Reborn To Ruin The Alpha Who Broke Me

AVALON POV:

The cold stone slab bit into my back. I was already dying. The wound in my abdomen had festered beyond saving, and every shallow breath sent pain tearing through me. For weeks, my husband had ignored my worsening condition, refusing to send a healer or even come to see me. He had simply locked me in this damp underground cell and left me to die.

Then heavy footsteps sounded on the stone stairs. The iron door groaned open, spilling light into the darkness. A tall silhouette stood in the doorway.

My breath caught.

Cassian Sterling. My husband.

He stepped inside, and the light revealed his face. There was no pity in his brown eyes. No flicker of the bond that was supposed to tie our souls together. He looked at me the way one looks at a piece of trash on the side of the road.

He was wearing his formal attire, the deep blue velvet jacket of the Sterling Pack, embroidered with silver thread. Ready for the mating ceremony.

I tried to push myself up, but my muscles screamed and gave way. My hand, thin and pale, trembled as I reached for the hem of his perfectly pressed trousers. The mate bond, the one the Moon Goddess had forged, pulsed weakly inside me, a desperate call into the void.

"My family," I rasped, my voice a dry crackle. "Please... tell me. How are they?"

My mother's family, the Carlisles, had been exiled to the frozen north for treason. Since Cassian had imprisoned me, their letters had been the only proof I had that they were still alive.

He took a small, neat step back. My fingers brushed against empty air. He avoided my touch as if I were diseased.

He adjusted his collar, his movements unhurried. "Them? Oh, you mean the Carlisles."

My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage of bone. I watched his lips, waiting for the verdict that would either save me or shatter me completely.

A small smile touched his mouth. It was a chilling, ugly thing in the gloom of the dungeon. "They're long dead, Avalon."

The words didn't make sense.

"Dead in the second month after you were brought down here."

For a moment, I could neither move nor breathe. His words were the only thing I could hear, repeating over and over in my head.

I shook my head, a frantic, jerky motion. "No... impossible. I got letters... They said they were fine..."

That hope. That single thread I had clung to in this darkness.

His eyes glinted with a cruel, fascinated light. "The letters? You mean the ones that kept you so calm?"

He crouched down, his face close to mine. His scent, once a comfort, now smelled of rot and betrayal. His voice was a venomous whisper against my ear.

"Kaelen wrote those. She said it was amusing, watching you cling to a false hope."

Kaelen Knight.

The name drove a poisoned blade through what remained of my heart. She was the woman Cassian had abandoned me for, cutting off all contact with me so he could publicly claim her as his mate. To the outside world, Kaelen was a direct and kindhearted female Alpha, celebrated for her courage, intelligence, and strength. The people adored her, and Alpha Cassian Sterling openly called her his true love.

I remembered her face, always smiling, her eyes always so full of feigned sincerity.

A sound tore from my throat, raw and inhuman. It was a scream of pure, undiluted hatred, mixed with the agony of a fool who had given everything for nothing. Blood filled my vision, hot tears of it streaming from my eyes.

Cassian stood up, a look of detached satisfaction on his handsome face as he watched me break.

"Don't blame me, Avalon," he said, his voice casual. "You were always too weak. Unworthy of me, and unworthy of being the Luna of the Sterling Pack."

My breathing hitched. It grew shallow, then shallower. The edges of my vision blurred, turning his form into a distorted, monstrous shape.

I saw my mother's smile. My father's pride. The lost honor of the Carlisle name. All sacrificed for this man. For his love.

The hatred burned away the pain. It burned away the sorrow. It was the only thing left.

If... if only I had another chance...

I would make them pay. All of them. In blood and tears.

I would burn their world to the ground.

The last thing I saw was a flicker of surprise cross Cassian's face when he realized I had stopped breathing. It vanished almost at once. Then he turned and left without looking back.

His mating ceremony was waiting, and so was the new life he had chosen.

Darkness swallowed me whole, but the vow was branded onto my soul.

Revenge.

AVALON POV:

I woke with a sharp gasp and sat upright.

The dungeon was gone. So were the freezing stone beneath me and the infected wound in my abdomen. Instead, I was surrounded by silk sheets and the faint scent of the white roses I loved. Sunlight streamed through the velvet curtains of my bedroom.

I stared down at my hands. They were smooth and perfectly manicured, not broken and caked with grime. When I pressed a hand to my stomach, I found neither a wound nor a scar.

Then I saw the silver-framed calendar across the room.

I stumbled out of bed and hurried toward it. The date marked the Annual Pack Summit-the day Cassian Sterling would officially present Kaelen Knight to the elders and begin humiliating me before the entire pack.

I was back.

I had been reborn.

The Moon Goddess had heard me.

In my last life, I died abandoned on a cold stone slab while Cassian prepared to claim another woman. In this life, I had returned for revenge. Every person who had destroyed me and brought ruin upon my family would pay for what they had done.

The weak, lovesick Avalon Hayes had died in that dungeon. The woman standing here now would tear their perfect world apart.

I walked to the full-length mirror.

The face that stared back was mine, but younger. Untouched by starvation and despair. My eyes, the same ice-blue as my mother's, were no longer clouded with naive love. They held only cold purpose.

A soft knock came at the door.

"Miss? Are you awake? Miss Gemma Sterling is here to see you."

Clara. My loyal maid.

And Gemma. Cassian's vicious little sister. In my previous life, she had been a constant, petty tormentor.

A slow, cold smile spread across my lips.

"Let her in," I said, my voice even and calm.

The door opened and Gemma swept in, a vision in a fiery red dress. Poorly concealed delight gleamed in her eyes.

"Well, well. Look who's finally decided to get out of bed," she sneered, crossing her arms and looking me up and down with disdain.

She sauntered closer, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial hiss. "My brother is bringing Kaelen today. You'd better be on your best behavior. Try not to embarrass us all, you pathetic reject."

In my past life, those words would have stripped the color from my face. I would have flinched, absorbing the blow in silence.

Now, I just watched her. My gaze was steady, as cold and still as a frozen lake.

She shifted under my stare, her smugness faltering. "What are you looking at?" she snapped, her voice rising. "You're a rejected Omega. How dare you glare at me?"

I took a slow step forward. "Your brother rejecting me did not make you an Alpha, Gemma. You are still a Beta whose only claim to importance is sharing Cassian's name."

Her face stiffened.

I gave her a faint, contemptuous smile. "I may be an Omega, but I carry the blood of the Hayes family. You borrow authority from your brother and mistake it for your own. Lower your voice before I remind the entire pack how little power you actually possess."

Gemma froze, her mouth slightly agape. She had never heard me speak this way.

I took another step, my presence filling the space between us, pressing down on her. "And the next time you enter my room without permission, I will have you thrown out by the guards. For now, you may leave on your own. Get out."

The command was absolute. Not a request. An order.

Gemma flinched back as if struck. Her face flushed a blotchy red and white. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"Gemma, what are you doing?"

Cassian's voice, sharp and impatient, came from the doorway. He frowned as he took in the scene, his eyes landing on me.

"Don't waste your time with her," he said to his sister, his gaze flicking over me with a familiar mix of annoyance and warning. "Kaelen is almost here."

Gemma shot me a look of pure hatred, then scurried to her brother's side like a chastised dog.

Cassian regarded me with cold impatience, as though my very presence had already exhausted him. Then he turned and led Gemma away without another word.

I watched them go, my expression unreadable.

This was just the beginning.

I turned to Clara, who was staring at me, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and worry.

"Clara," I said, my voice calm and clear. "Help me get dressed. I need to prepare a special gift for today's ceremony."

AVALON POV:

The main hall of the Sterling estate was a sea of noise and glittering lights. Pack members, dressed in their finest, mingled and laughed, their voices echoing off the high, vaulted ceilings.

I walked in with Clara at my side. My dress was simple, a column of liquid silver that shimmered with every step. I had left my hair down, a pale blonde cascade over my shoulders. My face was a mask of calm indifference.

All eyes were on the center of the room.

There stood Cassian, a proud, possessive hand on the back of a woman in a striking white dress tailored like a warrior's uniform. Kaelen Knight. Her auburn hair was braided intricately, and her smile was bright and confident.

"...a true hero of the people," Cassian was saying, his voice ringing with a pride he had never shown for me. "Brave, selfless, and the future of this pack."

A wave of applause rippled through the crowd. Young wolves looked at Kaelen with open adoration.

I watched them from the edge of the crowd. Once, the sight of Cassian praising another woman would have torn me apart. Now, I saw the scene for what it was: a carefully staged performance designed to crown Kaelen while humiliating me.

Gemma, preening at Kaelen's side, spotted me. She leaned in and whispered loudly to Kaelen, "Some people just have no self-awareness. Showing up to a party that isn't for them."

Kaelen placed a calming hand on Gemma's arm, her expression one of perfect, practiced grace. "Don't say that, Gemma. I'm glad Avalon could come."

Her voice was pitched just right, carrying to the people nearest them. They murmured in approval of her magnanimity.

Cassian nodded, his eyes soft with affection for her. He thought she was being gracious.

The ceremony moved on. Tradition dictated that the newly introduced partner offer a toast to key pack members.

Kaelen, with Cassian at her side, picked up a glass of red wine. Her first stop was me.

Of course.

The hall fell silent. The air crackled with anticipation. Everyone turned to watch the drama unfold.

Kaelen stopped before me, her smile flawless. "Avalon," she began, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "I know this must be difficult for you. But I truly hope we can be like sisters in the future. I drink to you."

She held the glass out, an offering of peace that was really a declaration of victory. Her eyes held a spark of challenge.

Everyone was watching me. Waiting for me to take the glass, to play my part as the graceful loser.

Cassian's gaze was a silent command: Don't make a scene.

I looked at the wine, then slowly lifted my eyes to Kaelen's. I didn't reach for the glass.

"Sisters?" I repeated, allowing a faint smile to touch my lips. "What an interesting word for the woman standing beside my husband."

Kaelen's smile tightened. "What?"

My gaze moved briefly to Gemma before returning to Kaelen. "A few minutes ago, Gemma called me a shameless outsider who had no right to attend. Now you want to parade your kindness before the pack by offering me a public toast."

I tilted my head. "Which story am I supposed to help you sell, Miss Knight? That the Sterling family despises me, or that you are generous enough to welcome the wife whose place you intend to take?"

A murmur swept through the hall.

Kaelen's fingers tightened around the stem of her glass.

"You misunderstand me," she said quickly. "I only wanted to make peace."

"No," I replied. "If you wanted peace, you would have spoken to me in private. You came to me in front of an audience because you wanted the woman being replaced to raise a glass and bless your victory."

I glanced at the watching crowd, then back at her. "That would make a beautiful display of your compassion, wouldn't it? The beloved heroine embracing the pathetic discarded wife while everyone applauds."

Her flawless smile began to strain at the corners.

"Unfortunately, I have no intention of helping you turn my humiliation into another performance designed to prove how kind you are."

Kaelen's face stiffened. She had expected tears or a quiet retreat. Instead, the silence in the hall now belonged to me.

"I... I just..." she stammered, looking to Cassian for help.

His jaw was tight, his eyes burning into me. "Avalon, stop this nonsense."

I turned to him with a look of mild surprise. "Nonsense? Your sister insults me in my own home, your chosen woman asks me to publicly celebrate being replaced, and I am the one creating a scene?"

My smile sharpened. "You should be thanking me, Cassian. I am merely giving your guests an honest version of today's ceremony."

He was trapped. If he defended Gemma and Kaelen, he would confirm every word I had said. If he rebuked them, he would tarnish the perfect image he had built for Kaelen.

The whispers around us grew louder. Several guests exchanged knowing looks, while others openly watched Kaelen with newly sharpened interest. The color rose visibly along her neck, and the hand holding her glass began to shake.

With a sharp crack, the crystal wine glass slipped from her fingers and shattered on the marble floor. Red wine splattered across the white hem of her dress like a spray of blood.