He Chose His Brother's Widow, I Chose My Alpha Crown

"Mommy, why are we here?"

Lily clutched my hand, her small face flushed from the biting wind. She stared up at the towering headquarters of the Silver Moon Pack, her eyes filled with confusion.

I knelt and gently touched her cold cheek. "Because we're going to take back what's ours."

In my last life, as Isabelle's poison coursed through my veins, my deepest regret was disowning my father for Rowan.

So this time, after being reborn, I didn't run to the Blackstone Pack.

I sold everything of value in our small village cottage and made my way to the Silver Moon Pack.

"You sure you want to get out here, miss?" The taxi driver eyed us in the rearview mirror, his voice dripping with contempt. "This is Silver Moon territory. Not a place you just walk into."

I ignored his sneer, paid the fare, and stepped out with Lily in my arms.

We stood before a pair of massive iron gates. The guards at the entrance wore crisp uniforms, silver-plated weapons at their hips. Their eyes swept over our tattered clothes, a flash of contempt in their gaze.

"Get lost. This is no place for rogues," one of them ordered coldly.

I took a deep breath. Then, in front of everyone, I fell to my knees.

"I need to see Alpha Marcus," I said, my voice trembling in the wind. "Tell him his daughter, Odette, has returned."

The guards exchanged uneasy glances. One of them hurried toward an internal communicator.

My mind drifted back to that night five years ago.

I had found Rowan, his wolf shattered within him after he lost a battle for succession. He was lying in a pool of his own blood, his breathing faint, but an unbreakable fire still burned in his eyes.

"Please... help me," he had begged.

My heart went out to him, and I felt an undeniable pull, a connection I couldn't explain. I thought he was the one—the fated mate the Moon Goddess had chosen for me.

I used all my healing powers to pull him back from the brink of death.

And then, I fell in love with him.

My father, Marcus, was furious. "Odette, you are the heiress of the Silver Moon Pack! You can't throw your life away on a failure."

But I was blinded by love. I thought it was destiny.

To be with Rowan, I renounced my birthright, turned my back on my father, and followed him to a life of poverty in the countryside.

After we mated, I spent my days and nights searching for healing herbs to mend his damaged wolf spirit. I was his strategist, plotting his path back to power.

"Odette, when I become Alpha, I'll give you a life of respect and honor," he had promised.

Lies. All of it was lies.

When he finally returned to the Blackstone Pack to claim his title, he left us in the countryside, claiming it was for our own safety.

But the truth was, he had already cut a deal with the old Alpha to take his deceased brother's wife, Isabelle, and her two children, as his own.

He had already forgotten about me and Lily.

He didn't even shed a single tear when Isabelle poisoned us.

But in this life, I would make him repay that debt in blood.

"The Alpha is coming out!"

A guard's shout pulled me from my thoughts.

I looked up and saw a familiar figure.

Marcus. My father. The Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack and one of the most powerful leaders in North America.

It had been five years. Streaks of gray now peppered his temples.

When he saw me kneeling at his gates, his face was a storm of emotions: anger, pain, and deep disappointment.

He walked slowly toward me and raised his hand.

"You have the nerve to come back?" he snarled, his eyes red with fury. "Look at you! Is this the life you chose over your own family?"

I didn't flinch. Instead, I looked straight at him.

"Father, I was wrong."

His hand hung in the air, but he couldn't bring himself to strike me.

"I was wrong to trust that worthless bastard," I choked out, tears welling in my eyes. "I failed you. I brought shame upon the Silver Moon Pack."

My father's hand began to tremble.

"Father," I pleaded, holding Lily tighter, "I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'm just asking... let me come home. Let me be your daughter again."

Finally, Marcus pulled me to my feet, his own tears streaming down his face. "My child, as long as you leave that past behind, you will always be the heiress of the Silver Moon Pack. You will always be my beloved daughter."

He started to lead me inside the estate.

But I shook my head and pulled back.

"No, Father. Before I return, I need to show Rowan exactly who he threw away. I will make him pay for his betrayal."

That afternoon, I took Lily to the Blackstone Pack.

I knew it was the day of Rowan's inauguration ceremony as the new Alpha.

I stood before the Blackstone estate and told the guard at the gate, "Tell your Alpha his mate is here."

The guard looked us up and down, taking in our ragged clothes, and a smirk spread across his face.

"Get lost! What kind of rogue dares to impersonate the Alpha's mate?"

He raised his stun baton, threatening us. "If you disturb the new Alpha and his honored guests, ten lives like yours wouldn't be enough to pay for it! Now get out of here!"