Chapter 3

In my previous life, Victoria had used this exact excuse to postpone our mating ceremony year after year.

As long as she didn't give her approval, Grayson would never mark me—he was tied down hand and foot by Victoria's tears.

Thinking of this, I smiled mockingly at myself, unconsciously rubbing the old scar in my palm, a mark from when I was clawed by a rogue wolf while protecting my paintings.

"Sure, whatever works."

What wouldn't be fine? After all, Grayson and I were never going to actually complete a mating ceremony anyway.

I put down my chopsticks and said, "I'm done eating." As I turned to go upstairs, I caught Victoria sneaking a glance at Grayson out of the corner of my eye, a triumphant smile tugging at her lips—she'd won again, using "frailty" to steal away what should have been my ceremony.

Watching my somewhat resolute figure, Grayson paused with his knife and fork in hand.

For the first time he felt something was different about me: the old me would have asked with tears in my eyes "Why do we have to postpone again?" but now I was so calm it was like I was talking about someone else's business.

He wanted to call out to me, but Victoria suddenly clutched her chest and started coughing: "Uncle, I feel a little dizzy..."

His attention was immediately pulled away as he reached out to touch Victoria's forehead, completely missing my footsteps stopping at the stair landing.

In the following days, with the mating ceremony postponed indefinitely, Grayson indeed had plenty of time to accompany Victoria on scenic trips to various places.

The night before departure, Victoria knocked on my door holding a thick coat: "Sister, Uncle, Mom, Dad and I are going to the snowy mountains. You just donated wolf essence and you're weak, so don't come and suffer in the cold."

As she spoke, her nails deliberately scraped across my wrist—where needle marks from the last essence donation still remained. I looked at the barely concealed smugness in her eyes and suddenly remembered she'd said the same thing in my previous life, then turned around and complained to the family that "sister said the snowy mountains were boring and wouldn't come with me."

Sure enough, when they left the next day, Mother looked at me with feigned concern: "Ember, you're not feeling well, so rest properly at home. When you're better, we'll all go together."

And once again, I was left behind at home.

To "share" the joy of their travels with me, Victoria sent me photos from every place they visited. In the pictures she stood atop snowy peaks wearing custom down jackets Grayson had bought her, surrounded by family taking photos; at the beach, she held a giant stuffed animal Finn had given her, with fireworks Mom and Dad had prepared for her in the background.

"Ember, it's such a shame you didn't come! Uncle Grayson built me a huge snowman, even taller than you!"

"Mom and Dad said the hot springs here are good for my wolf soul, they're going to buy me a villa with hot springs so we can come often!"

"Oh, and sister, Uncle bought me a glowing necklace. Didn't you once say you wanted one? But Uncle said this style suits me better~"

Every sentence was like a needle piercing my heart. I deleted each photo one by one, then turned off my phone and started packing my luggage—just a few more days until the forest paperwork was complete, and I'd be completely free.

Just then, I suddenly heard the sound of breaking glass from downstairs. My movements froze as scenes from my previous life flashed through my mind: around this same time, a rogue wolf had broken into the house, stolen Mother's jewelry, and torn all my paintings to shreds. Back then I'd called for help, but no one answered—they were watching fireworks on the snowy mountain with Victoria.

Immediately, alarm bells went off in my head.

I quickly stuffed my paintings into a hidden compartment under the bed, contacted the Alpha Council enforcers, then grabbed a silver dagger and quietly hid behind the door.

The rogue wolf indeed climbed in through the window, heading straight for Mother's jewelry box. I held my breath, waiting for him to turn around before suddenly pouncing, but he shoved me aside—my wolf soul was still hibernating, no match for him at all.

His claws slashed my arm, making me break out in cold sweat, but I bit down hard on his wrist to keep him away from the bed.

Fortunately the enforcers arrived just in time to subdue the rogue wolf. But I also fell down the stairs, my forehead hitting the steps, leaving my face covered in blood.

When the whole family and Grayson rushed back, they only saw the enforcers leaving while I sat disheveled in the wreckage, the wound on my arm still bleeding.

Father and Mother were stunned, their voices stammering, "You... you caught him all by yourself? Why didn't you call us?"

Victoria immediately threw herself into Mother's arms, sobbing: "Mom, it's all my fault! I was just video chatting with Uncle and the others, saying sister would definitely be safe at home. If I'd known, I wouldn't have played with you all for so long..." As she spoke, she secretly signaled Mother with her eyes—see, it was all Ember's fault for being stubborn, it has nothing to do with us.

Mother's brow furrowed as expected, her tone full of reproach: "Exactly! Why didn't you wait for us to come back for something so dangerous?"

Even the usually cold Finn showed complex emotions. "Why are you trying to be a hero? Last time Victoria said you were even afraid of a wolf pup, how come today you dared fight a rogue wolf?"—he remembered Victoria's previous claim that "sister's timid but always likes to act brave."

I was exhausted beyond words, the hand clutching the dagger still trembling. Grayson suddenly crouched down, reaching out to touch my forehead, but I dodged away. His fingertips froze in midair, his eyes full of panic: "How are you, Ember? Are you hurt anywhere? I'll take you to the hospital!"

"You're so foolish! Why didn't you contact us?" His voice carried a trace of barely noticeable self-blame—just now Victoria had kept saying "sister's definitely sleeping, don't disturb her," so he really hadn't called me.

I looked at him weakly and asked, "What good would contacting you do? Would you have actually rushed back for me?"

Everyone's expressions changed. Victoria immediately said: "Sister, how can you say that? We rushed back as soon as we heard! Uncle even sped on the way here!" She deliberately mentioned Grayson's "urgency" while completely omitting that they'd stopped to buy her souvenirs on the way.

I smiled mockingly. In my previous life, because I believed they would come back, I had called each of them one by one, only to be tortured half to death by the rogue wolf.

Seeing my unusually calm demeanor, Grayson's frown deepened.

He suddenly noticed the edge of a picture frame peeking out from under my bed and was about to ask about it when Finn pointed at the suitcase on the floor and shouted: "You've packed so much stuff—where the hell are you planning to go?!"