Chapter 1

"Declan, open the door! The silver defense line leaked!"

I gripped the heavy door handle and pulled with all my strength. The toxic silver burned my palms raw, tearing the flesh apart.

The door didn't move an inch.

Dead silence filled my earpiece.

Only half an hour ago, Declan stood right outside this vault. He touched my swollen belly, his eyes soft and full of devotion. He coaxed me in his gentlest voice.

"Rogues are rioting on the borders. You're five months pregnant with our pup. The vault is the safest place in the whole territory. Wait for me here. I'll clear them out and come right back for you."

Then, he personally pulled down the heavy manual lock from the outside.

Only the head of pack security had the clearance to trigger that quarantine lockdown.

Now, a sharp, bitter stench poured in through the vents. A cloud of white toxic mist crept across the floor, fast and deadly. I clutched my stomach, coughing violently. I focused all my strength, trying to call him through our fated mate bond.

I only slammed into a solid wall inside my mind.

He blocked our mind-link.

One single second was all it took. If he kept it open for just one second, he would feel the agony ripping through my body. But he cut off that chance with his own hands.

My phone rang five full times before he finally picked up. In the background, the deafening roar of helicopter blades echoed loud and clear.

"Gwen, be good. Stop making a scene," Declan said. His voice was low, steady, filled with his usual restraint and exhaustion. "I know you're emotional during pregnancy, but Talia is surrounded by rogue wolves at Pier Three. It's critical. You are my fated mate. The future of the Sterling Pack rests on us. You need to act like it."

"I am not making a scene! The silver mist is filling the room! You locked me in from the outside..."

"The vault has the highest defense level. I checked the silver lines myself before leaving. Nothing leaked. I locked it to keep the outside chaos away from you." His tone softened, like he was humoring a spoiled child, cold and absolute. "Stay inside. Don't move. Once I bring Talia back safe, I'll make it up to you tonight."

He hung up the phone directly.

He didn't even raise his voice. Yet that reasonable, calm tone completely sealed my death sentence.

The white mist rolled through the room under flashing red emergency lights.

A werewolf's body stood no chance against pure silver. My stomach twisted in brutal cramps. Nausea and dizziness crushed me from every side. The engraved bracelet he gave me eight years ago—the one from the night we confirmed our mate bond—corroded under the silver acid. The vows on the surface peeled away quickly, turning into an unrecognizable piece of scrap metal.

I stumbled toward the steps beneath the ventilation shaft. My shaking fingers hit the emergency button for the central security room.

The screen flickered. The line finally connected.

"Open the door... start the exhaust vents..." My voice came out raw, barely a whisper.

A cold, sharp voice answered through the speaker. It was Declan's older sister and the pack enforcer, Chloe.

"Enough, Gwen. Drop this pathetic cry for attention," Chloe sneered, looking down on me through the line. "Declan is our next Alpha. His tactical plans are none of your business. He told me himself that he locked you in the vault to contain outer threats and protect pack secrets. And now you fake a leak just for his attention?"

"The door is locked... I can't breathe... our pup won't survive this..."

"Declan took every pack warrior to the harbor to protect Talia. Only young wolves are left here. Who would dare defy the Alpha's order to open that door for you?" Chloe cut me off without a shred of warmth. "Even if an accident happened, so what? Talia took a grave hit years ago to protect Declan. Her body is weak. She cannot handle any fright. Know your place, Gwen. Stop embarrassing Declan."

The screen went black. She cut the feed.

My strength left me completely. I slid down against the wall, hitting the floor. Thick, hot, black blood leaked silently down my inner thighs, soaking through my pants.

It was happening all over again.

In my past life, it was this exact locked door. This exact freezing silver mist.

Back then, the vault next door caught fire. He promised he would come right back, then rerouted every chopper to the harbor for Talia. By the time the flames died down and he found me, my five-month-old pup and I were already charred bones.

Later, they said he starved himself for three days in front of the entire pack, holding my ashes, losing his mind.

Yet, when the full moon came, he still walked up to the sacred altar with Talia, exactly as scheduled.

Only when the ceremony was complete did he detonate his own Alpha wolf core. That was when everyone finally realized he actually loved me.

Before dying in a pool of his own blood, he looked into the empty air and wept. He swore that if he had another life, he would choose me without hesitation. He swore he would never let me get hurt again.

The Moon Goddess truly gave us both a second chance.

Yet when disaster struck again, his so-called "protection" was still a lie. He tricked me into a locked room, took every warrior, and ran to play the hero for his unhurt first love.

No matter how many lives I lived, I was always the one who had to die.

Inside my belly, the faint flutter of life gave one desperate kick, then went completely still.

I wiped the blood from my face and leaned against the cold wall. The very last spark of warmth for my fated mate turned to ash.

Then, out of nowhere, an animal urge to survive surged through my chest.

Using all the strength left in my body, I slammed toward the only light above my head.