Chapter 1

My mate destroyed my pack and killed my parents. All for a human girl. I passed out from the pain, only to wake up on the day I discovered his betrayal.

The chill of the silver cage seeped into my bones, the runes of black magic burning on my parents’ skin.

I remembered Julian’s icy gaze.

He looked at my parents like they were ants.

I had knelt and begged, only to have him personally push my pack into hell.

That suffocating, soul-tearing pain…

“Elena?”

My eyes flew open and I gasped for air.

Before me was the familiar top-floor office.

My assistant, Mira, was looking at me with concern.

My heart hammered against my ribs, my palms slick with cold sweat.

No silver cage, no black magic.

My parents… were still alive.

I was back.

Back to the day I discovered Julian’s secret.

“The Mate Rejection Agreement?” Mira’s voice pulled me back to reality.

She held the document I’d just asked her to print, her face a mask of disbelief. “You want to sever your bond with Alpha Julian?”

I didn’t answer.

Barefoot, I padded across the cold floor to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Outside, the sky was a blanket of gray.

It was on a day just like this that, in my past life, I discovered the scent of another woman on Julian’s shirt.

A cloyingly sweet scent of jasmine.

A scent so pure it ached.

That was the beginning of my end.

"Contact the Wolf Council. Now," I said, turning around. My voice was as calm and cold as ice. "Tell them Luna Elena of the Moonlight Pack is formally severing the mate bond."

The color drained from Mira's face. "But Elena, you and the Alpha are..."

"Are what?" I cut her off. "Already held the bonding ceremony? Sworn before the Moon Goddess to never part?"

I let out a cold laugh.

I used to think that, too.

But he didn't give a damn about our mate bond when he was murdering my parents and my people.

"Mira, contact the Silver Moon Pack in the North. Tell Alpha Marcus I need sanctuary for my people."

"Sanctuary?" Mira's voice trembled. "Elena, what are you doing?"

I grabbed the car keys from the desk.

"I'm going to see this woman for myself. The little ghost who has our great Alpha under her spell."

The Supernatural Sanctuary was a nondescript gray building downtown.

I pushed open the heavy glass doors, the sharp smell of antiseptic hitting me.

The lobby was crowded. Rogues who’d lost their packs. Orphans waiting for a new home.

“I’m looking for Lily Anderson,” I told the receptionist.

“Oh, Lily’s over in the gym,” she said, pointing down the hall. “She’s teaching the pups some exercises.”

I walked down the corridor, my footsteps echoing in the empty space.

And then I saw her.

Lily was sitting among a group of werewolf pups, working on a puzzle with them.

She was in her early twenties, with soft, curly brown hair and warm green eyes.

And most importantly, she carried that scent I would never forget.

Pure, fragile, with a calming power that could instantly soothe a raging wolf.

No wonder Julian was crazy for her.

She looked up, saw me, and gave me a shy smile.

Then she picked up her phone and typed a message, holding it out for me to read.

[Hi, I'm Lily. Are you here to volunteer?]

A mute.

A detail I never knew, not even on the day I died in my past life.

"I'm Elena," I said, sitting down across from her. "I think we need to talk."

Just then, angry roars erupted from the other side of the gym.

Two teenage wolves were brawling. Their eyes burned with rage, and sharp claws had already extended from their fingertips.

Everyone else scrambled to get away, their screams echoing in the large room.

“Stop it!” a staff member yelled. “Lucas! Jake! Control yourselves!”

But the two teens were completely lost to their rage. They slammed into a set of gym equipment, and a dumbbell rack weighing hundreds of pounds began to topple.

My heart stopped.

The rack was falling right toward a werewolf pup who couldn't have been more than five or six years old.

The little one was frozen in terror, standing stock-still.

Time seemed to slow down.

I was about to lunge forward, but Lily had already moved.

Without a moment's hesitation, she threw herself at the child, shielding him with her own back from the heavy impact.

The sickening crunch of metal hitting bone made everyone in the room gasp.

Lily let out a muffled grunt and collapsed.

Blood streamed from the back of her head, staining the floor red.

“Lily!” I rushed over and knelt beside her.

Her eyes were unfocused for a few seconds, then she struggled to look at me.

[The child… is he okay?]

I checked on the pup she had saved. Other than being terrified, he was unharmed.

“He’s fine,” I said, taking off my jacket and carefully placing it under Lily’s head. “Don’t move. I can heal you.”

My fingers touched the wound, and I channeled my Luna's healing into her. A warm glow flowed from my palm, and the gash on her head began to slowly close.

But when I helped her remove her blood-stained shirt to check for other injuries, I froze.

Her back, her arms, were a roadmap of old scars.

There were circular burns from cigarettes, long welts from a belt. Others looked like they were from being beaten with a blunt object.

The scars were a mix of old and new, some dating back to when she was just a child.

“These scars…” my voice was hoarse.

Lily instinctively tried to pull her clothes closed, her cheeks flushing bright red.

[My foster family when I was a kid… they weren’t very nice. But that’s all in the past. I’m fine now.]

I pulled a check from my wallet. "Here's a hundred thousand dollars. Take it, leave this city, and start a new life somewhere else."

This wasn't pity. It was a banishment.

My plan couldn't afford a wild card this pure… and this dangerous.

Lily's eyes widened at the check, then she shook her head firmly. [I can't take this.]

"Why not?"

[Because they need me here.]

She pointed to the children around us. [They don't have anyone else. And…]

She paused, a shy blush creeping up her face.

“And what?”

Just then, the roar of a sports car engine echoed from outside.

It was the unique sound of Julian’s car. Deep and domineering, just like him.

Hearing it, Lily's whole face lit up. She quickly tried to smooth her messy hair, frantically checking her clothes for bloodstains.

The sound of the engine grew closer.

Lily looked toward the door, then glanced at me shyly. The next second, she rushed towards the entrance.

Julian's aggressive Alpha presence instantly flooded the entire sanctuary.

Lily stared at the doorway, her eyes shining with an incredible light.

Then she suddenly turned to me, her hands moving in a pleading gesture.

[That's my... boyfriend. He's just worried about me, please don't get the wrong idea.]