Chapter 3

Half a month later, an urgent, bloodstained letter arrived from my family.

The frantic scrawl belonged to Robert, the paper smeared with dried, rust-colored spots. "Selena, I was attacked by rogue werewolves. I have severe silver poisoning... I'm dying. Please come back so I can see you one last time... I'm so sorry for everything..."

A cold sneer tugged at the corners of my mouth. A pity play?

In my past life, this was the exact same cheap trick they had used to lure me back before brutally cutting me down.

But I decided to go anyway. If I didn't give them the stage to perform their little treacherous act, how could I ever justify completely wiping them out?

I took a car back to the house I despised with every fiber of my being.

Robert lay sprawled on the sofa, his face deathly pale, groaning and moaning in exaggerated agony.

Martha hurried over, her eyes artificially red-rimmed.

She offered me a glass of water, her voice trembling. "Selena, you're finally here. Your father, he... Here, drink some water first. The journey must have been exhausting."

I stared into the glass. Traces of a faint purple powder floated on the surface.

Wolfsbane. A potent neurotoxin for werewolves that paralyzed the body.

Feigning complete ignorance, I took the glass, brought it to my lips, and pretended to take a sip.

As I turned, I casually tipped the rest onto the soil of a nearby potted plant.

"How is he?" I asked, lacing my voice with faux concern.

Before anyone could answer, a synchronized string of muffled thuds echoed behind me.

My four guards crumpled to the floor like ragdolls.

The harsh, biting scent of a military-grade sleep gas instantly filled the room.

"Careless as always, Selena! You walked right into it!"

Along with a shrill, triumphant cackle, Irene and Luke descended the stairs.

Robert bolted upright from the sofa.

Not a single trace of a dying man remained. He snatched the empty glass from my hand, his expression turning feral. "You stupid bitch. Did you really think becoming the Luna meant you could look down on us?"

Faking the onset of the wolfsbane paralyzation, I looked up at them with widened, terrified eyes. "What... what are you doing?"

"What are we doing?" Irene grabbed the fabric of my designer jacket and yanked hard. "You're going to take off these clothes right now! And that diamond necklace. Hand it all over to me!"

"I'm going back to the Dark Moon Fortress in your place! Derrick's devotion, the endless wealth—that was supposed to be mine anyway! We're switching places!"

I stared coldly at my twin sister. "Do you truly believe Derrick is an idiot? The moment you walk through those doors, he'll recognize you're a fake."

"Shut up!" Martha spat, delivering a stinging slap across my cheek. "You two are identical! Put her in your clothes, and Derrick won't know the difference!"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I came prepared." Irene pulled a small glass vial from her pocket. It sloshed with a sludgy, black liquid.

She gave a spine-chilling smile. "This cost me a fortune to get from a dark witch. All we have to do is ingest each other's blood along with this potion, and our scents will completely swap."

Irene stared me down, her features twisted into something ugly by absolute avarice. "Your fairytale is over, Selena. Get ready to rot."

"Hold her down!" Robert ordered.

Luke lunged, pinning my arm before brutally slicing open my skin with a blade.

Irene didn't hesitate. She slashed her own finger, letting her blood drip directly into the vial. Then, gripping my jaw with terrifying strength, she forcefully poured the vile mixture down my throat.

I coughed violently. A cold, sinister energy wormed its way through my veins, and I could literally feel my natural pheromones—my very essence—being forcefully overwritten.

Irene eagerly drank the remaining half of the potion.

Minutes later, she let out a shriek of pure ecstasy. "It worked! My scent... it's exactly like yours!"

Moving with frantic desperation, she ripped off my coat and stripped me of my jewelry, draping herself in my belongings.

Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror—dressed in luxury, radiating my exact Luna scent—Irene burst into a fit of manic laughter.

"Lock her up!"

Robert and Luke dragged me across the floor like a dead dog, hurling me into a heavy cage forged entirely of pure silver.

The second my exposed skin hit the bars, a searing hiss filled the air, followed by a plume of white smoke.

A bloodcurdling scream tore from my throat.

To a werewolf, pure silver was like being pressed against a white-hot branding iron.

The excruciating, soul-searing pain triggered a violent flashback to my past life—to the suffocating agony and sheer despair of the silver mines.

My entire body went into violent spasms.

"We'll let the silver rot the flesh right off your bones, and then dump whatever's left in the abandoned mines out back for the wild wolves to finish off."

"When you were writhing under Derrick, did you ever imagine this is how it would end?" Irene sneered. "Don't worry. I'll take incredibly good care of our brutal Alpha King for you. Your wealth, your status, your mate... they are all mine now!"

Turning on her heel, she signaled to the others. "Mom, Dad, let's go! Our grand life at the Dark Moon Fortress is waiting!"

Three sharp, thunderous knocks suddenly hammered against the front door.

The entire family froze, instantly on high alert.

"Who is it?" Irene called out, her voice trembling slightly.

"It's me."

It was Derrick！

Robert clamped his hand over my mouth and dragged me toward the back room.

Martha dropped to her knees, quickly scrubbing the blood off the floor and tossing the empty vial into the trash.

"What's taking so long?"

Irene pulled the front door open.

"Sorry to keep you waiting... I was just grabbing my coat. Shall we head back to the fortress?"

She tugged at Derrick's arm, trying to lead him away.

If Irene left with Derrick today, I would be the only flaw in their plan. They would definitely kill me to tie up the loose end.

He couldn't leave!

I kicked hard against the low cabinet. A vase crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.

"Bitch!" Robert hissed, backhanding me across the face.

Outside, Derrick's footsteps stopped.

"What was that noise?"