Chapter 1

"Why should she be born into luxury as the Alpha's second daughter? My daughter has the same father! I'm going to change her fate!"

The nursemaid's bitter voice jolted me awake.

I kept my eyes half-closed and pretended to sleep. Through the slit of my lashes, I watched Livia clench her jaw as she lifted the newborn — my real sister — and swapped her with another infant, trading their blankets.

My sister didn't even have time to cry. Livia grabbed a cloth from nearby and stuffed it into her mouth.

I couldn't help curling up the corner of my lips.

Livia walked to my crib. She stared at me for a long moment, then let out a cold laugh. "You've got all the luck, don't you — smiling in your sleep like you don't have a care in the world."

My heart seized. I forced my breathing to slow and stay even.

Fortunately, Livia didn't linger. She picked up the swapped infant and hurried out of the room.

I stretched my tiny arms and legs, looked down at my smooth baby skin, and felt tears well up.

In my previous life, when I discovered what Livia had done to my sister, I screamed and cried with everything I had until my mother woke up.

My mother had witnessed the entire swap. She exploded in rage, slapped Livia ten times, and drove her out of the Calloway Pack grounds.

But Livia held a grudge. She crept back into the room that night and used a pin to carve cuts all over my body, slicing me from head to toe.

I had saved my sister, but the price was my face and skin — scarred forever.

As the years passed, my scars grew worse, raised and dark red, covering me completely.

My father and mother were ashamed of how I looked. They locked me in a back room and refused to let me leave. They told the outside world I was born sickly and needed to stay inside.

My sister, meanwhile, was raised to be lively and beautiful, the object of desire for every young man in the territory.

Later, my sister fell in love with Zane Thorne — the man I had a Childhood Mate Promise with. She wanted to step in and fulfill that promise for me.

But Zane was loyal. He was set on having me as his mate.

My sister couldn't stand it. She tricked Zane into my room, locked the door from the outside, and set the place on fire.

Zane and I were burned near to death. In his last moments, Zane gripped my hand. "Sophia, we weren't meant for this life. I'll find you in the next."

After I died, my spirit drifted and watched. My parents, to protect my sister, threw all the blame on me.

They said I was a shameless invalid who had tried to seduce Zane, that he had refused me, and that I had gone insane and set the fire to die with him.

Then, to calm the anger of the Thorne Pack, they stuffed me into a thin coffin and dumped me outside Pack territory for the scavengers.

I was furious. I was devastated. I regretted throwing myself into danger to save my sister.

Nearby, Livia's daughter suddenly wailed, yanking me back to the present.

I'd been given a second life. I would not interfere in my sister's fate. Whatever happened to her at Livia's hands — she deserved every bit of it.

Fifteen years passed in a blink.

In this life, I was the Calloway Pack Alpha's beautiful and talented firstborn daughter. My parents were a little warmer toward me, but they didn't invest much in me. Only my grandmother, the same as in my past life, spent a small fortune to have tutors teach me music, chess, painting, and literature.

My fake sister, on the other hand, was just like her mother — no education, no skills, only a pretty face.

But because she was the youngest child, my father had spoiled her into something wild and ungovernable.

Father named her Zara — a name that sounded even more precious than the name my real sister had carried in our past life.

The day before my sixteenth birthday, Father had a day off.

He took me and Zara to a jeweler's shop in the Pack's trading district. I picked out a ruby gold pin worth three hundred gold coins. Zara had her eye on a pearl jewelry set worth five hundred.

Father looked at me with an awkward expression. "Sophia, I only brought seven hundred gold coins today. That jade pin over there is two hundred — it's lovely too. You're the older sister. Can you let Zara have what she wants?"

I smiled sweetly. "I'm sure Father and Mother will give me something else for my birthday tomorrow. I'll listen to Father today and take the jade pin."

The moment I finished speaking, Zara's face flipped. "How greedy can you be, Sophia?"

"Father brought you here to pick a birthday gift. How dare you expect another one at home?"

"Father already told me — all the jewelry from Mother's dowry is going to me. Don't even think about grabbing any of it."

Father looked uncomfortable and patted Zara's shoulder. "Enough of that, child."

I forced a smile. "Father, I'm not feeling well. I'll wait in the car."

I set down the pin I'd been holding and walked out.

Maybe my parents and I just weren't meant to be close. No matter who my sister turned out to be, they always loved her more.

Even though I'd long given up on them in my past life, hearing Zara say it out loud to my face — I still felt a stab of real pain.

I had barely stepped outside when Zara caught up to me, a satisfied look on her face. "Can't take it, can you, Sophia?"