Chapter 1

Charlotte.

“Push! The baby is almost here!” The midwife’s voice came out hard, her hands resting on my shoulders. “Arghhhhh!” I screamed with what's left of my strength.

The pain was unbearable, but I held onto the thought that kept me going through nine months of carrying this child. My mother would live. Every contraction, every scream that tore from my throat was worth it if it meant I could finally pay for her treatment.

"Push, Charlotte! I can see the head!" She encouraged me. And without a warning she inserted her hands a bit deep inside my vagina, gently drawing the baby's head. I screamed out with a hard breath as I tried to push, but then I lost the strength.

Luna Emmalaine stood at the corner of the delivery room, her cold blue eyes fixed on me, as she too was panicking and praying her baby was born safe.

Another wave of agony crashed over me, and I gripped the sheets so hard my knuckles went white. "I can't."

"You can," the midwife whispered, dabbing the sweat from my forehead. "Just a little more."

For mama, I told myself. All of this is for mama.

The final push ripped through me like lightning, and suddenly the room filled with the most beautiful sound in the world. A baby's cry.

"It's a boy," Dr. Martinez announced, holding up the tiny, perfect creature.

My heart swelled with pride and sadness. I had done it. I had given Luna Emmalaine and Alpha King Jeffrey their heir. Soon, I would collect my payment and disappear from their lives forever. My mother would get the treatment she needed, and maybe we could start fresh somewhere else.

"He's beautiful," I breathed, tears streaming down my face.

The doctor handed the baby to one of the nurses to clean. My job was done. In a few minutes, I would sign the papers, take my money, and walk out of this life forever.

The room had gone too quiet. I turned my head and saw Luna Emmalaine moving with swift, calculated steps. In one fluid motion, she grabbed a scalpel from the medical tray.

"Luna, what are you..."

The blade slashed across Dr. Martinez's throat before he could finish. Blood sprayed across the sterile white walls as he collapsed, gurgling and gasping.

I screamed.

The midwife tried to run, but Emmalaine was faster. She caught the woman by her grey hair and drove the scalpel deep into her chest. The midwife's eyes went wide with shock before she crumpled to the floor.

"No, no, no!" I tried to sit up, but my body was still weak from labor. "What are you doing?"

The two nurses didn't even have time to scream. Emmalaine moved like a dancer, graceful and deadly, cutting them down with efficiency that spoke of practice. Blood pooled beneath their bodies, and my own body stock-still from sheer horror.

Through it all, the baby continued crying.

Emmalaine walked over and scooped up my son, cradling him against her chest with motherly tenderness that made my stomach churn. The contrast between her gentle touch with the baby and the massacre she'd just committed was nauseating.

"Please," I whispered, my voice hoarse from screaming. "Please don't hurt him. He's just a child, he has nothing to do with any of this."

She looked at me with those cold blue eyes and smiled. It was the most terrifying expression I'd ever seen.

"Hurt him? Oh, sweet Charlotte. This child is the future of our pack. I would never hurt him." Her voice was soft, almost loving. "But you... you're a different story."

My blood turned to ice. "What? But we had a deal! You said..."

"I said I would pay you for your services as a surrogate." She rocked the baby gently, and he began to quiet. "And you performed admirably. But I never said you would live to spend the money."

I tried to get off the bed, but my legs wouldn't support me. I crashed to the floor, pain shooting through my pelvis. "I don't understand. Why would you..."

"Because you're a threat, you stupid girl." Emmalaine's mask of false kindness finally slipped, revealing the monster underneath. "How dumb can you be not to see that you're his true mate!"

The words hit me like a physical blow. "What?"

"Did you really think I didn't know? The Alpha King's true mate, carrying his child. For months, I've been slipping him a potion that blocks the mate bond. Without it, he would have scented you the moment you walked into the palace."

I felt like I was drowning. "That's impossible. If I was his mate, wouldn't I..."

"Feel the bond? Oh, you poor, naive thing. The potion affects you too. But now that you've served your purpose..." She shrugged. "Well, dead mates tell no tales."

The room spun around me. Everything I thought I knew about my life had been a lie. "My mother... the money for her treatment..."

"Will never come." Emmalaine's laugh was like broken glass. "And speaking of your dear mother, her accident wasn't really an accident either."

My heart stopped. "What?"

"Well technically, your father and I orchestrated the whole thing. Had to make you desperate enough to accept the surrogacy arrangement. A dying mother, mounting medical bills, a cruel father who wouldn't help but sell off his own daughter. It was almost too easy to manipulate you into this position."

The betrayal was so complete, so devastating, that I couldn't even process it. She had destroyed my entire life, manipulated every tragedy, all to get me here so she could use me and then dispose of me.

"Why?" I whispered through my tears. "Why do all this?"

"Because I needed an heir, and I couldn't risk the Alpha King discovering his true mate and casting me aside." She pulled a gun from behind her back, the metal gleaming in the harsh hospital lights. "You were perfect. Strong enough to carry his child, weak enough to be discarded without anyone caring."

I tried to crawl away, but my body was too weak from labor. "Please... I won't tell anyone. I'll disappear. You'll never see me again."

"Oh, I know I'll never see you again." She aimed the gun at my chest with steady hands. "Because dead women don't talk."

Emmalaine's finger tightened on the trigger. "Goodbye, Charlotte."

The gunshot was deafening.

Pain exploded through my chest, and my body was numb, and slowly I started losing my vision. But the pain in my heart was unbearable, I was too scared to recognize it. My wolf was becoming coherent, savagely so, screaming at the moon goddess to give us one more chance!

Darkness swallowed me whole.

****

My head was hurting so bad. I jerked awake with a gasp that felt like drowning in reverse. It felt like I had been pulled from a sleep that had lasted for eternity.

Silk sheets. Expensive cologne. The scent of sandalwood and power. 

I was beyond confused, and when I looked around I noticed I was in the Alpha King's bedroom.

My hands flew to my chest, searching for the bullet wound, but found only smooth, unbroken skin beneath a silk nightgown. My heart hammered against my ribs as I took in the opulent surroundings. The massive four-poster bed, the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the pack lands, the portrait of the Alpha King mounted above the fireplace.

Beside me, Jeffrey Soloh lay sleeping, his dark hair tousled across the pillow. Even in sleep, his face held that hard edge that had earned him the nickname "Bloodsucker." But he was the most good looking man I've ever seen. He was beautiful but rougher around the edges. But what was I doing in his bed? Was this a nightmare? If I had died after the gunshot, how the hell am I here in the king's bed?

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand with shaking hands. The date made my knees go weak: October 15th. Exactly ten months before my death. Holy shit! Was I truly back in time?

Footsteps in the hallway made my blood freeze. I knew those footsteps. Light, measured, predatory.

The door opened, and Luna Emmalaine walked in carrying a silver goblet, her blonde hair perfectly styled despite the early hour. She smiled when she saw me awake. That same false, motherly smile I now knew hid a monster.

"Good morning, my dear," she said sweetly. "I brought something for the Alpha to help ensure conception takes quickly."

She held out the goblet to Jeffrey, who was stirring awake. "Drink this, darling. It will enhance your... performance."

I stared at the goblet, knowing exactly what it contained. The potion that had hidden our mate bond. The poison that had destroyed my life before it even began.

But this time, I had the advantage.

This time, I remembered everything. I had their faces imprinted in my heart, and not even the moon goddess will save them from me. Vengeance is the deeds of the goddess, I know, but I'm back to serve it on a platter of gold. Hot and merciless.