My Alpha mate Jonas's childhood friend, Cassia, was a prophet.

She peddled prophecies that my wolf would corrupt his, using curses and other schemes to sabotage our bond. But each time, Jonas would let her off the hook, insisting she "just cared too much about him."

Her sabotage reached its peak when she fed him an aphrodisiac and left her scent on his body. Then, while I was at my most vulnerable—enduring the agony of our bonding ceremony—she convinced Jonas to sever our mate bond.

I died with all my hope shattered.

But when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of our bonding ceremony—just in time to see her about to lace our ceremonial wine goblets with "Corrosive Silver" powder.

This time, I decided I would no longer hold back.

"I think you're the one who needs purifying!" I snarled, flinging the wine in her face before the entire assembly.

————————

1

My eyes snapped open the moment the Moon Goddess granted me a second chance.

"Miss Calloway, are you alright? You must be exhausted—you drifted off for a moment there."

The makeup artist gently dusted a brush across my cheek.

I shook my head, my throat too tight to speak.

The bonding ceremony was about to begin.

Just as the officiant was about to announce the exchange of ceremonial goblets, I caught sight of a figure slipping in through a side door.

Cassia Valerius. My Alpha mate Jonas's childhood friend, the so-called prophet.

She was dressed in a sommelier's uniform, her head bowed as she carried a tray draped with a velvet cloth.

My heart sank. Memories of my past life surged back with nauseating clarity.

The spiteful curse on our anniversary.

The defilement charm left on the doorstep of our new home.

And the image of him, drugged, with her scent marking his chest.

My gaze narrowed, turning to ice.

She glided toward the officiant, her smile sickeningly sweet. "The goblets require a final purification. Allow me."

The unsuspecting officiant handed her the pair of ornate crystal goblets.

I strode toward her and slapped my hand down over hers on the tray. "That won't be necessary."

Cassia glanced up, her eyes wide with practiced innocence. "I was just helping to purify them—"

"I said," I repeated, my voice low and cold, "that won't be necessary."

The next second, I snatched the goblets and, in front of everyone, channeled my Spirit Healer's perception into them.

An ominous silver shimmer pulsed from within the goblets—Corrosive Silver, a vicious powder designed to poison a werewolf's inner wolf.

The entire hall erupted in an uproar.

Jonas strode over, his brow furrowed. "What's going on here?"

I held up a goblet, my eyes locked on Cassia. My voice was quiet, yet each word dripped with ice. "Cassia Valerius, care to explain?"

The mask of innocence shattered, replaced by a look of pure, theatrical grievance. Her eyes welled with tears as her voice trembled. "I just… my foresight warned me the goblets were tainted. I was afraid it would harm the Alpha… I only wanted to help…"

Tears streamed down her face as she gazed at Jonas with those pitiful, pleading eyes.

Jonas let out a long-suffering sigh, a familiar note of resignation in his voice. "She's just overprotective, Rowan. Don't hold it against her."

I had to fight the urge to scoff. The same damn words. It was always the same excuse in my past life, his go-to line for every one of her transgressions.

I smiled, then lifted the tainted goblet and, before the stunned crowd, flung the wine straight into Cassia's face.

"If they're so tainted," I said, my voice ringing through the hall, "then I think you're the one who needs purifying."

A dead silence fell over the hall.

Cassia froze, tear tracks stark against her skin as the red wine dripped from her chin.

Jonas's face was a thundercloud. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

I looked him straight in the eye. My voice wasn't loud, but it carried through the cavernous hall. "Jonas, your childhood friend put Corrosive Silver in our ceremonial goblets. At our bonding ceremony. And instead of asking her why, you're asking me what I'm doing?"

Jonas was speechless.

I turned my smile on Cassia. "Cassia, you claim I'm jealous of your foresight. Why don't you tell everyone—how did you 'foresee' that business negotiation and then have me give Jonas the wrong information?"

At this, the guests began to whisper. "That's terrifying. Does she really use black magic?"

"I heard she deliberately leaked information and made the Sterling Pack lose a huge deal."

As the whispers grew, the blood drained from Cassia's face.

The crowd's murmuring made Jonas uneasy. He rushed to my side, trying to smooth things over. "Rowan, Cassia was just... being dramatic. Let's continue the ceremony, shall we?"

In my past life, heartbroken by the scent of Cassia's treacherous perfume on him, I would have ignored this farce and numbly completed the ceremony.

But this time, I saw the flicker of guilt in his eyes.

I shook off his hand. "There's no need. We aren't right for each other. I reject this union."

"Rowan, a bonding ceremony is not a joke. Stop this nonsense."

I ripped my arm from his grasp, hiked up my skirt, and stormed out of the Sterling Estate without a single backward glance.

Behind me, I could hear Cassia's theatrical sobs and Jonas's pursuing footsteps, but I ignored them all.

I called a cab back to my apartment, locked the door behind me, and tore off the suffocating gown, flinging it to the floor.

My phone buzzed. A text from Jonas: Rowan, just calm down. We can talk about the ceremony later.

I didn't reply.

Half an hour later, I saw Cassia's new post on the pack's internal social app, "Wolf's Den."

It was a selfie of her, draped in the Sterling family's heirloom wolf-fang necklace—an artifact that was supposed to be in Jonas's private keeping.

The caption read: Jonas said the necklace's calming energy could soothe my hurt feelings. Please don't be mad, okay? I know I was wrong.

I stared at the photo until a sharp, humorless laugh escaped my lips.

It was a familiar sting. In my past life, I had endured countless provocations just like this.

Every time Jonas "comforted" her, she would secretly take these intimate photos and send them to me.

And Jonas's response was always the same: "Don't overthink it. She's just too dependent on me."

This time, I didn't get angry. I didn't cry.

I saved the screenshot.

The next day, Jonas appeared at my door with a bouquet of rare Moon Orchids, a flower known to soothe a werewolf's emotions.

The moment he saw me, he swept me into his arms in a gesture of utter apology. "Babe, I was wrong. Let's reschedule the ceremony, okay? I promise nothing like that will happen again."

I shoved him away. "Jonas, I told you, we're done. How is that not clear?"

Jonas frowned, his eyes clouded with confusion. "Rowan, haven't you always looked forward to our bonding? We planned every last detail—"

I closed my eyes. "Jonas, you know in your heart whether you truly care about me or not."

"Can you swear to me, right now, that your heart is completely mine?"

I had laid everything bare, but he didn't even flinch.

Instead, he answered with even more certainty, "Rowan, what are you talking about? We've been together for so long. You're the only one in my heart."

I sneered. So, they really think I'm that clueless.

"Fine. Then call Cassia over right now. Make her publicly announce that all her previous 'prophecies' were lies and permanently banish the seers of the Valerius family."

Jonas froze, unable to comprehend where this hostility was coming from.

But he still answered reluctantly, "Rowan, you know Cassia is a prophet. This is the livelihood of the Valerius family. Making her do that would ruin her and her entire family."

I just looked at him calmly, saying nothing.

"Rowan, I must remind you what the Sterling Pack has done for your family."

Eleanor Sterling seemed to materialize from the shadows, her brow furrowed in disapproval.

She said your family—not you.

"Your grandmother's treatment in the life-support pod. And your brother's apprenticeship to become a Covenant Keeper."

My heart clenched.

She was right. All of it was courtesy of the Sterling family.

But just before my bonding ceremony, Cassia had ensured my grandmother missed the optimal window for her energy replenishment.

She had deliberately shown Grandmother Calloway photos of her and Jonas in bed, whispering that I was the other woman.

My grandmother couldn't speak, her finger trembling as she pointed at Cassia. Her inner wolf shattered on the spot, and she nearly died.

I understood the threat in Eleanor's words. My family’s survival depended on the Sterling Pack. That was the cold, hard reality.

Just then, Jonas stepped forward, his eyes full of feigned tenderness. "Mother, that's enough. I do these things because I love her. I'd do anything for her."

If I didn't already know the truth, I might have actually fallen for his devoted act.

I had no grounds to dissolve the union.

And the Sterling Pack wouldn't let go of such an easily controlled daughter-in-law.

As planned, the bonding feast was held on schedule.

The Sterling Pack's grand hall was filled with guests, wine flowing freely.

In the dressing room, a wave of drowsiness washed over me. My eyelids felt like lead. A strange, cloying aroma, laced with the sharp scent of wolfsbane, hung heavy in the air.

I knew this script. It was a scene straight from my past life.

So, I played along, letting my head droop onto the vanity.

Through the haze, I felt someone shift my body, checking to see if I was truly unconscious.

When the room fell silent again, my eyes snapped open.

I scrambled into my gown, not even taking the time to finish my makeup.

I burst out of the room and sprinted for the main hall.

Everyone stared at my sudden, disheveled appearance. Even Marcus and Eleanor Sterling looked bewildered.

I rushed to the main stage and grabbed the microphone. "Everyone, since today is my bonding feast, I'd like to give you all a little gift to commemorate our 'eternal vows.'"

The moment I finished speaking, I lunged at Jonas and, in front of everyone, ripped open his expensive, custom-tailored dress shirt.

His muscular chest was exposed to the air. But that wasn't the point.

The guests instantly burst into an uproar.

"Isn't he an Alpha?"

"That's a tattoo on his chest... is that the name of the Valerius girl? To mark another wolf's mate! Shameless!"

Eleanor clapped a hand over her mouth, letting out a horrified gasp.

I seized the moment, my expression instantly crumbling into the most pitiful mask of heartbreak I could manage. Tears welled in my eyes, my lower lip trembling as if I were about to shatter. Just like that, everyone forgot I was the one who had ripped the shirt. All eyes were glued to the two traitors.

In the chaos, Jonas's father, Marcus, was so enraged his face was purple. He slapped Jonas hard across the face. "You disgrace! Haven't you brought enough shame upon this family?"

Eleanor rounded on a flushed Cassia, her voice like a whip. "Cassia Valerius, how dare you! Seducing my son? This is a Valerius plot to frame him, isn't it!"

The slap stunned Cassia. She scrambled into Jonas's arms for cover.

The Sterlings began clearing out the guests. After the hall had emptied, I slowly emerged from the back of the crowd.

When my eyes met Jonas's, there wasn't a trace of guilt in them. Only fury.

"Rowan, we need to talk."