Elena’s POV

The marble was cold beneath my knees.

For one wild heartbeat, I thought I was still burning. Still trapped inside the blaze I had lit for Aria. My chest heaved, my throat clawing for air, but no smoke filled my lungs.

Gasps rippled through the hall. Wolves shifted where they stood, their scents turning sharp with shock. I blinked at the polished floor, lifted my hand…and froze.

Not my hand… But Aria’s.

My heart slammed against my ribs. I pinched the skin of my arm hard enough to bruise. Pain shot through me, precise and immediate.

Real tears stung my eyes.

I was not dreaming.

I was really here.

In her body.

Alive when I should have been ash.

“What are you crying for?”

The voice lashed across me like a whip.

Elder Hayes sat at the head of the long table, his white beard spilling over his robes, his wolf-bright eyes gleaming beneath heavy brows. His aura rolled through the chamber, metallic and oppressive, pressing against my skin until Zela shrank low inside my chest.

“The Hayes family does not tolerate weakness,” he snarled.

My wolf trembled, ears pinned, tail tucked. Instinct screamed at me to bow.

So I did.

Just enough to hide the fire rising behind my ribs.

Whispers slithered through the room, laced with low growls and mocking scents.

“Didn’t she drug the Alpha heir? Shameless stray. The whole territory is laughing.”

“Not Hayes blood. Just some mistake of a girl clinging where she does not belong.”

Each word hurts more than it should.

My mother stood at the back of the hall, pale and shaking.

Margaret.

Her wolf had shrunk so far inward I could barely scent it. She bit at her lip until the skin turned raw, but she did not move.

She never moved.

Shame pressed hard against me.

Pressing.

Pressing.

Until it nearly broke through.

In my first life, I had let it crush me. I had bent, apologized, cowered, until their lies buried me alive. Until a pregnancy tied me to Damien in hatred. Until humiliation became my second skin.

Not this time.

A stir moved through the chamber.

Footsteps.

It was calm but measured. Soft against the floor.

But the air shifted before the sound reached me. Wolves straightened instinctively, spines going rigid, heads lowering before the source of that pressure even came into view.

The Alpha had arrived.

His scent hit first.

Raw earth laced with smoke, strong enough to sting my throat.

The mate bond snapped taut inside me like a leash, yanking my wolf forward against her will. She snarled and clawed at my chest from the inside, but the pull burned through both of us.

Damien walked past without sparing me a glance.

His aura swept through the hall like a storm wind, lifting the tiny hairs on my arms. Wolves bowed their heads lower as he passed.

He sat beside his grandfather with effortless ease, the jade ring on his finger catching the torchlight in a flash that looked almost blood-red. His eyes stayed ahead, cold, sharp, unreadable.

He didn’t even look at me.

But I could not stop looking at him.

My chest tightened as memory struck.

Aria’s lifeless hand in mine.

The silver glow of the ritual circle.

Damien’s choice when she needed him most.

Aria’s plea for vengeance before I was reborn.

The taste of blood filled my mouth.

Rage curled through me, dark and scorching.

He turned the ring slowly, as though he felt my stare.

Then his eyes lifted.

Black and deep amber locked onto mine.

The bond seared between us, dragging me forward, forcing my wolf lower even as she bristled in protest.

For one heartbeat, the hall disappeared.

There was only him.

And me.

Then delicate hands slid over his shoulders.

Stella Carter.

Her cheeks were pink, her lashes wet with pretty tears. She leaned close, fragile and trembling, her scent wrapped in sweetness and grief. She pressed herself against Damien as if she belonged there, as if she always had.

And just like that, his gaze passed over me.

Gone.

As though I had never existed.

My nails bit crescents into my palms. My wolf snarled inside me, but outwardly I stayed still.

Silent.

Elder Hayes set his teacup down with a sharp click.

His gaze cut into me like ice.

“Enough of this nonsense. Haven’t we embarrassed ourselves long enough?” His voice sliced through the chamber. “Elena.”

The name hit like a slap.

“You and your mother have fed on Hayes scraps for years. And this is how you repay us? Admit what you’ve done. Apologize to your Alpha King.”

The command hit like a leash.

My wolf shrank under it, tail tucked. My mother stumbled forward, panic pouring off her scent.

“Elena, please,” she whispered harshly, grabbing my arm. Her voice cracked. “Just apologize. It will be over. Don’t make it worse.”

Her fear wrapped around me, tight and suffocating.

Once, it would have broken me.

Once, I would have bowed.

Not this time.

I straightened slowly, locking my spine, squaring my shoulders.

My wolf rose with me.

Snarling.

Daring.

The pack shifted uneasily. A stray had no right to stand tall beneath an Alpha’s weight.

But I did.

I met Damien’s gaze directly.

His eyes narrowed, sharp and watchful, waiting for me to fall.

Instead, I gave a low, soft laugh that cut like a blade.

“Why should I apologize?”

The hall went still.

Elder Hayes surged to his feet, dark tea spilling across the table. His wolf’s power crashed over me, crushing the air from my lungs, heavy as chains. My wolf snarled back, defiant, and for once I let her.

I did not force her down.

“I didn’t drug anyone,” I said clearly. “Why should I apologize for a lie? The photo is blurred. It could be anyone. Did anyone actually see me climb into his bed? Did Alpha Damien confirm it was me? If he was conscious, how could he be tricked? If he wasn’t, who can prove it was me?”

The silence that followed was jagged.

Wolves shifted uneasily. Glances slid toward Damien.

The logic cut through the chamber like claws through silk.

Unless Damien himself admitted it, the woman in that photo could have been anyone.

And Damien…desperate to protect Stella…

would never admit it.

His jaw tightened.

His eyes narrowed with dangerous intent.

The jade ring flashed as his hand curled into a fist.

Finally, his voice cut through the tension, low and controlled, carrying a deadly edge.

“What are you calling me, Elena?” he asked. “Are you saying I lie?”

The hall froze.

Wolves shifted with claws half-bared and ears pinned back. Even Elder Hayes went still.

My wolf crouched low inside me, trembling beneath the pressure, but rage kept my spine straight. My lips curled before I could stop them.

“If the story isn’t true,” I said softly, “then what else should I call it?”

Gasps burst through the room. Shock vibrated in the air.

To question an Alpha…

to even brush against the word liar…

was a death wish.

My mother’s hands flew to her mouth.

Stella’s eyes widened, her tears faltering for the first time.

Damien’s jaw flexed.

His aura slammed down harder, suffocating, dragging my wolf toward the floor. For one dizzy second my vision blurred.

But I refused to kneel.

Then, slowly, his lips curved.

Not a smile,but a darker look clouded his face.

“Careful,” he murmured.

The word was quiet, but it had teeth.

“You tread a very thin line.”

I swallowed.

My wolf keened under the pressure, and my voice came out rough when I forced the words free.

“I spoke rashly, Alpha Damien.”

The room exhaled as one.

Wolves lowered their gazes at once, tails tucking. The danger eased…

but only slightly.

Even seated, Damien radiated the calm of a predator. His long fingers turned the ring again and again, as if he were already deciding how best to gut me.

Elder Hayes slammed his palm against the table, his growl vibrating through the wood.

“Then who do you claim it was?”

I drew in a slow breath.

My wolf pushed hard beneath my skin, urging claws, urging blood. I curled my fists tighter and forced myself still.

Then I lifted my hand and pointed across the hall.

“Her.”

Stella Carter.

Her sob died in her throat.

For one brief second, her mask slipped. Her scent spiked with fear, sharp and sour beneath all that sweetness.

Then she smoothed it away.

Gasps broke through the hall as wolves leaned forward, hungry for scandal, their eyes darting between us.

A cold smile touched my mouth.

In my first life, Stella’s lies had buried me alive.

This time, I would bury her instead.