Chapter 1

I was Allison, the adopted daughter of Alpha Robert of the Silver Creek Pack.

To let his biological daughter marry the man she loved, the entire family forced me to take her place in an arranged marriage.

I was to marry her notorious, ruthless fiancé—Alpha Victor of the Crimson Pack.

Just as Alpha Robert asked for my consent, a voice that did not belong to this world echoed in my head.

[Mom, say yes! Hurry! If you hesitate any longer, Sophia wins—just like in your past life.]

[You think you’re walking into hell, but it’s heaven. Victor is my real father!]

[That gentle, sweet lover of yours is a complete hypocrite. He’s only marrying Sophia to seize control of the Silver Creek Pack!]

[Say yes! Otherwise, tonight, he’ll stage an accident and drown the two of us in the river!]

My head snapped up, my eyes locking onto the man rumored to be heartless and cruel.

I stood under the blinding lights of the Mate Ceremony, Alpha Robert’s voice ringing in my ears.

"Allison, do you accept Victor as your mate and Alpha?"

Did I?

My hand drifted to my lower belly, where a three-month-old life was quietly growing.

To keep anyone from finding out, I had been drinking wolfsbane blends bought off the black market every single day to suppress my pregnancy scent. It tasted foul and nauseating, but compared to the consequences of being discovered, the bitterness was nothing.

For the sake of my child, I had to refuse.

I couldn't marry a tyrant like Victor and ruin both our lives.

Below the dais, Liam, my gentle lover, looked at me with heartbreak in his eyes.

Beside him stood Sophia, my sister in name, clinging affectionately to his arm with the smug grin of a victor.

I took a deep breath, ready to utter that final "No."

[Mom! Are you out of your mind? Say yes!]

A strange voice resonated in my mind—deep, calm, and composed. It didn’t sound like an infant; it sounded like a dormant beast.

I froze, instinctively glancing around.

Who was speaking?

[Stop looking around. It's me. The wolf in your belly. Your son's wolf. I came back from the future.]

[Don't tell me you still want to ruin your life for that scumbag? That’s how you died in your past life! Just this morning, he was hooking up with Sophia in the lounge, saying that once you marry that devil Victor, you'll be driven insane within three months. Then he’d play the hero, swoop in, and get rid of both you and the pup in your belly!]

What?

My mind went blank. It felt as though an icy hand had gripped my heart, choking the air from my lungs.

Liam... wanted to get rid of me and my baby?

Impossible. He loved me so much. He had promised he would wait for me, that he would find a way to rescue me from this nightmare.

[Wake up! I saw everything he did to you in our past life. If he loved you, would he knock Sophia up? Would he let you take her place and marry Victor?]

[Oh, by the way, the pup in Sophia's belly isn't even his. It's Ethan's. This family is twisted beyond belief.]

My head snapped up, my gaze locking onto the "golden couple" in the audience.

Sophia was pregnant, too. That pregnancy was how she had secured her engagement to Liam.

And I—the adopted daughter who had occupied a place that wasn't mine for eighteen years—was packed off by Alpha Robert as a sacrificial peace offering to the Crimson Pack.

[The pup in her belly belongs to Ethan, your dear foster brother. A sister carrying her brother’s baby while marrying an outside stud. What a sick family dynamic.]

The sheer amount of information nearly caused my brain to shut down.

How was this possible? This was insane!

[It gets crazier. You think you’re walking into hell, but it’s heaven. Victor, the man standing right in front of you—he loves you. I don't know why, but it's the absolute truth. In our past life, after we died, he was the one who avenged us.]

[Say yes, quickly! If you stall any longer, Liam will trigger Plan B. He’s already set it up. Tonight, he’ll stage an accident to drown you and me in the river. That way, he collects compensation from the Crimson Pack and smoothly takes over Silver Creek. Talk about killing three birds with one stone.]

A chill shot from the soles of my feet straight to my skull.

The blood in my veins ran cold.

The deep love I had believed in was nothing more than an elaborate death trap.

And the abyss I feared was actually my only lifeline.

Seeing my hesitation, Alpha Robert repeated, "Allison, do you accept Victor as your mate?"

Victor's features were carved like ice, devoid of emotion. Yet, deep within those endless dark eyes, I caught a flicker of... nervousness?

"If you don't want to, you can leave right now," Victor said quietly.

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

Liam’s fists clenched instantly, and the smug smile on Sophia’s face froze.

I saw Liam mouth the words to me: *Allison, don't be afraid. Reject him.*

[Mom! Don't buy his crap! If you walk out that door today, they'll be pulling our corpses out of the river tomorrow! He’s banking on you not daring to reject the marriage publicly, so he's putting on this act!]

I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, all the despair and agony had turned into razor-sharp hatred.

I looked up, meeting Victor's gaze. Then, under the stunned eyes of everyone present, I pronounced each word clearly:

"I do."