I'm a healer. And I've been given a second chance. I'd barely opened my eyes on the border battlefield when the emergency transmission crackled through from the Healers' Guild. "Ivy Mitchell—get to the infirmary, now. The Alpha's been hit bad. You're the only one who can save him." The words hit me like a punch to the chest. Because I'd read this exact message before. In my last life. Last time, I'd dropped everything and rushed back the second I got the call. But by the time I reached the infirmary, the Alpha was already dead. And then—every healer in that room, including my own parents and my sister—pointed at me and screamed that I'd murdered him. The Tribunal sentenced me to death. The pup I'd raised? They tossed him to the vampires like scraps. Made him a blood thrall. My nails bit into my palms so hard they nearly drew blood. Not this time. I wasn't about to let history repeat itself. Then I remembered—something else had happened on this day, last time around. The Alpha King had been ambushed by vampires and left in a death-like coma. If I saved him, I'd have the most powerful wolf in the realm as my shield. No one would ever dare touch me again. I squeezed my eyes shut, ground my teeth—and ran. I found him on the battlefield, right where I remembered. The vampire was already lunging, claws out. I didn't think. I just moved—shoved the Alpha King aside and took the hit myself.
