Chapter 2

Cassian's attention barely lingered on me before snapping entirely to Serena.

"Give me a chance," he demanded. "Twelve years ago, I owed you my life."

He raised a hand, pointing directly at the obsidian pendant resting against her collarbone.

"I fell into the freezing Blackwater River. When you dragged me out of the ice, you were wearing that exact necklace."

So that was it.

In my past life, even after I drained myself to sustain his magic through our Blood Bond, he hadn't hesitated to shove me into a Lycan's claws to serve as Serena's meat shield.

All of that... over a stolen necklace.

The day after my mother's funeral, Serena had waltzed into my room and snatched it from my jewelry box.

"You aren't worthy of stones this pure," she had sneered.

Because Cassian believed Serena was his savior, the years I spent by his side meant nothing. Every sneer I endured for him, every blade I took for him—none of it counted.

Serena impulsively clamped her hand over the stone, her eyes darting nervously toward me.

I had no intention of exposing her right now. I simply stood up and smoothed the wrinkles from my skirt.

"Since Julian refuses to back down, and Cassian is so desperate to repay his life debt... why doesn't my sister just marry them both?"

"Enough!"

My father slammed his hand on the table, pointing a furious finger at me. "It is not your place to humiliate your sister! You are an absolute embarrassment to the Vance name!"

He was always like this. He would only ever take Serena's side.

He only saw my "disrespect"; he conveniently ignored the two men grinding my dignity into the dirt in front of the entire room.

A chilling numbness settled in my chest. I let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh. "Neither of them picked me. What choice do I have?"

My father opened his mouth, momentarily stunned, as if the reality of the situation had just registered.

I announced my decision. "I'm leaving for the South. To Haven Port."

It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. The cross-species trade down there was exploding. Shadow logistics, smuggling routes—it was pure cash flow.

In my last life, I had been shackled to Cassian by a Blood Bond, trapped in his shadow until I died.

In this life, I was going to see the world on my own terms.

My father looked away, remaining silent. It was a tacit approval.

A rebellious daughter refusing a marriage pact was a toxic asset. Letting me vanish was far more profitable than forcing me to stay. He wasn't going to stop me.

Just before I crossed the threshold, I gave Cassian a slight, mocking nod. "I hope you get exactly what you wish for, Lord Cassian."

The collective breath in the room hitched.

Serena's head whipped up to stare at Cassian, sheer, unadulterated greed instantly masking her shock. "You're a territory Lord?!"

Cassian's gaze was nailed dead to mine.

In that one shared look, the truth crystallized. He knew I had come back with my memories, too.

I went back to my bedroom and started packing.

Downstairs, Serena officially chose Cassian. Exactly as I expected.

I remembered her whispering to her maid in our past life: "Cassian has a pretty face, but he's a crippled lunatic. He's useless." So, she had chosen Julian then.

Now that Cassian was standing before her as a fully healed, obscenely powerful Lord, she dropped Julian like a bad habit without a second thought.

I thought my part in this twisted drama was finally over.

But then my bedroom door burst violently open.

A hand twisted into my hair, slamming me brutally against the wall. Julian, reeking of bourbon, pressed a folding knife flush against my throat.

"You're going to tell them you choose Cassian," he hissed, his eyes wild with desperate jealousy.

He pressed harder, the sharp steel immediately biting into my skin. "Go back and change your answer! If you take him, Serena is still mine!"

A warm trickle of blood slid down my neck.

I stared into his deranged eyes and forced a slow, shallow nod.

First rule of survival: get the blade away from my artery. I would deal with Cassian once I was out of this room.

Fifteen minutes later, I was marched back into the drawing room.

Cassian was now seated in the patriarch's chair.

"I hear you've changed your mind."

He stood up, closing the distance, and gripped my jaw roughly. "I told you I'd repay the debts of our past life. Just walk away from this selection. Do that, and I'll give you a new identity, limitless cash, and whatever resources you want."

I froze.

Every blade I had taken for him, every sleepless night, every desperate trek through the snow to find him a cure... to him, it could all be converted into a cash payout. Even his guilt came with a price tag.

Before I could spit the words back in his face, the doors were thrown wide open.

A bloodied shadow guard collapsed onto the floor. "My Lord! Serena has been taken by the rebel Lycans! They demand you come to the city's edge and exchange your mate for her. If you don't show up in thirty minutes, they'll tear her apart!"

The fingers gripping my jaw instantly went rigid.

In the suffocating silence, Cassian's gaze dragged slowly back to my face. I could see the horrifying calculus taking shape in his eyes immediately—in this room, I was the only disposable "mate" available to use as bait.

I jerked out of his grasp, stepping back. "You want to use me to trade for Serena's life? Are you completely heartless, Cassian?!"

My bags were packed. I had one foot out the door to my freedom—and yet here he was, demanding I die for his precious Serena all over again!

Cassian stared at me. A flicker of genuine guilt crossed his face, but it vanished instantly.

He grabbed my shoulders.

"I can't abandon her. She saved my life. Elara, just consider this your bad luck."

I glared back at him, my chest heaving, and screamed, "You are so completely, totally blind!"

"Twelve years ago, the girl who dragged you out of that freezing river—it was never Serena! It was me!"