Chapter 2

The next day, the Blackrock Pack's welcoming convoy filled the entire street to welcome Leah.

Four guards stood on either side of the convoy, the wolf crests on their chests gleaming in the sunlight.

The steward, Colin Stafford, personally draped a white fur coat over Leah's shoulders. "Luna, the Alpha is waiting for you."

The crowd immediately fell silent.

Leah lifted her chin and deliberately walked past me. "Erin, hold up my dress for me."

Her dress spilled across the steps, and the diamond necklace rested against her collarbone, exactly like the one I had worn in my previous life.

"The servants are behind you."

I stepped around her train and walked straight toward Derrick's car.

Behind me, I heard people quietly whispering that I was so jealous that I had lost all sense of decorum.

Leah chuckled softly and explained on my behalf, "Erin isn't in a good mood. Don't blame her."

As the car door closed, I saw her tilt her neck back and let Colin fasten the necklace around it.

That clasp was difficult to undo. I had struggled with it for a long time before I died, but I still couldn't pull it off my neck.

Derrick slammed his hand against the steering wheel. "Had enough? It's too late to regret it now. Leah is already the Luna of the Blackrock Pack. You're not even worthy of holding up her dress."

I fastened my seat belt. "Drive."

Derrick's family only prepared a simple mating ceremony. A dozen or so witnesses, a lunch, and it was over.

We weren't fated mates, and neither of us marked the other.

Throughout the entire ceremony, Derrick only spoke when the witnesses asked him a question. The rest of the time, he kept his head lowered, staring at photos of Leah on his phone.

Kyla was busy entertaining the guests. After the last one left, she took the gift ledger and returned to her room.

A servant carried my luggage into the living room.

"Sir, where should I put Miss Erin's things?"

"The storage room."

The servant hesitated. "There's no heating in there."

Derrick didn't even look up. "She didn't come here to enjoy herself."

He put his phone away and finally looked at me. "You have no right to touch anything that's mine, and don't interfere in my business. Don't let my mother find out what's really going on. Otherwise, stay away from me."

I took the dissolution agreement I had prepared in advance from my bag. "We'll dissolve the contract in three months. For these three months, we stay out of each other's affairs. Our separate property remains our own."

Derrick glanced at it, his expression darkening. "So, you already made sure you have a way out. Me not wanting you is one thing. You daring to leave me first is another.

"We'll dissolve it after the three-month term. You don't have to return the mating gift."

I placed the pen in front of him. "Outsiders can be told that you were the one who didn't want me. Your mother gets to save face, and you lose nothing."

Derrick stared at me for a moment before finally picking up the pen and signing his name at the bottom of the agreement. He pushed it back to me and gave a cold, mocking laugh. "In three months, don't come crying and begging me to keep you."

"I won't."

Derrick's expression grew even darker. He grabbed his car keys and slammed the door behind him as he left.

Less than five minutes later, I saw him from the window, with his arm around a woman in a red dress as they got into the car.

Derrick lowered his head and kissed her before starting the engine and driving away.

I drew the curtains and opened the map I'd prepared the night before.

An abandoned logging camp on the edge of Frostvale was being sold for an extremely low price.

I contacted the previous owner and paid the deposit. Then I messaged Noah Calderon, the lone wolf I'd known in my previous life, and asked him to bring some people over to repair the leaking roof first.

The first shipment of lumber, food, and medicine would arrive tomorrow.

Three months would be enough time to turn the place into a new home.

I tore open the bread that no one had touched during the ceremony and ate two bites before pushing the window all the way open.

Cold air rushed inside.

This time, there was no guard to close the window for me, and no one warned me that breathing cold air was bad for having pups.