Chapter 1

The electric current ripped through my nerves one last time. Through the reinforced glass of Ravencrest Asylum, Liam Blackwood stared back at me with those icy blue wolf eyes, completely blank. My mate, the wolf who was supposed to bind with me that day, watched them toss me aside like garbage.

His voice crackled over the speaker, thick with scorn. "This gift of yours?" He let out a low laugh. "Just another pathetic lie so you could sneak your way into the Blackwood Clan. Sophia is my true mate. You, Elena, are nothing but a mistake I need to get rid of."

The blonde she-wolf pressed close against him, her scarlet-tipped fingers spinning the Alpha Crest, the one that should have been mine.

The voltage spiked to its peak.

Deep in my soul, my wolf let out one last gut-wrenching howl.

Then I opened my eyes.

Crystal chandeliers blazed overhead. Champagne bubbles fizzed in the glasses, perfume sweetened the air, and the heavy scent of cedarwood mixed with raw Alpha dominance pressed in from every side.

I was back at the pre-bonding party. Somehow, I'd returned to that exact night.

*****

I had on that ridiculous silver dress, the one he'd once mocked, telling me I looked like a fish flopping around, desperate to reach dry land.

The memories slammed into me, sharp as broken glass. Three hundred twenty-seven days locked away. The shocks. The silver shackles. And that final breath I took while they formed their sacred bond on live TV for every pack to see.

This wasn't a nightmare. I had really come back.

Liam gripped Sophia Miller's hand and faced the crowd of guests and the heads of both families, his voice ringing out with that same arrogant confidence.

"That hundred-year curse everyone whispers about? It's pure nonsense. Sophia and I are soulmates. Tonight, I, Liam Blackwood, officially end any bond with Elena Foster."

He turned his gaze on me, cold and impatient.

"Elena, your Foster family's made-up story about the White Wolf Oracle was just a cheap trick to force us into a bond. But as far as I'm concerned, it ends right now."

In my last life, I'd been broken and silent, slipping away into the dark without a fight.

This time, I yanked free from my mother's cold grip and stepped forward. My heels clicked sharply across the marble, and the whole hall went dead quiet.

"Liam," I said, my voice slicing straight through the tension. "Before you run off to your true love, maybe you should explain how you're planning to pay back the one million you drained from the Alpha Legacy Fund in Vegas last week. One million, right?"

Silence slammed down. No one breathed.

Liam's smug grin vanished. Sophia's smile froze mid-way. His father, Marcus Blackwood, the current Alpha, whipped his head around, eyes like daggers.

"What gambling debt?" Marcus growled, the sound low and dangerous.

I touched my fingers to my temple, feeling the faint heat from the White Wolf Oracle mark. It wasn't some prophecy this time, just a memory. In my last life, that debt had nearly wrecked my family.

"Or," I went on, my gaze sliding to the sparkling new diamond necklace at Sophia's throat, "maybe we should talk about why her credit card receipts showed up at every restaurant and boutique during your solo trip to Veridian."

The hall exploded with noise.

Liam's face went dark. "You actually went digging into my business?"

"Dug?" I gave him a cold, flat smile. "Did I need to, Liam? You might think the White Wolf Oracle is a scam, but what I see turns out to be a hell of a lot more real than you realize."

I turned to Marcus and his mate, their faces tight with fury. "Given your heir's little escapades and the way he's humiliated the Foster family and me in front of everyone, I, Elena Foster, declare."

I let the pause stretch, my eyes sweeping over Liam's stunned, furious expression and the panic in Sophia's eyes.

"The bond is off. The Foster family is pulling out of the alliance. Effective immediately."

I spun on my heel, the sharp click of my steps ringing through the stunned silence.

Just as I turned, an invisible pain slammed into Liam like a freight train.

He let out a choked groan and grabbed his chest. His face drained of color until it looked ghostly pale, and those icy blue eyes went wide with shock and raw agony.

It was the backlash from the bond breaking. I had just stood in front of everyone and shattered it myself, his once-fated mate, cutting the connection clean.

For an Alpha, this wasn't just humiliation. It was a direct strike to the soul.

Marcus and Evelyn stared at their son in horror. Sophia reached out to steady him, but he shoved her off hard. The pain made him flinch away from any touch that wasn't from his bonded mate.

I didn't look back. I didn't need to. I already knew exactly what was happening behind me. A blow like this, one that shattered the soul bond, was a thousand times worse than any embezzlement scandal could ever be.

I stepped out of the banquet hall into the cold night air. It washed away the thick cedarwood scent that had been choking me. Deep in my veins, something I hadn't felt in years stirred awake, the White Wolf's power, cool and bright as moonlight.

I pulled out my phone and tapped the number I'd kept for seven years, the one I'd never deleted.

My text was short and simple.

"Chains are broken. Does your promise still stand?"

I hit send.

The reply came back almost instantly.

"For you, my promise will last forever."

Then a photo popped up, a first-class ticket from Lumina Charles de Gaulle to Centropolis JFK, leaving in forty-eight hours.

Below it, another line. "Wait for me, Ellie. This time, I won't let you go."

Julian Thorne.

The wolf I grew up with. My first love. The spark that had never gone out.

Heat slammed through me without warning, shooting from deep in my belly straight into every nerve and muscle.

My wolf let out a low rumble, not from sadness, but from something wild and hungry. My scent, that cool mix of moonlight and fresh snow, thickened fast and spilled out of my control.

My heat had kicked in early, sparked by a promise that had crossed an ocean.

"Elena?" My mother caught my arm, worry written all over her face. Then she caught the sudden change in my scent, and her eyes flew wide.

I pulled in a deep breath, fighting to push the wild heat back down, and pressed the phone against my pounding heart.

"I'm fine, Mom," I said, looking up at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky. "Honestly, I feel unstoppable."

My war had just begun. And my Alpha was coming back for me.