After Death, I Returned To Steal My Sister's Perfect Alpha

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as consciousness slammed back into me like a freight train.

My chest heaved, searching for air that shouldn't exist. The last thing I remembered was Ryker's hand plunging into my ribcage, his fingers wrapped around my still-beating heart. The way Sienna had smiled as she watched him rip it from my body, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

But I was breathing. I was alive.

My eyes snapped open to find myself staring at an ornate ceiling I recognized—the crystal chandelier of the Grayson family dining room. The same room where my life had ended just moments ago. Or had it been moments? The grandfather clock in the corner chimed eleven times, its deep resonance vibrating through my bones.

"Harper, are you listening?" My father's voice cut through the fog in my mind. "This is the most important day of your life."

I bolted upright in my chair, my heart hammering against my ribs. Across the mahogany table sat two men I knew all too well—the Blackwood brothers. Axel Blackwood, the elder son and heir, sat rigid in his chair like a statue carved from ice. His silver eyes held no warmth, no emotion, just the cold calculation of a predator sizing up prey. Dark hair swept back from a face that could have been beautiful if not for the permanent scowl etched into his features.

Beside him, Ryker Blackwood smiled that gentle, practiced smile that had fooled me for three years. Sandy brown hair fell across his forehead in carefully arranged waves, and his green eyes sparkled with false kindness. The same eyes that had looked into mine as he murdered me.

"The Mating Ceremony," I whispered, the words scraping against my throat like broken glass.

I was back. Somehow, impossibly, I was back at the beginning.

"Yes, the ceremony," Father continued, his chest puffed with pride. "The Blackwood family has graciously agreed to this alliance. One of you girls will marry into their pack, strengthening both our territories."

Sienna sat beside me, her blonde hair perfectly curled, wearing the same pale blue dress I remembered from that day three years ago. She looked exactly as she had then—innocent, sweet, the perfect daughter. But I knew better now. I knew what lay beneath that angelic facade.

"I'm so nervous," Sienna said, her voice soft and trembling. "What if they don't like us?"

Then I heard it—a voice that didn't match the movement of her lips.

[This time, I'll make sure I get the better Alpha. Harper was always Father's favorite, but I won't let her have Ryker again.]

I nearly choked on my own breath. The voice was crystal clear, as if someone had whispered directly into my ear, but Sienna's mouth hadn't moved. Her lips were still curved in that demure smile, her hands folded primly in her lap.

[I remember how this goes. Harper will choose Ryker because she thinks he's kinder. What an idiot. She never saw past his