Chapter 1

1.

The day Sebastian took his place as Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack, he took two people with him.

One was our son, Leo. The other was the woman who saved his life. Elena.

Leo inherited Sebastian's pure Alpha blood. There was no way he'd let the boy waste his talents in some human backwater.

Elena had saved him. He owed her a debt. A promise he had to keep.

And to me, he said this.

"Faye. Wait for me. Once I've secured my position in the territory, I'll come back for you."

In my first life, those words were what I clung to. I waited in that shabby rental. One year. Then another.

I died alone in that house. Still waiting.

But the Moon Goddess granted me a second chance.

I drew my last breath on that cold mattress. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. The day Sebastian's bloodline awakened.

Three years back. A time when nothing was broken beyond repair.

This time, I'm not waiting.

I grabbed my pack and walked toward the highway. Didn't look back once.

From this day forward, he can be Alpha. I'll live my life.

Two roads. No need to cross again.

***

I went to the pawnshop in town. Slapped the silver pendant Sebastian gave me five years ago onto the counter.

Werewolves have a visceral hatred of silver. When he first gave it to me, he wrapped it in layers of black velvet. Said it was his mother's keepsake. Told me to guard it well.

It turned into seven hundred-dollar bills. Enough for a Greyhound ticket to the West Coast. Enough to start over in some coastal town where nobody knew my name.

I pushed open the pawnshop door and ran straight into Mrs. Higgins coming out of the gas station store.

She had a bag of groceries in her hand. Grinned when she saw me.

"I heard the Silvermoon territory is like a massive estate. You'll be moving there with Sebastian any day now. What're you doing in a pawnshop?"

The Sebastian she mentioned was my husband.

One of the most powerful Alphas in North America.

Three days ago, the ancient blood in his veins awakened.

The Silvermoon convoy rolled into town in a show of force. Welcoming their Alpha home.

Sebastian announced to everyone that he was taking two people back to the territory.

Before that, he had some loose ends to tie up in the human world.

Everyone assumed the two people were me and our son, Leo.

They weren't.

Not in my first life. Not in this one. He never planned to take me at all.

I smiled. Kept my voice light, like I was talking about the weather.

"Sebastian's a powerful werewolf. I can't even shift."

That money wasn't for some werewolf manor.

It was my way out.

Mrs. Higgins opened her mouth, but I was already walking away down the muddy road toward home.

I hadn't even reached the yard before I heard laughter spilling out.

In the center of the lawn, Leo was practicing. Trying to control his newly emerged claws.

His small hands struggled to shift between human form and razor-sharp talons.

Every few seconds he called out, "Dad! I can't hold it back!"

"Breathe. Feel the wild calling inside you. You are a born Alpha."

The man speaking had a voice like gravel and smoke. Deep. Magnetic.

He wore a simple black t-shirt. Muscles carved sharp beneath the fabric. He'd always been an overwhelming presence. Now, with his bloodline awakened, he radiated something that made ordinary humans weak in the knees.

My husband. Sebastian.

Five years ago, he passed through this remote Oregon town as a drifter. We met in the forest under a full moon. He was badly wounded, covered in blood, collapsed in a bed of pine needles.

I followed the scent of rust. Found him. Pressed my shirt against the gash in his abdomen still pouring blood.

That was the moment his wolf recognized me.

Not with his eyes.

It was like walking alone through darkness for centuries and suddenly hearing another person's heartbeat.

He marked me.

After he healed, he didn't reveal what he was. He just put on a lumberjack's old flannel shirt. Knocked on my door like an ordinary man. Asked if he could have a glass of water.

I learned much later. He was the sole heir to the most powerful pack in North America.

He didn't take me by force as an Alpha. He courted me like a human man. Proposed. Said he wanted to give me everything I deserved.

I believed him.