I was reborn.

The first thing I did was prepare to initiate the Lunar Verdict ritual, to sever my connection with my fated mate, Alpha Isaac, at his own inauguration ceremony.

In front of the entire pack.

In my last life, he chose his first love, Fallon, over me. He accused me of being a false mate with a vile scent and performed a forbidden Spirit-Severing ritual, leaving me to die in agony.

This life, when he blocked my path for Fallon, I didn't shed a single tear. I just calmly turned and walked away.

He said my presence made Fallon uncomfortable, so I moved to an abandoned alchemy workshop on the edge of the territory.

He said he couldn't stand living in the same pack as me, so I submitted a transfer request.

I thrived in a neighboring pack, where I met a mysterious, powerful wolf who wore a raven mask.

When we appeared hand-in-hand at the North American Alpha Summit, Alpha Isaac finally snapped.

He caught my scent, sensed the unmistakable True Love's Mark of another Alpha on me, and his sanity shattered.

He blocked my path, a low growl rumbling in his chest.

"Ayla, get rid of that man's mark on you!"

"Didn't you once loathe the very sight of me?" I smiled, taking a step back.

"Now that I belong to someone else, you suddenly find me so appealing?"

————————

1

I was reborn.

Staring at the shimmering energy barrier outside the Sterling Ridge Pack's banquet hall, a barrier that barred my entry, my wolf, Fen, let out a long, relieved sigh.

In that single moment, my own mate was publicly humiliating me, equating me with homeless rogues.

The pack members around me offered looks of scorn or pity, but none of them knew the truth: I was ecstatic. I was reborn.

I had returned to the day of my fated mate, Alpha Isaac's, inauguration ceremony.

In everyone's eyes, I was just a clueless, clingy Omega orphan.

Bloodline, status… Alpha Isaac and I were worlds apart.

He was the heir to a powerful Alpha bloodline. I was a pack orphan, taken in by the former Alpha and his mate, with no name or bloodline to call my own.

Just because we had sensed our mate bond the day I turned eighteen, I foolishly thought it meant forever.

Everyone pitied Alpha Isaac, believing the Moon Goddess had played a cruel joke on him.

He thought so, too.

So on the day of his inauguration, he erected an energy barrier to lock me out, while I stood there in a starlight gown I had spent weeks crafting, hoping to stand by his side.

"Ayla, we're not trying to make things difficult for you. This is Alpha Isaac's order."

"You know what day it is. Fallon is inside. Your presence will only make everyone uncomfortable."

Alpha Isaac's most loyal Gamma stood at the entrance, his expression carved from stone as he delivered the message.

On either side of him, guards reinforced by Alpha Isaac's domineering aura formed an impenetrable wall.

All of this, this entire fortress of protection, was to keep me—a defenseless Omega—out.

Everyone knew Alpha Isaac loathed me. So deeply that he claimed our bond was a curse upon his bloodline.

In my last life, I failed to enter the banquet as well.

Like an abandoned pup, I waited from dawn until dusk, starving for even a sliver of warmth from my mate.

Later, I developed a fever in the cold wind and fainted, my inner wolf on the verge of collapse.

When the former Alpha couple found out, they scolded Alpha Isaac and tried to force our bonding ceremony.

The day before the ceremony, Alpha Isaac's first love, Fallon, suddenly collapsed, suffering from a supposed "bloodline curse."

In the judgment of Alpha Isaac and his inner circle, it was my "jealousy" that had triggered it.

Alpha Isaac wanted revenge for his beloved Fallon.

He used his Alpha command to suppress me, cutting off all contact with the pack, and locked me in a secret chamber filled with the toxic fumes of liquid silver and wolfsbane.

I begged him countless times to just sever the bond and let me go. Each time, he refused.

Alpha Isaac had roared that if the Moon Goddess cursed him with me, then I had to endure it.

That agony—being rejected by my mate while the poison of silver and wolfsbane seared through my body, day and night—was my reality for five whole years.

In the end, my sanity shattered. My wolf, Fen, chose to shatter her own spirit to save me, and I followed her into the void.

The irony was, in the final moments of my life, as my inner wolf faded to nothing, I saw Fallon.

She wasn't suffering from any curse; instead, she was radiant as the pack's new Luna.

She had never been afflicted by any bloodline curse. It was all just a scheme she had concocted to frame me.

Her and Alpha Isaac's love story was celebrated as a tale of true love breaking the shackles of fate.

From beginning to end, I was just the villain standing in the way of their romance.

And in this life?

I am going to live. I am going to stay far, far away from Alpha Isaac. I am going to take my wolf, Fen, and find what it means to be truly free.

...

Under the weight of countless shocked stares, I turned and strode away. No hesitation. No regrets.

Having been reborn, the very first thing I wanted to do was initiate the Lunar Verdict at that high-profile inauguration ceremony and sever the mate bond between me and Alpha Isaac.

But I couldn't get into the banquet. I would have to find another way.

Returning to my quarters in the pack house, I stripped off the starlight gown I had painstakingly crafted to match the color of Alpha Isaac's eyes.

I was known throughout the Sterling Ridge Pack as Alpha Isaac's pathetic shadow.

When it came to anything concerning Alpha Isaac, I was always the first to notice, the first to give without asking for anything in return.

I would arrange every tiny detail for him, just hoping for a single glance in my direction.

More than once, Alpha Isaac had complained about how tiring it was to manage the pack, saying he wanted to relax in the northern mountains.

So, coordinating with his schedule, I secretly prepared all the alchemical potions and supplies needed for a trip to the northern mountains.

Because he said the moonlight there was the purest, most suitable for a wolf's run.

But in my last life, Alpha Isaac never went to the mountains with me.

He chose to vacation on a southern island with Fallon instead.

I, on the other hand, was ordered to stay behind and organize the pack's old archives.

That night, rogues attacked the pack. I was scratched while protecting the archives, and the wound became a festering silver burn.

I spent two months in the healing center. When he returned, he just complained that I reeked of medicine.

That feeling, of your life plunging into hell while your mate finds you disgusting—I would never experience it again.

Getting away from Alpha Isaac was the first step.

I quickly packed my alchemical materials and my few belongings, preparing to head downstairs.

Alpha Isaac burst in, his black formal wear disheveled, reeking of alcohol.

Seeing my suitcase, he sneered. With a flick of his wrist, a wave of his Alpha power ripped the suitcase from my grasp and slammed it violently against the wall.

The suitcase burst open on impact. My alchemical materials and a few items of clothing scattered across the floor.

My brow furrowed. "Isaac, what are you doing?"

"Ayla, I should be asking what you're doing!"

"Running away from home? Ayla, how old are you?"

"What's next? Starve yourself? Let your wolf waste away just to threaten me?"

Alpha Isaac's breath was ragged, his eyes filled with disgust as he hurled accusations at me.

"Ayla, you're not a pup anymore. Stop thinking you can threaten me into accepting you by leaving the pack!"

I stared at my ruined luggage on the floor. The last flicker of hope in my heart died out.

"Who said I was threatening you?"

People like him and Fallon—one a hypocrite, the other cruel—were living just fine.

I had been lucky enough to get a second chance at life. Why would I waste another ounce of emotion on them?

Alpha Isaac scoffed, his eyes full of contempt, as if he was certain I couldn't live without him.

Fallon drifted in after him, a vision of delicate innocence in a white dress.

"Ayla, if you wanted to attend the inauguration, you could have just talked it out with Isaac. You have a mate bond; he wouldn't really keep you out."

"Running away like this is fine once. Twice is just being theatrical."

Fallon's words were laced with insinuation, mocking the foolish things I had done in the past to win his attention.

Alpha Isaac's gaze grew even more disgusted, now edged with a hint of murderous intent.

My memories churned.

I suddenly remembered something.

After Alpha Isaac got together with Fallon, his attitude toward me changed completely.

It was as if I were something filthy.

In my anger, I had once prayed to the Moon Goddess, begging her to sever this painful bond.

Fallon twisted this into me cursing their love.

From then on, Alpha Isaac hated me, ignored me, and refused to communicate through our mind-link.

Fallon's little clique isolated and bullied me during training, and he turned a blind eye to all of it.

I met Alpha Isaac's gaze, my voice steady. "You're overthinking it. I'm not threatening you. I'm packing my things because I'm moving to the workshop at the border. I'm applying to leave the pack."

Alpha Isaac snorted, as if I were making up a clumsy excuse to save face.

Fallon tugged on Alpha Isaac's sleeve, her voice sickeningly sweet.

"Isaac, why don't we let Ayla stay? She's just an Omega. The border is too dangerous. What if she runs into rogues?"

Isaac's brow furrowed, as if weighing the pros and cons. After all, his parents, the former Alpha couple, still cared about my well-being.

I refused again. "No, thank you. I've already filled out the application."

Isaac's handsome features twisted into a derisive sneer. "Did you hear that? She wants to go to the border and die!"

"Ayla, stop this nonsense. Your inner wolf is so weak, you wouldn't survive three days out there."

Fallon sighed and stepped forward, feigning intimacy by linking her arm with mine.

Out of Isaac's line of sight, she twisted her hand, and a poisoned needle hidden in her ring pricked my flesh.

My wolf, Fen, roared in anger. A sharp pain shot through me. I instinctively shoved Fallon away.

She staggered back a few steps and collapsed onto the floor, looking up at me with a wounded expression.

"Ayla, you... I was just trying to show you I care..."

...

"Ayla, you have a death wish!"

Alpha Isaac's reaction was violent. His Alpha pressure erupted, and a wave of force sent me flying.

My back slammed hard against the weapon rack on the wall. A decorative dagger rattled loose, its blade slicing across my arm. A starburst of pain erupted behind my eyes, and my vision blurred.

I heard Isaac's furious roar, a distinct Alpha snarl.

"Ayla, are you addicted to bullying people?"

"Being with a vicious Omega like you makes the whole pack house stink. You disgust me!"

I hauled myself to my feet, bracing against the wall as I tried to cut through his vicious tirade.

"I'll move out. Immediately. Don't worry."

"You'd better mean it."

Alpha Isaac's anger caught in his throat, as if he hadn't expected me to agree so readily.

He glared at me, then swept Fallon into his arms and strode away, cradling her like a priceless treasure.

I touched the sticky warmth on my arm. It was blood. Fresh, red blood. Not the acrid, tell-tale scent of wolfsbane.

Back when Alpha Isaac and I weren't on such terrible terms, when we first learned we were fated mates, I was always clinging to him.

He was rebellious and would sneak into bars to drink. I'd follow.

Later, he got into a territory dispute with a wolf from a rival pack.

I tried to break up the fight and got hurt accidentally. A small cut on my finger.

In that instant, Alpha Isaac had turned into a ferocious beast.

He beat a man twice his size into begging for mercy, all because someone had made me bleed.

But the man who once panicked over a tiny paper cut on my finger had now hurt me for someone else. Called me worthless. Told me to die.

It didn't matter anymore.

Once the former Alpha couple returned and my transfer request was approved, I could finally end this mistaken bond.

I glanced at the Omega servant nearby, forcing a semblance of a smile.

"Could you call the pack's Healer for me? I can pay you."

The new, young maid took a hesitant step forward, only to be yanked back by an older servant.

Their hushed conversation, despite their efforts to be quiet, reached my wolf ears clearly.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Don't you know Alpha Isaac hates this woman?"

"If he sees you helping her, you'll lose your job and be kicked out of the pack!"

The young maid froze, glanced at me again, then lowered her head and scurried away.

I shook my head, a bitter smile on my lips. I crawled to the corner and picked up my shattered phone.

The former Alpha couple traveled year-round, seeking ways to strengthen the pack.

They were only home maybe three or four days a month.

Alpha Isaac was the sole authority here. He had said it more than once.

I wasn't of true Vance blood. My problems were my own.

So no one dared to come near me.

Every time I came home, the leftovers were thrown out, even if I hadn't eaten.

The plates on the table were empty. Not even a mouthful of hot soup was left for me.

But I was used to it.

I dragged myself to the pack's healing center.

There, the Healer examined my wound, shaking his head with a sigh. The injury wasn't life-threatening, he said, but it was deep. He cleaned it, applied a poultice of herbs, and told me I'd need to be observed for two days.

After being discharged, I went back to the pack house to pack. This time, no one stopped me.

The servants watched me struggle alone with cold eyes, as if I were invisible.

That afternoon, I packed everything and loaded it into a secondhand pickup truck I had modified myself.

I had bought it with the pocket money I'd saved up over many years.

I was going to the border workshop. It was near rogue territory, but it was a step toward freedom.

Three days after leaving the pack house, Alpha Isaac forced his way into our mind-link. His voice was slurred with alcohol, and the background noise was chaotic.

"Where are you?"

"The Moonlight Club. Top-floor VIP room. Come get me."

I was busy patching the roof of the border workshop, and the summons shattered my focus. A wave of irritation washed over me.

"Alpha Isaac, what do you want?"

There was silence on the other end. It was as if he hadn't expected me to use his full title.

Even the sounds of revelry around him seemed to quiet down.

I asked again. No answer. I was about to sever the link.

Alpha Isaac suddenly spoke, his voice laced with anger.

"Ayla, where are you?"

I put down my hammer, wiped the sweat from my brow, and answered nonchalantly.

"I thought you said living under the same roof as me made the very air disgusting? So I moved out."

"Don't worry. I'm not going back. I've already submitted my transfer request."

The man's breathing grew heavy. He let out a cold laugh.

"Ayla, when did you become so obedient?"

"Weren't you the one who used to be so damn clingy?"

"If you're so obedient now, why don't you just disappear from my life completely?!"

"Ayla, I don't care what game you're playing. If you lay a hand on Fallon again, I won't spare you!"

The wind on the roof was strong, and it made me shiver. I gazed at the forest in the distance.

It took me a moment to process the sheer absurdity of his words.

His mocking voice continued.

"What, nothing to say?"

"Aren't you tired of playing these pathetic little sympathy-seeking tricks every day?"

"Brew a Calming Potion for Fallon as an apology. Then I'll allow you to come back."

I spoke slowly, my voice so calm that even my wolf, Fen, seemed surprised.

"Fine. I promise, Alpha Isaac. I will disappear completely."

Before he could utter another word, I slammed a wall up in my mind, severing the link. The world fell blissfully silent.