Ronan's ears flushed bright red. "I'm not like that," he said, his voice a rushed whisper.

"I believe you," I said softly.

Of course, I believed him.

In my last life, after my parents were driven to their deaths, it was Ronan who relentlessly investigated the truth and cleared their names.

When I asked him why, he simply said it was the right thing to do.

I later learned that Ronan had loved me from afar.

But I had only ever had eyes for Jared. I never noticed the way Ronan looked at me—a gaze filled with a quiet, unwavering loyalty.

I had even believed the vicious rumors and kept my distance from him.

And the truth about that pack member? The man had sold pack secrets to a rival. Ronan faked his exile, secretly giving him a new identity and sending him far away to save him from being hunted down.

By the time I learned of his feelings, he had already died fighting a cursed, ancient Alpha to protect our territory.

This time, I would never let that happen.

The music started, and Ronan and I began to dance.

Murmurs of disbelief echoed around us.

"Ronan is actually dancing with her?"

"Am I seeing things?"

"Doesn't he refuse to let any female within ten feet of him?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jared's face darken.

Though I deliberately avoided his gaze, it was impossible to ignore the icy glare tracking my every move.

My defiance clearly stunned him. I hadn’t begged pathetically like I always did. I had simply turned to another man without a moment's hesitation.

Amber noticed Jared's attention shifting. The practiced smile on her face stiffened for a fraction of a second.

I ignored them both. The moment the opening dance was over, I turned on my heel and left.

Back at home, I slipped out of the heavy, formal gown.

For the past ten years, my love for Jared had been a desperate, groveling thing.

I'd been meticulous about everything related to him, obsessing over every detail.

He once mentioned he was tired and wanted to relax by the sea. I stayed up all night planning a perfect seaside getaway for him.

In my last life, he forgot all about it and went hiking with Amber instead.

I was dragged along.

During a torrential downpour, Jared sent me to find some stupid accessory of Amber’s. I slipped, rolled down a muddy hill, and broke my leg.

It was a brush with death I never wanted to repeat.

Step one: stay away from Jared.

After dinner, I went to my room and started packing.

As I was dragging my suitcase downstairs, I ran right into Jared, who had just returned from the ceremony.

He saw me, sneered, and snatched the suitcase, tossing it aside.

"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded.

"I should be asking you that, Phoebe!" he shot back.

"What's this little act for? Running away from home?"

"Everyone knows you're my little lapdog. And you had the gall to ask Ronan to dance? Did you really think that pathetic stunt would get my attention?"

Jared was panting, his handsome face a mask of pure disgust.

I silently bent to retrieve my suitcase.

Amber appeared behind him, her eyes already brimming with tears. "Jared, please don't fight with Phoebe because of me. You should have danced with her. I would have been fine. Phoebe, please don't be mad at me, okay? I'm so sorry."

Jared immediately pulled Amber into a protective embrace, comforting her in a low voice.

The look he gave me was filled with even more revulsion.

I looked at Amber—so fragile on the outside, yet every word was a calculated barb designed to win sympathy. This was how she had slowly poisoned Jared against me.

Jared and I were fated mates. He was the son of the Gamma; I was the daughter of the Alpha.

We had grown up together. We were promised to each other.

We used to be inseparable.

Then Amber appeared, and he became a stranger.

At first, he was just distracted when we were together.

Then, impatient.

Now, it was pure hatred—because my very existence was an obstacle between him and Amber.

A wave of exhaustion washed over me as I watched them, lost in their own little world.

I grabbed my suitcase and tried to leave.

Amber rushed forward.

"Phoebe, can you please stop being so unreasonable and making Jared angry?"

She gripped my arm, her sharp nails biting into my skin.

The pain was a sharp shock, and I shoved her away on instinct.

She collapsed to the floor in a heap, struggling to get up, her eyes wide with manufactured hurt.

"Phoebe, you—"

"You're dead, Phoebe!"

Jared, in a blind rage, shoved me to the ground.

The back of my head slammed hard against the silver inlay of the fireplace. A searing pain exploded behind my eyes.

Through the haze, I heard his voice, sharp and cruel.

"You've gone too far, Phoebe!"

"You're not fit to touch a single hair on Amber's head! She's a thousand times kinder than you will ever be!"

"Being under the same roof as you is suffocating. The air feels foul. You make me sick!"

I swallowed the pain, cutting him off.

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

That shut him up. He stood there, stunned for a moment, before snorting in disbelief.

"You'd better keep your word."

He shot me one last glare, then swept Amber into his arms and left without looking back.

I touched the back of my head. My fingers came away sticky with blood.

I remembered, when he first learned we were fated mates, he had said my scent was intoxicating. That's how the mate bond works.

Later, he said he wanted to smell it all the time and begged me to move in.

I agreed without a second thought.

The same man who once held me close and whispered sweet nothings was now spewing venom at me for another woman.

I was bleeding on the floor, yet he carried Amber away without a single glance in my direction.

But it didn't matter anymore.

I just had to wait for Jared's parents to return. Then, our families could witness the severing of the mate bond.

I struggled to my feet and mind-linked the pack healer.

At the infirmary, the healer told me wounds caused by silver were notoriously slow to heal. I also had a hairline fracture in my forearm from breaking my fall.

I sighed. In the past, an injury like this would have healed on its own in hours.

But now—perhaps because my reincarnated soul hadn't fully settled—my inner wolf felt weak, her energy flickering like a dying bulb.

There was no telling how long recovery would take.

With nowhere else to go and not wanting to worry my parents, I stayed alone in the infirmary.

As I walked out of the examination room, a wave of dizziness nearly sent me to the floor.

A pair of strong arms steadied me.

"Careful."

A low, magnetic voice. I looked up.

It was Ronan.

"Thank you, Ronan."

I gently stepped back from his embrace.

He hesitated, then awkwardly withdrew his hands, a flicker of disappointment crossing his eyes.

I couldn't bring myself to look at him and hurried away.

He saved my life once. In this one, I won't let him die for me. Never again.

But his feelings… I didn't know how to face them. Not yet.

I stayed in the infirmary for three days.

After being discharged, I went back for my things and moved into a new apartment that same afternoon.

The apartment I’d found in a rush was a surprisingly nice little place, affordable and well-located.

I was enjoying the rare peace and quiet when, on the fourth day, a command barked through our incomplete mate bond. It was Jared.

He sounded drunk.

"Where are you?"

"The Connaught, West Wing. Get over here now."

I was in the middle of a game, and he had interrupted a crucial round. I was pissed.

"What do you want?"

Silence on the other end of the mind-link. The background noise faded as he focused.

I frowned and was about to cut the connection when Jared’s voice came through again.

"Phoebe, where the hell have you been?"

I started a new round, my eyes glued to the screen. "You said living under the same roof as me made the air unbreathable. So I moved out." I added sweetly, "Don't worry. I'm not coming back."

His breathing grew heavy. Then, a cold, humorless laugh.

"Since when are you so obedient, Phoebe?"

"Weren't you the one clinging to me, swearing you couldn't live without me?"

"Since you're being so compliant—why don't you leave the city? Get out of my life. Stop getting in the way of me and Amber. Can you do that?"

I was completely absorbed in my game, eyes fixed on the screen.

It took a moment for his words to cut through my concentration.

His mocking voice cut through my thoughts.

"What, nothing to say?"

"You think I don't know your pathetic little games by now?"

"You think I can't see you're still obsessed with me?"

"Kneel and apologize to Amber, and I'll consider letting you come crawling back."

"Fine," I said calmly. "I'll leave, Jared."

Before he could respond, I reached for the fragile thread of our bond—the one I had clung to for so long—and snapped it.