ALEXIA

“Whatever you do, don’t stop running, Alexia!”

I chanted the words in my head as my bare feet pounded against the forest floor. Branches scraped my skin, my lungs burned with each ragged breath, but the cold, sharp earth biting into my feet didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered—except escape.

Behind me, I could feel him—Raymond, my mate, my Alpha, my husband—closing in with every stride. The man I’d pledged my life to.

And the man who now wanted me dead.

I stumbled, catching myself just in time, my pulse thundering in my ears. I could still hear his cold words, his voice laced with the kind of contempt that cuts deeper than any wound.

“You’re nothing, Alexia. Weak. Wolfless. An embarrassment.”

Four years of this—of pretending, of hoping he’d see me as his mate, of enduring his disdain. I had given him everything, and all I’d ever been to him was a burden now, I was just an obstacle he needed to eliminate.

A twig snapped, and I froze, hand over my mouth to silence a scream. His icy presence closed in. My instincts urged me forward, but exhaustion weighed me down.

“Alexia…” His voice slithered through the darkness, calm, patient.

I clenched my fists, swallowing the sob rising in my throat. He wouldn’t let me leave, wouldn’t give me a chance to disappear.

No, he needed me gone because as long as I was alive, he could never truly be with her—the powerful she-wolf who was everything I wasn’t, the one he’d been cheating with for a year. And like he reminded me with every bruise he left, I was just a worthless mistake the moon goddess cursed him with.

My knees buckled, heart racing as he appeared through the trees, a twisted smirk pulling at his lips, “You really thought you could outrun me?” he sneered, stepping closer. “How pathetic.”

I backed up, my voice shaking. “Raymond, please. Reject me. I’ll go. You’ll never see me again. Just… please.”

He chuckled, low and merciless. “That’s the problem, Alexia. I don’t want you out there, dragging my name through the mud.” His gaze sharpened, ice-cold and lethal. “I want you gone. Permanently.”

The betrayal twisted through me, sharp and brutal, slicing away the last of my hope. “Please,” I whispered, my voice barely a breath. “Don’t do this.”

He laughed, a cruel sound that echoed through the empty forest. “You are worthless and I reject you Alexia Queen as my mate. You are nothing to me.”

The pain hit me instantly, knocking the breath from my lungs. I screamed and fell to the ground, clutching my head as the severing bond burned like fire, the mark on my neck flaring up and making me scream even louder.

Through the excruciating pain, I saw him smile just as she emerged from the shadows, walking to his side, mirroring his cruelty. I wondered why the moon goddess was so cruel and hated me enough to subject me to this fate.

His claws extended, glinting under the moonlight, “Goodbye, Alexia.”

And then, he struck, slashing across my chest.

Another wave of pain crashed over me, like a thousand needles prickling my skin. My vision blurred, and the last thing I saw was their cold, expressionless faces watching as life drained from me.

Darkness closed in, swallowing me whole. I thought it was the end, but just as my life slipped away, something pulled me back.

A strange warmth, foreign and intense, bloomed within the darkness. I tumbled through shadows, and then a surge of light filled every corner, burning brighter than anything I’d ever felt.

Then, I felt myself yanked upward, and a scream ripped from my throat as my eyes snapped open. “Please, stop!”

Strong hands pinned my shoulders, and my breath hitched as I struggled, my vision still a blur. Panic coursed through me, and I thrashed instinctively until a voice cut through the haze.

“Luna… you’re alive.” The disbelief in their voice sounded as if they were speaking to a ghost. “How… how are you alive?”

My surroundings began to take shape, sharp edges and soft colors blurring into focus. Pale hospital walls closed in around me, and above me loomed a nurse, her eyes wide and stunned as if I were some kind of miracle.

I froze, heart racing as her words sank in. Alive? I shouldn’t be… He’d killed me. Raymond killed me.

So why was I here?

“What’s happening?” I gasped, trying to sit up, but the nurse held me down.

“Luna, please stay still,” she urged gently. “I have to inform the Alpha that you’re alive.”

I grabbed her wrist, eyes wild. “No! You can’t tell Raymond I’m alive. He’ll try to kill me again. Help me get out of here.”

Her confusion deepened, a frown forming. “I’m sorry, Luna, but I don’t know who Raymond is. I must inform the Lycan King that you’re awake.”

Her words felt like ice splintering through me.

Lycan King?

I stared at her, feeling the ground shift beneath me. “The Lycan King?” I whispered, “I don’t… understand.”

My gaze drifted to the small mirror by the bed, and I froze. The woman staring back had longer, darker hair and unfamiliar, sharper features—regal, as if she carried authority. My hands shook as I raised them to my face, touching my skin in disbelief.

The reflection mimicked my every move. This… this wasn’t me.

“Luna?” The nurse’s voice pulled me back, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from the stranger in the mirror.

“What…” My voice trembled, barely holding together. “What’s happening? Who am I?”

“You’re Luna Courtney Stone,” she replied, the words coming as if they were the most obvious truth in the world.

The room began to spin and then, like a final blow that shattered any sense of reality, she added, “The Lycan King’s mate and you… died yesterday.”

ALEXIA

I had a heart attack after the absurdity of what had happened crashed in, and the nurse told me I’d slipped into unconsciousness for another three days.

Even now, my mind struggled to process the impossible reality. People didn’t just die and wake up in someone else’s body, yet here I was, inhabiting the life of another—Courtney, the Luna of the most dangerous man in our world.

Nicholas Stone.

And now, I was about to face him.

I had heard rumors of how brutal he was but because I was regarded as a nobody despite my position, I had never gone close to association with someone so above the ranks.

Even worse, I had to pretend to be his Luna—returned from the dead, carrying the ghost of a child that had died with her.

The air stilled suddenly, an icy weight pressing down on the room. Every hair on my body stood as the door opened behind me, and I felt his presence like a physical force, radiating raw, intimidating power.

Then his voice broke through the silence, low and cold. “You’re really that selfish that you couldn’t just stay dead and let him live instead?”

What?

I turned slowly, my heart pounding, and couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped my lips.

Silver eyes met mine, cold and unyielding, owned by the most dangerously beautiful man I’d ever seen. The briefest flicker of annoyance crossed his face at my silence, then his lips curled with irritation.

“Did something on my face become more intriguing because you died?”

I swallowed, quickly looking away, only to feel a strange pull to glance back. Get it together, I reminded myself as I forced out, “I apologize, Lycan King Nicholas. I didn’t mean to stare.”

His eyes narrowed, but a fleeting glint of surprise passed through them—a flicker of recognition that something was… off. He didn’t press it, though. Instead, he moved past me to take his seat behind the massive desk, exuding an air of absolute command. “I informed your parents that you’ve returned… unfortunately. You’ll be escorted to their home once you leave here. Do you have anything you wish to say to me?”

The pieces were difficult to put together with me still trying to process reality but from what I could understand right here, from his first words and how detached he spoke, Nicholas did not like Courtney who I was now inhabiting.

I lowered my gaze. “No, Lycan King.” My voice sounded too shaky, and his brow arched. I quickly corrected, “I meant… Nicholas.”

He watched me, his expression unreadable, then gave a slight nod. “You’re dismissed. Inform your father that I am rescheduling our meeting.”

I exhaled, tension loosening just slightly as I turned, eager to escape the suffocating room with heart racing because now I had to pretend like I was Courtney in front of her whole family. There was no way I was going to pull that off. Someone was going to find out and death was awaiting me yet again.

Just as I reached the door, his voice cut through the air again, colder than before. “The doctors informed me that other than the fact that you were a little dazed when you woke up, physically there was nothing wrong and you had your memory intact.”

I froze. I could feel him rise from his chair, his footsteps slow and deliberate as he moved closer. “Turn around.”

I sucked in a shaky breath and turned to meet his gaze, feeling as if I were about to be torn apart under the weight of his scrutiny, “Before you go, I have one question for you.”

A shiver ran down my spine, and I tried to keep my breathing steady. I forced myself to nod. “Yes?”

His lip curled in a mockery of a smile, his tone dripping with cruelty. “I’m hosting a gathering tomorrow evening. Do you think you’ll be strong enough to attend?”

I let out a breath I didn’t think I was holding and nodded quickly forcing out a smile,“Of course. I’m sure I’ll be well-rested by then.”

He tilted his head, watching me with an intensity that made my skin crawl. “You and I… have quite the story of how we ended up together. I usually enjoy hearing you recount it.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but he continued before I could get a word out. “Don’t worry. Given your recent… ordeal, I’ll tell it this time.” His eyes narrowed slightly, and his voice lowered, as though recounting something distasteful. “You and I met in a bar and you ended up in my hotel room and well,” He looked down at my stomach, “that night our little one was conceived.”

The mockery in his tone made my chest tighten, but I forced myself to keep my face impassive. He leaned closer, his gaze chilling. “Of course, I later found out it was a setup—a scheme between you and your father to trap me. And you succeeded.” His eyes darkened, a storm of rage flickering beneath the icy calm. “I was blackmailed into marriage, eventually I realized you were nothing more than a conniving snake. If it weren’t for the child, I would have had you out of my life long ago.”

A heartbeat passed, then another, as I processed the venomous hatred in his words. But then, faster than I could react, his hand shot out, wrapping around my throat in an iron grip. I gasped, instinctively clawing at his hand, but he only tightened his hold, his eyes filled with dark, unforgiving rage.

“Courtney,” he hissed, his voice colder than death itself. “ would have known I would never be caught dead in the same room as her father and I would never host a party. You aren’t her.”

His gaze bored into mine, cruel and unrelenting as he squeezed harder. “You have three seconds to tell me who you are before I rip your head from your body.”

ALEXIA

My lungs screamed for air, and my heart pounded so hard I thought it would burst. With the last ounce of strength I could muster, I screamed, “My name is Alexia Queen, and my mate murdered me! Please don’t kill me!”

In an instant, his hands retreated, and I crumpled to the ground, gasping for air. His voice was a deadly whisper, calm yet unforgiving. “You have three minutes to explain yourself. Start talking.”

Blinking back tears, I forced myself to meet his gaze. The cold, unyielding stare of the Lycan King seemed to pierce through my very soul. I scrambled to my feet, struggling to steady my voice. “I don’t know how this happened. I swear, I don’t. I died… my mate killed me because he wanted to be with someone else. And then… I woke up in your Luna’s body. I promise, I’m not lying.” Tears traced down my cheeks. “I shouldn’t be alive. I don’t know how I am, or why I am in her body.”

His expression remained chillingly unreadable. “Why did he mate with you in the first place? Why not just reject you if he wanted someone else?”

A pang of shame twisted inside me as I looked down. “I was an omega. Worse, I was born without a wolf. I couldn’t shift—I was weak, useless. That’s what he always told me.” My voice broke. “I was predestined to be his, and the pack forced him to mate with me. He… despised me for it.”

King Nicholas continued to stare, his gaze dark and calculating. He processed the information, but his face was as cold as stone, betraying nothing. “What’s the name of this Alpha?”

For a moment, I hesitated. The Lycan King was known for his ruthlessness, his reputation steeped in blood and fear so I didn’t know how it would end for Raymond but then his voice echoed in my mind, the insults he’d spat at me: “Worthless. Useless. Pathetic.”

The memory stirred something in me, and the name came out, “Raymond Kingston.”

Recognition flickered in Nicholas’s eyes, and he moved back toward his desk, his stride measured and unhurried. He took a seat, his gaze lingering on me—or rather, on the body I now occupied—as if assessing every inch. My hands trembled, my heart pounding with the raw awareness that this man held my life in his hands. He could choose to believe me, or he could kill me for speaking of things that should be impossible.

He finally broke the silence, his tone matter-of-fact. “I met Raymond once last year. He leads a powerful pack. I was made to believe his Luna died four years ago.”

An unexpected ache flared in my chest, and I whispered, “He mated with me four years ago.”

A look of grim understanding crossed Nicholas’s face. Raymond had been telling people I was dead from the beginning, burying his shame with lies, even before he murdered me. He hated me for things beyond my control. I hadn’t chosen to be born an omega or to lose my parents in a fire as a child. I hadn’t asked to be born wolfless or to be bound to him.

“Sit down,” Nicholas commanded.

The force of his words echoed in my mind, and I found myself obeying, lowering shakily into a chair. Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating, until I managed to ask, “What… what are you going to do to me?”

He ignored my question entirely. “Raymond has made the world believe you’re dead, and now, by some twisted irony, the world believes that my Luna, Courtney,” he said her name with an edge of distaste, “has returned to life.”

I blinked, confused by his words. Why was he stating the obvious? But then a faint, almost mocking smile played on his lips.

“I believe we can help each other, Alexia.”

The way he said my name sent a shiver down my spine. I swallowed. “How? I don’t understand.”

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sharpening. “Courtney’s father is a powerful man. It wasn’t just a child he used to bind me to this marriage; he has leverage—a single mistake I made long ago. It’s the only reason I haven’t killed him.”

I stared at him, still grappling with his meaning, but he continued with unnerving calmness. “You are Alexia, but unfortunately, you look like Courtney. I can teach you to become her, and in doing so, you’ll become the key to my revenge against her family then—“

My heart raced as his plan unfolded. “I—”

He cut me off coldly, “I don’t like interruptions.”

I bit back my words, nodding quickly. He continued, his eyes holding me captive. “You’ll help me dismantle her family from the inside.”

The intensity in his stare was unsettling, but I managed to ask, “Why do you believe me so easily?”

“Because I have encountered things far stranger than a dead woman’s spirit awakening in my wife’s body.” His voice was a mixture of indifference and conviction, as if the supernatural was a mere inconvenience to him. “You’ll help me bring her father to his knees, and in exchange, I’ll ensure that everyone who has wronged you since the moment you took your first breath pays—starting with Raymond.”

The gravity of his offer hit me hard. Nicholas had the power to make Raymond and his new mate pay for what they did.

Revenge—it was within reach.

All I had to do was become the very woman who had owned this body before me, a woman I knew nothing about, and yet, whom I was now condemned to resemble.

Did I want that?

Did I want to become someone I would have despised in order to take vengeance?

The silence between us felt like an eternity, his gaze unrelenting, until he spoke once more, his voice cold and final. “Do we have a deal, Alexia?”