Chapter 1

On a full-moon night in my past life,my best friend and I found a badly injured wolf in the junkyard behind town.

Chloe thought the wolf was filthy and refused to touch him.

I couldn't bear to leave him,so I carried him home.

I spent all my savings to treat his wounds.

Only later did I discover who he was.

He was the Pureblood Alpha King,missing for years.

Once he regained his senses,he put me on a pedestal.

He gave me his claiming bite,blessing me with eternal youth,and made me queen of all the packs.

We sealed our soul-bond before the Moon Goddess.

Chloe chose an Alpha officer from the pack.

He lost a power struggle and was cast out.

She suffered with him in exile for half her life.

She envied me for having everything.

While the Alpha King was away,she killed me with a cup of poisoned wine.

I was reborn.

Before I could clock out of work,my best friend sprinted toward the junkyard.

I knew.

She remembered everything too.

I clocked out,feeling only scorn.

She didn't know about the Pureblood King's frenzy.

He tore apart anything in sight.

In my last life,I only survived because of my calming pheromones.

Without them,he would have devoured me...

Before she left,Chloe glanced back at me.

Her delight and greed were impossible to miss.

She looked terrified I'd beat her to it.

That confirmed my suspicions.

She was reborn,too.

I didn't follow her.

I counted the stock on the shelves.

My work uniform was folded and hung in my locker.

Then I punched out.

Memories of my death came back.

Chloe tricked me into drinking the poisoned wine.

The dizziness came quickly.

She grabbed my hair and dragged me into the cold cellar.

In the dark,she punched me in the nose.

"Evelyn,I've always hated your stuck-up act!You smell like sewer water.Why should you have a better life?!"

She kicked me in the stomach.

I screamed as I felt my bones crack.

"You found some mutt in a junkyard.And you're the high and mighty queen?No way!All the luck,all the riches—they should have been mine!"

The she-wolf lunged.

Her teeth tore out my throat.

That pain never left me.

It was branded on my soul.

Thinking of it made my body tremble.

Hate tightened around my heart.

Chloe thought stealing the Alpha King would give her my former glory.

But she had no idea how terrifying a Pureblood Alpha's rut was.

Without a specific Omega's calming pheromones,the Alpha King became a killing beast.

Even I needed days to recover.

Eventually,I couldn't stand it.

But the Alpha King locked me up and called it love.

To outsiders,it looked like proof of his deep love for me.

Chloe was an ordinary Beta.

Getting close to him was a death wish.

I pushed the thought away,pulled my coat tighter around me,and walked home through the snow.

Four days later at dawn,the roar of engines shattered the town's peace.

A dozen armored vehicles rolled down the town's main street.

The doors flew open.

Armed guards quickly fell into formation.

A tall,stern-faced man stepped out of a vehicle.

Holt.The Alpha King.

Chloe,dressed in lavish furs,took his hand and stepped out.

She held her chin high and looked over the crowd.

Holt wrapped an arm around her waist and announced to the crowd,

"From this day on,she is my fated mate.The future queen of the pack."

The crowd gasped.

Chloe basked in their awe.

Her eyes found me in the crowd.

She walked over to me in her high heels.

"Evelyn,we're in two different worlds now."

She lowered her voice,her tone full of pride.

"But the way you look at my mate makes me uncomfortable..."

I looked at her and said nothing.

Chloe gave a nasty smile.

She raised her voice for everyone to hear.

"You live in one of the pack's high-end apartments,don't you?As of today,Evelyn's housing rights are revoked!Throw her out and dump her in the North District slums!"

The North District slums had no heating.

At night,the temperature dropped to twenty degrees below zero.

The people around me fell silent.

But no one dared to speak.

Holt frowned but didn't stop her.

Two guards moved to restrain me.

I didn't resist.

As I handed over my key,I said to Chloe,

"Congratulations.You got what you wanted."

My words pleased her.

She laughed.

"Remember this.Next time you see me,you'd better be on your knees."

Holt stood by the car,checking his watch.

"Sweetheart,it's time to go.The pack elders are waiting."

Chloe's face softened.

She trotted over and threw herself into Holt's arms.

As the convoy sped off,snow spraying in its wake,the townspeople pointed and whispered.

Pretending not to hear them,I dragged my suitcase toward the North District.

The slums reeked of garbage and sewage.

I pushed open the broken wooden door of my assigned room.

There wasn't even a bed inside.

Just a pile of moldy hay.

A cold wind howled through a hole in the window.

I barely felt the cold.

The fire inside me kept me warm.

I closed my eyes.

The corners of my mouth slowly curved into a smile.

Chloe only smelled of cheap perfume.

The moment Holt's frenzy hit...

She'll learn what it means to wish she were dead.