Chapter 1

I was reborn on the night of the bride swap, and my werewolf fiancé, Noah, shoved my marriage contract onto the vampire duke again.

Noah said it was my sister, Lily, who saved him, so he couldn't turn his back on her.

Without another word, I picked up the quill and signed my name into the Crimson Keep's blood oath.

*****

When I woke up, the marriage contract still lay on the long table. The red wax hadn't been sealed, and the quill was still damp.

Outside, rain came down as the black carriage from the Crimson Keep waited at the gate, its lanterns glowing like a pair of cold eyes.

I stared at the carriage and slowly unclenched my fists.

In my previous life, I'd sat at this table and cried out my explanation all night long.

I told him I'd saved Noah that snowy night three years ago, that Lily had taken my silver knife, and that the old scar on my shoulder was proof I'd been caught in a wolf trap. Noah didn't believe me.

He said Lily had suffered too much growing up to lie about this, and he called me the pack's pampered girl who had everything and should not steal the one kindness that was hers. Then he pushed my marriage contract to the vampire duke.

He said the Crimson Keep needed a werewolf bride to make amends, and since I couldn't behave, I could learn some manners there.

I went, but I didn't survive the first winter. When my eyes opened again, it was still the night of the bride swap.

Noah stood across from me in the black formal coat of the Alpha heir, his features sharp, one hand pressed flat on the contract that should have carried my name.

Lily hovered behind him, the hem of her white dress damp, her eyes red in exactly the right measure.

"Eve, I never wanted to take your engagement," she whispered. "But Noah says he can't marry someone who keeps slandering the person who saved his life."

Noah frowned. "Lily, don't speak for her."

He turned to me. "Evelyn, both clans are here tonight. If you keep dragging up that old story, I'll have no choice but to give the contract to the duke."

I looked down at the two contracts. One was meant for the future Alpha heir, the other for the vampire duke.

By the family's arrangement, I was to marry Noah, Lily the duke. Noah and I had been promised to each other since childhood. And since Lily had just been found and brought home, my father figured she needed a high match to secure her place.

In my previous life, I couldn't accept it. Seventeen years together shouldn't come undone over one stolen silver knife. Now I only felt tired.

Noah waited for me to back down. A whole room of elders waited to watch me cry. Lily kept her eyes lowered, though she stole glances at the pack's contract.

I picked up the quill, and Noah's expression eased, probably because he thought I was about to sign a confession. Instead, I dragged the vampire duke's contract in front of me. "Where do I sign the blood oath?"

The hall went dead silent. My father was the first to snap out of it. "Evelyn, have you lost your mind? The Crimson Keep isn't a place where you get to throw a tantrum."

I didn't even look at him. In my previous life, when news of my death reached home, all he'd said was that I was born unlucky.

Peter stood by the door in a black tailcoat, his skin as pale as porcelain in the moonlight. At the sound of my voice, he lifted his eyes. "Third page, bottom left."

I turned to the page and found the blood oath line empty. Once I wrote my name and added a drop of blood, the marriage couldn't be undone.

Noah slammed his hand down on the contract. "Are you trying to corner me with this again?"

I looked at his hand. It had once clutched my sleeve on a snowy night while he begged me not to go, and I'd carried him three miles on my back. Later, that same hand shoved me toward the Crimson Keep.

I said, "Weren't you the one who wanted a bride swap?"

His face shifted. "I'm trying to knock some sense into you."

"My head is perfectly clear," I replied.

I pricked my fingertip with a silver needle, let a drop of blood fall onto the contract, and signed my name, Evelyn, into the Crimson Keep's blood oath. The black letters slowly deepened into dark red.

Outside, the lanterns on the black carriage flared at the same moment. Peter bowed his head. "My lady, the carriage is waiting."

Noah chased me into the courtyard, rain soaking his shoulders. "Evelyn, stop."

I set my foot on the carriage step. "Is there something else?"

He lowered his voice. "Do you even know who the vampire duke is? He's Victor Thorne, who has killed three fiancées."

Peter stood off to the side, not a flicker of change on his face.

I gave a small smile. "You said the same thing in my previous life."

Noah's brow creased. "What previous life?"

I didn't explain. Explaining was the most useless thing in the world. When someone wouldn't believe you, you could tear out your heart, and they'd only ask why it wasn't red.