After Death, I Returned To Steal My Sister's Perfect Alpha

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as consciousness slammed back into me like a freight train.

My chest heaved, searching for air that shouldn't exist. The last thing I remembered was Ryker's hand plunging into my ribcage, his fingers wrapped around my still-beating heart. The way Sienna had smiled as she watched him rip it from my body, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

But I was breathing. I was alive.

My eyes snapped open to find myself staring at an ornate ceiling I recognized—the crystal chandelier of the Grayson family dining room. The same room where my life had ended just moments ago. Or had it been moments? The grandfather clock in the corner chimed eleven times, its deep resonance vibrating through my bones.

"Harper, are you listening?" My father's voice cut through the fog in my mind. "This is the most important day of your life."

I bolted upright in my chair, my heart hammering against my ribs. Across the mahogany table sat two men I knew all too well—the Blackwood brothers. Axel Blackwood, the elder son and heir, sat rigid in his chair like a statue carved from ice. His silver eyes held no warmth, no emotion, just the cold calculation of a predator sizing up prey. Dark hair swept back from a face that could have been beautiful if not for the permanent scowl etched into his features.

Beside him, Ryker Blackwood smiled that gentle, practiced smile that had fooled me for three years. Sandy brown hair fell across his forehead in carefully arranged waves, and his green eyes sparkled with false kindness. The same eyes that had looked into mine as he murdered me.

"The Mating Ceremony," I whispered, the words scraping against my throat like broken glass.

I was back. Somehow, impossibly, I was back at the beginning.

"Yes, the ceremony," Father continued, his chest puffed with pride. "The Blackwood family has graciously agreed to this alliance. One of you girls will marry into their pack, strengthening both our territories."

Sienna sat beside me, her blonde hair perfectly curled, wearing the same pale blue dress I remembered from that day three years ago. She looked exactly as she had then—innocent, sweet, the perfect daughter. But I knew better now. I knew what lay beneath that angelic facade.

"I'm so nervous," Sienna said, her voice soft and trembling. "What if they don't like us?"

Then I heard it—a voice that didn't match the movement of her lips.

[This time, I'll make sure I get the better Alpha. Harper was always Father's favorite, but I won't let her have Ryker again.]

I nearly choked on my own breath. The voice was crystal clear, as if someone had whispered directly into my ear, but Sienna's mouth hadn't moved. Her lips were still curved in that demure smile, her hands folded primly in her lap.

[I remember how this goes. Harper will choose Ryker because she thinks he's kinder. What an idiot. She never saw past his pretty face to the monster underneath.]

My blood turned to ice. She knew. Somehow, Sienna knew what had happened before. She had been reborn too.

"Harper?" Ryker's voice drew my attention back to the table. "You look pale. Are you feeling alright?"

The concern in his tone made my skin crawl. I remembered that same gentle voice whispering sweet lies as he backhanded me across the face. The way he'd apologized afterward, promising it would never happen again, only to do worse the next time.

"I'm fine," I managed, my voice steadier than I felt.

[Poor Harper,] Sienna's thoughts continued their sinister commentary. [She has no idea that Ryker will inherit everything when Axel dies. No idea that I'm the one who'll make sure that happens.]

My sister—my own sister—had orchestrated Axel's death. She'd manipulated everything, played us all like pawns in her twisted game. And I'd been too blind to see it.

"Well then," Father clapped his hands together. "Shall we proceed? Girls, it's time to choose your intended."

This was it. The moment that had sealed my fate the first time. In my previous life, I'd been drawn to Ryker's warmth, his easy smiles and gentle touches. I'd thought Axel was cold, dangerous, someone to be feared. How wrong I'd been.

Sienna rose from her chair with practiced grace, but I could hear her thoughts racing.

[I need to move fast. Harper always hesitated, gave me the opening I needed.]

She glided toward Ryker's side of the table, her smile radiant. "I hope you don't mind if I—"

"Actually," I interrupted, standing so quickly my chair scraped against the hardwood floor. "I've already made my choice."

Every eye in the room turned to me. Sienna's face went white, her thoughts a jumbled mess of panic and rage.

[No, no, no! This isn't how it's supposed to go!]

"Harper," Father's voice held a warning. "Think carefully. This decision will shape your entire future."

Oh, I was thinking carefully. More carefully than I'd ever thought about anything in my life.

I walked around the table, my footsteps echoing in the sudden silence. Ryker watched me approach with that same charming smile, clearly expecting me to choose him as I had before. But I didn't stop at his chair.

Instead, I continued to where Axel sat, still as stone, his silver eyes tracking my movement like a wolf watching prey. Up close, I could see the faint scar that ran along his jawline, the way his hands rested on the table with deadly stillness.

"I choose you," I said, extending my hand toward him.

For a moment, nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Then Axel's gaze dropped to my outstretched hand, and something flickered in those cold depths—surprise, perhaps, or suspicion.

Slowly, he reached out and took my hand in his. His skin was warm, surprisingly so, and the moment our palms touched, a jolt of electricity shot up my arm. It wasn't unpleasant—quite the opposite. It felt like coming home after a long, cold journey.

"Interesting," he murmured, his voice a low rumble that sent shivers down my spine. "I wasn't expecting that."

Behind us, I heard Sienna's sharp intake of breath, followed by the scrape of her chair as she presumably took the seat beside Ryker. But I couldn't bring myself to care about her shock or disappointment. All I could focus on was the man in front of me, this enigma I'd misjudged so completely.

I tried to read his thoughts the way I'd read Sienna's, searching for some hint of what lay behind those silver eyes. But there was nothing. Complete silence. It was like trying to peer through a wall of steel.

"Well," Father's voice boomed with forced cheer. "It seems the matches have been made. Harper will marry Axel, and Sienna will marry Ryker."

Axel's thumb brushed across my knuckles, a gesture so subtle I almost missed it. When I looked up at him, those mercury eyes were studying my face with an intensity that made my pulse quicken.

"Tell me, Harper Grayson," he said quietly, his words meant for my ears alone. "What changed your mind?"

The question hung between us like a challenge. How could I explain that I'd lived this life before, that I knew the monster hiding behind Ryker's gentle facade? How could I tell him that his own sister-in-law had plotted his death?

I couldn't. Not yet.

"Maybe I finally learned to look past the surface," I said instead.

Something that might have been approval flickered in his gaze. "Careful, little wolf. You might not like what you find beneath mine."

But as I stared into those enigmatic silver eyes, the only man whose thoughts I couldn't read, I felt something I hadn't experienced in years—hope.

Whatever secrets Axel Blackwood was hiding, they had to be better than the hell I'd escaped.