##INTRODUCTION:

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate."

I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief.

Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him.

In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans.

However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance.

He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was.

The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control.

Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it.

I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me.

However, fate gave me another chance.

In this life, I would not make the same mistake.

When the High King once again asked me to choose a partner for the marriage alliance, I chose Damon—the one no one ever noticed—without even blinking.

I thought I was finally free of the past.

However, the moment the engagement was announced…

Alpha Iris lost his mind.

###CONTENT

####CHAPTER-NAME:

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate."

I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief.

Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him.

In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans.

However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance.

He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was.

The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control.

Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it.

I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me.

However, the Moon Goddess granted me another chance.

Reborn in this life, I chose to let them have each other.

But what I didn’t expect was that Alpha Iris had been reborn too.

...

I had just stepped out of the High King's grand palace when I bumped into Iris and his wolfish crew.

The heirs of the four great clans took one look at me, and scattered like ants in a disrupted anthill. They could not resist throwing a few jabs my way as they left.

"Back to haunt Alpha Iris, Sophie? You've got guts; I'll give you that. You'll stop at nothing to chase after a guy. Aren't you worried your late, heroic granddad's watching from above, shaking his head in disappointment?"

Iris stood there, his eyes frostier than the Arctic, sizing me up as if I were an insect.

"What's your angle this time? Hoping the High King will go to bat for you again? Still harping on that ancient favor your grandpa did for him in the war? How many times can your family play that card?"

His voice dripped with contempt, his eyes rolling with irritation. "You've turned this into royal court gossip, dragging my name through the mud. I won't mark you as mine, not even if you beg the Moon Goddess herself."

I knew that look all too well.

My love had never even nudged his heart.

I swallowed the storm inside me, keeping my voice steady.

"This has nothing to do with you. The High King called for me. He's going to lead my coming-of-age ceremony himself tomorrow."

The words hung in the air, and the heirs who had not quite disappeared stopped dead in their tracks.

"The High King is personally overseeing your ceremony?!"

I understood their shock.

The High King had long since stepped back from such formalities, often sending others in his stead for even his own kin's events. His direct involvement was no small matter.

In a world of werewolves, vampires, the High Serpent Clan, and merfolk, I stood among them as a pureblood werewolf. With a lineage untainted, I was seen as the ideal partner for the next generation.

The High King had made his intentions clear when I was just seventeen. He declared that at my coming-of-age ceremony, he would pick a husband for me from the royal heirs of the four great clans. Whoever he chose would take over the High King's power and lands, stepping up as the new supreme leader.

The crowd snapped out of their daze, chuckling as they clapped Iris on the back, their eyes twinkling with sly praise.

"Way to go, Alpha Iris! You're set for life!"

"Don't forget about us when you're on top. The High King's got your back, and now you're the real deal—the next in line for the throne."

Iris shot me a look, his smirk loaded with pride and a hint of mockery. "You've been pining after me for years, and now you've got your wish. Does that feel good?"

He leaned in, his voice dropping to a murmur.

"Just so we're clear, I'm laying down the law to avoid any future drama. This whole mate contract thing is just for show. Sure, you'll be my Luna in name, but don't even think about butting into my personal life or trying to boss me and my wolf around.

"Play by my rules, and I might just be persuaded to mark you."

I was seething with anger at his outrageous demands. It was beyond ridiculous.

A thought struck me. 'Could it be? Had he been reborn, too?'

Right then, a gentle, frail voice called from behind me. "Sophie."

I turned to see Ruby in a stunning velvet gown, her eyes rimmed with red, coughing softly as she approached me, looking innocent.

Iris's face transformed in an instant, and he hurried over to her. "You're still not well. What are you doing out here?"

Ruby's voice was barely above a whisper. "Dad sent me... He worried my sister would be lonely in the royal court all by herself."

Iris gave me an icy, mocking glance. "Aren't you a delicate one, needing company just to leave the house? Can't you see that Ruby's sick?"

With that, he led Ruby away.

Before they were out of sight, Iris threw one last chilling look my way, his voice a stern warning.

"Sophie, if you keep acting like you're better than Ruby and picking on her, forget about me joining you in that bonding ceremony!"

I could not help but let out a snarky laugh.

'Iris, buddy, it's actually me who's not interested in the bonding ceremony with you,' I mused silently.

####CHAPTER-NAME:

It was the day of the coming-of-age ceremony.

The ceremony had wrapped up, and the guests had trickled out when Iris finally strolled in, taking his sweet time with Ruby in tow.

Ruby was walking awkwardly, and Iris had some pretty obvious scratch marks on his neck.

Anyone with half a clue could have guessed what they had been up to.

In the past, that would have made me lose my cool.

One was a guy I had been crushing on forever, and the other was my half-sister.

'Even if you didn't love me, could you at least pretend to care about decency?' I stewed internally.

However, now, I barely gave them a second glance before I turned away to keep busy.

Iris caught my look, especially that brief pause, and quickly pulled Ruby behind him.

However, the angry outburst he had been waiting for never came.

His smile slowly turned into a grimace, like something was bugging him, and he could not help but throw a jab my way.

"You're not just pretending not to care because you're scared I'll change my mind, are you?

"Alright, you're playing it cool today. Since you know I will be the next High King, it's obvious I won't be tied down to just one girl for life. I'll have plenty of lovers," he boasted.

"However, you did good today. So here, this is for you."

He pulled out a fancy little wooden box from his pocket, but before he could hand it over, Ruby grabbed it.

"Wow! It's gorgeous!" Ruby's eyes lit up as she admired the gem. "Isn't this the true love gem from Lord of Winterhold? You can't even buy these!"

Iris, caught off guard, quickly said, "You like it? Then it's yours."

Ruby put on a show of hesitation. "I can't possibly take this. It's a special gift you picked out for my sister..."

Her words trailed off, but her eyes stayed locked on me, a smug smile playing on her lips.

Iris let out a carefree chuckle. "Keep it. I'll just whip up something else for her. She treasures anything that comes from me, anyway."

The room was filled with the low chuckles of the other clan heirs.

Just like that, a flood of memories I had kept locked away came crashing back.

I was transported to that snowy Christmas when I had trudged through the storm to give Iris a present, only to get soaked to the bone.

He tossed his cloak at me and casually said, "Don't catch a cold."

I had clung to that cloak like a priceless treasure, hiding it for years.

Until he caught me one day, secretly inhaling its scent.

His face turned stormy, and he shouted, "You're pathetic."

I turned beet red, from my cheeks to the tips of my ears.

The High King had to intervene, tapping him with his cane. "She's just a kid. Watch your words."

He shut up then, but he ensured the story spread to every heir of every clan.

I became the butt of everyone's jokes.

With that memory burning in my mind, I spun on my heel, ready to escape the party I had grown to loathe.

However, Iris stepped in front of me, blocking my path. "Leaving so soon? I know you aren't one to let things go. Do you really think I can't see right through you?

"You're nothing but a jealous, spiteful she-wolf."

He grabbed my wrist, but I yanked it back.

"Alpha Iris, you'd better watch your tone."

He let out a derisive laugh. "Watch my tone? You're the one who's been begging me to mark you. We're destined to end up together, so why play innocent?"

I met his gaze and said, each word deliberate and clear, "Who said I'd ever choose you as my mate?"

The room went dead quiet.

The wolves around me erupted in laughter, their howls echoing off the walls.

Iris's face was a mask of ice. "Who else could you possibly choose? You were so head over heels for me. Would you ever be happy to marry anyone else?

"I come from the Silvermoon Pack, the mightiest of all werewolf packs, and I carry the noblest Lycan blood. Sure, Alpha Damon's decent enough, but his lineage is nothing special, no match for mine.

"Apparently, his wolf is quite weak. He was poisoned with wolfsbane a few years ago. His stamina's never been the same since then.

"You really want to marry him? Be stuck with a weakling wolf for life?"

####CHAPTER-NAME:

Every eye in the room was on me, waiting for my answer.

Just then, Alpha Damon made his way into the hall, looking frail, struggling to walk at any speed.

Muffled laughter spread through the crowd as I was about to declare that I would choose to marry Damon. However, the High King's words echoed in my mind.

"If your heart truly lies with Damon, I'll honor your choice. However, keep it under wraps for now. Once the dust settles, the truth will come out."

I bit back my words, hesitating.

Damon caught my eye, his gaze filled with a sadness I could not ignore.

I got the High King's point.

With all those heirs from different clans watching, each hungry for power, I could not just blurt out my feelings.

So, I decided to let them think what they wanted and walked away from that choking atmosphere.

On the drive home, Ruby and I shared a car.

She flicked her wrist, and the gems in her box glittered so intensely I had to squint.

"So what if you marry Alpha Iris? His heart will always belong to me," she said, her voice dripping with challenge.

Ruby was like two different people. To the world, she was the picture of sweetness and innocence, but when we were alone, her true colors came out—sharp and dangerous.

I could not shake the memory of her previous life, wrapped up with Iris, nothing between them.

She was curled up in Iris's arms, a scared little wolf, while Iris clutched her close as if he was protecting her from me.

I felt like I would break down right then and there.

Later, my parents sent Ruby off to some small town and married her to a High Serpent King who was always off fighting wars. She had it way easier than I did.

However, I decided to let her stick with Iris in this life. I was curious to see how that would turn out.

"What do I care where his heart lies? If you're so into him, go ahead and let him mark you.

"I hope the Moon Goddess blesses you two," I said, though I did not mean it.

Ruby paused, then smirked and laughed. "Your blessings? No thanks, they might be cursed. However, no matter what, Alpha Iris is mine."

Thanksgiving rolled around, and my dad had me take a gift to the High King.

I walked into the royal court, and there was Ruby, all dolled up in a red dress and dripping with jewels, looking like a million bucks.

She caught my eye and gave me that little smile. "Sophie, do you like my dress? Alpha Iris gave it to me.

"I told him I wasn't into all this bling, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. He said I deserved the best."

I was annoyed and tried to walk away, but Ruby blocked my path.

"Sophie, can't we just talk? You look so down.

"I get it, it's tough. Feelings can be a real pain to deal with," she said, and then she started crying. However, it was all an act.

I tried to shove her aside, but she collapsed with a dramatic gasp, clutching her leg and wailing about the pain.

"Why did you hit me? I'm your little sister!"

Right then, Iris burst through the door, his eyes blazing as he took in the scene.

"Sophie, what the heck are you doing?" His finger was practically a claw as he jabbed it in my direction. "How could you be so cruel to your sister? That's just evil!"

I could not help it—I burst out laughing, looking from Iris to Ruby.

"Ruby, I have to hand it to you; your little act is pretty convincing. You're quite the piece of work."

Out of nowhere, a wolf's howl cut through the room.

Iris spun around, his hand a blur as it came down hard across my face, leaving a trail of scratches.

"Don't you dare talk about Ruby that way!" he shouted.

####CHAPTER-NAME: