My fated mate, Corbin, fell in love with his assistant, Aria, and insisted on severing our mate bond.

To preserve the alliance between our powerful packs, I gave him some practical advice.

"She's just a low-ranking Omega. She can't help you become the Alpha of the Sterling Ridge pack. You'd be better off providing for her outside the territory for now."

Humiliated and furious, the she-wolf named Aria publicly crashed the Moon Goddess Festival, staging the self-destruction of her inner wolf.

Five years later, the first thing Corbin did after becoming Alpha was wage war against me. He annexed my Vance pack's businesses, drove my father to his death, and destroyed my home.

"This is for what you owe Aria," he snarled.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to my twenty-second Laurel Festival.

Corbin's grandfather, Alaric, the current Alpha of the Sterling Ridge pack, asked me what my wish was.

"I wish for Corbin and Aria Frost to be together forever. May the Moon Goddess bless them."

I bowed slightly.

"Please, Alpha Alaric, grant my wish. Allow me to sever the mate bond with Corbin."

————————

1

I died on a rainy night.

I should have lived to see the autumn leaves on the Holy Mountain, but Corbin couldn't wait.

I tumbled down the sacred steps, one by one, a silver dagger twisting in my heart as blood pooled beneath me.

As if that wasn't enough, he ripped the purification-runed dagger out, only to drive it back in.

The agony nearly choked the words from me, but I managed to gasp, "Why?"

I didn't understand.

Our two packs had been allies for generations. We grew up together, designated by the Moon Goddess as fated mates.

For over a decade, my Vance pack had poured resources into helping Corbin secure his footing within the Sterling Ridge pack, ensuring his position as heir.

In return, he lured my father into a trap, annexed my family's businesses, and drove him to suicide.

"Why, Corbin?" I rasped, desperately clutching his sleeve.

His face was terrifyingly pale. He was the one who had destroyed my pack, yet he glared at me as if I were the one who had betrayed him.

"This is for what you owe Aria," he hissed through clenched teeth.

Aria?

Aria Frost?

The name sounded so distant it took me a moment to place it.

And with it, I remembered the innocent, delicate face behind the name.

I couldn't help but laugh, a broken, rattling sound.

Five years.

For five whole years, Corbin had never forgotten her.

He blamed her death on me and the entire Vance pack.

"Corbin, you really are..."

...a fool.

Before I could spit out the last word, his hand closed around my throat.

The air was squeezed from my lungs, bit by bit.

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

The color was a perfect match for the autumn leaves blanketing the mountain.

...

"Layla, another headache from your second sight?"

The cold rain vanished.

The hard stone steps beneath me were gone.

It was a perfect autumn day, the celebration hall bustling with guests.

This was my twenty-second Laurel Festival, the very ceremony where my bond with Corbin was to be formalized.

Perhaps the Moon Goddess had finally taken pity on me. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn.

Not only was I alive, but I had returned to the age of twenty-two.

In that year, the Vance pack was at the height of its power. My father was one of the most powerful Alphas in the region.

And my mate bond with Corbin had not yet been publicly recognized.

"You shouldn't have a headache," a voice behind me sneered. "Corbin just went public on social media yesterday. His Omega assistant is his new flame."

My best friend, Kiera, turned to confront him, but I stopped her.

It wasn't just an admission.

Three months ago, while patrolling the territory, Corbin was drugged with wolfsbane by a rival pack. She helped him survive the resulting fever.

That night, Corbin decided she was his true love. He wanted to mark her, to make her his.

Including yesterday, this was the third time the pack's trackers had photographed them being intimate in Moonsong Park.

"Layla, don't believe that gossip. You and Corbin grew up together, all those years of affection..."

I looked at my best friend and shook my head.

She fell silent.

Of course, I knew what she wanted to say.

I had woken up in the pack's territory a week ago.

A week was enough time for me to sort through everything that had happened in the five years before my death.

"Layla," Kiera suddenly prompted, "Corbin's here."

...

I looked up and saw Corbin striding toward me, surrounded by a crowd.

The murmurs around us immediately died down.

Corbin and I grew up together.

We were fated mates. Our union had been arranged by our Alphas when we were five.

If any other pup bullied me, he was always the first to bare his fangs to protect me.

If he was punished, I was always the first to plead with the old Alpha on his behalf.

Until this moment, no one had ever doubted that I was Corbin's true love.

And yet, he brought another woman to my celebration.

Aria was slender and fragile, like a pale, delicate flower, clinging tightly to his side.

Corbin smiled and bent down, whispering something in her ear. His Alpha scent made her legs go weak.

Aria turned to me, a flash of panic on her face. Then, she hurried forward.

She sank to one knee before me, executing a deeply submissive bow and exposing her vulnerable neck in a gesture of complete surrender.

Just as I remembered. The scene was playing out exactly as it had in my past life.

Even the single, shimmering teardrop clinging to Aria's eyelashes was exactly the same.

In my past life, it was this pitiful and fragile act that had Corbin wrapped around her finger.

I was born into a top-tier werewolf family, where matings were strategic alliances. I never believed in love within such unions.

Aria's appearance stung, but it wasn't enough to make me lose my composure.

When Corbin had wanted to sever our mate bond, I hadn't cried or thrown a tantrum. Considering the alliance between our two packs, I had given him practical advice.

"Aria is just an Omega, from an insignificant bloodline. Even if you two...

"Alpha Alaric will never agree to this marriage. It will only bring her trouble.

"Corbin, why don't you settle her outside the territory for now, and later..."

I chose my words carefully, hinting at the future.

"Once you become the Alpha, won't you be the one to make the rules?"

Just those few sentences.

They brought Aria salvation but brought me utter ruin.

...

In my past life, the moment Aria knelt, I rushed forward to help her up.

This time, I watched her coldly. My second sight pierced through her facade of weakness, revealing the greed and ambition churning in her aura.

Seeing no response, she didn't hesitate to bow lower, pressing her forehead to the floor in the most servile posture.

Again and again. Thud! Thud! The sounds were piercingly clear in the quiet hall.

My best friend, Kiera, tugged at my sleeve.

The hall was filled with guests, and every werewolf's gaze was fixed on us.

I squeezed her hand.

What's the rush?

"Aria!" Corbin's face had already darkened.

Though she hadn't been prostrating for long, Aria's forehead was already bleeding.

Paired with her tear-filled eyes, she looked truly pitiful and heart-wrenching.

She looked at Corbin, then at me. Biting her lip, she continued to bow.

I leisurely picked up a crystal glass filled with Moonlight Nectar Wine from a nearby table.

I was suddenly curious.

Just how far was she willing to take this act?

...

Yes.

Aria was acting.

Her fragility was fake. Even her staged self-destruction of her inner wolf in my previous life had been a lie.

I had overheard her behind the empty altar of the Moon Goddess Festival. Her voice was sweet and clear as she sobbed and pleaded with a pack elder.

"I'm just an Omega. If I don't use my pitiful appearance to gain sympathy, how would Corbin ever notice me?"

"Please, help me. I just need one more favor!"

"I love Corbin, but with my bloodline, his family will never approve of our union."

"He promised to mark me. I have to do something to make him feel guilty."

"Please, help me one more time."

"If I make a scene at the altar, Corbin will forever remember what he owes me!"

What a brilliant performance.

She had fooled Corbin, and she had fooled me.

She had even fooled all the werewolves.

I once asked Corbin why he cared so much for Aria.

"I was born the eldest son of the main Grayson line. Every wolf fawns over me, every wolf caters to me."

"They respect me, they love me—all because of my bloodline and status."

"You're the same, Layla. If I weren't the heir of the Grayson family, would you still want to be my mate?"

That question left me speechless.

If our bloodlines weren't compatible, we would never have grown up together, let alone been designated as mates.

"Only Aria truly loves me. Only she is willing to give up everything for me."

"Layla, how could I possibly refuse such a pure love?"

I was almost convinced by him.

As the heir to the Vance pack, I had always been cautious in my words and actions.

I had a responsibility to my parents and my pack. I would never recklessly abandon everything for any wolf.

However, we had both completely overlooked another possibility.

It didn't matter whether Corbin was drugged, poisoned, or on the brink of death.

Aria had been determined from the very beginning.

She was determined to latch onto him to elevate her own bloodline.

...

"Enough!" Corbin's sharp command, laced with his Alpha's authority, instantly filled the air.

A hush fell over the room.

Aria shuddered and slowly looked up, her tear-filled eyes pleading with me.

Her meaning was clear.

She had ruined my mate bond and made me the laughingstock of high society, and for that, she was deeply sorry.

She wouldn't stop until I said the word.

Very well.

I'd see how long she could last.

I raised an eyebrow slightly and continued to savor my wine.

Aria gritted her teeth and bent down to bow again.

Corbin suddenly strode forward. A sharp smack echoed as he knocked the wine glass from my hand.

"Layla, that's enough!"

"Layla, is this how the Vance pack teaches its future Luna to behave?"

The look on Corbin's face was utterly cold. The sharpness in his tone stunned the surrounding wolves into silence.

He pulled Aria to her feet, gently wiping the blood from her forehead with his fingertips, his voice softening with concern. "Apologize to her, Layla."

"If you apologize now, I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

I almost laughed out loud.

How naive I once was.

In my past life, after uncovering Aria's lies, I had mind-linked Corbin that very day, telling him everything I had seen and warning him to be wary of her.

The very next day, Aria was attacked. For real, this time.

Every wolf said she had staged her scene at the Moon Goddess altar because she was desperate to be his mate.

Corbin told me, "It's a good thing you warned me. Otherwise, I really would have been fooled by her."

After that incident...

For many years, I thought he had forgotten about Aria.

After all, he hated being deceived more than anything.

It wasn't until the moment before I died that I realized. The "her" he spoke of, the one who had fooled him, was me.

...

"Layla, are you still not going to say anything?"

"Aria did nothing. It was me who wanted to sever the mate bond."

"Apologize to her, and I won't hold you responsible for her injuries."

I looked at Corbin and couldn't help but let a small smile touch my lips.

I was truly blind.

I used to think he was smart.

"The Alphas are in the inner hall, right?"

I turned and asked a passing servant.

Then, I gracefully walked toward the inner hall.

Corbin followed close behind.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Are you going to run to the Alphas?"

I completely ignored him.

He was still right behind me when I reached the door.

"Layla, don't think you can force me to mate with you just because you're the heir to the Vance pack."

"I've already promised to mark Aria. I will never mark you."

I glanced back at Corbin.

Just as he said, he was born superior.

He had never faced any real hardship.

He never realized what a powerful mate meant to an Alpha like him.

Perhaps my gaze was too cold, as Corbin faltered for a second.

Just then, someone at the door said with a laugh, "Layla, what's all this? You two seem close as ever."

The inner hall was filled with the leadership of both packs.

I walked forward and bowed slightly. "Alpha Alaric, today is my birthday, and I'd like to make a wish."

"Corbin and Aria are so deeply in love, and I truly envy them."

"I don't want to break up such a perfect pair."

"Alpha Alaric, I want to sever the mate bond."

The room fell into a dead silence.

...

Before the night was over, the news had spread throughout our social circles.

The union between the Vance and Sterling Ridge packs might be called off.

The scandal of Corbin's public affair with an Omega was already well-known.

Today, at her own celebration, the sole daughter of the Vance pack had publicly dissolved the mate bond in front of everyone.

Everyone said Corbin's expression at that moment was priceless.

The Alpha of the Sterling Ridge pack snatched a crystal pitcher and smashed it over Corbin's head. Blood splattered across his face.

"This is madness!"

I was standing next to Corbin, and the cold Moonlight Nectar splashed all over me, soaking me through.

...

"Who gave you the nerve to act so recklessly in front of everyone?"

My father, Marcus Vance, was furious. "Sever the mate bond?! This was settled by your grandfather and the Graysons long ago. Do you think you can just cancel it?"

I stood straight, looking at him without blinking.

"We have a territorial partnership with the Sterling Ridge pack. If the bond is severed, what if they pull out of the project?"

"Go to the Grayson estate and apologize properly. Say you were impulsive and spoke without thinking..."

"I'm not going," I replied firmly.

"You refuse? Then what will you do?"

"I'm going to sever the mate bond."

"You..." My father pointed at me, his Alpha's aura flaring with rage. "You're insane!"

He shifted into his wolf form and stormed out of the hall.