The Trade With Moon Goddess

To save the three most important men in my life, I made a deal with the Moon Goddess.

Trade my life for theirs.

If I could make any one of them truly love me within five years, I'd get to live.

But on the final day of the countdown, all three still had negative feelings toward me.

According to the rules, I'd failed. My life was about to be erased.

"Moon Goddess, could I send one last message? One final try?"

Maybe out of pity, she granted me this last attempt.

This message was my final shot.

I hit the voice button in our group chat, fighting to keep my voice steady.

"Could you guys love me just a little? I'm really going to die."

After a moment of silence came their merciless laughter.

"You'll do anything to compete with Lidia for attention, won't you?"

"Cut the lies. This just makes us hate you more."

"If you're so desperate to die, then just do it already."

Mission failed. I gave them exactly what they wanted.

But when I was about to die, they all freaked out.

After Lidia showed up, the three men who'd once meant everything to me started despising me.

But when I was really dying, everyone panicked and rushed me to the hospital.

……

When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at a hospital ceiling.

I blinked slowly, taking five whole seconds to process the fact that I was somehow still alive.

I'd driven that silver dagger straight into my heart. A wave of exhaustion and confusion washed over me.

Why didn't I die? Why was even dying so damn hard?

Then the Moon Goddess's familiar voice echoed in my mind.

“Child, when you tried to take your own life with that silver blade, your brother appeared and saved you. I'm giving you another chance at life.”

My brother... Garrett ... save me?

I felt dazed, my scattered focus slowly sharpening.

I was the true daughter of the Ironwood Pack’s Alpha, lost for fifteen years before being found.

The day they brought me home, I heard the Moon Goddess's call.

She told me the three most important men— my childhood friend，my brother and my further fiance were about to face disaster, and asked if I wanted to save them.

All I had to do was make any one of them truly love me within five years - whether familial love, friendship, or romance.

But it would cost me my life.

I readily agreed without hesitation, and as a result, I gained the ability to gauge the favorability rating those three men range for me.

At the time, I naively thought, "This is not difficult so far?"

Just my childhood friend Damine, who'd come back with me, already had a favorability rating of fifty out of one hundred.

I was so confident.

Reality slapped me hard and shattered me completely.

Not only did their feelings not improve for me, they were worse than when we first met - constantly hovering in single digits or even negative numbers.

I knew it was all because of Lidia.

The adopted daughter of my father who, even after I returned, remained everyone's precious princess. And she had easily brand me as a scheming manipulator.

I used to resent it, but nothing changed.

I hadn't done anything wrong. I just wanted to live. Why wouldn't they give me even the tiniest bit of love or trust?

Until the five-year deadline hit and the Moon Goddess declared my mission a failure.

She said I'd lose my wolf within the month and develop cancer - bone cancer, the most painful kind.

When the bone cancer hit, I'd lost my healing abilities. God, it hurt so bad.

But when I was writhing on the floor, drenched in cold sweat from the pain, not one of those three men was by my side.

In that moment, I suddenly felt like nothing mattered anymore.

Since their eyes and hearts only saw Lidia, since my very existence was a mistake, then forget it.

This unwanted outsider was done playing along.

When I plunged the silver dagger into my own body I actually felt relieved for the first time in years.

Can't believe I didn't even manage to die.

Even if the Goddess of the Moon gave me a second chance at life, I know that the quest for true love has failed, and my life will only last for two more weeks.

Two weeks .

How annoying.

For this suicide attempt, I'd even prepared my affairs.

Especially for those three - I'd prepared a gift for each of them, which were supposed to be found after I died.

Except I didn't die.

My thoughts were interrupted by the faintest sound beside my bed.

I turned my head with difficulty.

It was my first target - my brother, Garrett Ironwood.

I'd never seen him look so wrecked.

His shirt was wrinkled beyond recognition, heavy dark circles under his eyes, stubble covering his jaw. His whole face radiated exhaustion.

Our eyes met.

My heart skipped a beat.

Today was Lidia's birthday. They'd already reserved a private room at the hotel to celebrate.

Had he come back... for me?

Was my brother... actually worried about me?