Chapter 1

The Great Hall of the Omega House smelled of cedar, sage, and the suffocating anxiety of fifty young women waiting to be claimed.

The Elder of the great Omega house announced.

"The tokens have been cast. Let the fates be sealed!"

I felt a sharp shove against my shoulder. My sister, Lily, leaned in, her face a mask of sisterly concern, but her eyes were darting toward the high dais where the Alphas sat.

[It worked.] a voice hissed. I flinched, looking around, but Lily’s lips weren’t moving.

[The Elder is blind, and the tokens are swapped. I spent my last coin on that switching spell, but it was worth it. Enjoy the dirt, Vanessa. I’m taking the throne.]

It was then that I realized I was not mistaken. I wasn't dreaming at all. I truly was reborn. And, by Moon Goddess's grace, I could hear people's thoughts.

Perhaps it was the Moon Goddess’s blessing to change my fate.

"Alpha Matthew of the Golden Sun Pack," the elder bellowed. "Step forward and claim your Lunar Match."

Matthew stood. He was breathtaking—hair like spun gold, clad in silk-trimmed leathers that cost more than our entire village.

In my last life, I had preened when he walked toward me, and Lily’s face sank at the sight of how wealthy my match was.

But this time Lily stepped forward before Matthew even reached the center of the circle. She looked at me with a smirk that she tried to hide behind a trembling lip.

"I believe the spirits have spoken, Sister," Lily said aloud, her voice sweet as honey. "Matthew’s token... it matches mine.”

Matthew looked at the token in her hand—the one she had stolen from my bedside drawer this morning. He flashed a dazzling, predatory smile and took her hand. "The Golden Sun welcomes its Luna."

The crowd gasped. The "Perfect Match" had been snatched.

[Look at her face,] Lily’s thoughts cackled in my head. [She’s paralyzed. She thinks she’s lost the lottery. She has no idea that by next winter, Matthew will be King of the North, and I’ll be draped in ermine while she’s begging for scraps in a rogue’s tent.]

Just then, Matthew’s thought cracked in, making my blood run cold. [Such a young soul…]

Only I knew what it meant. And, this was why I would rather be rotten in mud with Gabriel than choose Mathew.

In my previous life, after getting married, Mathew won war after war and won many titles. I lived a lavish life, respected and envied by many, while Lily ended up in a rogue tent with a rogue Alpha who treated her like an animal.

She was forced to cook for the entire pack, look after the cattle, clean up the mud, and, after doing all these chores, she would still smell like cow dung. So, instead of sleeping with her, the rogue Alpha would rather sleep with his mistresses.

Since she failed to provide the heir to the pack, the elders had her break the bond with Gabriel, which resulted in her begging for scraps.

She could not accept our fates to be so different despite being sisters. While she was humiliated and starving, I was someone being looked up to. In rage, she poisoned me with wolf’s bane, and when I realized, I was already reborn to the same crucial day of our lives.

Now that she had chosen Matthew instead of Gabriel, she was reborn as well.

This was why she was so desperate to marry Matthew today, and not Gabriel.

I didn't say a word. Instead, I turned my gaze to the far corner of the hall, where a man sat in the shadows, ignored by the servants and mocked by the lords.

Gabriel. The "Scourge of the Borderlands."

He was dressed in scarred, dark leather. His hair was a messy raven black, and a jagged scar ran across his jawline. He was a Rogue Alpha—a man whose pack was made of orphans, exiles, and the broken.

When we were announced as mates, I walked quietly and stood by his side. And, when I heard people laughing, I simply held his hands affectionately.

Only then did he turn to look at me, shocked by my actions. But then his grip on my hands tightened, and a small curve on the corner of his lips appeared.

After claiming us, our mates had to give us some gifts, a symbol of our mate bond.

Just as the ritual began, two servants walked in. They carried a velvet box that had the red gemstone necklace, a masterpiece. They stopped before Lily as they announced.

“This is the offering from the Golden Sun Pack to its Luna!”

The crowd gasped in awe. Their mouths were hung open, and everyone wanted to have a look at the necklace.

Lily proudly wore it and walked into the centre, holding Matthew's hands. She deliberately kissed him and said, “Mathew, I love you! I can't wait to see how you are going to spoil me.”

Her eyes then diverted at me, and a smirk appeared on her lips as she asked, “Sister, what did your mate offer you?”

Everyone’s gaze now shifted to Gabriel. In our previous life, I was the one who had received the red gemstone necklace while Lily was offered a wildling flower from Gabriel. She went so mad at him that she crushed the flower beneath her heels and walked out alone.

In this life, she wanted me to feel the same embarrassment.

She turned to Gabriel as she said, “Everyone has presented their gifts to their mates, Alpha Gabriel, why have you not given anything to my sister?”

“Don't tell me you can't even afford that?” She added, and the crowd erupted in laughter.

“Who said I have no gift for my Luna?” Gabriel asked. It was the first time I heard him speak. His voice was deep and affectionate when he called me his Luna. It was a feeling I never felt with Mathew.

“This is my gift– to my precious mate.” He spoke while clapping, and everyone’s gaze shifted to the main door.