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On our tenth wedding anniversary, I was trapped in a cabin with my daughter, Sofia Costello, as floodwaters raged outside. With shaking hands, I used the emergency satellite phone to call my mafia husband, Henson Costello, and begged for help. I dialed more than 90 times before the call finally went through, yet all I heard was the breathy moans of his first love, Angelina Rossi, on the other end. "Henson...slower..." Before I could even process the shock of his betrayal, I heard a conversation that sent me straight into hell. "That kid was dead weight anyway. Trading him for control of Pier 9 was the best deal the family ever made." It seemed that Leo Costello, my son, who had supposedly drowned at the beach five years ago, had not died in an accident after all. Henson had used him as part of a business deal. All this time, I had been drowning in guilt for taking him to that beach, blaming myself for the tragedy. I never knew the truth was this cruel. Tears streamed down my face as my body shook uncontrollably. After ten years of marriage, I finally realized I had never truly known the man I loved and sacrificed everything for. I picked up my phone again and dialed Vincenzo Moretti's number. "Vince, I'll marry you. But you have to help me destroy the Costello family from power." After a brief silence, his voice came through the line. "Aurelia Astor, I've been waiting ten years to hear you say that."

My mate, Jasper Morrison, says coldly, "Elena, I'm breaking our mate bond." We stand on the open ground at the edge of the Silvermoon pack's territory. The full moon hangs high overhead, and this should be the sweetest moment for fated mates. We've loved each other for ten years. And now, he's about to break the bond Moon Goddess has given us. "Why?" I ask in a shaky voice. "You're an orphaned wolf," he says, turning his face away. "You don't have the bloodline to match me. The pack Elders have already approved this." A tearing pain rips through my chest. Having the mate bond stripped from me feels like my soul is being torn apart. I collapse to my knees, gasping for air. "Serena's father is one of the strongest Alphas in the North," Jasper says, looking down at me without a trace of guilt. "She'll help me rise as the strongest Beta in the Silvermoon pack's history." "You said…" I clench my teeth, fighting the pain. "You said you'd spend your life with me." "I was young and foolish," Jasper replies, already turning away. "The bonding ceremony is in three days. I suggest you don't cause trouble." Moonlight glints off his retreating form. I watch him walk away, my fingers clutching the moonstone bracelet my mother left me. It's my only keepsake. A message from an unknown number appears. "Elena, this is Damon, your older brother. I've been looking for you for 20 years." "I've attached a black card with unlimited credit. The resources of the entire Blackwood pack are at your disposal. No matter what you're facing, I've got you." I stare at the screen. The Blackwood pack? The top wolf pack in North Anthica? Another message soon pops up. "I'll come get you in three days. Wait for me." My finger hovers over the delete button. It has to be a scam. I'm just an orphaned wolf. How could I possibly have a brother from the Blackwood pack? Just then, a voice message from Jasper arrives. "Elena, for old times' sake, I'll arrange a place for you in one of the pack's spare houses when the ceremony ends. You can stay as part of the pack. I'll take care of you." He wants me to watch him bond with another she-wolf and thank him for keeping me in the pack. I delete Jasper's contact, then rename the unknown number in my phone to "Damon". My fingers tremble as I type a single word. "Okay."

I was sent back in time to the very day my sister and I had to choose our mafia husbands. This time, though, I discovered I could hear people’s thoughts. In my previous life, my sister married Caspian, a violent brute. She lived every day in fear, trapped in a nightmare she could never escape. I, on the other hand, married Arnold—the gentleman everyone admired, living a life others envied. However, my sister had also been sent back in time, and this time, she made her move first. She chose Arnold, the “perfect husband” she had always coveted. At that moment, her thoughts echoed clearly in my mind. ‘Elysia shall suffer instead. This time, I’ll make sure I choose the good husband first.’ Her malice was unmistakable. My dear sister, did you really think I was happy in my last life? Since you want that life so badly, I’ll hand it to you myself.

My marriage to Tommaso Volpe, Don of the Volpe family, is part of a five-year contract. We each have someone we love, and we stay out of each other's way. He loves his adopted sister, Gelsomina Volpe, who needs his protection. My heart belongs only to my deceased fiancé, Marco Damiano. For five years, I play the perfect Signora Volpe, enduring Gelsomina's provocations and cruelty again and again. She forces caustic substances down my throat that nearly destroy my esophagus. He tells me to let it go for his sake. She stages her own kidnapping and forces Tommaso to choose between saving her and me. He doesn't hesitate, choosing to save her while I sink to the bottom of that freezing lake. On the last day of our contract, I calmly pack my things and leave the signed divorce papers behind. I need to find a young man who looks just like Marco. He's all I have left to hold onto. But after I leave, Tommaso loses his mind searching for me, saying he's fallen in love with me. He threatens me with the entire city's underworld just to stay by my side. He watches me grow close to my new "replacement" and goes mad with jealousy. He thinks he still has a chance, but he has already lost this game from the very beginning.

Seven years ago, I, Gianna Moonwhisper, offered up the bloodline essence that had been passed down in my family for generations as a sacrifice. I did this to save Liam Howle, my mate who was dying from a curse. To prevent him from feeling burdened, I pretended to be a wicked she-wolf who only cared about power and status, and thus I dissolved my mate bond with him. Seven years later, powered by the strength he gained from my sacrifice, he is crowned Alpha. Meanwhile, I can only hide away in a dilapidated house as I cough up blood. Due to the regression of my bloodline, I'm slowly dying. Liam kicks open my door and tosses a bag of moonstones at my feet. His eyes shine with repulsion as he coldly says, "Do you regret it? Regret abandoning the person who could have made you Luna?" He's unaware that I have only three months left to live, yet his utter hatred for me has him wishing that I would hurry up and die.

My mate, Rowan, and I had gone through life and death to build a powerful pack. Our eternal mate bond had been witnessed by the Moon Goddess. That was until he brought back the teary-eyed Omega, Riley. She was a scheming woman who lied about being homeless. For her, Rowan used his Alpha's dominance on me in front of the pack to humiliate me. For Riley's pup, he accused me of jealousy and called me unworthy of being a Luna. When I was pregnant with our pure blood heir, I asked for his help as I was about to die from the enemy's attack. He turned away to comfort the pup, who only had a scratch on his arm. All Rowan did was leave me with cold words, blaming me for not being able to protect myself as a Luna. He told me I should reflect on that. My mate killed our pup with his own hands.

I've waited five years for my mafia fiance, Daniele Moretti, while he keeps pushing our wedding back again and again. I've turned down every man who approaches me and put up with all the snide comments from high society. On the eve of exchanging our marriage alliance contract, thanks to a bet with his lover, Daniele decides it's hilarious to switch the groom's name. He replaces himself with his uncle, Samuele Moretti, a man who is practically on his deathbed. Daniele laughs as he brags to his friends, "Regina's obsessed with me. When she finds out, she'll cry and beg me to change it back." I stand just outside the door and hear every word. On the day of the wedding, I take Samuele's arm—the "sickly wreck" Daniele keeps mocking—and walk him up the aisle. When Daniele finally shows up late with his lover and tries to turn the ceremony into a spectacle, I slap him across the face. Now he's the one who has to call me Aunt Regina.

Leo Parker, my fiance, shoved me out the door with his own hands. He used me as bait to buy time for himself and my best friend, Jessica Thorne, to escape. I'd never forget him shutting the door. I'd never forget his last words through the narrow crack. "Thank you for your sacrifice, Chloe." When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day before the zombie outbreak. Leo is gently urging me to hurry up and transfer 150 thousand dollars for the remodeling. It's the money we set aside for the home we plan to live in after we get married. In my past life, he set a trap and drained every cent of my savings. This time, I smile and agree. The only difference is that the 150 thousand dollars is going to build my doomsday bunker. And I'm also planning something special for them. After all, since I get a second chance at life, I should properly thank them for the "kindness" they showed me last time when they shoved me out to get torn apart by zombies.

I conscientiously perform my duties as the Luna of the Blackwood pack throughout our three years of bond. During every cycle of the full moon, my Alpha, Damon Slater, insists on personally preparing Wolf Essence Elixir for me. He claims it enables me to manage my duties as Luna with greater ease. I trust him implicitly, never doubting his words. It is only later that the shaman reveals that "the elixir" is actually Shadowmoon Drug—a forbidden drug that induces infertility. I haven't even had the chance to question him when Isabelle Turner, his lover, brazenly posts a sonogram confirming the Alpha's pup in the group chat. Damon, my Alpha, does nothing, letting Isabelle accept everyone's pledge of loyalty to her. Damon coldly reminds me that our bond serves a purely political purpose for the alliance and then aggressively questions me about what grievances I still hold. He thinks of me as merely a means to serve the alliance, a tool that can be replaced at any time. He is completely wrong about that, though.

My mate is Ryder Blackwood, Alpha of the pack. As the approaching bonding ceremony, he tells me that his "savior", Isabelle Morrison, is dying. She took a silver dagger meant for him three years ago. Now she is terminal, and her days are numbered. Her last wish, he says, is to leave behind a pup bearing the strongest Alpha blood. I tremble. "What about me? I'm your only mate." His voice is cold, emptied of feeling. "Don't worry. I'll always be your mate." Two days later, I receive the pregnancy test results. Isabelle is five weeks along. Turns out there was never a choice. All I get is a belated notice. What he doesn't know is that I'm the one who took the silver dagger meant for him three years ago. The healer tells me I have, at most, a month to live. I neither weep nor protest. I cancel the bonding ceremony I've dreamed of and quietly book a flight out. It leaves on the very day of the ceremony. Ryder stands at the venue of the canceled ceremony when my message reaches him. It's my unwavering rejection of him as my mate. That's when he finally breaks. For the first time, the Alpha who controls everything tastes a fear that tears the soul. He searches for me frantically, only to find every trace of me erased from his world.