My mate, Kaelen Blackwood, is the Alpha of the Blackwood pack.

He is cold and ruthless. Outside our territory, he has sheltered a human orphan, Elara Vance.

He developed a sick obsession with her.

I discovered this secret.

During a full moon gathering, I publicly interrupted the ritual he had prepared to fortify the pack’s strength.

In response, he handed me the papers to sever our mate bond. I burned them.

He froze my family’s assets and crushed our businesses.

On the night of the Blood Moon, my sister Bianca was gravely injured in a conflict instigated by Kaelen.

She desperately needed Moonlight Herb to heal.

But Kaelen used the severing of our bond as leverage, forcing me to kneel.

I knelt. I begged. “Kaelen, I’m begging you… please don’t…”

He severed our mind-link.

Shortly after, the pack’s head healer announced, “We did everything we could.”

But I was reborn.

I returned to the day I first discovered Elara.

This time, there were no tears.

I calmly planned to sever our bond, preparing to disappear from his life for good.

But the moment I truly vanished from his world, Kaelen went insane.

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1

In my past life, I had only dared to linger outside his private study.

Through the crack in the door, I would steal glances at the wall plastered with photos of Elara Vance.

But now, I was reborn.

I had to see the woman who could make the ruthless Alpha of the Blackwood pack let down his guard.

“Gideon, liquidate all the assets in my family trust. I want the full amount wired to the bank in Valbrook within three days.”

I gave the order to my family’s advisor, Gideon Croft, and then contacted my lawyer to expedite the papers to sever our bond.

Then, I drove to the community center in the human city where Elara worked.

She was crouching before a pile of art supplies, patiently teaching children how to mix colors. A young boy with a cherubic face excitedly showed her his painting.

The afternoon sun poured through the high windows, casting a golden halo around her.

She seemed untouched by the world, an angel who had stumbled out of heaven.

No wonder Kaelen had lost his mind over her.

“Watch out!”

Suddenly, a heavy easel beside them groaned and came crashing down.

I instinctively took a step back.

But Elara lunged forward.

She used her slender body to shield a petrified child.

As the easel fell, the sharp edge of its metal frame slashed her arm.

Blood instantly blossomed across her white T-shirt.

She flinched but didn't cry out.

She quickly turned and hugged the frightened child.

“Don’t be scared. It’s just the easel. We’ll set it right back up,” she soothed softly.

I stared, frozen in place. Elara’s blood dripped onto the floor, a silent testament to her kindness.

Ten minutes later, I took her to a clinic to have her wound treated.

Her skin was so fair it was almost translucent, and she radiated an aura of purity that was almost calming.

It was such a contradiction.

I remembered Kaelen’s obsession with perfection. He loathed any form of imperfection.

They reminded him of the fire, started by a rival pack, that had turned his childhood into a nightmare.

And yet, he could accept Elara.

I took a bank card from my handbag and placed it in her hand. “Use this to repair the center. Consider it an early gift.”

In one month, Kaelen and I would officially be over. I wanted to leave with dignity.

But Elara shook her head, pushing the card back into my hand. “Thank you, but I can earn the money myself.”

Just then, her phone buzzed softly.

A sharp pain pierced my chest as an encrypted number flashed on the screen.

It was Kaelen’s private line—a privilege I, his mate of thirteen years, had never been granted.

The video call connected, his voice low and gentle, laced with a warmth I had never heard directed at me.

“You’re hurt?”

Elara’s ears turned pink. “It’s nothing… You don’t need to come over.”

I could already hear the roar of an engine outside.

It had taken him only twelve minutes to get from the heart of the pack lands to this human city.

He seemed to know her every move, her every need.

Elara had a mere scratch, yet he had crossed an entire city for her without a second thought.

The moment he stepped through the door, his gaze was fixed on only one person: that fragile, pure woman.

There was no room for me.

A soft, bitter laugh escaped my lips.

In my past life, I had collapsed from ritual exhaustion, and he had merely sent a message through his Beta: “Don’t die in the Alpha’s residence. It’s bad luck.”

So it wasn’t that he couldn’t love.

He just didn’t think I was worthy.

I offered Elara a polite smile and took a step back.

“Your friend is here. I’ll leave you two alone.”

After Kaelen returned from the clinic, I took the papers to sever our bond and went straight to his office.

“Miss Sterling, the Alpha is handling an urgent matter. He doesn’t have time right now.” His Beta, Alistair Thorne, blocked my path.

Handling an urgent matter?

I followed his gaze to the glass door.

Through the crack, I heard not the low murmur of pack business, but the soft, rhythmic pulse of a medical device.

In what was supposed to be the most secure office in the pack, the screen didn't display a map of our territorial defenses.

It was monitoring Elara’s vital signs in real-time.

An Alpha who could execute traitors without batting an eye was now staring nervously at a human’s heart monitor, his face etched with a panic I’d never seen before.

How absurd.

I still remembered, early in our bond, when I was organizing ancient texts for him and cut my finger on the edge of a page, drawing a single bead of blood.

When Kaelen saw it, he had hurled the ancient tome across the room without hesitation.

“Selena, I hate any form of imperfection,” he had said coldly, his fingers digging into my wrist. “Clean it up. Don’t let me see it again.”

From that day on, I wore double-layered gloves even when trimming the ceremonial moonpetal flowers.

“Miss Sterling…” Alistair’s voice pulled me back to the present.

I let out a bitter laugh. “It’s fine. When he has a moment, just have him sign this.”

Alistair nodded, took the papers from my hand, and disappeared into the office.

I thought I would have to wait at least a few minutes.

Surely, he would wait until Elara’s vitals were completely stable before sparing me even a sliver of his attention.

But less than thirty seconds later, the door creaked open.

Alistair handed the papers back, Kaelen’s signature already scrawled on the last page.

He hadn’t even glanced at the additional clauses.

My fingers clenched around the papers, a suffocating tightness seizing my chest.

From the day I awakened at fifteen, I knew I would be Kaelen’s mate. He was our pack's merciless king—cold, untouchable, incapable of loving anyone. And yet, I had naively believed that if I was perfect enough, I could be the one exception.

As it turned out, that position had long been reserved for someone else.

Now, with a few careless strokes of his pen, he had turned all my foolish hopes into a joke.

When I returned to the Alpha's residence, I had the maid, Clara Meadows, take down the portrait painted at our bonding ceremony.

“But, Luna… that painting is your favorite. It holds the power of your bond with the Alpha…”

She was right. I had once seen that painting as proof I had tamed the cold-blooded Alpha—that I had trapped him in a frame and made him mine.

But I had forgotten that you can’t change an Alpha’s nature. Kaelen hadn’t changed; he had just lain dormant.

“Burn it, Clara. We wouldn’t want to offend his new ‘solace’,” I said, my voice deceptively light.

There were several days left in the grace period before our bond was officially severed.

During that time, Kaelen never once returned to the Alpha’s residence.

That evening, while drifting aimlessly through the city, I ran into Elara at a bookstore.

She was still wearing that faded shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing the still-healing wound on her arm.

Suddenly, she looked up and saw me. Her eyes lit up, and she hurried over.

“Thank you for helping me the other day. My boyfriend wants to treat you to a meal.”

In my past life, Kaelen had said Elara was different from the she-wolves who chased his power—that her eyes were clear and innocent, like a blank slate.

I used to find it laughable. But now, meeting her clear, sincere gaze, I couldn't find a single argument against it.

“There’s no need. I was just passing by,” I said evasively.

I gently guided her to the coffee shop next door. As soon as we sat down, her eyes suddenly reddened.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She lowered her head, tears clinging to her lashes. “I think I’m pregnant. But he’s been avoiding me these past few days. Do you think… he doesn’t want the baby?”

So they had already…

I should have expected it, but the truth still felt like a silver spike driving straight into my heart.

I had foolishly hoped Kaelen’s obsession with her was just a phase, that he would grow tired of it and eventually come back to me.

It seemed I was only deluding myself.

“Do you think he’s seeing someone else?”

That one question sent an icy chill down my spine.

If she knew Kaelen had a mate, her kindness would compel her to leave. And knowing him, he would unleash his fury on me—and on my family.

The tragedy of my past life would repeat itself.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as I forced myself to remain calm.

“No. Don’t overthink it,” I told her softly.

After comforting her, I excused myself to the restroom and immediately pulled out my phone to call Gideon.

“Move up the plan. Send Bianca to Valbrook tonight. Get her on a flight now.”

The moment I hung up, I called Bianca. Her voice, warm and familiar, came through the phone—and my entire body went rigid.

“Selena, did you and Kaelen have a fight?” she asked.

I wanted to tell her the truth—that in our past life, she died because of him. That he had broken my legs with silver and locked me away in a silver-lined cell.

He would not allow anyone to threaten his new life with Elara.

The memories churned, a toxic brew in my mind. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, anything to keep a sob from escaping.

“Selena, whatever you do, I’m always on your side. We only have each other,” Bianca said.

Her voice was full of warmth, but it only amplified my fear.

I was terrified Kaelen would find out she was leaving and, in a fit of rage, stop her, just as he did in the past.

Terrified that this call was being monitored.

Terrified that all my plans would crumble.

Most of all, I was terrified Bianca wouldn’t run fast enough, and he would catch her again.

“I love you, Bianca. Wait for me. We’ll be together soon.”