I fumbled the phone from my pocket.

I opened a contact and sent one message.

"I'm in. Come get me."