Chapter 1

Serena let out a sharp cry.

She bent down and picked up the late magnolia blossom, still damp with dew.

She cradled the flower, her cheeks flushed red.

"I—I found it!"

She glanced quickly at Dorian, then looked away with a shy smile.

I had seen this moment before.

In my past life, I was the one who picked up that flower.

Because it had been hidden behind my seat.

Dorian had just stood there at the time.

And smiled, a little.

I found out later what that smile meant.

He was making a point.

His true love had married someone else at the Border Territory.

He was going to take a mate too, to prove he was over it.

It didn't matter who.

Now everyone's eyes moved to the girl beside me.

Dorian Calloway — Alpha Heir of the Calloway Pack, nephew of the Pack Queen.

He had joined the Pack Hunt at thirteen. Led warriors at fifteen.

At twenty, he broke through enemy lines with three hundred wolves against twenty thousand.

He was the most powerful young Alpha Heir in the Capital Territory.

Every unmated female in the Pack dreamed of him.

He stood in the center of the Pack Hall now.

Red jacket, light armor, tall and sharp-eyed.

A man like that, hiding a flower at the Full Moon Gathering and saying whoever found it would be his mate.

Who wouldn't want that?

"So it's Serena Hayes."

The Pack Queen smiled from her seat.

"Then I'll—"

She hadn't finished.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the hall.

Strange wind.

The doors were sealed, the candles barely flickering.

But they all shuddered at once, nearly going out.

And the flower in Serena's hands.

It was snatched by that unnatural wind.

In front of everyone.

The magnolia spun through the air and crossed half the hall.

It landed directly in my lap.

The entire room went silent.

The Pack Queen stared at me.

"Ivy Pemberton. You do have a connection with Dorian after all."

Dorian smiled, unconcerned.

"Since it's her, then I'll—"

— Then I'll take her as my mate.

If this had been my past life, I would have flushed and felt my heart pounding.

But now I just felt cold all over.

I didn't hesitate.

I got on my knees immediately and cut him off.

"I can't accept this."

"There's someone else I care for."

I made up an excuse and slipped away from the gathering.

The night wind hit my face.

Cold with the chill of early spring.

The late magnolias behind the hall glowed white in the moonlight.

I breathed in deeply.

I was really back.

Back at this Full Moon Gathering.

Back at sixteen, before fate had found me.

When I picked up that flower in my past life, behind my own seat.

I thought the Moon Goddess had taken pity on me.

I had no idea.

That was the last bit of happiness I would ever have.

When I entered the Calloway Manor as Dorian's mate in that past life.

Everyone in the Capital Territory was laughing.

"I heard Dorian didn't even look at her when he hid the flower. Just left it randomly."

"With that background? She can't reach his level. Moving in there is only going to make her suffer."

The Bonding Ceremony night, Dorian didn't come.

Near dawn, my attendant told me quietly.

Dorian had fallen asleep in his study.

I removed my own bonding veil and drank the seal brew alone.

The bonding candles burned down on the table, wax dripping red.

The next morning.

Dorian left for the Border Territory without a word.

After that, everyone in the Calloway Manor knew — the Alpha Heir didn't like his new mate.

Dorian's mother made my life miserable.

"Coming from such a low-ranked family. No class at all."

"Can't even keep your own mate. What use are you?"

I knelt on the floor, unable to lift my head.

Tears kept circling in my eyes, not falling.

I asked myself again and again.

Ivy Pemberton. What did you actually do wrong?

You went wrong by bonding to a man who didn't love you.

But your whole life, you never had a choice.

Five years into the bond.

Dorian came back from the Border Territory.

He returned to the manor late at night.

I was exhausted, but I still sat in the front hall with a lamp burning.

Pack rules said the mate should wait.

Dorian had probably forgotten those rules.

He looked surprised to see me.

"You're not asleep yet?"

I smiled, gentle and easy.

"Waiting for you."

Something shifted in Dorian's eyes.

A long silence.

He pulled me into his arms and let out a breath.

"I'm sorry, you've had a hard time. I'm not leaving again."

I was startled.

A heart that had been dead for so long quietly moved.

That night, he stayed.

His kiss was rough. I could barely breathe.

"Dorian—"

He pressed his hand against my waist, voice low.

"Stop thinking. Just stay."

After that night.

He acted like a young man falling in love for the first time.

Every few days, he'd bring me something — jewelry, candy, little cakes.

I didn't know at the time.

He had come back to the Capital Territory because Vivienne had given birth to someone else's child.

Just like he had bonded to me because Vivienne married someone else.

Every time, it was because of Vivienne.

I had no idea.

I was just simply happy.

I thought things were finally going to get better.

Then one night.

Dorian came into my room drunk.

This time he didn't turn off the light.

He just sat at the edge of the bed and looked at me.

He had never looked at me like that before. Soft. Almost tender.

Then he said a name.

"Vivienne."