When I finally opened my eyes, the first thing that hit me wasn't light it was scent.
A sharp tang of herbs, blood, and moonstone essence filled my lungs. The unmistakable aroma of a healer's den. My wolf stirred immediately, restless and alert beneath my skin.
My vision blurred beneath the glare of enchanted lights above me. Every nerve burned. My wrists ached, my ribs felt bruised, my head throbbed, and even the pads of my feet were raw.
But through all that pain… I smiled.
I could feel again.
I was alive.
The pain was grounding the kind only the living could feel. I could sense the weight of the furs draped over me, the pulse of life in my veins, the faint hum of pack magic in the air.
Tears slipped down my cheeks, hot and real. Not from grief, but from relief so deep it shook me to my core.
I wasn't a spirit anymore. I wasn't trapped in the void. The Moon had granted me another body a chance to rise again.
And this time… I wouldn't waste it.
Grandmother, I silently vowed, I'll protect you this time.
Esmee, your blood debt will not go unanswered.
I didn't care whose face I wore now, or which wolf's life I had stepped into. All that mattered was that I had a heartbeat and vengeance still to fulfill.
Then, a voice reached me.
Low. Calm. Familiar.
And threaded with dominance that could silence storms.
"You're awake."
My head turned toward the sound and everything came flooding back.
The snow. The van. The stranger who had pulled me from the edge of death.
Lewis.
He was standing beside the healer's cot, half in shadow, his aura cool and steady. Even weakened as I was, I could feel his power a wolf whose presence filled the space without ever needing to raise his voice.
He was the one who had found me. He had saved me.
As soon as my eyes met his, more tears came unbidden, unstoppable. Because this wasn't the first time he'd appeared at the edge of my ruin. In my past life, too, when everything had crumbled and I'd been left hollow, Lewis had always appeared from nowhere… silent, cold, and unexplainably kind.
He never offered comfort, but his presence itself had been a kind of salvation.
If it hadn't been for him this time, I would've bled out beneath the snow.
He noticed my tears. His brow furrowed slightly, a faint crease forming between his pale brows.
"Don't worry," he said, his tone smooth, measured the way only an Alpha-born wolf could speak. "Your… collapse hasn't been made public. I've already sent word to your pack. They'll arrive soon. And if you truly don't wish to go through with the union, I'll speak to your father myself."
My breath caught.
Union?
The word echoed in my skull, and everything clicked together.
Back when I was still Elena Hale, I'd heard whispers in the pack rumors that Elder Jeffrey was arranging a mate bond for Lewis Ashbourne, the reclusive heir of one of the oldest bloodlines. A political alliance meant to strengthen the ties between two powerful packs.
So… this was whose body I had entered.
One of the daughters promised to him.
The girl whose last thoughts I'd heard before I crossed back into this world her desperate voice, whispering through the darkness:
"I can't marry a cripple…"
"It hurts, Mom… I can't keep living…"
It was her pain that had pulled me here.
And she had been talking about him.
Now, seeing Lewis again, everything in me stilled.
He was leaner than I remembered, the lines of his face sharper, more refined. His golden hair framed features that looked carved from winter sunlight. There was no warmth in him only control. Calm. Command.
His wolf aura thrummed beneath his skin, quiet but impossibly strong. He didn't need to snarl to remind anyone of what he was.
But beneath that authority, I could feel something broken.
Because though his spirit roared with Alpha strength… his body did not obey. His legs were still. Motionless. The wheelchair he sat in gleamed faintly under the healer's light, made of black iron and runes etched with ancient magic.
No one knew what had truly happened to him. Some said he'd been cursed. Others whispered that he'd sacrificed his mobility for power. Whatever the truth was, he carried it like armor.
And still he radiated strength far greater than Julian ever had.
He was calm. Controlled. Every movement radiated quiet dominance the kind that came from years of being an Alpha, even if his body no longer obeyed the strength that pulsed beneath his skin.
When I died, he was the only one who went searching for the truth.
Even when my pack turned a blind eye, even when my mate betrayed me, Lewis Hale the Alpha who once stood above them all refused to let my death fade into silence.
If I truly wanted revenge, then Lewis was the perfect wolf to stand by my side.
And in return, I could offer him something equally valuable.
This new body I'd been reborn into belonged to the Ashbourne pack a bloodline known for its wealth, land, and influence in the Council. My name, my scent, my lineage… all of it could serve him. Strengthen him. Help him rise again in a world that had cast him aside after his injury.
The marriage the former Lizzy Ashbourne had tried to run from?
To me, it was a gift from the Moon Goddess herself.
Love? I no longer believed in it. Love had once been my greatest weakness the leash my traitor of a mate had used to destroy me.
Now, only one instinct burned in me stronger than hunger or grief.
Vengeance.
If I wanted to tear down the wolves who destroyed my past life, I needed power and power didn't come from mercy. It came from alliances, dominance, and strategy.
And Lewis…
Lewis would be my greatest weapon.
In our world, you can't simply challenge and kill without consequence not when the Council watches every move, and blood laws bind our kind. Ending Camilla and Julian outright would bring the wrath of every Alpha in the North down on me.
No, they didn't deserve a clean death.
They deserved to suffer.
To feel fear gnawing at them every day, to lose everything their pack, their wealth, their pride until they finally understood what it meant to be broken.
They thought I was gone.
They thought the bond was severed, that the she-wolf they betrayed had vanished forever.
But I was alive reborn in a new body, cloaked by a new scent.
And from the shadows, I would make them kneel.
While my mind spun with plans, Lewis turned his wheelchair toward the door. His movements were smooth, graceful, as if he'd already mastered life without his wolf's full strength.
"You should rest," he said, his tone flat but gentle. "Your father is on his way. Once he arrives, I'll speak to him and cancel the engagement."
The words jolted me like a slap.
Cancel the engagement?
No.
Without thinking, I reached out, my fingers curling around his wrist. His skin was warm almost feverish and a faint surge of dominance prickled through the air. My wolf stirred inside me, her instincts flaring at the contact.
"Alpha Hale," I said quickly, my voice trembling, "please… don't call off the bond."
He froze, his amber eyes narrowing slightly.
"Lizzy Ashbourne," he replied calmly, "you don't need to force yourself. I know what they say about me that I'm half a wolf now, crippled and unfit to lead. I don't blame you for not wanting this union."
My pulse quickened, panic and instinct tangling inside me.
He was misunderstanding everything.
"I'm not against it," I blurted, stepping forward despite the weakness in my limbs. "I'm willing. I want this."
He tilted his head, studying me like a wolf testing a stranger's scent.
Afraid he'd walk away, I pushed the blanket aside and tried to stand but my legs trembled from exhaustion. Before I could fall, Lewis moved faster than I expected. His arms caught me, solid and strong, pulling me against his chest.
The contact sent a shock through me not pain, but recognition.
Something deep in my wolf stirred, rising, howling softly from the core of my being.
His scent cold pine and thunder wrapped around me, familiar yet forbidden. My breath hitched.
Even without his legs, his strength was unmistakable. His presence demanded obedience, respect. My wolf whimpered under his dominance, but I forced her to stay calm.
"Lewis," I whispered, gripping the front of his shirt. "Please. Don't reject me. I want this bond."
Tears streamed down my face not out of fear or sorrow, but desperation.
I had to make him believe me.
This marriage wasn't just my escape it was the first move in a much bigger plan.