Chapter 2

The Omega dared not lift his gaze. Bowing low, he hurried away with the parchments toward the Elders’ Hall.

The reflection of the blood moon rippled on the river’s surface, crimson and searing like flame.

My hands clenched the rope until my knuckles turned white. Behind me, Leo’s stare burned into my back. From within him, his wolf, Luis, radiated the crushing aura of an Alpha. The gathered wolves held their breath, heads lowered in submission.

Even Lily, my wolf, trembled under the weight of his dominance.

The wind cut sharp and cold, heavy with the stench of blood.

Through the mate-bonded heart link, my daughter sensed my intent. She rushed to me, her small hands clutching mine, her wide eyes brimming with fear.

“Mother… you’ll come back safe, won’t you?”

I drew in a breath, stroking her soft hair.

“Yes, sweetheart. No matter what happens, I will return to you.”

In my last life, I never had the chance to say those words.

In this life, I finally did.

Gently slipping free of her grasp, I turned, golden light flaring in my eyes, and leapt into the freezing river.

The chill cut into me like a thousand blades, piercing straight through to the marrow. The current roared, dragging me down into its deadly whirlpools.

I closed my eyes. In the darkness, the Moon Goddess’s whisper echoed again:

“Remember, Kyla. This time, your choice will decide the shape of your future.”

When I opened my eyes, the riverbed revealed itself—

an ancient chamber, circular and vast, with four towering pillars at the cardinal points, carved with cryptic runes. At its heart rose a sacrificial altar, glowing faint blue, its light filling the watery tomb. Above the altar floated a figure, shrouded in coils of black mist.

The current hurled me toward Samuel.

He hung there, suspended in the water, his face ashen, his eyes sealed shut.

The moment my hand brushed his skin, a freezing curse crawled up my arm, ancient and hostile, as if the dead themselves rejected the touch of the living.

Then the mate bond flared.

Leo’s voice cut into my mind, raw with urgency:

“Kyla—tell me, can he still be saved?”

I froze.

My claws sank into the rope, anchoring me. Then I surged forward, seizing Samuel’s collar with my talons, dragging his body upward.

But as I pulled him away from the altar, the blue flames above it flickered—and ancient black runes burned into existence, spiraling in the air.

A shadow burst forth, a formless wraith of darkness, lashing straight toward me.

My eyes flew wide.