Chapter 222: A Ghost from the Ashes

Bella's breath stalled.

Her body refused to move.

Because the woman standing before her—the woman she had buried, the woman she had burned, the woman whose name had been erased from history—

Was alive.

"You're dead."

Her voice was sharp, cold, unreadable.

The woman—Lilia Santos—tilted her head, golden eyes gleaming with something cruel.

"Do I look dead to you, little sister?"

Bella's stomach twisted violently.

No.

She didn't.

She looked stronger.

Darker.

Like she had walked through hell and come back with fire still clinging to her skin.

Dante's snarl ripped through the air.

"Bella, who is she?"

Bella's throat tightened.

Because how could she explain?

How could she tell him that the woman standing before them was supposed to be gone?

That she had been the first person Bella had ever killed?

That three years ago, in the midst of war, she had looked her own sister in the eyes and ended her?

"She's a ghost."

Lilia laughed.

"Close."

Her gaze flickered to Dante, sharp, calculating, knowing.

"You must be the infamous mate."

Dante's wolf bristled beneath his skin, his fury thick, unrelenting.

"I don't care who you are," he growled, his body coiled with lethal control.

"You have exactly five seconds to explain why you're still breathing before I fix that mistake."

Lilia smirked.

"Ah, Alpha Dante. Always so protective."

Her lips curled.

"Just like father."

Bella's heart clenched.

Because she knew what Lilia was doing.

She was digging up the past.

Dragging it into the light.

Trying to make Bella remember things she had spent years trying to forget.

"Why are you here?" Bella's voice was tight, controlled.

Lilia took a slow step forward.

"To finish what you started."

Her golden eyes gleamed.

"You killed me once, Bella."

Her fingers twitched, shadows curling at her feet.

"Now, let's see if you can do it again."

Then—

The world exploded.