Chapter 2

It was Vivian's father.

He had two or three guards behind him, but they were clearly no match for the rogues.

They were beaten to the ground within moments.

Seeing that force wouldn't work, her father, Harold Blake, tried to reason with them.

"I apologize for what my daughter has done. But Jared Cole is innocent. Please don't hurt him. He's just come back from the campaign, and he's in no shape to fight."

The lead rogue savagely licked the blood from his claws.

"Bring Vivian here, and I'll let him go."

Helpless, Harold sent Vivian a mind-link.

But the moment it connected, Vivian's impatient voice came through.

A man's aggrieved sobs sounded in the background.

"Dad, don't mind-link me for nothing. I'm busy."

"Vivian, Jared's been attacked by rogues. They're demanding to see you. If they don't, they're going to push him off a cliff—"

But before Harold could finish, Vivian cut him off with a sneer.

"Dad, why are you playing along with his little show? The Wastelands are under heavy watch. There's no way any rogues escaped. And even if they did, he's an Alpha. Are you telling me he can't beat them?"

"If he really dies at the hands of a band of rogues, then he has no business being Alpha. He should step down now."

Watching the rogues edge closer, Harold grew frantic.

"Vivian, it's all true. Why won't you believe your own father?"

"I know what you're going to say." Vivian's voice dripped with scorn and mockery.

"You want to say Jared is the Alpha, that he's rich and powerful, so I should drop everyone else and go soothe him first."

"But do you know what? Without me, Gavin will die. His life matters too."

Gavin's sobs carried through the mind-link.

"It's okay, Vivian. Jared is the Alpha. His status is so far above mine. I'm just a lowly pack member. What right do I have to compete with an Alpha?"

"Go be with him. I really don't mind. It's just... it hurts so much. They say this wolfsbane rots me from the inside out, organ by organ. The most painful death there is..."

Before Gavin could finish, Vivian cut him off. "Don't say things like that. No one matters more than you."

Their syrupy voices exploded in Harold's head like fireworks.

He felt his temples throbbing.

"If you don't believe me, I'll send you photos."

Harold took photos of the whole bloody scene and sent them to Vivian, including one of me sprawled at the cliff's edge in a spreading pool of blood.

I thought Vivian would believe us this time, but she only gave a disdainful snort.

"Jared Cole, I never realized what an actor you are. You hired this many extras just to make me come running? You even talked my own dad into playing along."

"Let's see how long you can keep this show going."

With that, she cut the mind-link without mercy.

Harold's forehead was beaded with sweat. He wanted to mind-link Vivian one more time, but I stopped him.

I knew from my past life that even if Vivian abandoned Gavin for me, she would resent me for it.

I would only die an even more gruesome death.

"Let it go, Harold. Vivian isn't coming. It doesn't matter how many times you beg."

Either way I was going to die, so I struggled to my feet, ready to fight the rogues to the end.

Their claws were slick with wolfsbane, and the poison had already seeped into my blood. My vision blurred.

Alone, I was no match for them. After a few exchanges, there wasn't an inch of unbroken skin left on my body.

At the last second, just as I started to fall, my Beta, Marcus Hale, arrived with the guards.

It took everything they had to capture all the rogues.

But I had lost too much blood, and my consciousness slipped away.

In the haze, I remembered so many things from my past life.

One was a conversation between Vivian and Gavin that I had overheard in a private room at a bar.

"Don't worry, Gavin. You're the one I really love. I only went through the mating ceremony with Jared for the power and status that come with an Alpha."

"I'm already captain of the guard. In a few years, once I've taken enough power for myself, I'll find a chance to kill Jared. Then his fortune will be ours, and we can live happily together forever."

Every word out of Vivian's mouth was a blade driven into my heart.

In my past life, I had only grieved that she no longer loved me. This time, I hated her to my core.