My father scoured the underground markets and bought my sister and me a pair of twin wolf-blood slaves.

Catherine snatched the tall, powerfully built brother first—his alpha scent already awakening despite the silver shackles. That left me with the scrawny, silver-poisoned "cripple" whose wolf seemed permanently dormant.

I pitied the poor bastard. His wolf was so suppressed I could barely catch his scent, so I kept him close, hoping my presence might help him heal.

His legs were useless, twisted from what looked like forced silver injections. I dragged him to every back-alley healer and rogue pack doctor I could find, desperate to purge the poison from his system.

I figured some brutal werewolf hunter had shattered both him and his wolf.

Until my dad's rival pack snatched us both during the blood moon.

He exploded from his wheelchair in a surge of raw alpha power, his true scent hitting me like a freight train. Golden eyes blazing, when my father's enemy aimed a silver gun at my sister, he grabbed me and shielded her from six bullets.

"I'm sorry, Catherine can't die. I'll make it up to you in the next life."

That's when it hit me—he wasn't crippled, wasn't even an omega.

The silver poisoning? That was all just for me.

I blinked... and woke up on slave-picking day.

This time, I set him free.

Catherine's voice echoed in my ears like a bad dream.

"Why don't I take Jasper instead? Madeline's wolfless—she's too fragile. Julian's built like a warrior—he can actually protect her."

I jolted awake, last life's memories crashing over me like a rogue wave during a blood moon.

Before I could spit a word, Catherine played the saint, beaming at Julian. "Julian, Madeline's in your hands now. You have to keep her safe."

I shot her an ice-cold glare, watching her fake-ass performance. My gut twisted to stone. Without a wolf to share the pain, I have to suffer it all on my own.

In my last life, I'd fallen for that bullshit hook, line, and sinker. After she'd claimed Jasper with his powerful wolf, I'd hesitated. She'd "generously" offered a swap, acting like the perfect big sister who cared about pack bonds.

What a joke. When Dad's rival pack had kidnapped us, Julian could've torn through them single-handed—his wolf was apex predator material. Catherine's wolf was strong enough to fight, too.

But she'd just screamed through the mate bond, "Jasper, save her first!" knowing damn well I'd make him choose, and he'd pick the wolfless girl out of pity.

She'd gotten her dream Alpha and the reputation of being a "selfless pack princess."

Not this time. I cut her off cold: "Fine."

Her face? Pure shock. Her wolf probably recoiled through their bond. No rejection? No begging? Priceless.

I locked eyes with her, smirking like the predator I'd learned to become. Last life, I was too soft, too desperate for pack acceptance. This time? She'd learn what a wolfless girl with nothing left to lose could do.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper. His scent hit me: scorched earth and rain. In my last life, he was the one who died protecting Catherine while I bled out. This time, his golden eyes held a spark of something new. Hope.

"Hell no!" Dad's Alpha command rolled through the room like thunder, his wolf's dominance pressing against everyone present. Everyone except me—the wolfless daughter who couldn't feel the full weight of his power. "You're the Midnight Frost pack heiress, Madeline. Your bloodline matters, even if your wolf disappeared. That scrawny slave is a broken Omega and half-dead. How is he going to protect our pack's future?"

I stared at him, my heart turning to permafrost. In his eyes, I was just the disappointing daughter of the Luna he'd been forced to mate for political alliance. Catherine—the bastard child of his true mate, his fated bond—was the only one who mattered. He'd deliberately chosen the "broken" twin for me, ensuring I'd always be vulnerable, always lesser.

The pack politics were crystal clear: he'd mated Mom for her father's territory, but he'd found his fated mate in his mistress. When Mom discovered the affair and the pregnancy, she'd withered away, her wolf dying of heartbreak before her human body followed. The day after her funeral, he'd brought Catherine and her mother home, forced me to call his bastard "sister" and watch his mistress take my mother's place as Luna.

I'd thought blood meant something in the pack hierarchy. But he'd chosen Jasper, knowing he was "damaged goods." This whole "choice" ceremony? Pure theater. Julian had been Catherine's from the moment they'd arrived.

Catherine exhaled dramatically, all fake concern as her wolf probably purred with satisfaction, tugging Dad's arm. "But Madeline, she needs—"

Jasper cracked. "I'm no cripple!"

The sound of bones shifting filled the air like the crack of gunshots. His shirt exploded as his torso expanded, revealing scars that looked like silver burns across skin that rippled with barely contained power. Thick, midnight-black fur sprouted along his spine and forearms as his fingernails elongated into four-inch obsidian claws. He didn't fully shift—this was a combat form, designed for maximum lethality in close quarters.

He launched into a brutal display that had Catherine's wolf whimpering and Dad's Alpha instincts snapping to attention. His fists moved like pistons, each strike cracking the reinforced concrete floor of our pack house training room.

"I carry the blood of the Sterling pack!" Jasper snarled, his voice a guttural growl that made every wolf in the room submit slightly—except Dad, whose eyes narrowed with sudden interest. "I will protect Miss Catherine Collins with my life and honor!"

My heart shattered all over again. Five years by my side in my past life, playing the helpless, broken slave who needed my protection. He'd never shown even a hint of this raw Alpha power. Now? Barely a minute with Catherine, and he was displaying his wolf's strength like a peacock in mating season.

Silent Julian finally piped up. "My skills are top-notch, too. Let me guard Miss Catherine Collins!"

"Alright, boys. Fight for her. Winner becomes Catherine's personal guard and potential mate candidate."

They exploded into violence.

It wasn't a sparring match; it was a bloodbath. Jasper fought dirty, his Molten Gold eyes burning as he aimed a disemboweling strike at his own twin’s throat. He treated Julian like a Rogue, not a brother.

Julian held back, parrying with his forearms, but as Jasper’s claws raked across his chest, drawing crimson streaks, something in the "cripple" snapped.

Julian’s shadow seemed to detach from the floor. He shifted into violence. His eyes bled into a Blood Moon Red, a terrifying hue that signaled a Feral state. He lunged from the wheelchair, his "paralyzed" legs driving into Jasper’s ribcage with the force of a battering ram. The sound of Jasper’s ribs breaking echoed off the stone walls.

Jasper edged him out by a hair, pinning Julian to the floor by his throat, claws hovering over his jugular.

Dad slapped Jasper’s shoulder. "Jasper is Catherine’s now. A fine Enforcer."

Then, he looked at me with total indifference. "Julian, you’re with Miss Madeline. Try not to die in the first week."

Catherine's fake tears? Gone. He was the "Prettier" wolf—sleek, strong, and clearly obsessed with her.

Then Julian dropped to his knees at my father’s feet, his human form shivering as the red faded from his eyes. He looked at me, then back at my father, his face twisted in a mask of pure disgust.

"Send me back to the black market, Alpha. Please."

Dad's face darkened like a storm cloud, his Alpha aura pressing against the room like a physical weight."Insolent brat! The Midnight Frost pack doesn't negotiate with slaves!"

His Alpha's dominance rolled over everyone present, but Julian barely flinched. That kind of resistance to an Alpha's command? It meant his bloodline was stronger than Dad wanted to admit.

Julian flicked a glance my way, and I caught his scent shift—disgust mixed with something else. Pity? His voice hardened, but underneath I heard his wolf's reluctance. "I'm not defying you, Alpha. But I'm damaged goods—my wolf's unstable. I won't be suitable for serving Miss Madeline."

I took a deep breath, tasting the tension and testosterone flooding the air.

Yeah, I knew I wasn't Catherine material. Skinny where she was curved, brown hair where hers gleamed like spun gold. Plus, that night three years ago when rogues breached our territory during the blood moon ceremony? Catherine had been caught alone near the sacred grove, and I'd thrown myself between her and a massive rogue's claws. The bastard's strike had torn through my spine, severing something vital—my wolf.

Shy as hell, tongue-tied around other pack members, especially the Alphas. No match for her bombshell glow and natural Luna presence that had every unmated wolf sniffing around.

Last life, Jasper's wolf must have been disgusted by my weakness. No wonder he'd played me like a fool while his true nature yearned for Catherine's strength.

Catherine's wolf was clearly panicking—I could smell the spike of anxiety in her scent as she grabbed Julian's arm, yanking him up with her enhanced strength. "Julian, you can't abandon my poor sister!"

"And if you go back to the slave markets? Those silver collars will destroy what's left of your wolf. I won't let that happen!"

I watched the performance, stone-cold. That "protective sister" act had me in tears in my previous life, my human heart desperate for pack acceptance. Now? Made my stomach churn with its fakeness.

I cut in, my voice flat and emotionless—the tone of someone whose wolf had never come to soften the edges. "No need, Catherine. Julian wants out? Fine. Let him go back to whatever hellhole broke his wolf in the first place."

Dad blinked, his Alpha instincts thrown off-balance. He'd planned to assert his dominance, make Julian submit through sheer supernatural force, then "generously" allow me to keep him, making me grovel with gratitude.

Catherine froze mid-performance, her wolf's distress spiking through her scent. This sob story was designed to showcase her caring nature to Dad while highlighting my inadequacy as a packless disappointment. I'd just burned her script to ashes.

She rushed to me with supernatural speed, all fake desperate pleas. "Madeline, his wolf's just unstable from trauma! Don't send him back to those monsters!"

"The silver poisoning will kill what's left of his supernatural side!"

I met her eyes, slow and lethal, letting my human coldness show—the one advantage of being wolfless was immunity to pack emotional manipulation. "You care so much? Take both Sterling brothers. Keep them as your personal collection."

Her face flushed beet-red, her wolf's embarrassment flooding her scent. "W-what the hell are you implying?!"

But I knew the truth. Inside, her wolf was practically purring with satisfaction. The Sterling twins were premium supernatural genetics—both Alpha-bred and drop-dead gorgeous in that dangerous way that made pack females swoon. She lived for being the envy of every she-wolf in the territory. Parading a matched set of powerful brothers? She'd be the talk of every pack gathering from here to the Canadian border.

Dad stepped forward, his Alpha presence trying to intimidate me into submission. Too bad it only worked half-strength on the wolfless. "Madeline, are you serious about refusing both guards?"

I smirked, ice-sharp and human-cold. "Dead serious. I want neither broken wolf."

Both brothers' faces went slack with shock. Jasper especially—his molten gold eyes hit me with that weird recognition again, like his wolf was trying to remember something impossible. Made me wonder if somehow, some way, he retained fragments of our past life. But that was crazy. Reincarnation wasn't a werewolf thing.

Dad played the concerned father, though his wolf's irritation was bleeding through his scent. "Then who's protecting you? A wolfless Midnight Frost heir is a target for every rival pack and rogue hunter on the continent."

I fired back with the confidence of someone who'd died once and had nothing left to lose. "Let me join the pack company, Dad. Professional guards have kept the CEO alive. I don't need a broken wolf—I need competence."

Dad had no choice but to cave to his wolfless daughter's demands.

Last life, I'd been glued to Jasper's ass like a lovesick pup, clueless about the family's supernatural business empire. Ended up alone and fucked when the wolves turned on me. This time? I was grabbing the reins with both hands. Learning the company was step one to never being powerless again.

He dragged his feet, his Alpha pride wounded, but I bulldozed through his resistance. Shoved me into marketing—bottom rung, grunt work designed to break my spirit. Figured I'd bail in a week, tail between my legs like a beaten omega.

Fat chance. I went beast mode: days shadowing veteran executives, nights devouring business textbooks, and supernatural commerce law. All in, no wolf instincts to guide me—just pure human determination.

The results hit fast and brutal. Coworkers who'd sneered at the "broken Midnight Frost heir"? Now trying to kiss my ass as I closed deals they couldn't touch. Then rumors spread through the pack's business network—I was the new hotshot, the wolfless wonder who could negotiate with human corporations better than any supernatural.

I was lapping Catherine, Dad's golden heir-in-training, and her wolf was not handling it well.

She choked on that shit like silver poison.

Sabotage went into overdrive: fucked with my client files using her enhanced speed, twisted my pitches in meetings with her Luna charm, tried to turn other pack members against me with whispered lies about my "unnatural" success.

Not this fucking rodeo. I'd learned to fight dirty in my first life's death. Backed up evidence of her digital hacks, recorded her lies, nuked her manipulations with hard data—clean, brutal, and utterly human in its calculated coldness. Left her sputtering while her wolf's frustration bled through her scent.

Home that night, she blocked my path.

"Madeline's really killing it at the office, huh? Even Dad's singing your praises to the other Alphas."

Fake-sweet smile, but her eyes held that predatory gleam that made unmated wolves submit. Too bad I was immune to the pack hierarchy now.

"Marketing's such a grind, though. You look exhausted—your human stamina can't keep up. Let me sweet-talk Dad into finding you an easier position?"

I sidestepped with my awkward limp, refusing to be cornered. "Hard pass."

She tailed me with fluid wolf grace, laying on the syrupy bullshit thick enough to choke on. "I'm not trying to compete—honestly, your recent 'wins' are just dumb luck. Humans eat that underdog story up."

"But one major flop, and the Midnight Frost reputation is mud across every supernatural territory."

"Plus with that limp and no wolf? No male's ever going to want to mate you anyway."

I caught her pointed glance at the Sterling twins lurking in the shadows, their enhanced hearing picking up every cruel word.

I snorted, ice-cold and utterly unimpressed. "Scared your baby sister's gonna steal your spotlight, Catherine?"

Her practiced grin cracked like a broken mask—busted kid caught red-handed in her manipulation. Her voice spiked higher, her wolf's anger bleeding through the fake concern. "What the fuck, Madeline? I'm trying to help you!"

Crocodile tears welled up on cue. Pure Oscar bait for any watching pack members.

I laughed, the sound colder than a winter hunt. "Helping? Really?"

"You know damn well how I actually got this limp."

"You were the one cornered by those rogues during the blood moon ceremony. I threw myself between you and those claws to save your perfect ass. Then, when the pack warriors arrived, you shoved me directly into that rogue's final strike—let him tear through my spine and sever my wolf connection to cover up your own cowardice."

Her tears exploded like a burst dam, her wolf's guilt and rage creating a chaotic scent storm. "Madeline, I... I never meant for you to lose your wolf! It happened so fast—"

The Sterling twins immediately lost their shit, moving with supernatural speed to shield their precious Catherine from the "cruel" wolfless sister. "Miss Madeline, back the fuck off!" Julian snarled, his damaged wolf still responding to a distressed female.

But Jasper? Jasper glared pure daggers, his molten gold eyes blazing with protective fury. "Apologize to her! Right fucking now!"

That smug, self-righteous prick face—the same expression he'd worn while betraying me in my past life? It snapped my very last nerve.

Crack—my palm connected with his cheek hard enough to echo through the hallway.

His head snapped sideways from the force, pale skin immediately blooming angry red.

He turned back slowly, those golden eyes wide with shock and something else—hurt? Confusion?

"You..." he breathed, voice strangled.

I cut him dead with words sharp enough to slice supernatural hide. "A slave daring to order around his owner? Learn your fucking place, Jasper."

I turned and walked away with as much dignity as my limp allowed, leaving the trio stunned into absolute silence.