Rebirth Of The Alpha Queen: It's Payback Time!

The air had a faint smell of blood. Every breath drained my lungs. I lay across the floor, my cheeks pressed, my legs twisted at angles that brought back painful memories. Once, they had carried me into hunts, into the training yard, into the life I thought belonged to me by my birthright. Now, they have deprived me of the ability to walk or stand.

The pain was sharp, but the silence inside me was worse. My wolf that was my strength, my shadow, was locked somewhere I could not reach. Without her, I felt hollow, like a vessel discarded after it had served its use.

Torchlight flickered across the dungeon walls, shadows stretching thin, then snapping back. For a moment I thought they shifted, mocking me in whispers I couldn't quite catch. Perhaps they were right to laugh.

Because she was here.

Lilith. My stepsister. My traitor.

She was dressed elegantly as if she had dressed for a ball, not a dungeon. Every step she took was deliberate and cruel. Her smile that was once soft and that had fooled me into thinking she loved me, was strange and dangerous now.

I told myself not to look for him, but my eyes still darted to the corners, still searched for Adrian. Fool that I was, I hoped he might come. He never did.

"Look at you," Lilith said. Her voice was smooth as if she were reciting a toast. "Crawling where you always belonged."

The click of her heels echoed until she crouched before me. Close enough that I saw the gleam of triumph in her gaze. She wanted to see fear and pain in my eyes. But all she saw was my disgust for her.

"You wore the crown so well like it was always meant to be yours," she murmured. "You alone were father's heir. Crush of the cutest guy in the pack and Adrian's wife. But where are they now? Hahaha!"

Her laughter echoed through the dungeon, loud and foolish.

My nails dug harshly into my palms. My voice came out ragged but steady: "You twisted them."

Her laugh softened, almost pitying. "Oh, Selene. When will you ever tell the truth? Always lying."

She gestured, and I turned before I could stop myself. My body betrayed me.

He was there. My father. Bound to a narrow bed, wrists tied, eyes dim as dying coals. The man who had once commanded a room with a glance now looked small, as if the air itself had shrunk him. His lips cracked open.

"My sweet Lilith," he whispered.

The sound tore something from me. I crawled forward, every movement a tremor. "Father...it's me. Selene."

But his gaze never wavered. He looked at her the way a starving man looks at food.

Lilith leaned close to my ear, her breath warm, words colder than ice. "Do you understand now? You were never chosen."

My eyes burned with tears I refused to let fall. "You'll lose, Lilith. You think you've won, but you won't....."

A hard slap landed on my left cheek before I could finish, releasing the tears I had held back. My head snapped to the side, my left cheek blazing hot.

"B*tch."

She said, flat and certain.

She recited my failures to add salt to my wounds: Adrian, Father, even my wolf. Each word landed heavy, not because they were true, but because I saw how deeply she believed them.

The dungeon door suddenly slammed open.

"Selene!"

Damian's voice filled the chamber, raw and ragged. He was at my side in seconds, hauling me up as though I wasn't broken. His arms were solid, his grip steady. He made me feel, for the first time in forever, like I wasn't lost.

"Hold on," he said, his voice catching. "I'll get you out. I will end this."

Lilith smiled, not with joy, but with the slow curl of something venomous.

Then Damian shuddered. His strength faltered, poisoned by a force I couldn't see. His arms tightened even as his body betrayed him.

"No," I whispered, terror clawing up my throat. "Not him too."

Yet even trembling, he drew me closer, his breath hot against my hair. "I won't let her take you. Not while I live."

And something shifted inside me. For a heartbeat, I saw her, my wolf. Covered in blood, chained, but not gone. Still breathing. Was she still mine?

Hope flickered, dangerous and fragile.

Damian pressed his lips to my forehead. His voice was steady now, though I felt the tremor in him. "Forgive me."

Forgive him? For what? I was confused.

The world fell into darkness.

I had no strength left to fight, but I had enough for one promise.

If life gave me another chance, I would rise. I would reclaim everything she had stolen. And I would burn Lilith's kingdom to the ground without mercy.