Chapter 1

The Feral Curse had shattered our world. We were the last survivors of our pack. And my mate, Alpha Liam, was holding us all hostage.

All for a troublesome omega named Chloe, who’d decided to run off on her own.

"Everyone, HALT!"

Liam’s roar shook the tarmac. A wave of his Alpha Command crashed over us.

My packmates buckled under the weight of it, some even dropping to their knees.

Only I stood my ground, staring coldly at the man I once loved.

"Chloe isn't back yet! We're not leaving!" He scanned the crowd, his eyes bloodshot. "No one gets left behind!"

The transport's engines were already whining, the final five-minute countdown blaring across the sky.

The Alliance pilot leaned anxiously out of the cockpit.

"Alpha, we have to take off now! The feral pack is only six miles out!"

"No!" Liam whipped out his silver dagger and pointed it at the pilot. "Wait ten more minutes!"

My Beta, Ryan, struggled to his feet, his face pale. "Liam, are you insane? You'd sacrifice the whole pack for one omega?"

"Shut up!" Liam's wild gaze snapped to me. "Elena, you're my Beta. Back me up! Tell them we're waiting for Chloe!"

In my last life, I had begged him, tears streaming down my face, to get on the transport.

I’d seen what the Feral Curse did. It didn’t just make you a monster. It twisted your body, breaking you from the inside out. Silver poison ravaged your veins until you burst.

It was a gruesome, agonizing death.

The Alliance sent this chopper to save us.

I’d set a strict rendezvous time with my pack. We had to leave on time.

It was Chloe who had sprinted back into the cursed zone to grab some broken music box her mother had left her. We couldn't doom the entire pack for one omega.

But Liam wouldn't listen. He had to have Chloe on board.

Last time, I’d jabbed a sedative into his neck.

I knocked him out just so I could close the ramp and get us the hell out of there.

As the transport lifted off, we saw Chloe in the distance, being torn apart by ferals.

Everyone felt a pang of pity, but if we hadn't taken off, that would have been our fate, too.

After getting our pack settled in the Alliance's safe zone, I started drawing up battle plans.

I thought the nightmare was over.

But that night, a crazed Liam drugged me and threw me to the feral wolves the Alliance kept for research.

Before I died, his voice sliced through our mind link.

"If you hadn't forced us to leave, Chloe would still be alive! It's your turn to feel her pain."

The memory of my agonizing death sent a phantom pain through my chest.

This time, as I watched Liam stubbornly demand we wait for Chloe, I smiled.

"Fine."

The single word was like a thunderclap.

Ryan’s eyes went wide. The other pack members stared in shock.

"Elena?" Ryan's voice trembled. "What did you say?"

I walked toward Liam and gently touched the hand that gripped his dagger. "You're right, my love." My voice was like silken poison. "We never leave a pack member behind. We have to get Chloe back, no matter what."

A triumphant grin spread across Liam’s face.

"See? That's my mate!" He sheathed his dagger. "Elena gets it. She knows what loyalty is!"

The pack exchanged looks of disbelief and terror. Ryan rushed to my side, hissing, "Elena, what are you thinking? We're all going to die here!"

I patted his shoulder, a glint in my eye he couldn't decipher. "Trust me, Ryan. No one is going to die."

Not us, anyway.

Liam stood before the transport like a victorious general.

The pilot, defeated, shut down the engines. The countdown stopped.

I pulled out my tactical watch, pretending to check the time.

In reality, I was activating a hidden comms link. A direct line to the Alliance Council's private transport—on standby 24/7.

My pack didn't know their leader was more than just a pack warrior.

I was a specialist in fighting the Feral Curse, trained by the Council itself.

I had the highest-level evacuation clearance.

But there were eight of us. I had clearance for six. Seven, if I pushed it. But not eight.

That was why I couldn't use it last time.

But since Liam didn't care if I lived or died… I'd use this to show him what real despair felt like.

"Elena." Liam came to my side, his eyes full of gratitude. "Thank you for understanding how I feel about Chloe. You're the best mate I could ask for."

I smiled and nodded, my heart cold as ice.

Oh yes, Liam. I understand completely.

And I'll make sure you two are together forever.

In hell, where you both belong.

In the distance, a piercing siren suddenly blared. A red flare exploded in the sky.

The Alliance Command broadcast echoed across the evac zone:

"EMERGENCY ALERT! THE FINAL SAFE ZONE HAS BEEN BREACHED! ALL EVACUATIONS ARE TERMINATED! I REPEAT, ALL EVACUATIONS ARE TERMINATED!"