REBORN TO DESTROY THE ALPHA KING

AURENNA’S POVThe sound of laughter made me halt in my tracks.I was walking through the corridor of the Alpha King's chamber with a letter in my hand. It was a request for peace talks from the Harrow settlements, that I had promised to deliver personally to Zevran before nightfall.The corridor was quiet as it always was after midnight. I had chosen this time because I knew he would be alone in his private study with no guards, no advisers, no interruptions.However, the voice I heard from behind the heavy oak door wasn't his. It was hers."She actually believed you." Lyssara's voice was filled with amusement. "Every single word. Even now, she still believes it."I rested my hand on the stone wall to steady myself. The letter crumpled in my grip."She believes what she needs to believe." Zevran replied in a calm voice. "That was the whole purpose.”"Three years," Lyssara said with a laugh. "Three years of watching her stand before her people and convince them to trust you. To open th

AURENNA’S POVI rode so hard that my horse was covered in sweat by the time Vethara came into view.The village was located in a small valley in the midst of two low hills. It has always been peaceful and harmless, the kind of place no one would think needed protection.In my previous life, forty-three people had died here; farmers, their children and families. Amongst them, an elderly healer named Maren had been found holding a child she had tried to shield.I remembered every detail because I had studied the survivor reports obsessively, searching for anything that might have prevented the tragedy.I stopped my horse at the village gate and jumped down before it fully came to a halt.The gate warden was a large man with a gray beard and the cautious expression of someone who had survived too much of the war to trust sudden visitors."Commander Voss." He straightened immediately. "We weren't expecting military officers.""Where is your village elder?" I asked. "I need to speak with h

AURENNA’S POVI had been staring at the pendant on my camp table for nearly an hour now, cross-referencing it with every historical document I had access to in my traveling chest, which was not much but enough. The symbol matched perfectly with the ones in the document, no doubt. The mark engraved on the pendant belonged to the Ashryn bloodline, a powerful wolf clan mentioned in old records. Long ago, they had been strong enough to challenge the Drakhar family itself.Then, forty years ago, they vanished.The official record used words like dissolution and departure, but I knew better. During my first life, after becoming Alpha Queen, I had gained access to older documents buried within the palace library. Those records told a different story. The Drakhar family had seized power through bloodshed, ruthlessly, leaving no witnesses behind. At least, that was what everyone believed.I turned the pendant over in my hand. It had been left for me on purpose by the figure who moved like a w

AURENNA'S POVThe coalition council chamber smelled the same as it always had: old wood, wax, and the subtle tang of men and women who had spent a decade deciding how much of their own blood they were willing to spill for a peace they might never see.I stood at the long council table, Vethara's letter hidden in the folds of my jacket, and surveyed the six people who had agreed to hear me out. Commander Aldric sat at the head of the table, his silver hair pulled back from his face, hands folded in front of him. He already knew what I was going to say, the set of his mouth suggested that he had made up his mind the moment he'd read my report."You're asking us to delay formal alliances with the Alpha Court," Aldric drawled, "based upon your suspicions about an already resolved conflict. The Alpha King has even ridden to Vethara to personally apologize.""The Alpha King has ridden to Vethara to dictate the narrative," I countered. "There is a difference.""That's a very bold accusati