REBORN: CLAIMED BY MY MATE’S BROTHER

ANASTASIA’S POVIf there was one thing I loathed the most about my pack’s traditions, it was the one happening right now in my father's courtyard.A vintage oak box was placed before me and my twin sister, Amelia. One heavy with sacred tradition, one we were required to reach into and pick from.On both sides of the courtyard, advisers, nobles, high ranked warriors, and elders leaned forward, their eyes sharp, their whispers hushed. Waiting. Anticipating. Eyes shining as they could barely hold in their eagerness.I stared at the box in quiet disgust. It wasn't just any box, it was one which decided the fate of every she-wolf born into nobility. The curse of my bloodline, the chain that tied us to whatever future the Moon Goddess—or men pretending to speak for her—decided.Beside me, Amelia crackled with impatience, her excitement visible for all to see. This was the moment she'd been waiting for all her life. I’d once been like her and it made my stomach twist.I knew what came next.

NICHOLAS’ POV I jolted awake, my chest heaving like I’d just run ten miles through the woods. My sheets clung to me, damp with the sweat that rolled down my face, back and even my chest. The room was pitch-black except for the faint glow of the moon filtering through the curtains, but that didn’t stop the terror clawing at me. I’d dreamed. No. That wasn’t just a dream. It was too vivid, too cruel. I swung my legs off the edge of the bed and forced myself to my feet, every movement heavy, like I was dragging a corpse behind me. My body felt drained, not rested, as if I’d spent the night in battle instead of in my king-sized bed. Aching all over, I staggered to the bathroom, the tiles were cold against my bare feet. I leaned over the sink and splashed water onto my face, trying to cool the fever burning beneath my skin. But when I raised my gaze up to the mirror, my breath stopped. My reflection looked like hell—eyes bloodshot, hair stuck damp against my forehead. But that wasn't t

ANASTASIA'S POVThe journey to Bloodhound pack territory was just as endless as I remembered.The cars turned and rolled along winding roads, through a forest, then a field, then more forest. Deja vu washed over me as the feeling of realising just how far away it was from my own home hit me. Mother had been dramatic with her goodbyes to Anastasia for good reason. The pack might as well have been the other end of the world.Or out of the world entirely from what I remembered about it. Although I'd been happy for most of my life in it, the Bloodhound pack was absolutely beautiful and mesmerising. The view of the gardens, fields and mountains had practically been a part of my few joys in my marriage with Grey. It had been so beautiful that I'd never gotten used to it.So when the view finally opened up to the territory, a beaming smile broke out on my face.Massive stone walls rose in the distance, trimmed in climbing. Flowers bloomed in bursts of colour, their scents trailing faintly e

GREY’S POVMINUTES EARLIERI took a long drag from my cigarette, jaw tight as the smoke slipped past my lips and mixed with the sickly-sweet scent of flowers from the garden. The evening air was cool, but all I felt was heat and anger clawing at my insides. I was pissed. No, beyond pissed. I was SHOCKED.I couldn’t make sense of it. Anastasia was… different. Too different. The change in her was too much, too sudden, and I hated it. The Anastasia I knew didn’t talk back. She didn’t glare at me like she wanted to set me on fire. She didn’t walk away from me like I didn’t matter.The Anastasia I knew was quiet, soft-spoken, shy, and she treated me like I hung the damn moon. This new version of her? I didn’t even recognize her. And I sure as hell didn’t like it.I took another drag, flicking the cigarette to shake off the ash, feeling agitation burn hotter in my chest. Things weren’t supposed to go like this. I was supposed to marry Anastasia because she was the perfect wife material. The

NICHOLAS' POVThe smile she was giving me, it was like a balm over an open wound. Soothing. Relieving.And damned if it wasn't doing things to me.For a long moment, I just stood there staring up at Anastasia's face, that delicate curve of her lips, those emerald green eyes that seemed to see straight through every wall I’d built.She believed in me. Even after everything that had happened, after the mockery, after her sister's words… she still looked at me like I could take on the world and win.She didn’t know half of it.The whole hall probably thought I was done for. That Grey’s army of warriors and our father’s endless wealth gave him the upper hand.And, sure, the Bloodhound pack was larger, but that’s all they had—numbers. Numbers didn’t mean a damn thing if the soldiers were averagely skilled.My men weren’t many, but every single one of them had been expertly trained in combat and precision. Ten of them could wipe out fifty of Grey’s without breaking a sweat.But no one knew