Chapter 1After I drank the pack-brewed prenatal tonic my adopted sister brought me,my abdomen was wracked with unbearable pain.
My eldest brother,Luca Carter—hailed as the pack's surgical prodigy—said I needed an emergency C-section and a D&C right away.
My Alpha mate roared,"No! I only want my Luna alive!"
All three of my brothers stared at me with bloodshot eyes.
"Easy,sweetheart," someone murmured. "Go to sleep. It'll stop hurting soon. We've got the best doctors and the best meds."
I looked into their eyes,tears shimmering in my own. Even in my worst agony,I was still grateful that everyone who loved me was by my side.
But while we waited for the anesthesia,their conversation at the door drifted into my ears.
Luca sounded almost excited. "Freya's healthy. Her blood type and age are a perfect match. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance,so we might as well transplant her heart into Adeline."
My second brother,Ethan Carter—the pack's CEO Alpha—agreed with infuriating calm. "I'll have the evidence destroyed. Freya won't find out."
My third brother,Matteo Carter—an Alpha professor at Pack Medical School—added,"I'll develop a targeted drug. Even if we swap in a damaged heart,Freya won't feel a thing."
After a long,heavy silence,my Alpha mate finally spoke from outside the door,relief loosening his voice. "Adeline needs a strong heart if she's going to chase her dream of becoming a dancer,and as for Freya,we'll make it up to her someday. I'll sign the consent forms now."
Cold spread through my body. It felt like someone had carved my heart out with a blade,leaving a raw,hollow ache that wouldn't stop.
Then a familiar yet distant voice echoed in my ear. [Freya! Your life is in danger! Are you willing to give up every reward and stay in this world?]
Tears slid down my cheeks.
This time,their fake love couldn't keep me here.
I forced myself to roll over and climb off the bed,but a pack nurse shoved tubes into my throat and nose as a rush of anesthetic flooded my body. Right before my consciousness sank into black,I saw their doted-on adopted sister—Adeline Brooks,the one who drugged me and killed my pup—being wheeled in.
Luca held a scalpel and ordered the nurse in a cold voice. "Don't bother with the dead fetus in Freya's belly yet. Take her heart out first and transplant it into Adeline."
I felt the blade slice into my chest layer by layer,and just before I slipped under completely,Luca's mutter reached me. "Hang on a little longer,Adeline. When you wake up,you'll be able to shine onstage again."
In the deepest part of my mind,I spoke to that voice. [As long as my body dies,I'll return to the Coven,my heart condition will be cured,and I'll receive a hundred million dollars as a reward,right?]
[Yes.]
What a joke.
From the day I was born,there had been a strange power hidden inside me. It was the kind of power every dark-magic practitioner dreamed of,and the kind of power that always came with a price. Mine was my ruined heart.
Later,a witch who meant to siphon my life force to strengthen her dark magic offered me a deal. I came to the Packlands to redeem four Alphas because I couldn't afford treatment for my heart condition,and in the end,the very four Alphas I spent fifteen years redeeming still gave me a damaged heart.
I yanked out the oxygen tube without hesitating. Breathing became a battle,my throat tightening as if a fist had closed around it,and no matter how hard I tried,I couldn't draw oxygen into my lungs. My face turned a bluish purple as suffocation closed in. And still,a faint smile curved my mouth.
"Leave!" my wolf,Nina,soothed me from deep inside. "Leave this place. We don't need their fake love."
The heart monitor flashed red and screamed,and my three Alpha brothers and my Alpha mate burst in with a swarm of nurses. They howled,"Freya!"
Luca performed CPR until my heartbeat returned,and after he pushed the oxygen tube back in,he roared at me with bloodshot eyes. "Are you out of your mind? Why would you rip out your oxygen tube? It was just a pup. You can't throw your life away!"
Clutching my chest as my heart tore itself apart inside me,I rasped,"I only lost my baby?"
Chapter 2
My Alpha mate,Ronan Caldwell,dropped to his knees in front of my bed and kept slapping his own face,guilt written all over his face.
"Freya,blame me," he choked out. "I was the one who told Adeline to bring you that tonic. I thought it would help you carry the baby to term," he went on,eyes red. "I didn't know you were dangerously allergic to it. It killed our pup,and the toxins damaged your heart,too."
"But listen," he said quickly,shuffling forward on his knees until he was right in front of me. He gripped my hand tightly. "Your brother Luca is the best cardiothoracic surgeon in pack territory. He'll treat you,and we'll have pups again."
"I already punished the doctor who handed over the tonic," Ronan added,voice shaking. "Her license is gone. She'll never practice again. Don't blame Adeline,and don't blame yourself. You still have so many people who love you."
When I didn't answer,Ethan said hoarsely,"Yeah,Freya. We've contacted every transplant program overseas that we can reach. We'll find you a matching heart as fast as possible."
Matteo patted me gently. "Don't worry,sweetheart. I'll make you a targeted drug as soon as I get back. I'll make sure you can breathe easily again and run and jump like anyone else."
All I felt was cold down to my bones. What a sick joke. With a few casual words,they wanted to brush past the fact that Adeline had drugged me,killed my pup,and taken my heart.
A sarcastic smile tugged at my mouth as I looked at the four Alphas crowding my bed. "Where's Adeline? I want to ask her myself."
Luca's brows drew tight. "You still want to blame Adeline? She was so guilty that she had a cardiac episode. She barely made it,and it was only because we found a new heart in time."
Matteo hurried to back him up. "Easy,sweetheart. Don't do this. Luca saved Adeline,and he'll treat you,too."
I let out a short,sharp laugh. "Is that so? Two surgeries at the same time,my heart just ‘went bad,' and Adeline just happened to find a brand-new heart?"
The entire room fell silent.
"Freya…" Luca started,then stopped like the words had jammed in his throat.
I was tired of their lies,so I forced my lips into a curve. "I'm kidding. Go check on Adeline. If she can get better,I'm happy."
My Alpha brothers stiffened,still trying to speak,but I pulled the blanket over my head and shut them out.
When I finally lifted it again,my brothers were gone,but Ronan was still there,his eyes full of guilt. I smiled anyway. "Go see her for me. Come back and tell me how my sister's doing."
He didn't hesitate this time. He left.
At last,I was alone,and I let out a slow breath before I reached for my phone with trembling hands.
That witch had once promised to grant me one wish. Before I was wheeled into surgery,I traded that wish for two video clips.
I stared at the clips,replaying the footage over and over like a compulsion. I watched them plan how to replace my heart,and I watched Luca rip it out without mercy before transplanting it into Adeline with careful precision.
The blood in my veins went ice-cold.
I was suddenly grateful I hadn't died back then,because walking away that easily would have been far too kind to them.
During my hospital stay,they sent one person to sit with me every day,only to rush out again right after. I thought they were truly busy.
Then one time,I needed the bathroom and no one was there,so I dragged myself along with my IV pole toward the hall. As I passed a room,I glanced through the window and saw Ronan—who had just hurried off to a meeting—holding a piece of steak to Adeline's lips.
My three Alpha brothers were there too,watching her with indulgent eyes.
Luca sounded exasperated. "Adeline,you can't eat whatever you want just because you're feeling better. Steak isn't good for your incision."
Adeline tugged on his white coat and whined,"I can't help it. Ethan's beef stew is way too good." Then she complained with a little pout,"You guys hovering around me all day is so annoying. I can't even sneak a bite without you noticing."
I dug my nails into my palm and gave myself a bitter smile. Not once in all these days had anyone brought me a real meal. All I'd gotten was whatever my aide grabbed downstairs,including milk that was already past its date. Meanwhile Adeline had them with her every day,plus Ethan cooking for her with his own hands.
I turned stiffly to go back,and that was when I heard two nurses whispering outside the duty room.
"I heard the one I'm assigned to is the biological daughter," one murmured. "Dr. Luca Carter is vicious. He told me to give her a few nutrient drips and keep her healthy as a spare donor. If Miss Adeline has severe rejection,they're planning an exchange transfusion."
My entire body locked in place.
Chapter 3
The incisions across my chest and abdomen felt like they had split open,and the pain made my whole body go numb.
How did it end up like this?
Back then,if I got so much as a bruise,Luca would panic and hover for hours. He had even learned medicine in the first place because he wanted to take better care of me.
Ethan and Matteo had adored me too. When I was born,I'd been frail,sick again and again,and more than once the doctors had told them to prepare for the worst. To keep me alive,they went to the small chapel in the Packlands every day to pray,and they even had a protective charm made specifically for me.
After I recovered,Ethan and Matteo—who used to drift through life without direction—suddenly pulled themselves together. Ethan threw himself into building businesses because he wanted me to have money for treatment. Matteo chose pharmacology because he wanted to create medicine for me that didn't taste bitter.
And for my sake,they even saved Ronan,a rogue Alpha they'd found collapsed in a blizzard.
All across the Packlands,people said the Alpha Princess of Frostveil Pack was the luckiest girl alive,with three Alpha brothers who treated her like she hung the moon. They said she'd even taken in an Alpha heir who obeyed her every word,Ronan.
As an orphan,I clung to that kind of devotion like it was oxygen. So after I completed the witch's mission to redeem four Alphas,I turned down the reward and chose to stay here,with my Alpha brothers and with Ronan.
Then Adeline appeared.
The day they brought her home,my brothers held me and swore,"Freya,she looks too much like Mom. She even has the same heart condition. We can't just leave her. Don't worry," they promised. "Taking her in is just us trying to earn you some good karma. You're still our one and only."
I believed them.
I tried to accept her,sincerely. To show goodwill,I gave her my room. Whenever my brothers came back from trips,I reminded them to bring something back for their sister too. Because she couldn't go many places with her heart condition,I even brought her along on every date I had with Ronan.
Little by little,Adeline blended into Frostveil Pack. She started acting cute with my brothers and asking for gifts. She started bickering with Ronan,trading insults like it was flirting.
Somewhere along the way,their attitude toward me shifted in ways that were small at first,then impossible to ignore.
Adeline tripped in front of me once,and Luca immediately demanded,"Did you do something to Adeline?"
Ethan cooked for the first time in ages,and every dish was something Adeline liked.
Matteo's research goal became developing a targeted drug for Adeline's heart condition.
Even Ronan,during an argument,blurted out,"Why can't you be more like your sister? Why can't you act sweet with me for once?"
And then,for Adeline,they could even plot together to steal my heart.
The emotion surged up again,and it felt like my heart was being ripped out a second time while I was still alive.
I wanted to get away from this place as fast as possible,but I moved too quickly and slipped. My chest and abdominal wounds split open,and in the shock of pain I curled in on myself,trembling. My vision blurred,and I murmured without thinking,"Brother…"
Right before I blacked out,I saw my Alpha brothers and Ronan sprinting toward me.
Luca was the fastest. He grabbed me up at once and barked,"Freya! You saw we were with Adeline. Are you hurting yourself again just to get attention?"
After I was discharged and brought home,a care aide watched me like a hawk and wouldn't let me do anything that could count as self-harm. I was so weak I could only sit in a wheelchair,and I even needed help to use the bathroom.
Meanwhile,Adeline could already run and jump as much as she wanted. She wore a pink tulle dance dress and spun lightly through the garden like she'd never been sick at all.
Ronan held up his phone to film her,and my brothers didn't look away for a second,smiling at her with soft,indulgent eyes.
I felt nothing but emptiness,and I started to wheel myself away.
"Ow!"
With a dull thud,Adeline fell.
"Adeline!" The men rushed forward in a panic to help her up.
When I turned my head,I saw Adeline pointing at the latch that had fallen from my wheelchair,her voice shaking with tears.
