Grace's face flushed with embarrassment as she swatted Carson's arm. "You little punk, what are you blabbering about? This is the miracle cure I busted my butt to find for you!"

I turned to Grace, keeping my voice steady. "You see it, right? Carson doesn't need fixing. Mention Willow, and his so-called muteness vanishes. Just let him bond to her, and he'll probably live to a hundred."

"As for that longevity saint crap? It's just rumors gone wild. Grace, you're too smart to buy into that superstition."

Grace sighed, caught between a rock and a hard place. I wasn't budging, and Carson sure as hell wasn't on board. She couldn't exactly tie me up and force me.

Still, she latched onto my other suggestion. "What about bonding with Yuri, Xandra?"

I didn't even look up, shooting it down flat. "No thanks. You know my condition. I'm not out to screw anyone over."

Grace had no comeback for that. She just nodded, looking defeated.

Carson and Yuri, though? They clearly didn't see that coming. Both of them whipped their heads toward me, eyes wide.

Yuri reacted the hardest, stepping forward like he had something to say. But I spun on my heel and walked out. Just being near those two made my skin crawl. This time around, I wasn't standing in their way-I'd even handed them their happily-ever-after on a silver platter. They should be thrilled to have their little trio forever.

But I barely made it to the door before Carson charged after me, blocking my path. "Xandra!"

I kept walking.

"Xandra, stop right there, damn it!" His voice was hoarse, racked with coughs.

I turned, wondering what the hell he wanted. With his frail body, I half-expected him to keel over and pin the blame on me.

Carson's face was smug, his eyes glinting with triumph. "Mom's already agreed to let me bond to Willow. So you can quit dreaming about me, Xandra. Longevity saint? Please. It's just a cheap trick you cooked up to climb the social ladder. Bet you even paid off that quack who said I was dying, huh?"

Oh, really? Funny, because in my last life, he sure didn't mind crawling into my bed every night, relentless like it was his job. Back then, I thought it was love. Later, I realized he was just testing if I could really keep him alive-for Willow's sake. What a wolf.

I stared at him, calm as a summer breeze. "Congrats, then."

Carson blinked, thrown off by how chill I was. "Go ahead and play it cool. I know you're scheming to sabotage me and Willow. Newsflash: it ain't happening!"

Then he started hacking, his coughs rattling his chest.

I smirked. "Worry about yourself, Carson. Keep your cool and maybe you won't drop dead on your bond night."

His face twisted with rage. He lunged to slap me, but I dodged, and he ate dirt, sprawling on the floor, too weak to get up.

Yuri, who'd been watching like it was a damn soap opera, finally stepped in, motioning for someone to haul Carson away.

Then he turned to me, his dark eyes locking onto mine like a predator.

His first words made my fists clench. "Xandra, why won't you bond to me? You're reborn too, aren't you?"

I stared at him, shocked, my hands trembling with hate for this wolf. In this new life, I wanted nothing to do with Carson-let fate deal with him. But Yuri? I wanted to grind him into dust. In my last life, he played me for three years, earning my trust so I'd willingly let them drain my blood. He had me so fooled that I fell for him, only to end up strapped to an operating table, watching my life bleed out as I aged from eighteen to eighty in hours.

I heard their cheers as Willow woke up, while I lay there, waiting for death.

My blood only bought her a temporary reprieve, though. To keep her conscious, Yuri raided our pack, rounded up every last person, and locked them in a secret lab, turning them into living blood banks. All so he could harvest a bowl of fresh blood daily to keep Willow awake.

To hide the hate burning in my eyes, I looked down. "I don't know what you're talking about. We've never even met. Why would I bond to you?"

Yuri let out a relieved sigh. To him, no memories of my past life meant I was an easy mark.

He grabbed my hand, just like he did a million times before, all smooth and charming. "Xandra, I fell for you the moment I saw you. Love at first sight. Don't push me away. Bond to me, please?"

I yanked my hand back, covering my mouth to keep from gagging. I looked into his fake, lovesick eyes, wondering why he still wouldn't leave me alone.

"No thanks. I'm done with bond for good."

Yuri's gentle mask slipped, his eyes narrowing. "So, what? You're still hung up on Carson?"

His hand grazed my cheek, cold as the needle that drained me in my last life. "Xandra, Carson belongs to Willow. I won't let you come between them. You're bonding with me, period."

My body shook with rage. To them, my refusal was just some coy game, a ploy to bide my time and strike.

In my last life, Carson wasn't the only one obsessed with Willow. Yuri had a secret crush on her too, but since she only had eyes for Carson, he stayed in the shadows, protecting her, sacrificing everything for her. Including lowering himself to play me for three years. Poor wolf, must've been rough.

Fine. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I knew by heart, right in front of Yuri. "Hey, you said you'd bond to me anytime I was ready. Still mean it?"

The voice on the other end lit up with excitement. "Hell yeah, I mean it! Where you at, Xandra? I'm coming to you. Meet me at the County Clerk's Office in ten."

I agreed fast, leaving out one tiny detail: my condition for bonding with him was taking down the Stone family for good.

I hung up the phone, and Yuri smirked at me, his voice dripping with mockery. "Xandra, if you're gonna put on a show, at least make it convincing. How much did you pay for that call?"

"Real or not, once I'm bound, your precious Willow won't have to worry about me, right?" I shot back.

Yuri's face darkened, and I couldn't tell why. "So you'd rather shack up with some random wolf than bond to me?"

I shoved past him. "Move. You're blocking my way to the courthouse."

But Yuri grabbed my arm, hard. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then clamped it shut. Before I could figure out how to shake him off, the Stone family's butler rushed up.

"Yuri, Carson's passed out. Grace wants Xandra back at the house, now."

My heart skipped a beat. They just wouldn't quit, would they? I'd already told them I couldn't cure anyone.

Yuri didn't care that I was fighting him. He hoisted me over his shoulder and started walking. I thrashed, panic bringing tears to my eyes.

In my last life, Yuri was all smiles when I said yes to his proposal, setting off fireworks across the pack. After wearing me out in bed, he carried me like this, saying he'd draw me a bath-only to blindfold me and drag me to a freezing operating table.

"Quit squirming," Yuri snapped, smacking my backside. I sank my teeth into his back, tearing off a chunk of flesh.

He yelped, dropping me. We'd reached Carson's room. Grace wasn't there-just Willow, perched in Carson's lap, dressed in a flowing white dress.

Carson sneered at me. "What, disappointed I'm not dying? Guess you can't use your fake saint act to force me to bond to you now."

I took a deep breath, swallowing my rage. "Don't flatter yourself, Carson. I told you, I'm not bonding with you. I've got places to be."

But to them, my anger was worthless.