"Come here! I’m going to kill you for your betrayal, Karylle!" he snarled.

He dragged me with force, and with his strength, it didn’t take long before we reached the edge of the forest.

Maybe it was the shock of their audacity, the weight of what I had done to Devon, and the searing pain of their betrayal. All the strength I had seemed to vanish.

"You’re damn well going to pay for what you did!"

His fist collided with me, and the impact left me stunned. Was he really going to hurt me? After everything they did, after all the schemes they plotted against me, he had the nerve to strike me?

"You’re the one who’s cheating," I thought bitterly, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it aloud.

I dropped to my knees, knowing I still had to pretend I was ignorant of everything. I had to stay with him until I gave birth, and so did Karina. I would take her child and set Devon against Daniel. Their hatred would destroy them, and Karina would come to despise him just as much.

"P-please… don’t do this. I’m sorry. Lock me up, strip me of my freedom, but don’t hurt me or our child," I pleaded.

Hold on, Karylle. Just one more month of suffering, and it will lead you to lifelong satisfaction because I’ll leave with my twins and Karina’s son. They won’t have a chance but to marry when I’m gone, while Karina is in despair because I’ll make her believe Daniel killed her baby.

She’ll regret ever attracting Daniel. They’ll both regret it for the rest of their lives.

“P-please…”

He huffed, grabbed my hair, and yanked me to my feet. Pain flared in my scalp, but I stayed silent. I wanted to hear what he had to say.

"You’ll be my whore in this house, and that’s all you’ll ever be. You’re not leaving. You’re grounded for life. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes. I’ll do it. Just don’t hurt our baby," I whispered.

His gaze dropped to my stomach, and a grin spread across his face. Anger and doubt gleamed in his eyes.

"My baby… or my brother’s?"

My lips trembled with rage. He was the one who strayed. He was the unfaithful one, not me. And yet he dared to question my child’s paternity. These daughters will strip all your wealth once we’re back, Daniel. My wealth that you inherited because of marriage.

"Y-yours…"

He must have wanted me or the babies dead, because without hesitation, he threw me against a tree. The force of the impact ripped a groan from my lips, and my wolf stirred, desperate to break free.

"Daniel!" my sister’s voice called out.

She reached me first, delivering two sharp slaps to my face before running to him.

"Don’t leave me!" she cried. "I hate that slut!" She pointed at me. "She covets my fiancé and I hate your brother!"

The absurdity of their performance nearly made me laugh. How could they act as if they weren’t lovers? As if I hadn’t caught them kissing—or worse? Now they were playing the victims. What’s next? Would they claim their affair was born from spite?

It was entirely possible.

Later, I descended the stairs, my teeth grinding as I watched them enter the house hand in hand. The servants whispered in alarm, but I kept walking, my fists clenched at my sides.

Daniel turned to face me.

"Karina is moving in. She’ll live here with me. Get your things and move into another room," he ordered coldly.

I locked eyes with my sister, who had her head bowed but was grinning triumphantly.

"You’re going to sleep with her?"

"Yes!" he shouted. "I’ll share my bed with her, have sex with her—because you cheated on me! You deserve this punishment!"

Blinded by rage, I charged toward them, ready to strike, but they moved quickly, disappearing into the room downstairs. I pounded on the door, pouring all my wolf strength into the blows. I was ready to tear it down when it suddenly opened.

My eyes widened at the sight before me.

Daniel wasted no time. He returned to the bed, climbing on top of Karina.

"You want to disturb us?" he sneered as he positioned himself over her.

My heart shattered, even though I knew the truth about their affair.

They both smirked as they turned to me, moaning louder for effect.

"Be our audience, Karylle," my sister mocked, pulling him closer.

"Watch us. Don’t blink. This is your punishment for cheating on us," Daniel growled.

I turned away, but something hot struck my leg, and I collapsed.

Wolfbane.

It wasn’t potent enough to kill me, but it drained my strength.

"Leave now, and your baby will die," Daniel warned.

I had no choice but to endure their nightly torture. Everything would be worth it once I leave this place and start my revenge.

He abandoned me for her.

As I lay on the brink of childbirth, I overheard his final command to the midwife.

"Kill her once the baby is born. I’m offering her child to our rival pack as a gift."

What?!

I can’t die yet. I can’t close my eyes and sleep knowing that my babies will be delivered into the hands of someone else. They might kill them or turn them into slaves for another pack. A gift.

"Push..." the midwife urged, her eyes signaling something to the man behind me.

I gripped the bed and let out a low groan, my body aching.

"If you do anything to harm me or my child, you will all die. I’ve already arranged for someone to kill your family once we can’t leave this place alive," I threatened.

The midwife and the man froze at my words. I cried out in pain, but I used every ounce of my strength to push my babies into the world.

“Twins…” she muttered.

"Ahhh!" I shouted in agony with the final push.

I gasped for air as I heard the first cries of my child. The midwife held him up, handing him to me, clearly shaken by my earlier threat.

She was about to leave, but I stopped her.

"I need you to do something for me. Once you’re done, I’ll give you enough gold to feed your family," I said, despite the pain. "Someone will assist you. If you don’t cooperate, both you and your families will die."

They had no choice but to agree. I explained my plan. I had arranged to purchase two babies from the black market—one dead, one alive. I knew Karina; she was easily fooled when there was someone else by her side.

The dead baby would be presented to her after I had ordered the milk to be laced with wolfsbane—just enough for her to believe the baby had died of natural causes. The important thing was that Daniel had prepared it, so Karina would blame him for her loss.

The live one would serve as the gift to the pact, just as Daniel wanted.

I instructed one of my loyal servants, a trusted friend, to take my babies and hide them. I placed the bought child beside me. I allowed myself a moment of rest before swallowing a fake poison, one that would stop my breath for thirty minutes.

"Lady Karylle, it’s time to return to your house," Greg, my loyal servant, whispered, waking me up.

I was still weak, and part of me wanted to escape, to leave it all behind. But I had to see how this would unfold—how Devon and Daniel would fight, how my sister would come to loathe my husband for stealing her.

"Y-you killed my child?" I heard Karina ask, holding the dead baby in her arms.

My husband was stunned. He didn’t expect this.

"I didn’t," his voice shaking.

Karina grabbed the glass of milk he had given her to drink before she gave birth.

"There’s wolfsbane in this! It killed my baby! You killed my baby! Why?!" she cried, devastated by the loss.

Just then, Devon arrived, his growls echoing as he searched for his child. He stopped in his wolf form, sniffing the air before turning his attention to Karina, who was kneeling and holding the dead baby.

"My baby…" she sobbed.

I was hidden behind a window outside, watching.

"Who killed my child?!" Devon roared.

Karina, stunned and furious, pointed at my husband in grief.

"H-he killed him!" she shouted.

Devon lunged at Daniel, and my husband had no choice but to shift into his wolf form to defend himself. But he was no match for Devon. They were both strong, but Devon had experience in prolonged pain, a masochist by nature who had changed for Karina. He was used to hurting himself just to feel alive.

I watched as my sister, now out of control, left with the lifeless child in her arms. I glanced at the carriage where the three live babies waited.

Devon was on the verge of killing my husband when a few of his men and some council members arrived to stop him.

"Give me that bastard! I’ll kill him! He killed my child with Karina! He fucking covets my fiancée!" Devon seethed.

They ignored him and focused on Daniel, who was now the alpha of the pack and needed to be kept alive. They left Devon alone, and all he wanted was to find Karina.

That was when I appeared.

"He’s not dead," I told him.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. Slowly, he shifted back into his human form, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

I smiled bitterly, knowing how this all seemed.

"Your child is with me. Alive."

I approached him eagerly.

"Help me with my revenge. Let’s plan wisely. We’ll raise our children and return here when they are old enough to claim what’s rightfully theirs."

"For what?" he spat.

I smiled at him.

"He can’t have a successor for all the wealth but my daughters. No one is allowed to be alpha except your son. He can't produce another child. You know that. Let’s return here and take our revenge when the time is right."

His brow furrowed, but after a moment, he pulled me closer. His teeth gritting.

"Then fake a name. Marry me, Karylle. In that way, I’ll show Daniel that I’m taking what’s his, just as he took what’s mine."

"Marrying each other through mating has consequences. One of you will die if two decades pass and you fail to break the sacred bond with your spouses," the babaylan had warned.

Being married to Devon while still bound to Daniel was no easy feat. That’s why we did it through mating instead of making it sacred. Every week, we had to visit the babaylan to perform the ritual. We couldn’t proceed without the oil that protected my heart from breaking, since I was still linked to my true husband.

For Devon, there was no risk. The danger lay solely with me.

"My son will start his training tomorrow," Devon informed me as I prepared the tools for mating.

I nodded quietly, keeping my focus on my task.

"My daughters are learning everything they need to know," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. I knew I was leading them into a grim life of vengeance, but peace had long been a distant dream for us. Retribution remained the only path.

"How was your visit to them?" I asked, wiping sweat from my brow as he adjusted his sleeves.

“They’re preparing to appoint someone as alpha. They’ve made it seem as if their adopted son is their biological heir.”

I smirked. “The rogue boy? A full-blood alpha? That’s laughable.”

I stood and faced him, meeting the eyes of the man who had been my companion in suffering for years. We had grown accustomed to each other’s presence—partners in crime and sin, not love. What connected us was rage and a hunger for revenge, a bond of ruin that left no space for tenderness.

Still, it wasn’t hard to see why humans whispered behind our backs, calling us sorcerers who never aged.

Devon’s form remained as formidable as ever, his mature face chiselled with a dark aura that never faded.

To the world, he was my husband. But every time we performed the mating ritual, my blood screamed for Daniel.

Soon, I would end him. The time was close.

“It’s a long process,” Devon continued, his expression hard. “I’ve already planted the idea in the council that your brother never owned your wealth. It rightfully belongs to you.”

“But doesn’t everyone believe I’m dead?”

“Some of your father’s loyalists still remember. They know you bore a child and sent him to another pack. That inheritance could fall to him.”

I clenched my jaw. "We need to find that child before they do. If it’s about wealth, others might use the child to challenge the next alpha. We can’t afford any obstacles."

His eyes darkened as he nodded. For a moment, we stared into each other’s gazes, seeing nothing but the ghosts of the siblings who had betrayed us.

We were one year away from reclaiming what was ours. Retribution would be ours. Soon, we would walk freely in the lands that had been stolen.

“It’s time to go to the babaylan,” Devon murmured, gripping my arm.

It was midnight, and the world was asleep. The portal opened easily under the moon’s gaze as he shifted into his wolf form, carrying me as he raced through the woods. The scent of blood hung thickly in the air—fresh kills from sacrifices he had made.

We stopped before the gateway. Together, we raised our eyes to the moon, its light casting a cold, silver glow.

We spoke in unison, our voices weaving into the night.

“Luna, guide us to our world. We appease you with the blood of our sacrifices.”

The portal flared open. Devon moved swiftly into the vast land where a great chateau loomed—our ancestral home, now claimed by those who had betrayed us.

Their figures were visible even from here, standing on the balcony under the moon’s glow, performing the same ritual we were about to begin. The mating ritual.

Devon set me down before the babaylan. I kept my eyes fixed upward, watching Daniel with cold fury as he performed the ritual with my soulless sister.

That would have been my fate had Devon not found the last babaylan.

We began. His lips pressed against mine, his hands tracing my body with practiced intent. His mouth trailed down my skin, igniting each touch as our tongues entwined, our bodies merging in perfect rhythm.

Then I heard it—the howl of Daniel.

I turned my gaze in time to see him lift a dagger, its blade catching the moonlight. He drove it into my sister’s heart, the silver glinting as blood poured from her chest.

Karina would survive. The mating demanded death for the resurrection to take hold. That was its purpose.

For Daniel and Karina, mating meant death. But for Devon and me, survival came with a babaylan’s magic. We only had to match their ritual perfectly, performing in unison.

Their torment kept us alive.

“Moan my name, Karylle,” Devon commanded darkly. “Make them hear us both in their minds.”

When my voice mingled with his in the mind link, Daniel’s growl filled the night.

That was their consequence. They had to die for the bond they broke. We lived by cheating on them.

“In two months,” Devon whispered after the ritual, “you’ll return with a new name, a new face, and seduce him again.”

I smirked wickedly.

“I will. And you…” I traced his jaw with my fingertips.

“You will lure Karina to her death.”

His eyes darkened further.

“I will kill her this time."