REBORN TO DESTROY THE ALPHA KING

.AURENNA’S POVI woke up with a scream.The sound ripped from my throat because minutes ago, I had felt myself die on a cold stone floor while Zevran's voice told me I had mattered. My hands shot forward and grabbed the nearest solid object which turned out to be a canvas.I blinked. Canvas? Not stone or marble? Not the polished floor of the Alpha King's palace?I stared at my hands. They were unharmed. There were no bruises on my wrists where Zevran had held me. No blood. I pressed a hand against my chest where I remembered the pain, but all I felt was my heart pounding hard.I was sitting on a cot. A narrow military cot covered with a wool blanket tangled around my feet. A lantern burned low on a nearby table. Beyond the canvas walls, I heard voices and the familiar sounds of a military camp settling into the evening.I knew this tent.The realization struck me immediately. I knew the way the left corner sagged where the support pole had been poorly repaired. I knew the dent in the

AURENNA’S POVI was helping organize repairs on Vethara's eastern fence when I heard the sound. Every muscle in my body stiffened instantly.I knew those horns and I knew who was coming."Commander." Sergeant Wren appeared at my shoulder. "The Alpha King's convoy is approaching from the South road. It looks official. At least twenty riders.""I see." I set down the wooden post I was holding and brushed the dirt from my hands. If I moved too quickly right now, I might do something I would regret. "Form an honor line at the village entrance," I said. "Keep it simple. We're not his royal court.”"Yes, Commander."I had four minutes. I used them to rebuild my defenses. Nothing that could be read as anger or fear. No signs that I knew what he truly was. I locked every thought behind a wall I had erected in my mind.In my first life, I had done the opposite. I had opened myself completely to him, sharing every hope, every fear, every dream. Now I know how to close those doors.By the time