I could feel his sharp canines graze the side of my neck, the most vulnerable place for a werewolf to be marked. He was searching for the perfect angle.
"Don't struggle, Kaelynn," his voice rumbled in my ear, less a lover's whisper and more a cold command. "This is your destiny."
Destiny?
The word was a poisoned dagger, piercing through my consciousness. This wasn't a nightmare. This scene, this pain, this humiliation... I had lived through it all before.
A torrent of memories crashed through the dam of reality.
I saw the icy lake water filling my mouth and nose, the burning pain in my lungs.
I saw my half-sister, Effie Blackburn, standing on the shore. Her beautiful face, hailed as the "Moon Goddess's spokeswoman," was twisted with a vicious, triumphant smile.
"Goodbye, my foolish sister," her voice echoed across time. "Grant is mine. The glory of the Blackburn family is mine. You? You deserve nothing."
I saw how Grant held Effie after my death, his face etched with a grief that was a lie, telling her he could finally be with her without any burdens.
I saw my maternal grandmother, Matilda Lester, her hair turning white overnight at the news of my death. I saw my impulsive cousin, Alphons Beaumont, executed for treason after trying to demand justice for me.
The Lester family, the family I had abandoned to marry Grant, was utterly ruined because of me, eventually vanishing from history.
All the images froze on the last sliver of moonlight I saw as I sank to the bottom of the lake. The end of my twenty miserable years.
And now, I was back.
Back to the night I turned eighteen. The night Grant forcibly marked me. The beginning of all the tragedies.
I was no longer the naive, weak Kaelynn Lester who believed submission could earn her love.
I was a revenant, returned from hell.
Grant seemed pleased by my sudden stillness. He let out a low, mocking chuckle. "What? Finally figured it out? An Omega should know her place."
His words no longer stung. Instead, they were a key, unlocking the cold hatred sealed deep within my soul.
I stopped all my struggles, my body going completely limp. The change surprised him.
He thought I had yielded. He loosened his grip slightly, lowering his head to bite down.
The instant before his canines were about to pierce my skin, I gathered all my strength.
I drove my knee up, hard, into his abdomen.
Grant grunted, the sharp pain making him instinctively curl his body. The force pinning me down vanished.
I seized the chance, rolling out from under him. I tumbled messily onto the floor, but I ignored the pain, scrambling backward on my hands and feet to create distance.
I leaned against the cold wall, gasping for air, my heart pounding with a mix of fear and adrenaline.
Grant sat up on the bed, his handsome face contorted with pain and fury. His amber eyes burned like a wild beast's in the dim light.
"Are you insane?" he roared, his Alpha's Dominion washing over me like a tsunami, trying to force me to my knees in submission.
In my past life, I would have trembled under such pressure, like a pathetic rabbit. But now, I only felt a nauseating familiarity.
I used the wall to slowly pull myself to my feet, though my legs were still shaking. I tugged at my torn nightgown, covering my exposed skin.
I looked directly into his furious eyes, the same eyes that had once captivated me and brought me endless pain.
I saw the shock and disbelief in them. He had never seen me fight back like this.
Good. Let's start with that shock.
I took a deep breath, and in a voice so cold and calm it felt foreign even to me, I spoke.
"Grant Freeman," I said his name, enunciating each syllable as if I were a judge delivering a verdict.
"Mark me? No." A cold smile touched my lips. "I have a better proposal."
Grant's roar died in his throat. He was completely stunned, clearly not expecting me to say such a thing.
I watched his bewildered expression, the flames of vengeance in my heart burning brighter than ever before.