In my previous life, the moment I heard Finn had become the Alpha of the Thornwood Pack, I bundled up my daughter and traveled a thousand miles to find him. Edith killed us both with wolfsbane-laced pastries.
My last thought before the darkness took me was regret. Not for dying, but for severing the blood-bond with my father, Alpha Aldric Silvercrest, all for the sake of mating with Finn Thornwood.
This time, the moment I opened my eyes, I sold the den, packed what little money it brought, and set out for the capital.
But I was not going to the Thornwood territory.
I told the driver to take the long way around, and the carriage rolled to a stop before the gates of the Silvercrest Pack compound.
The driver took one look at us, my daughter and me in our threadbare rags, shuffling toward the Alpha's gates like a pair of packless rogues, and let out a snort.
"Takes all kinds. Now even rogues have the nerve to show up at the Alpha's door claiming to be blood."
I ignored him. I took Hildegarde Thornwood's small hand in mine, walked to the gate, and knelt.
"Father. Your daughter knows she was wrong."