The family meeting was brutally efficient. The marriage contract would be signed in three days, on the night of the new moon—a sacred time for werewolves to forge pacts.

I returned to my small room, which had once been a storage closet.

I sat on the edge of my bed and pulled a small metal box from a loose floorboard. It was the only thing Rosa had left me.

Rosa was the only person who had ever shown me warmth.

She died of a severe infection when I was ten because the family had cut the health insurance for all its low-level employees.

I had burst into Vivian's office, trying to steal her black card to take Rosa to a private hospital, but security pinned me to the floor.

Vivian just stared at me coldly. Elena, theft is an unforgivable crime. As for that old servant It's survival of the fittest. If you want to save her so badly, you can give up your living allowance for the next three years.

I gave it to her, but without insurance, the hospital refused to admit a critical patient. Rosa died on a bench in a charity clinic in the slums.

Before she passed, Rosa gripped my hand. Elena… the boy you saved on that blizzard night… he is your destiny… trust your instincts…

Eight years ago. A blizzard night.

Rosa and I found a boy in a New York back alley, covered in blood and nearly frozen solid.

Rosa was afraid of getting into trouble, but I insisted we save him. We warmed him with our own bodies and fed him stolen painkillers.

When he woke up, his deep blue eyes were locked on me.

Your scent… he whispered, his nostrils flaring weakly, it's like a winter forest…

It was the instinctual reaction of a werewolf identifying their mate, even though we were both just kids.

He gripped my hand, maybe from the pain, maybe from instinct. I'll be back. I swear on my wolf… I will come back for you.

In my last life, at my wedding, Lucas had recognized me.

Elena… it's you… it's really you…

Rosa was right. He really did come back, wielding the power of Silverlake Capital, to fulfill his promise.

But in that lifetime, we didn’t just miss our chance; a cruel twist of fate had turned us into parallel lines.

This time, Lucas would come to marry me himself.

This time, I won't just let him repay a debt. I will make him completely and utterly my Alpha.