Chapter 1

I floated, a ghost in the air, and watched my own rotting body get wheeled into the pack hospital morgue.

Three years buried in a marsh. I could barely recognize myself.

The corpse stank of decay. Claw marks from the fatal attack were still visible on the wounds.

My ghost, three years wandering, wanted to flee this broken shell.

The door opened. Killian Reynolds walked in.

The Alpha of the strongest pack in North America. My mate. The one who swore to protect me with his life. He stood over my corpse, his face a cold, blank mask.

"There," my childhood friend, Dr. Hayes, stammered, pointing at the table. "Found in the marshlands, near the border of the new territory. It… it has your family crest."

Killian’s gaze locked onto the tarnished silver necklace on the corpse's chest.

He had placed it around my neck himself when we were mated. It was carved with the Reynolds family crest.

I died clutching it. I thought it would bring me home.

Killian strode forward. He reached out with his bare hands and ripped the necklace from my corpse.

His thumb traced the crest. A flash of sharp pain crossed his eyes.

I thought he recognized me.

But then he frowned. He leaned over the body and sniffed, then recoiled like he'd been burned by something filthy.

Disgust twisted his features. And then… the bitter sting of confirmation.

"The scent is wrong," he said to Hayes, his voice cold. It was a verdict. A confirmation to himself.

I felt his wolf stir with agitation.

He growled, "She sold it? She even threw this away? Just to run? For a handful of silver?"

He didn't recognize me at all.

"Dammit!" Killian hissed, clutching the necklace. "Selena. You really went all out to get away from me, didn't you? To run off with another wolf."

I floated in front of him, wanting to scream: I'm the one in your hand! I'm right here!

But he couldn't see me.

"Besides this crest, this body has nothing to do with our pack, right?" Killian scoffed.

Hayes reported as fast as she could. "Bone analysis puts the time of death at about three years ago. She has multiple fractures and fatal wounds from a powerful wolf's claws. A silver blade had mutilated her face, leaving it unrecognizable. The timing… it matches when Selena went missing…"

"Three years ago?" Killian sneered. Something flickered in his eyes, but it was quickly hidden by cold indifference. "That's when the traitor Selena ran off. But it can't be her. A warrior like her? She's alive and thriving somewhere."

He called me a traitor...

He thought I betrayed the pack and abandoned him three years ago.

I was the youngest elite warrior in the Cedar Pack.

I had bled for this pack. I nearly died protecting its children.

I was his fated mate. The woman he swore to protect with his life.

Now I was right in front of him, and he didn't even know it was me.

"Get rid of it," Killian said, walking to the door. "Don't bring this bad luck to my mating ceremony with Bianca. The full moon is in three days. She's carrying my heir. I don't want any surprises."

Mating ceremony? Heir?

My fated mate was about to bond with my murderer. How ironic.

My spirit howled. If I were alive, my wolf would be tearing this room apart.

But all I could do was watch. Watch this man walk toward his new life, over my dead body.

Just as Killian was about to leave, the doctor’s trembling voice called out again.

"Alpha!" Hayes’s voice was almost a sob. Her scalpel had just sliced open the abdomen. "She… she has a pup. A fetus. Perfectly formed. About three months along."

Killian froze.

The light from the surgical lamp shone on the tiny, lifeless body.

It was a wolf pup. Our son. The baby I protected with my last breath.

The Alpha scent in the room shattered. It became a storm of pure, violent rage.

Killian turned around slowly. For the first time, he truly looked at the autopsy table.

My soul let out a silent scream.

This was the heir Killian had always dreamed of.

He used to rub my belly for hours, saying he would teach our son how to be the strongest Alpha.

He'd wake in the middle of the night whenever I was sick.

He was never annoyed. He'd just rub my back and whisper about the continuation of his bloodline.

Now that bloodline was lying on a steel table. Could he feel the pup's scent?

Killian strode toward the table but stopped three feet away.

"A pup?" His voice was hoarse, like it had been scraped with sandpaper.

"Yes, Alpha." Hayes nodded cautiously. "From its development, it was a healthy male pup. He was developing normally before the mother's death."

I saw Killian’s fists clench.

His wolf was tearing at the cage of his ribs. His eyes burned gold.

It was the sign of a wolf losing control.

But in the next second, he forced his wolf back down.

"Damn it," he cursed, turning his back to the table.

His Alpha scent was thick with jealousy and rage. He seemed to be remembering something.

"Three years," he snarled to himself, his voice laced with hate. "Selena… That pup you carried for another wolf would be over two by now. Do you regret your choice?"

Another wolf's pup...

So he thought I ran away because I was pregnant by someone else.

Was that Bianca’s story?

"Alpha," Hayes began timidly. "Should we run a blood test to confirm the identity? Perhaps…"

"No!" Killian spun around, his eyes burning with fury. "I have no interest in a she-wolf carrying another wolf's pup."

He pulled out his phone and stabbed at the screen.

"Marcus, get to the morgue. Now."

Less than five minutes later, his Beta, Marcus, rushed in.

This man once treated me with the deepest respect.

Now, he looked at my corpse with nothing but disgust.

"Alpha, you called for me?"

"What's the status of the search for Selena?" Killian asked coldly.

Marcus scratched his head awkwardly. "Alpha, for three years, we've used every contact we have. We've even searched the rogue encampments. It's like Selena just vanished."

"Forget it," Killian sneered.

He glanced at his watch. The one I bought him with my first warrior's bounty...

"If she wants to hide, she has a thousand ways to make sure we never find her." He walked toward the door. "Burn it," he commanded, his voice devoid of all emotion. "Bianca is waiting for me. Don't keep my mate waiting."

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