Chapter 2

Three days later, I was settling into my new life with Caleb in the bear clan's territory.

"Twenty-seven missed calls."

I put my phone down and looked at Caleb, who was sipping tea across from me.

We were in a modern city hidden deep in the forest.

This wasn't the "slum" Trina had described, but a technologically advanced utopia, inaccessible to ordinary people.

"All from Trina?" Caleb asked.

"Her and the media," I shrugged. "They all want the 'truth'."

A second later, my phone rang again.

A video call this time.

Trina's face appeared on the screen, but she looked completely different.

Her face was perfectly made up, adorned with expensive jewels. Behind her was a lavish bedroom.

"Helena!" Her voice was sickly sweet. "Look at my life now!"

She held up her hand, showing off a massive diamond ring.

"Calvin's wedding gift! Twenty-five carats!"

I watched her show off, my face a blank mask.

"And this!" She spun around to show off a priceless gown. "Chanel haute couture! Only three in the world!"

"Congratulations," I said, my voice flat.

"Congratulations?" Trina's smile twisted. "Helena, do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to give birth to the noblest bloodline in the world!"

She caressed her flat stomach, her eyes gleaming with a feverish light.

"Calvin has the purest Alpha genes, and I… I will give him the perfect heir. Our child will rule the world!"

My blood ran cold.

Those words… they were exactly the same as in my vision.

"Trina," I probed, "how can you be so sure?"

"Because I know!" she shrieked with laughter. "I know the secrets of this world! I know the value of the strongest bloodline!"

She leaned into the camera, her eyes full of hate.

"In my… in my past life, you had all of this. The strongest bloodline, the highest status. And I was married off to that Elven Chief, tortured to the point that I begged for death!"

So, Trina has lived this life before.

"But this time," she went on, "the tables have turned! You married the lowest of the bears, and I will have everything!"

"Trina…"

"Just you wait!" she cut me off. "Calvin will give me the most powerful child, and your bear husband will only give you violence and death!"

The video cut out.

I sat there, my hands trembling slightly.

Trina's words confirmed my fears. In a past life, I had married Calvin and borne the strongest heir, only to be killed by him and my sister.

"She's been reborn," I told Caleb.

Caleb put down his teacup, his eyes glinting. "I know."

"You know?"

"An ancient gift of foresight runs in the bear clan," he said, walking to the window. "We can feel the ripples in time. The moment you walked toward me, I felt the path of fate shift. I knew this wasn't the first time you'd made that choice."

"Then why did you still accept?"

Caleb turned to look at me, his eyes full of love.

"Because this time," he said, "I will protect you."

He moved closer, and I felt a powerful current flow between us...the pull of a true mate bond.

I closed my eyes, ready for his kiss, but a sharp knock at the door broke the spell.

Caleb frowned. "I wasn't expecting anyone."

The door flew open and Calvin stormed in, his eyes red and his clothes a mess.

"Helena! You were supposed to choose me! Why did you choose him?" he roared.

I stood up and sneered at him.

"You've got Trina, isn't that enough? What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing?" he laughed coldly. "I'm here to tell you the truth. Do you know what the bears are? They're failures! Outcasts, abandoned by all the other clans!"

"The ancient families," he sneered, "they value bloodlines and raw power. The bears threw all that away to dabble in human business and technology. They're traitors to all shifters!"

"And you," he pointed at Caleb, "you're just a savage from the forest! You don't deserve Helena!"

Caleb didn't answer, just watched him calmly.

"What do you have that I don't?" Calvin continued to rage. "I'm the strongest Alpha! I have endless wealth and power!"

"Wealth?" Caleb finally spoke, his voice calm as a still lake.

He pulled out a tablet and set it on the table.

A long string of numbers filled the screen.

Calvin leaned in to look, and his face went white.

"That's… that's impossible…"

"Thorne Industries 2024 estimated net worth: eighty billion dollars," I read aloud calmly. "The world's largest renewable energy company, three aerospace firms, and several gene-splicing technology start-ups."

"And your wolf pack's assets," Caleb added, "one-point-five billion."

Calvin started to shake.

"But none of that matters," Caleb said, coming to my side. "What really matters is that I would never treat Helena like a broodmare."

"A broodmare?" Calvin forced a laugh. "I would never…"

"Then explain this."

I pulled out my phone and played a recording.

Calvin's voice came through the phone's speaker, crisp and clear: "Trina is just an appetizer. Once I have Helena, I'll keep her pregnant until she produces the perfect heir."

Calvin's face turned ashen.

"How… how did you get that!"

He looked at us, his eyes filled with desperation.

"I can explain, Helena. It's all a misunderstanding."

He extended his claws and moved toward me, as if he planned to drag me away right then and there.

"A threat?" Caleb took a step forward.

Instantly, the temperature in the room plummeted.

Calvin felt the pressure of the Bear King's bloodline and began to tremble involuntarily.

"If you ever try to harm Helena again," Caleb's voice was terrifyingly calm, "I will rip out your throat."

Calvin shot us one last, hateful look, then fled like the coward he was.

"He'll be back for revenge," I said.

"I know." Caleb took my hand. "But this time, we'll be ready."

My phone buzzed again.

It was a picture from Trina. She was in a wedding dress, smiling brightly, but her eyes held a manic glint.

The caption read: Just you wait and see my perfect bloodline, sister. This time, my child will be the one who rules the world.

I stared at the picture, a chill running down my spine.

In my vision, Trina got everything she wanted in the end.

But what was the price?

I had a feeling I was about to find out.