My fated mate, Alpha Caleb, finally returned from the borders after a full year.

But he didn't come back alone. He brought a fragile Omega named Selene, announcing she was carrying his pup, and ordered me to serve her.

When I resisted, he used his Alpha Command to force me to my knees.

To please his mistress, he sent my brother on a suicide mission, ordered his guards to shatter my arm with a silver rod, and humiliated my father until he threw himself onto the castle spears.

When rogues breached our estate and took Selene hostage, Caleb didn't hesitate.

"Take her. She is the Luna. A far more valuable piece of collateral."

He shoved me right into the rogue's chest to save his mistress.

A silver sword pierced straight through my heart.

As I lay dying in a pool of my own blood, I didn't understand.

We had grown up together. He had sworn under the moonlight to protect me and my family forever.

Why did he destroy everything I loved for a manipulative Omega? Why did he trade my life so easily?

Opening my eyes again, the burning fever of my first Shift washed over me.

I was back five years in the past, on the very day Caleb came to my room to solidify our bond.

This time, I looked at the monster who ruined my life and spoke the sacred words of Rejection.

Chapter 1

Elara POV

The heavy velvet curtains of my bedchamber were drawn back, letting in the pale light of the misty morning. The faint scent of pine and rain—Caleb's scent—still clung to the embroidered pillows, a ghost of a promise that now made my stomach turn.

I sat by the window, guiding a silver needle through embroidery.

The heavy gates of the Silver Moon Pack creaked open in the distance.

Faye, my loyal maid, burst into the room. "My Lady! Alpha Caleb has returned from the southern forests!"

A year. A full year since my mate left to hunt the savage rogues.

In my sudden joy, the silver needle slipped. A drop of dark red blood welled on my finger. The silver burned faintly—a sharp sting I remembered from the life before.

Faye did not smile. Her eyes darted to the floor. "The Alpha's carriage… he did not return alone. He brought an Omega female."

The fine hairs on my neck stood erect. I ran down the grand spiral staircase.

The scent of pine and rain hit me first. But beneath it was something sickeningly sweet—like lilies left to fester in stagnant water, laced with a cloying sweetness that dulled the senses.

Caleb stepped into the dim hall, his dark leather coat adorned with silver buckles. But his strong arms were not reaching for me. He was tenderly carrying a fragile woman with pale skin and tearful eyes.

"Caleb?" My voice cracked.

His golden eyes, usually warm, were empty. A faint, unnatural haze clouded his pupils—something I had not noticed in my first life, but now I saw it.

"Elara, this is Selene. She saved my life. She is also carrying my pup."

The words crashed over me like a freezing wave. My inner wolf whined. The Mate bond—that sacred silver thread—strained and frayed.

We had grown up together. Sworn under the full moon to have only each other.

"As Luna, it is your duty to prepare a room for her in the main wing."

A Luna was the Alpha's equal. But he was ordering me to serve his mistress.

Selene stepped forward, a sickly sweet smile on her lips. She grabbed my hand. "Thank you, Luna Elara."

Her scent of rotting lilies overwhelmed me. Beneath it, a faint bitter undertone—crushed herbs that did not belong to any Omega's natural scent.

My wolf snarled. I yanked my hand away. My fingers barely grazed hers, yet Selene recoiled with a theatrical gasp, collapsing to the stone floor in pathetic sobs.

"Selene!" Caleb roared. He dropped beside her, eyes flashing red. "Submit!"

The Alpha's Command hit me like a physical blow. My knees cracked against the stone. I could not move, could not breathe.

"You dare use your Vance arrogance against a pregnant woman? I strip you of your Luna duties. Confined to your quarters!"

He picked Selene up and walked away, leaving me kneeling in the cold hall.

For the next week, he spent every night in her room.

Caleb, please talk to me, I cried through the Mind-link.

Leave me alone, Elara.

On the eighth day, Faye came weeping. "The Alpha has ordered your brother, Gamma Kael, to lead the Vanguard into the deadly southern swamps."

A suicide mission.

I ran into the pouring rain, found Caleb in the courtyard. The muddy water saturated my velvet dress as I fell to my knees.

"Please! Do not send Kael!"

Caleb looked down with disgust. Selene stood under the stable roof, wrapped in his warm cloak.

"Apologize to Selene. Then I will consider it."

I crawled through the mud. "I am sorry, Selene."

She giggled. "Oh, Luna. You are too late. Gamma Kael rode out half an hour ago."

A violent spasm seized my stomach. Caleb turned his back and walked away with her, leaving me screaming my brother's name into the storm. Something inside my wolf broke.

Elara POV

The storm raged for three days. I spent every waking moment on my knees, praying.

Caleb visited on the fourth night, smelling of wine and Selene's sickening floral scent. There was no love in his eyes, only a dark, twisted need. He threw me on the bed, tearing at my clothes. The Mate bond pulsed weakly—a dying ember. I endured, tears soaking the pillows.

A knock echoed. "Alpha! Lady Selene's pup is restless!"

Caleb stopped and rushed out without a word.

Three days later, I walked into the rose garden. Selene sat on a stone bench, wearing a low-cut dress. On the juncture of her neck and shoulder was a fresh, deep bite mark. The Marking. My mate had marked another woman.

That afternoon, Caleb kicked my door open with two massive Warriors. "Grab her!"

"Her hands are a ruin of blisters," he hissed, kneeling beside me. "She claims you served her tea laced with silver."

Silver—the deadliest weapon against our kind. It burned flesh, poisoned blood, stopped healing.

"I did not! I have not left this wing!"

"You are jealous. Break her right arm."

"No! Caleb, please!"

One Warrior pinned me down. The other drew a heavy iron rod gleaming with silver plating. It came crashing down. The sound of my own bones snapping echoed through the room. A raw, bloody scream tore from my throat as silver burned into my shattered bones, sending agonizing fire through my chest.

Caleb watched blankly, then walked out.

I lay in my own vomit, convulsing.

Faye rushed in, her hands covered in mud and blood. "A messenger arrived from the south. Gamma Kael's unit was ambushed by rogues. He is dead. They said the wild wolves tore him apart. No bones left to bring home."

My brother. Dead. Eaten. Gone. I coughed dark crimson blood. My wolf let out a long, mournful howl of pure despair.

My vision faded to black.

Elara POV

Seven days of darkness and fever. The silver poison was a living fire in my veins. I felt a faint dormant power—lunar magic in my Vance blood—flicker against it, but my body was too frail.

Caleb threw grand bonfire parties to celebrate Selene's pregnancy. My right arm hung useless, twisted and swollen. The bones had fused wrong. He had ordered the Healers to stay away. My arm was crippled forever.

On the eighth morning, my father walked in—the Beta, once tall and proud, now a broken old man. He knelt and bowed his head.

"Father! What are you doing?"

"Your mother… the news of Kael's death broke her heart. She is coughing blood. The Healers say she will not survive the night."

My mother was dying. I remembered the Moon Grass—a legendary herb in Caleb's vault that could cure any illness.

"I will get it. I will save her."

I ran to Caleb's study. The heavy mahogany door was ajar. Through the crack, I saw Caleb pressing Selene against his desk, his clothes half-torn. They were making love right next to the vault that held my mother's only hope.

When they finished, I pushed the door open and fell to my knees at his boots, slamming my forehead against the floor until the skin split.

"Please, Alpha. Give me the Moon Grass. My mother is dying."

Caleb looked down with annoyance. "The Healers said Selene needs it to strengthen the pup. You cannot have it."

"Caleb, darling, come back to bed," Selene called.

I lunged forward with my good left hand, grabbing his coat. "I will give you the Luna title! I will step down! I will reject you! Just save my mother!"

The word 'reject' hung in the air like a curse. A dark growl ripped from his throat. He grabbed a small wooden box and smashed it onto the floor next to me.

"Take your pathetic grass. You are stripped of your noble status. Move to the Omega servant quarters immediately!"

I scrabbled at the splintered wood, gathered the scattered stems, and pressed them into my father's trembling hands. "Take it to her. Go!"

He begged me to leave the pack with him. I couldn't. My mother's frail cough echoed in my memory.

I moved into the damp, freezing basement of the Omega quarters. For days, I scrubbed floors and washed clothes, teaching myself to work with my clumsy left hand. The other Omegas avoided me—the fallen Luna.

One evening, I cornered two whispering servants. "Tell me!"

The younger one burst into tears. "Lady Selene fainted the day you took the medicine. The Alpha sent warriors to retrieve the Moon Grass from your father. He fought back… they broke both his legs. Your mother… she passed away that same night."

The bucket slipped from my left hand. My mother was dead. My father was crippled.

I ran out into the freezing rain, through the dark streets, until I reached the wrought-iron gates of the Vance family estate. Dark and empty. I fell to my knees in the mud, coughing violently. Blood splattered onto the iron gates as the world went black.