Chapter 3

Back in my den, the side effects of forcing the prophecy began to set in.

My wolf spirit felt like it was being torn apart, and a deep weakness settled into my limbs.

As an omega, my body was already frail.

Every powerful vision I had burned away a piece of my life.

That’s why in my last life, I was always so careful, only using my gift for the most critical moments in the war.

But that scene on the training grounds... it brought back so many buried humiliations.

Kane was always like that.

He’d show up late after I was bullied, then immediately blame me for not being more "magnanimous."

Even the truth of how we first met was a carefully crafted lie.

I remembered I was crying his name before I died. Asking why. I had given him a crown. He gave me a blade. It made no sense.

He stared down at me, his eyes devoid of any emotion but disgust. “Because you were stupid enough to believe it,” he whispered.

Then, a familiar scent drifted from his clothes. Herbs. The same scent the bear wore like a second skin.

And I finally understood. He hadn’t saved me. He had set the trap.

Kane had used a forbidden rage potion on the beast, provoking it into a frenzy. Then he just "happened" to show up at my most desperate moment to play the hero.

And I, young and naive, was completely won over by his "bravery" and "gentleness."

How pathetic. How stupid.

I needed to clear my head.

The Sacred Spring was a haven. Its waters, blessed by the Moon Goddess, always soothed my wolf.

I knelt at the water’s edge, ready to wash away the day, when I saw them. Behind a patch of moonflowers, two figures were tangled together.

Kane and Scarlett.

They were kissing. Not just kissing—devouring each other.

Bile rose in my throat. I turned to leave, to escape the tainted air.

But their words that followed… they were like iron spikes. They drove me into the ground right where I stood.

"Are you sure she's still the same little lamb who hangs on your every word?" Scarlett's voice was still laced with a lingering fear. "Today... she was a different person. A demon."

I instantly masked my scent and hid in the shadows of a large boulder behind the waterfall.

"Of course," Kane's voice was filled with his usual overconfidence. "It's a classic female tactic. Playing hard to get."

"But her prophecy..." Scarlett's voice trembled. "That vision, it was so real. I felt like I actually died..."

"And that power is exactly why I need her," Kane sneered, his voice cold and calculating. "The Bloodmoon Pack will launch their main attack soon. Without her prophecies to guide us, we'll be like blind mice, completely unable to find their weak spots."

My blood ran cold.

He really did only want to use me.

"Kane, I'm scared," Scarlett's voice turned fragile. "What if she really did see my future..."

"What she saw was real," Kane cut her off, his tone taking on a strange edge. "And I'll tell you a secret. I was reborn. I've lived this life once before."

What? The world stopped. I couldn't breathe. He was reborn too?

"In my last life, you did die on the road to exile," Kane's voice became impossibly gentle. "In that moment, I swore I would make the whole world pay. I used Mira's prophecies to slaughter the entire Bloodmoon Pack, and then..."

He paused, his voice thick with the pleasure of vengeance.

"And then, I personally plunged that silver blade through her heart. A perfect offering to my dead love."

I clamped my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.

He came back too!

"I was reborn to change your fate, Scarlett," Kane continued. "And her, Mira, she's destined to once again become the most useful tool in my hands."

"But the way she acted today..."

"She's still obsessed with me. That will never change," Kane said with a confident laugh. "Didn't you see how her eyes followed me at the choosing ceremony? Right now, she's probably giddy with excitement, just waiting for me to announce our union."

They both thought I had chosen Kane.

The irony was crushing.

"I promise you, Scarlett," Kane's voice turned deadly serious. "Once I use her power to unite all the packs and become the one true Alpha King, she'll lose all her value. And then..."

"And then what?" Scarlett pressed eagerly.

Kane's voice turned as cruel as a demon's from hell.

"I will personally shatter her gift, gouge out her eyes, and leave her a broken, useless thing that can only cling to me in the darkness. And you, my love, you will be the one and only Queen by my side."