Reborn to Reject the Supreme Alpha

Tomorrow was my formal presentation to the Pack.

But my mother forced me to hide my true scent and take the place of my dead twin sister, Celeste, to fulfill a mating contract with the Supreme Alpha.

"It's only right she gets to experience the glory of being a Luna through you," my mother had said smoothly.

Because my soul did not match the name on the registry, the Alpha's Marking bite caused a violent, agonizing physical rejection.

As my blood boiled and my body slowly died, my family did absolutely nothing to save me.

My father and brother only cared about the Pack's political alliance, enabling my mother's twisted madness.

She had even secretly built an underground cell lined with toxic silver right next to my sister's grave.

She wanted to chain me in the dark, letting the deadly metal slowly burn my flesh until I died beside her favorite child.

Until my last agonizing breath, I didn't understand.

Why did she look at me like a murderer just because I survived the accident that took Celeste's life?

Why was my entire family so willing to bury me alive just to comfort a ghost?

Opening my eyes again, the Moon Goddess had pulled me back through time.

I was back in the stormy week before my eighteenth birthday.

This time, I will not be a sacrifice, and the supreme White Wolf inside me will tear their lies to shreds.

Chapter 1

Seraphina POV:

The Moon Goddess had pulled me back through time, right to the stormy week before my eighteenth birthday.

I gasped for air, my hands flying to my neck.

My skin was smooth.

There were no jagged teeth marks, no burning venom, no tearing pain of a rejected Marking.

I was alive.

The attic's timber frame groaned under the weight of the downpour. A damp, musty air, smelling of wet earth and rot, seeped through the warped window sash, and the drumming of water on the tin roof was a dull, percussive echo of the bone-tapping from the first ritual.

Tomorrow was my formal presentation to the Pack-the first of the ceremonies leading up to my actual birthday and The Shift.

In my past life, I had died a horrific death because of that ceremony.

My mother had forced me to hide my true scent and take the place of my dead twin sister, Celeste, to mate with an Alpha.

An Alpha is the absolute ruler of a Pack, and his bite is meant for his true soulmate.

Because my soul did not match the name on the contract, his Marking bite caused a severe physical rejection that slowly killed me.

It took three days. Three days of my blood boiling in my veins while my family watched, silent and complicit.

The wooden door of my attic room creaked open.

A young Omega maid rushed in, her thin clothes soaked from the rain.

Omegas were the lowest ranking members of our Pack, forced to do all the menial labor.

She kept her head bowed, trembling as she spoke to me.

"Miss Seraphina," she stammered, her voice a thread of sound, "your mother... she's taken it. She took the moonstone amulet your grandmother left for your ceremony."

My chest seized. A spasm clenched deep in my throat, and I had to grind my molars together to swallow the hot, metallic-tasting air that threatened to erupt from my lungs.

My inner wolf was already awake, pacing restlessly in my mind.

I remembered what happened when I was ten years old.

Celeste had fallen into the old silver mine lake and drowned.

Silver is the most deadly substance to our kind, capable of burning our flesh and poisoning our blood beyond healing.

Ever since that day, my mother, Elara, looked at me as if I were a rogue wolf who had stolen her favorite child's life.

I took my dark cloak from its hook and moved past the shivering maid without a word.

I stepped out of the ancient castle and walked directly into the dangerous, rain-swept forest.

I knew exactly where my mother was going.

The Pack cemetery was located halfway up the mountain, surrounded by towering pine trees.

The smell of wet dirt and decaying leaves filled my nose.

Through the thick curtain of rain, I saw a flickering lantern illuminating a white marble headstone.

My mother crouched in the mud in front of Celeste's grave.

In her hands, she held my moonstone amulet.

The amulet had the name Seraphina carved into its silver backing.

I watched as she carefully rubbed toxic silver dust over my name, using a small pestle wrapped in thick cloth to protect her own skin, preparing to bury my sacred gift in the dirt.

She wanted the dead to receive the blessing before the living.

In my past life, I had stood in the shadows, paralyzed by the guilt she had brainwashed me with.

I had let her bury my identity in the name of Pack loyalty.

Not this time.

My inner wolf let out a furious roar that echoed in my mind.

I stepped out of the shadows, my boots crunching loudly against the wet gravel.

My mother jumped, dropping the lantern as she turned to face me.

Before she could speak, I dropped to my knees in the mud.

I plunged my hand into the mire. A shock of cold, like a thousand needles, shot up my arm as my fingertips brushed the silver. The sting was a familiar agony, but I did not recoil. Instead, I closed my fingers around the links, slowly, deliberately, excavating the heavy chain along with a clod of stinking, leaf-choked mud.

The silver dust burned my skin, sending sharp jolts of pain up my arm, but I did not flinch.

I wiped the toxic mud off the stone using the edge of my cloak.

"What in the Goddess's name are you doing here?" my mother shrieked, her face pale and twisted with madness.

I stood up slowly, dangling the amulet in front of her eyes.

"Taking back what is mine," I said, my voice a low counterpoint to the rumble of distant thunder.

Her eyes widened in shock, and then her face flushed with pure rage.

She raised her hand and slapped me hard across the cheek.

"You selfish little bitch," she spat, her voice trembling. "You have no room in your heart for your poor sister. You don't deserve the favor of the Moon Goddess."

I tasted the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.

I slowly turned my head back to look at her, my expression completely blank.

"I am wearing this amulet tomorrow," I stated, my words cutting through the rain like shards of ice. But as I turned to leave, she lunged, her fingers like claws, and snatched the amulet from my grasp. I could have held on. I chose not to. The amulet was a symbol, but her panic told me something far more valuable-she was already losing control. She stumbled backward, clutching it to her chest as if it were her own heart.

"It belongs to Celeste!" she screamed, before turning and scrambling away into the darkness, a hunched figure swallowed by the storm.

I let her go. The battle for a piece of jewelry was a trifle. The war for my soul, however, was about to begin.

The rain washed the blood from my lip, but it could not wash away the fire burning in my veins.

Tomorrow, the entire Pack would know that I was no longer a shadow.

And somewhere beyond this storm, Alpha Dominic was already riding toward my family's castle, expecting to claim a bride named Celeste. He had no idea he was walking into a trap-or that I was the one who would spring it.