Chapter 1

Iron chains bit into Lily's wrists and ankles, pinning her to the narrow bed like an animal.

She curled in on herself, guttural sounds clawing from her throat—not quite human, not quite wolf. Beneath her translucent skin, dark veins spread like cracks in ice, branching, deepening, consuming her.

I knew this scene. I had lived it before.

My breath caught. My heart slammed against my ribs.

I was back.

I staggered to her bedside and gathered her into my arms, chains and all. She thrashed. Her small teeth sank into my shoulder—sharp, wolf-sharp—drawing blood.

I didn't flinch. I didn't let go.

"Mommy's here, honey." My tears fell hot against her colorless cheek. "No one hurts you this time. No one."

Footsteps.

I knew them. I knew him.

Liam appeared in the doorway, his broad frame silhouetted against the harsh corridor light. His eyes found the blood blooming on my shirt, and something cracked behind his handsome face—pain, grief, the mask of a suffering father.

He crossed the room in three strides and pulled me away from her, wrapping me in his arms.

"Luna, what the hell are you doing? She could kill you!"

His voice broke on the last word. Convincing. Always so convincing.

"I know this is destroying you." His lips pressed against my hair. "It's destroying me too. She's our daughter. I love her more than my own pulse."

Liar.

"But look at her, Sophie. Every second she's awake, her wolf is tearing itself apart from the inside. This isn't living—it's torture. We have to let her go."

He guided me out of the room—gentle, patient, the perfect grieving father. The other healers murmured their sympathies as we passed.

In the consultation office, Liam pressed a glass of water into my trembling hands. Then he placed a pen on the table.

And the Blood Pact.

"Sign it, Sophie. Let her rest. Let her body serve the pack one last time. Let her death mean something."

I stared at the document. I remembered every word. Every lie.

In my past life, I had believed him. I had trusted him when he said Lily's fever was normal, when he brought her to this "elite" treatment center. I never questioned why he chose this place—never asked about the Shaman Healer who ran it, the one he'd loved in another life.

One phone call. That's all it took. I stepped into the hallway for five minutes, and when I came back, they had already declared her Rampage. She didn't know me anymore. She snarled when I touched her.

And Liam was there, holding the pact, telling me it was mercy.

"Our daughter was always so kind," he'd whispered, guiding my hand. "If she could choose, she'd want to save the others. This is her legacy, Sophie. Her last gift to the pack."

I signed.

Hours later, Elena Vance harvested every drop of marrow from Lily's bones.

Days later, Elena's daughter was cured of her blood disease—the one Liam had never mentioned. The one their secret affair had created.

When I finally understood, when I stormed the mansion to scream the truth, Elena looked at me with those calm, knowing eyes and whispered words I couldn't hear but felt in my blood.

Dark Magic. The same poison that had made Lily seem Rampage. The same lies that had stolen her life.

My wolf erupted without my consent. The guards reacted on instinct.

And Liam—

Liam covered Elena's eyes.

"Don't look, sweetheart. You'll have nightmares."

I died with Lily's fang necklace in my fist and their names on my dying breath.

---

Now, I looked at the pen on the table.

I looked at Liam's grief-stricken face—so perfect, so practiced.

I picked up the pen.

And I threw it in the trash.

"I'm not signing."

Liam's eyes widened. "Sophie—"

"There's nothing wrong with Lily. She's not Rampage. I want a second opinion."