For three hundreds under vampire rule, the Blood Prince has drawn a new bride from his realms every fifty years.

In my previous life, Seraphina was chosen,Lucian’s childhood sweetheart.

The night before our bonding ceremony, she burst into our chamber, tears streaming.

“Lucian, I’ve been chosen as the Blood Prince’s seventh bride!” she sobbed.

“They say he loses control on his wedding night, drains every drop of blood from his bride. None of the first six lived to see dawn.

I don’t want to die—please, claim me as your mate!”

But Lucian had already claimed me.

And by wolf law, an Alpha may bind only one mate at a time.

So I step forward, and refused her.

The next day, at the altar, Seraphina slit her throat with a silver dagger.

Lucian didn’t flinch.

He ordered the blood scrubbed from the stones—and proceeded with our ceremony as nothing had happened.

However,on our honeymoon, he pushed me into starving wolves.

His eyes burned crimson as he snarled, “If you hadn’t tricked me into marking you earlier, Seraphina would be alive.

You killed her.”

Over a dozen of wolves with gleaming eyes swarmed me in,

tore me limb from limb.

Then I woke, back on the day the mate-hunger hex seized Lucian.

This time, I dragged Seraph-the girl Lucian cherished as most precious jewel,from her house myself,

and shoved her into Lucian’s chamber.

“Be his cure, and I’ll take your place as the Blood Prince’s bride instead.

Lucian—the Alpha of the Luproma Pack—had been cursed by a dark witch with a mate-hunger hex.

To survive, he had to claim his fated mate before the moon set.

If he didn't, the curse would burn through his spirit, shatter his control, and make his body tear itself apart from the inside.

In my previous life, I loved him like a fool.

As a witch, I know the fastest way to save him. So I gave my purity as a witch and forged a blood bond with him, to break the hex.

But at dawn, his childhood sweetheart Seraphina, just an omega in Luproma Pack, burst into the hall, tears streaming down her face.

“Lucian! The summons came, the Empire chose me as the Blood Prince's Seventh bride!”

Her voice shook.

“He's not like other Lords,” Seraphina said, voice low.

“He's from the First Bloodline—hundreds of years old.

Every bride he takes dies within days.

Not murdered.

Not abandoned.

Gone.No body. No soul.

Even their names vanish from family records.

They say his bond doesn't claim—he feeds.

And the worst part?

They all go willingly.”

She dropped to her knees.

“All six brides disappeared. Not even bones were left. I don't want to die… Please, just claim me as your true mate instead!”

But it was too late.

Lucian had already taken my maiden blood. And in werewolf law, an Alpha can only have one bonded mate for life.

As he claimed me,there's no second chances.

On our bonding night, Seraphina hanged herself at the sacred altar.

Her white gown was soaked in blood—like a rose crushed beneath frost.

Lucian didn't blink. He ordered her body removed and finished the bonding rites without a word.

But on the seventh night after her death… he unleashed a dozen war wolves and left me alone in the frozen tundra.

Blizzards howled. Ice bit through my skin.

He stood on the cliff above, eyes blazing red,whip cracking like a death sentence in the wind

“If you hadn’t thrown yourself at me like some starving stray, I could’ve waited for Seraphina!

You shattered our destined bond. Now watch your own flesh feed my wolves!”

They tore into me before I could scream.

Dragged me for miles across ice and stone.

My skin ripped. My bones broke.

Then,I woke up.

Back to the night the curse struck.

Inside, Lucian writhed on the furs—veins black under his skin, teeth bared, growling like a wolf whose soul was being ripped out.

This time, I didn’t wait.

I rode through the blizzard, dragged Seraphina from her bed, and shoved her into his chamber.

“You are his cure. ” I said, voice like ice. “I knew you’re chosen by the Empire, I’ll take the Blood Prince instead.”

Behind the door, heavy panting filled the dark.

Claws scraped wood—slow, desperate, hungry.

Seraphina seized my wrist. Her golden eyes gleamed, sharp as fangs.

“Elise… Is that really Lucian in there?

Or did you drug some stranger and trick me into bedding him—just to ruin my name and steal Lucian for yourself?”

I couldn't blame her.

Everyone knew: I, Lady Elise, scion of the venerable Valerius line—whose blood runs with ancient sorcery,had chased Lucian for years.

I'd refused three dukes just to wait for him.

After all, once an Alpha bonds, the soul-mark is forever. This was my only chance to become his Luna… so why give it up?

But in my last life, the identity of Luna earned me nothing but a violent end by fang and claw.

Only then did I understand: Lucian's soul had always called for Seraphina. Not me.

Now that I'd been reborn… I'd rather face the Blood Prince than die again at the teeth of Lucian's war wolves.

“Seraphina,” I said evenly, “you're wrong. Lucian is like kin to me, my brother's blood sworn brother.

“You’re the one who grew up with him, the one his heart chose.

You're his true mate. I just couldn't watch him burn alive from the hex.

“If you walk away now, you will die in the capital.”

She opened her mouth, said nothing.

“Elise? Is that you? Come in, help me!”

Lucian heard voices in the hallway.

When my brother was away, I was usually the only one in his castle besides the servants.

Seraphina went rigid.

That voice. That scent-call. She would know it anywhere.

Without another word, she thrust a crumpled parchment into my hands—her Imperial summons,

The seal was broken, and her selection letter lay within.

“The Empire sent this to me at dawn,” she whispered, smile sharp as winter thorns. “Remember correctly: mine is blank. The chosen one is you.

Go. Be the Seventh ghost in his castle.

As a witch, you know: once a Mate Bond seals, it can't be undone.”

“I won't believe you suddenly ‘don't want him',” she added, low and venomous. “You must be up to something.

She leaned in, breath icy against my ear.

“Unless you stay right here, guard the bedroom, and later brew the bonding bath—so the whole pack knows I'm his true mate, and you're nothing but a ghost at the door. I'll scream and tell the whole pack you sneaked into an Alpha's bedroom like a shameless rogue.”

I knew she wanted to strip me of every shred of pride.

But I couldn't risk it. The memory of fangs in my throat still haunted my dreams.

I nodded.

With a cold laugh, she pushed open the door.

“Seraphina?” Lucian rasped. Sweat slicked his skin—but his eyes lit like twin moons. He pulled her onto the furs and claimed her mouth like a starving wolf.

The look in his gaze,it was everything I'd begged for, but never earned.

I shut the door softly.

But their mating sounds—whimpers, growls, the creak of furs—still pierced the wood like thorns dipped in venom.

Hours passed.

Servants carried in oak tubs of steaming water，moonbloom and lavender swirling on the surface. My calming blend.

Then, silence.

Time stretched until I could barely feel my feet.

And then, the door opened.

Lucian stepped out in a silk robe, chest bare, skin still flushed from claiming his mate.

His Alpha pheromones rolled down the hall，thick, musky, soaked in Seraphina’s sweetness.

The unmistakable stench of a sealed Mate Bond.

His eyes landed on me， scowled.

“Elise Valerius！Why are you still here?”

Then, as if remembering my betrayal, he kicked over the basket of healing herbs at my feet—the ones I'd prepared for their bonding.

“Are you really this shameless?! You know I never wanted you—yet you lurk outside like some pathetic shadow?! Have you no honor?!”

Herbal water soaked me from head to toe. In the northern freeze, it turned to ice in seconds，biting like shattered glass.

Before I could speak, he growled, “Don't think I owe you anything because you ‘played noble' and brought Seraphina.”

“I've already claimed her. We'll seal the bond in the Moon Hall soon. And you—” his voice dropped to a lethal rumble.

“stay out of my sight. Now!”

I swallowed the ache in my throat.

“I know. I won't come near you again.”

I turned to leave.

At the end of the hall, maids whispered, “The Imperial summons for the Blood Prince's bride went out today. Noble girls trembled opening theirs—thank the Moon Goddess, theirs were blank.”

“They say the Blood Prince is from the First Bloodline—an Alpha so old, his bond doesn't heal, it feeds. Every bride gives her life-force to keep him strong…”

“The Sixth? Vanished. No body. No soul-mark. Like she never existed.”

Lucian's eyes narrowed. Suddenly, he barked, “Elise—your summons. Hand it over.”

The Imperial summons for me had arrived yesterday morning.

I'd locked it in my drawer without opening it.

Of course mine was blank, same as my last life.

Now I held the other letter, the one Seraphina pressed into my hand that night.

“It won’t make any difference if you read it.”

My voice was thick of weariness.

Before Lucian could say more, Seraphina appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a sable-fur shawl, her voice soft as silk.“Lucian… must you waste breath on someone else when your mate is shivering?”

Instantly, he turned and swept her into his arms, carrying her back to the furs like she was made of glass.

“My poor mate,” he murmured, wrapping the blankets tightly around her. “I'll have more coals brought in. I'll warm you myself.”

Seraphina sighed, eyes glistening. “Now that we've truly bonded… and someone heard everything through the door… what if Lady Elise spreads rumors? My reputation…”

“Don’t worry,” Lucian growled, his Alpha voice rumbling through the room like thunder. “I’ve marked you, your scent is mine now.

In three nights, under the full moon in the Moon Hall, I will bind your soul to mine before the pack.

Let anyone look at you wrong, and they’ll face my fangs.”

In pack law, an Alpha’s vow to claim his mate is sacred, not just words, but a blood-deep oath sealed by moonlight.

Then he turned to me, eyes ice-cold.

“I was foolish to think otherwise. If you'd been chosen by the Empire, you'd have been begging me last night to save your life.

As a noble daughter, you should know better than to lurk outside a mating room like some gutter rat,” he growled. “Your brother’s away. As Alpha of this pack, I have every right and duty to discipline you

Go kneel in the snow for two hours. Reflect on your shame.”

It was pack law. And he was enforcing it.

My family had moved north only because Lucian came to crush the rebellion. My brother feared for his life, so he brought us all to this frozen keep.

The castle had fireplaces—but northern winters cut like blades. Frost seeped through stone floors, biting straight to the bone.

Last night's blizzard had buried the courtyard in white.

I knelt on the icy cobbles. Within minutes, my lips turned blue.

After two hours, my knees were numb.

When the maid Amy went to fetch coals, the steward sneered, “The Alpha says every ember goes to Lady Seraphina. She's delicate—can't handle the cold.

“No dry wood or coal for you. But there's plenty of wet logs. Take it or freeze.”

Wet wood smoked like poison when burned.

My eyes stung, throat raw from coughing.

But I said nothing. Just ignored it.

I remembered the first winter Lucian marched to the Frozen Wastes.

My brother took me to the front lines to deliver supplies.

Lucian returned victorious—but half-frozen, leg blackened by frostbite, burning with fever.

I heated stones with my own body heat, slipped them into his tent to keep him alive.

I caught the chill that never left me.

The next morning, he found me shaking outside his tent.

Without a word, he dragged me inside, wrapped me in his cloak, and held me against his chest until my teeth stopped chattering.

“The north is cruel,” he muttered into my hair, voice rough but warm,

“but no one I care about freezes while I'm alive.”

That was his Alpha instinct: protect what's yours.

Now, standing in the snow, I clutched the Imperial letter in my fist—and crushed the last ember of hope inside me.

The next day, my brother returned from the battle.

Lucian commanded a feast in his name.

At the long oak table, Lucian hadn't arrived yet.

My brother winked at me, voice low:

“I heard the mate-hunger hex broke last night.

You were in his room, weren't you? I know how you feel about him…

Did you two finally—?”

He didn't finish.

Because Lucian walked in—carrying Seraphina in his arms like she weighed nothing.

He didn't let her sit on the cold chair. Instead, he had servants lay down velvet cushions before gently setting her down.

My brother froze. “What… what's going on?”

The Alpha—proud, ruthless, feared by packs across the realm—had never treated any female like this.

Like she was his whole world.

Lucian spoke calmly, as if stating the sun rises east:

“Seraphina is my mate. I’ve claimed her.”

My brother's eyes widened.

He opened his mouth,but I tugged his sleeve under the table.

Then Seraphina smiled sweetly, rubbing her lower back.

“Oh Lucian, you're too much! I told you I'm fine, just a little sore.

You didn't need to carry me. Now Lady Elise will be jealous again.”

She turned to me, eyes gleaming.

“By the way, Elise,I heard you froze last night?

Not enough coals? Don't worry!

I 'll send you some from my room. After all… you gave Lucian to me.

That was very kind of you.”

Lucian didn't look up. His calloused hands—used to wielding swords—were carefully preparing food for her.

He glanced at me once, his voice flat:

“An alpha holding his bonded mate is none of anyone’s business.

I’m blood-sworn to her elder brother—by pack law, she’s my sister.

And now that we’re bonded, she already has a sister-in-law.

She should be grateful… not acting like she resents it.

“And since I'm your brother's blood-sworn, I've sworn to protect House Valerius.

That includes keeping you in your place.”

Then, colder: “Elise has always been tough—skin thick as hide, bones forged in ice. She doesn't need your fake concern.”

Their words struck like ice to my chest.

The food turned to ash in my mouth.

After the feast, my brother pulled me into a shadowed corridor, frowning.

“What the hell happened? You swore you'd rather die than let Lucian go.

Why did you push Seraphina into his bedroom?”

I looked past him, toward the snow-covered garden where I'd knelt until my blood nearly froze.

“I finally understood something, brother,” I said quietly.

I told my brother everything.

The truth ?

I wanted to marry the Blood Prince.

Not just to escape Lucian,but to save my family.

Since our parents died, House Valerius had been rotting from the inside.

If I became his bride—even in name, the Empire would protect my brother's rank. Our name wouldn’t vanish into dust.

My brother had always shielded me like his last breath—

If he knew I planned to trade my life for his rise—for the Valerius name under the Empire,

he’d lock me in the ancestral vault before letting me go.

But when I braced for a fight, he laughed.

“Drank the blood of six wives? Ugly? Twisted? That madman…”

Then his eyes softened.

“Elise, you did well. But don't think I care about some fancy title.

Lucian? That mongrel doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.

My sister could have any lord in the Empire—dukes, generals, even princes.

But him? I’d rather see you widowed than bonded to him.”

I blinked. “You… know something about the Blood Prince?”

I didn’t understand my brother’s meaning.

Was there more to the Blood Prince than the rumors claimed?

Before I could ask more, he stood abruptly.

“I’ve got matters to handle. In a few days, I’ll escort you to the capital for your bonding rite.”

He left，too fast. Too sharp.

I told myself he just needed time to accept it.

But in my previous life, when he learned Lucian let his wolves tear me apart, he stormed the castle screaming for blood.

Lucian beheaded him with one swing. Fed his body to the pack.

This time, I didn’t care if I died.

My brother had to live.

Amy came running, breathless. “My lady, the courtyard! They’re moving your things!”

I rushed back to find servants hauling my trunks from my room.

Seraphina leaned against Lucian’s chest, pointing at boxes like she already owned them.

When she saw me, she smiled sweetly.

“Lucian says this north-facing chamber gets the best light. Perfect for our me.

Since you’re leaving anyway, you won’t mind if I borrow it, will you, sister?”

I bowed my head. “Of course not. Once you’re bonded, you’ll be mistress of this keep. I’m merely a guest.”

“How thoughtful!” Her eyes dropped to an open chest.

Moon-white silk shimmered inside—my mother’s gown.

Stitched with bone needles under the Blood Moon. Hemmed with silent runes only a blood-witch could read.

The last heirloom of House Valerius. The only thing I planned to take to the Blood Prince’s court.

“Oh! This dress is stunning.” She lifted it, fingers dragging over the sacred fabric like it belonged to her.

“Lucian took me to every tailor in the city, but nothing felt right. This fits me perfectly… Would you gift it to me? As your blessing for our bond?”

I opened my mouth. “It’s mine. I need it for—”

She shrieked.

A black widow spider crawled from the folds, sinking fangs into her hand.

Her skin blackened instantly.

Lucian's face turned to stone. He crushed the spider under his boot, then pulled Seraphina close. “Seraphina! Speak to me!”

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she stared at me.

“Elise! I know you love Lucian. But poisoning me with a black widow?

If I scar, how can I stand beside him as his mate?

Was your jealousy really this cruel?”

“I didn't—! I swear, I don't know how that spider got in!”

“Silence!” Lucian roared.

He tore the dress to shreds right in front of me.

“You think tricks like this will make me stay? Pathetic.”

He dropped to his knees and sucked the venom from her wound—no hesitation, no care for himself.

“Even if you’re scarred, you’re still my only mate. If you suffer, I suffer with you.”

Then he turned to me, voice colder than winter steel.

“You’re not even fit to be my scullery maid, you’re too vile to scrub my floors.”

He called the healer and carried Seraphina away without a glance back.

The doctor said the venom was weak. She’d live.

But Lucian never left her side.

Amy and I moved to an inn in town to escape them.

When I came back for the rest of my things, Lucian stood in my path, eyes fixed on my trunk.

“You’re running from me?”