Chapter 3

I buried the sarcasm and hatred deep in my chest, letting my wolf swallow them down. Then I thanked Evander in a calm, even voice.

Evander turned his head, his sharp profile catching the streetlight. His eyes swept over my blood-soaked jeans and my shaking hands. His jaw tightened, barely noticeable, but I saw it.

"No need to thank me," he said, his voice low. "You're pack. If you need anything, you can call me.

"You saved my grandpa. He told me to take care of you. I don't break promises to him."

Evander's words made my throat burn.

In my previous life, I saved Andrew Thornton when he collapsed from a heart attack. He was the former Alpha of the Thornton pack, the kind of wolf the Warrens and Norths would've sold their territories to impress.

Once he found out about my past, the orphanage, the neglect, the way the Warrens hid me like a shameful secret, Andrew looked at me with real concern.

He promised to set me up with someone who'd never let me be treated that way again. Someone who'd protect me. That someone was Evander.

But fate had other plans. I never married Evander in my previous life. And the peaceful future Andrew wished for me was a dream. Instead, I tasted every kind of misery this world had to offer.

But Andrew's care for me was real.

Even when he was dying, when his wolf was fading, and he could barely lift his head, he still made Evander swear to look after me.

That promise was the only reason the Warren and North packs' businesses survived later on. Evander protected them because I'd asked him to.

Even after Maggie's scandal broke, Evander never made it public and humiliated the Warrens. He did it for me.

But this time, I wouldn't let them use me again.

*****

After spending half the night hooked up to an IV at the pack hospital, I finally made it home the next morning. My legs were unsteady. My wolf was still groggy, curled up like a wounded animal.

But I never expected that when I opened the villa's front door, every single member of the Warren pack would be there. They gathered in the living room like they were waiting for a sentencing.

When Maggie saw me, she flinched as if I'd struck her. She buried her face in our mother's arms and let out a tiny, terrified whimper.

Cason stormed toward me before the door even closed behind me. His face was twisted with rage, his wolf riding close to the surface. "You worthless piece of trash. You finally came back."

His hand connected with my cheek before I could blink. My face stung. My wolf howled inside my chest, furious and wounded. I locked eyes with the man in front of me. That was my brother, my blood. I used to adore him.

Back when I was a pup at the orphanage, getting beaten by the older kids, I used to dream about having a big brother who'd show up and protect me. And then, against all odds, I actually got one.

The day the Warrens brought me home, I looked at Cason with so much hope. I thought maybe he'd be the one person who believed in me.

For a brief moment, he was. He saw the bruises on my arms and said, "Noemi, don't worry.

"With me around, nobody's ever going to hurt you again."

But the second Maggie cried? He forgot everything. He'd call me worthless, trash, a mistake. He'd hit me without a second thought, using every punishment he could dream up.

In my previous life, I spent years tormented by those scraps of affection. I kept telling myself I wasn't good enough to earn their love. That if I tried harder, bled more, broke myself smaller, then they'd see me.

But now I finally understood. They never cared about me. And honestly? That was fine.

Back at the orphanage, when the older pups cornered me in the laundry room, when a rogue tried to drag me into his truck, I used to wish someone would save me. But nobody ever showed up. Not once.

That was when I learned the only truth that mattered. I could only count on myself.

I used my teeth, my claws, a reckless, feral kind of rage. I turned myself into someone who didn't need saving. I was the only one who ever had my back.

Now, I needed to do the same thing. I should always put myself first and always fight back.

So in the very next moment, I drew my arm back and slapped Cason across the face so hard his head snapped to the side. "Who the hell do you think you are, dumbass?"

My slap landed so fast that everyone was frozen in shock, staring at me as if I'd grown a second head.

None of them ever thought that the pitiful girl who used to beg for their affection would actually hit back.

Then Maggie burst into tears. "Noemi, how could you?

"I know you hate me. I know you think I took your place, that I stole Samuel from you, the mate you were supposed to have.

"You can hit me. You can do whatever you want to me. But please, don't take it out on Cason."

Cason snapped out of his shock. His face flushed with rage, his wolf surging forward. "Maggie, don't cry over her.

"She's just trash who pulls cheap tricks like drugging innocent wolves. She's not worth your tears.

"And Noemi, you actually think you deserve what Maggie has? Listen to me.

"I only recognize Maggie as my sister. You, some feral stray from an orphanage, don't even deserve to breathe the same air as this family."

I stared at Cason, so full of himself, and suddenly found it all absurd.

I couldn't hold back anymore. I blurted out the question that had been eating at me for two lives now. "Cason, how can you stand there and say I'm not good enough to be your sister because I grew up in an orphanage?

"You were the one who lost me."