Elena’s POV

Stella Carter.

My half-sister. Proof of my father’s betrayal, dressed up as a blessing.

The pack adored her. Outsiders saw nobility in the tilt of her chin, beauty in her soft features, grace in the way she wept at the right time.

Three years ago, Damien paraded her like a prize, making their relationship public without warning. He even held an engagement ceremony against Elder Hayes’s objections, and overnight, she became the most envied she-wolf in the territory.

But I knew her.

Every breath she took was calculation, every tear a weapon. She was never noble. She was a predator in silk.

And now—because I had pointed at her—she knew I was coming.

Her wolf flickered for the briefest second, then smoothed beneath her perfect mask. She moved forward, all grace and composure, kneeling where I had just been and bowing her head as though she were the one begging forgiveness.

“Elder Hayes,” she said, her voice trembling in just the right places, “it was me. Elena and I share similar builds and features. There was a misunderstanding.”

Gasps rippled through the hall. Wolves whispered, tails twitching. Confusion laced the air sharp as smoke.

“But Elena’s diary was leaked years ago,” one elder muttered. “She’s been obsessed with Damien since she was barely grown.”

“Yet Damien and Stella have only been together three years,” another countered.

The tension thickened.

Stella’s eyes filled with tears, glistening prettily. She turned her face toward Damien, letting them fall like pearls.

“I had feelings for him first,” she whispered. “That diary… it was mine. My private thoughts. I don’t know who stole them.”

Her wolf scent rose sweet and sorrowful, deliberately pitched to cut deeper. Even the blush across her cheeks looked perfectly timed.

Who wouldn’t believe her?

In my first life, I hadn’t just lost this battle. I had surrendered it. My wolf had cowered, and I let them bury me under her lies.

Not this time.

I kept my tone light, almost dismissive. “Alpha Damien and Stella have been engaged for years. Of course she would help him when he was in danger. This is nothing but paparazzi twisting shadows into scandal.”

The elders shifted. Murmurs faded. Boredom seeped in. Just like that, my life became cheap entertainment again.

The taste of iron coated my tongue. Humiliation burned hotter because I remembered this exact scene—me playing safe, me defending them—and all it had ever earned me was a cage.

I stepped back. “Since the matter is clarified, I won’t disturb the pack’s discussions. Respected elders, I’ll take my leave.”

I turned, forcing my legs to move. But my wolf stiffened. A gaze clawed across my back, sharp as teeth at my throat. Damien. His aura burned, the bond dragging me toward him even as my wolf snarled to tear away.

I didn’t look back.

********

The stench of frustration met me before I even entered the servants’ wing. Margaret waited, her wolf trembling, her face drawn tight with humiliation.

She seized my arm. “Are you insane? Do you know the precious opportunity you just threw away?”

I yanked free. “What opportunity?”

“You came back last night disheveled—do you think I’m blind?” Her wolf bristled, but fear ran stronger beneath. “If you had apologized, Damien would’ve had to protect you. Public opinion would have forced him to shield you, and then—”

Her voice cracked. “Instead, you handed everything to Stella!”

Anger seared through me. My wolf growled low. “You wanted me to admit to drugging my Alpha? To confess to seducing him, stealing him from my sister? You think that would save me?”

Her wolf whined, but she pressed on. “You don’t understand! Your father died early. Your stepfather is weak. Without Damien, we have nothing! Do you want me spat on forever? Do you want me to be nothing?”

“Mom, stop.”

But she didn’t. Her eyes filled, desperate. “I can’t give your stepfather an heir. No one respects me. I have to depend on you… on Damien… on this chance!”

Bitterness burned sharp in my mouth. I spat it out cold. “Then go tell Alpha Damien yourself. Ask him to marry me. Right now.”

Her face drained of color. Her wolf cowered. She didn’t dare. No one dared provoke Damien.

The silence pressed until another thought cut through me. My wolf stiffened, ears pricking. I grabbed Margaret’s wrist.

“Do you have medicine?”

She blinked. “Medicine?”

“Emergency contraceptives,” I said quickly, my voice tight. My wolf paced, restless.

Her brows pulled. “I’m too old for that. And your stepfather—”

“Mom.” My tone snapped like claws. “The Hayes family is watching. I can’t risk this. Yesterday was a dangerous day in my cycle. Please.”

I checked the app on my phone. Red. Fertile. My stomach twisted. My wolf keened, agitated.

Aria. My daughter. My heart.

I loved her with everything in me. But I could not bring her into this cursed life again. She deserved to be born in love, not hate.

Margaret sighed. “I’ll go.”

Relief loosened my chest. “Thank you.”

But she didn’t go herself. Of course not. She whispered instructions to a servant she trusted. She never imagined others might be listening.

Later, she returned with a plain bag. “Take it quickly. If you wait too long, it won’t work.”

I opened it. The box read 48-hour contraceptives. My wolf eased a little, though unease still pricked my fur.

I pressed a pill from the foil, cold in my palm. My hand shook as I lifted it to my lips.

Once, Aria had lived here. In this body. In this womb.

Not again.

I set the pill on my tongue. Bitterness coated my mouth. For a moment I couldn’t swallow. My wolf clawed at me, keening, but I forced water down, choking it into my throat.

It burned.

Tears slipped free as I clutched my stomach. Aria, forgive me. In this life, you must be free.

Damien. You’ve stripped us both away. Again.

I turned to destroy the box, but the door slammed open, wood splintering. Guards stormed in, claws biting into my arms. Margaret yelped but didn’t stop them.

They dragged me like prey, claws bruising my arms while humiliation burned hotter than pain.

Minutes later, they hurled me onto the pack hall floor. My knees cracked against stone. Wolves ringed me, hackles raised, their disgust rolling thick through the air.

Damien’s gaze cut across me, glacial. His aura crashed down like an avalanche. My wolf whimpered under the weight, but rage kept me upright.

Stella’s sobs broke the silence.

I turned my head. She wept prettily into lace, her tears bright as jewels. But deep in her eyes—where only another wolf would notice—waited calculation.

Something clattered across the floor. A small box. Pills scattered like white teeth across stone.

Elder Hayes slammed his hand on the table, claws gouging deep. “Explain this! Now!”

My heart pounded. My wolf bristled.

“Contraceptives,” I said, steady.

Damien tilted his head, unreadable. His voice slid low, dangerous. “Contraceptives?” He stretched the word until it snapped.

I lowered my gaze—then froze.

The foil inside wasn’t the same.

The box read 48-hour contraceptives.

But the foil? Fertility enhancers.

My wolf snarled. My stomach twisted. The switch was too neat, too careful.

I lifted my eyes. Stella dabbed delicately at her cheeks, lashes wet, lips trembling.

And at the corner of her mouth, faint but unmistakable….The smallest smirk. A predator’s smile hiding in plain sight.