Chapter 2

In my first life, Vivienne and I were mated on the same day.

Her ceremony was a spectacle — a white gown sewn with moonstone, a crown of silver blossoms, three hundred guests howling her name under the full moon.

Mine was a back door and a mule cart.

Mother didn't attend. She was too busy weeping over Vivienne's departure to the Lycan Kingdom, where the "cold prince" Dorian awaited.

Except in that life, it was Vivienne who married Dorian. And I was the one shipped to Kael.

Mother had handed me a cloth sack before I left. Inside was a single item — a copper hair comb Vivienne had thrown away.

"Don't embarrass us," Mother said without looking at me. "And don't come back."

I'd held that comb the entire journey, thinking maybe, just maybe, it meant she cared.

It didn't.

Now, in this new life, the roles were reversed.

Vivienne claimed Kael. I was given Dorian.

And Mother? She sobbed just the same — but only for Vivienne.

On the morning of our departure, Mother stood between us in the courtyard, clutching Vivienne's hands.

"My darling, the Iron Fang Pack is savage. Promise me you'll be careful."

Vivienne tossed her golden hair. "Mother, I'll be the Luna of the most powerful pack in the North. Who would dare touch me?"

She shot me a glance. "You should worry about her. The Lycan Prince hasn't spoken a full sentence in three years. She'll be talking to walls."

Mother followed her gaze to me and sniffed.

"She's wolfless. She's lucky anyone wants her at all."

They embraced. They cried. They whispered promises of letters and visits.

I stood five feet away, holding nothing.

Because just before we'd left the house, Vivienne had snatched the small wooden box from my hands — the only thing the elder had given me as a mating gift.

"This bracelet was meant for the real daughter of this family," she'd said, tucking it into her sleeve. "You're just the kitchen spare."

I watched my empty palms.

In my previous life, this would have broken me.

But I'd already been broken. Burned. Bled dry. And buried.

There was nothing left to break.

So I turned to the elder and asked, "When do we leave?"

He said now.

And I walked toward my cart without looking back.

Vivienne could have the bracelet, the tears, the mother's love.

She could have it all.

Because where she was going, she'd need every scrap of comfort she could get.

Kael didn't want a Luna.

He wanted a blood bag.

And Vivienne had just volunteered.