The water dungeon was bone-chilling, a damp cold that seeped into the very marrow of her bones.
Charlotte was confined within a cage of pure silver—a specialized alloy designed to suppress a werewolf's healing factor and strip them of the strength to shift.
"520, initiate memory sync."
[Ding! Request received. Downloading host memories...]
A flare of white-hot agony seared her mind and then faded, leaving behind a torrent of jagged memory fragments.
The Charlotte of this world was a tragic figure. Her parents had died protecting the King, and he had raised her as his own daughter.
Though she and Valeria had both earned their spots through the trials, Charlotte had always been the hand-picked successor.
But for the past two weeks, she'd felt a persistent, bone-deep lethargy.The original Charlotte, ever the loyal friend, thought she was just burnt out.
But to the new Charlotte, the red flags were everywhere—it all started with the "loving lunches" Valeria had been hand-delivering every day.
"Suppressants," she spat. The girl had been downing wolf-gene suppressants for the past two weeks.
Her werewolf DNA was practically dormant, bordering on atrophied. And it wasn't just her; the old King had likely been softened up by the same slow-acting toxin before the killer moved in.
520's chime cut through her thoughts.
[Main Quest Issued:]
[ 1. Unmask the killer and reclaim the throne. ]
[2. Unify the four Great Wolf Clans. ]
[3. Romance the three male leads: Ragnar the Black Wolf Alpha King, Edric the Brown Wolf Beta King, and Rowan the Grey Wolf Omega King.]
Unify the four clans? That definitely wasn't in the original book.
A spark of raw ambition ignited in her eyes. It looked like this world was going to be much more interesting than the last one.
[According to the plot, you are slated for execution by sacrifice. Your loyalists are planning a prison break that will end in a bloodbath. How do you intend to handle this?]
"How do I handle it?" A smirk tugged at the corner of Charlotte's mouth.
She checked the weak pulse of energy in her veins, her eyes flashing dangerously. "First, I'm going to fix this broken 'firewall.'"
To her, the wolf's genetic sequence was just another encrypted firewall. And she was going to crack it wide open.
She closed her eyes, projecting a logical model onto her spiritual sea of energy.
She began to bypass the damaged neural hubs, using the cold precision of an algorithm to jump-start her bloodline.
Sizzle—
The silver chains sensed the massive energy spike and glowed a searing, angry red, branding her skin. She swallowed the scream, her eyes turning to flint.
"System... Boot Up!"
Her pupils bled black to electric silver in a single pulse. The mark of a True Alpha.
Clack. Silver claws, half an inch long, unsheathed from her fingertips. She lashed out at the "indestructible" silver bars.
Screeeech!
The bars—meant to neutralize even the highest-ranking wolves—were left with deep, jagged gouges.
Before she could finish her breakout, heavy footsteps echoed outside the cell.
A guard approached with a tray of food, his voice a low whisper: "Charlotte…"
She looked up. It was Arthur, the King's most devoted commander.
"Charlotte, it's chaos out there," Arthur said, his voice thick with urgency.
"Magnus 'found' blood-stained clothes and receipts for prohibited drugs in your room. "
"And your lieutenant... that little snake you trustedand promoted, she's sold you out. She's siding with Valeria."
Arthur's eyes were bloodshot. "She's testifying against you tomorrow. The verdict is already written. I can't just stand by and watch you die."
Charlotte watched him calmly. "You're staging a breakout?"
"Before the ceremony starts tomorrow, we're launching a final, all-out strike to get you off White Wolf Island." Arthur's face was a mask of grim resolve.
"No," Charlotte said without a second's hesitation."If you break me out now, you're just handing them proof of my guilt. "
"Valeria is looking for any excuse to wipe out my supporters to lock down her claim.. If you show up with a strike team, you're walking into a slaughter."
Charlotte unsheathed a claw and etched a map of White Wolf Island onto the damp wall. Her mind raced, simulating every possible escape route.
"Listen to me, Arthur. Traditionally, a new ruler needs the 'Sacred Coronation' and the execution of their rivals to be seen as legitimate. "
"Go back and spread a rumor: the King's Ring is missing. If the ring is gone, her right to lead is questionable. Use the public pressure to stall the coronation."
"But what about you? The court is going to sentence you to death tomorrow!" Arthur gripped the silver bars in frustration, only to be thrown back by the energy discharge.
Charlotte tilted her head, a confident, predatory curve to her lips. "A sacrifice is a major event. The bigger the spectacle, the more holes there are in the security."
"Mark my words: No matter how bad it looks tomorrow, don't you dare move!"
She paused, her gaze softening with a rare, deep intensity. "Tell the men not to throw their lives away for nothing. Stay alive. On the day of the coronation, I'm leading you all back."
Arthur was stunned, silenced by a commanding aura he'd never seen from her before. He took a shaky breath and pressed a hard crust of bread into her hand.
"Maybe this will help."
Charlotte broke the bread open. Hidden inside was a micro-chip bypass.
Once Arthur left, Charlotte gripped the key, her expression turning lethal.
By stopping the jailbreak, she'd already diverted from the original plot where her followers were massacred.
Arthur was still the most respected Alpha in the pack; Valeria would have to think twice before touching him.
According to the book, she'd be hauled to the altar tomorrow, and the original Charlotte's life as a fugitive would begin.
If the original Charlotte had been a lamb led to the slaughter, then this Charlottethis was going to burn the table down. The execution wasn't her end—it was her coronation.