Reborn: Making the Rival Alpha My Mate

ANYA POV:

Blood bubbled up from my chest with every shallow breath. A silver dagger, engraved with the royal crest, was buried deep in my heart. The silver burned through my veins, dissolving my inner wolf until I couldn't even twitch a finger.

The hand gripping the hilt belonged to my fiancé, Prince Davian Sterling. His face, the one I had adored for years, was now twisted in disgust. He yanked his hand back, wiping his fingers as if touching me had soiled him.

A small figure stepped out from behind him. Elara Beaumont. My adoptive sister. The girl my parents had taken in, the one I had treated as my own flesh and blood since I returned to the pack. She nestled into Davian's side, wiping the remaining blood from his knuckles with a handkerchief.

They kissed right in front of me. The sight hurt far more than the silver in my chest.

"Why?" The word scraped from my throat.

Elara pulled away and let out a soft laugh. "Oh, my dear sister, you are just so painfully naive," she sneered. "Did you honestly think Davian would ever love a useless Omega like you? You have nothing to offer but the Beaumont name."

She knelt beside me, her eyes filled with mocking pity. "He was always mine. You were just a convenient pawn, a stepping stone to secure his alliance with our family's army."

Fury ignited through my shock. "Even if that's true," I choked out, "why betray our family? My parents raised you! They gave you everything! There are hundreds of innocent lives in our pack. How could you hand them over to the slaughter?"

Elara's sweet facade shattered into a vicious sneer. "Because the moment their precious biological daughter returned to the pack, I became invisible! They obsessed over you and forgot I even existed. They brought this on themselves, and they deserve to rot!"

"And you really are an idiot," she continued. "I fed you a few sweet words, played the loving sister, and you swallowed every lie."

"Honestly, I would have wiped out the Beaumonts much sooner, but it was inconvenient while Crown Prince Kaelen Valerius was still breathing. With him out of the way, slaughtering your pack was child's play."

My heart gave a violent lurch. Kaelen? The Crown Prince? The most powerful Lycan in the kingdom was dead?

Seeing my shock, Elara's smile widened. "Surprised? Oh, it gets better. The great, terrifying Crown Prince was completely obsessed with you."

"I slipped an ancient toxin into your tea a month ago," she said, relishing every word. "A poison with only one cure: the death of someone who truly, unconditionally loved you. If no one fit the bill, you would have rotted from the inside out."

"And guess what? The moment Kaelen took his last breath, the poison in your veins vanished. He sacrificed himself to save you." Elara laughed. "The man you avoided like the plague was the only one who actually loved you enough to die for you. Isn't that deliciously ironic?"

Kaelen.

His face flashed in my mind. The way I had foolishly pushed him away, terrified of his overwhelming presence. He had died for me.

The weight of his sacrifice crashed into me, tangling with the reality of my family's slaughter. The sorrow instantly morphed into a roaring hatred. I glared at the two monsters standing over me.

"Enough talking, Elara. Why are you wasting breath on a corpse?" Davian muttered with heavy irritation. "Let's finish this."

He stepped forward, grabbing the hilt of the dagger.

As he violently twisted the blade and shoved it deeper, the last thread of my life snapped. But before the darkness swallowed me, I made a silent vow.

If I get another chance... I will tear you both apart. I will make you pay in blood, a thousand times over.