Chapter 2

ELARA’S POV

“I really like this silver wolf,” I heard Selene’s voice in my ears. “Could you let me have it?”

I looked down to find Selene’s fingers closed around my sleeve. Her voice came out soft and timid, eyes wide and shining as if she were asking for something small and harmless. The same expression she had worn in my previous life when she asked for the exact same wolf.

I stared at her hand on my arm and felt something cold settle in my chest.

Adrian pulled me aside before I could answer. “Elara, listen to me,” he said in that low and cold voice. “Selene is still physically weak. You are stronger than her. This silver wolf carries the highest bloodline here. It was clearly meant for her. Only she can bring out its true value. Do not make this more difficult than it already is.”

I kept my eyes on the silver wolf standing proud in the center of the enclosure. Its coat caught the light like polished moonlight. In my first life I had to cut open my wrist again and again for that coat. I had searched dangerous places for rare herbs and spirit crystals. I had poured my own special blood into it drop by drop until it became one of the strongest battle wolves in the pack. And at the critical moment it had turned its fangs on me to protect her.

Liam’s voice cut in from the side, colder than I remembered. “You always remind me that I promised to protect you for the rest of my life when we were children. I did promise that. But I never promised to protect someone who cannot tell right from wrong and has become a joke for the entire pack. You are making a scene over a wolf with the Alpha’s biological daughter. If word gets out I will lose face too. Give the wolf to her and I can still see you as the person I once protected.”

Marcus let out a long sigh and stepped closer. “Do not be so petty, Elara. It is just a wolf. Selene needs it more than you do.”

Selene’s eyes turned red at the perfect moment. Tears gathered on her lower lashes as she looked between us. “Do not blame my sister,” she whispered pitifully. “It is my fault. I should not have asked.”

I almost laughed at their performance.

In my previous life I had believed that trembling voice. I had believed the tears. I had stepped aside and let her have whatever she wanted until there was nothing left of me. But now the same performance only felt ridiculous.

I was the orphan of a warrior's generals. My parents had exchanged their lives for the honor of this pack. My bloodline rank was extremely high. According to the rules of the Wolf Awakening Ceremony I was the one who should choose first. Why should I give anything up?

The silver wolf happened to carry the highest bloodline among every wolf available today. In my first life I had formed the contract with it the moment my turn came. No one knew that under its majestic appearance it carried a congenital defect. I had never despised it for that flaw. I had treated it as the partner I trusted most, the companion who would fight beside me and share life and death with me. Whatever it needed I found, and whatever it lacked I made up for. I cut open my wrist again and again so my blood could nourish it.

At the most critical moment it repaid that kindness with betrayal.

I lowered my eyes to the delicate hand still holding my sleeve. A detail I had ignored in my previous life rose clearly now. The silver wolf had always liked to stay close to Selene. It had leaned into her touch even while I was the one feeding it my blood. Only now did I understand. That had been affection.

If I had not chosen and contracted with it first, it would have gone to her directly.

In this life I would fulfill their wish. I would not be foolish again.

But did they really think that the silver wolf was such a good thing? This time I wanted to see whether it could still reach the same heights without the nourishment of my blood.

I glanced at all of them with nothing on my face. Then I pulled my sleeve free and took a step forward.

Selene’s voice trembled behind me. “Sister, if you are unwilling to give it up then I will not choose it. I do not want to make things difficult for you.”

Tears finally slipped down her cheeks as if they had been waiting for the right second.

I ignored her and walked straight toward the far corner of the enclosure.

There, curled up alone against the stone wall, was a grey wolf with dull fur and a dying aura. Its ribs showed through the patchy coat, one ear hung torn. It did not lift its head when people passed. Everyone who came to choose a wolf avoided that corner. They muttered that it was impossible to raise, that its appearance was too poor, that even looking at it brought bad luck.

Only I knew the truth.

In my previous life I had noticed this grey wolf too. I had thought it required harsh conditions to cultivate and would be extremely difficult to keep alive. I had told myself I did not have the energy for it. I had believed Selene possessed more resources and that the wolf would live better with her. After she contracted with it she never carefully investigated its bloodline. She only decided it consumed too many resources and was too hard to raise. She abandoned it in a corner and let it die alone.

I looked at the grey wolf now and felt a sharp pain cut through my chest. This time would be different. I stopped in front of the iron barrier. The wolf finally opened its pale gold eyes. It stayed there quiet as if waiting for me to make a move.

Behind me the murmurs rose.

“Is she serious?”

“That thing is dying.”

“She is really going to choose the reject?”

I did not turn around. I did not look at Adrian or Marcus or Liam or the silver wolf that had once been mine. I simply placed my hand against the barrier and spoke clearly enough for every ear in the grounds to hear.

“I choose it.”