Chapter 1

The plane hadn't even left the ground yet, and I was already sweating in my seat, terrified the impatient staff would come storming over and drag me out.

Only when the plane finally took off did my nerves settle down. Watching the clouds shine like cotton candy outside, my wolf went wild inside me, howling with joy at this once-in-a-lifetime flight.

I could hear the werewolf passengers chatting around me:

"Did you hear? Commander Johnson in Texas still hasn't claimed his mate. Isn't that concerning?"

"No, you don't understand. Commander Johnson already had a mate chosen for him by his parents when he was just a pup. I also heard he's finally going to bond with her."

I kept my happiness carefully hidden behind a calm expression, but inside, my wolf was howling with joy.

They were absolutely right. My bond with David Jonson had been arranged by our parents when I was only nine years old.

Back then, David liked me a lot and always called me "Little Pearl" with a fond, affectionate tone that made my heart flutter.

His entire clan often praised me, saying Pearl was not only skilled at repairing battle gear but also clever and beautiful.

Worried that someone else might claim me as their mate, they decided to formally appoint me as David's mate early on.

David cared deeply for me and always held me first place in his heart. Whenever he hunted, he would immediately give me the rabbit he caught, and he always picked the first blooming rose just for me.

So, when he was given poisoned herbal tea, I was the first to drink it in his place, protecting him.

In truth, I don't remember the taste at all, but I still recall the healer's heavy sigh as he said that the poison might have damaged my wolf— that I might have to live with a permanently poor memory".

At that time, I was only nine years old and didn't fully understand what he meant by "a permanently poor memory."

Fixing my gaze on the rose that hadn't yet blossomed, I tightened my grip on the battle gear I was crafting, my mind racing with questions.

"Permanently?" I whispered to myself, heart pounding in my chest.

Was this the very word David had spoken just a day ago — "permanent mate"?

Is that the same "permanent" he was talking about?

Jonson's clan was very guilty about my suffering so they gave my clan a land and decided our bonding to compensate for my damage.

They said that when I turned sixteen, they would ask David to claim me as his one and only mate.

He wouldn't be allowed to claim anyone else—not even his fated mate—if I wasn't the one.

David gently took my hand in his, his eyes soft and full of sorrow.

"When you turn sixteen," he said in a voice barely above a whisper, "I'll claim you. I promise."

So I waited—year after year—watching the rose bloom once, twice… until it had blossomed for the seventh time.

Two years ago, heart pounding with hope, I ran to David and said with a trembling voice,

"David, Pearl is sixteen now. You can claim me, just like you promised."

But David, standing among his laughing friends with a freshly caught rabbit slung over his shoulder, barely looked at me.

He scoffed, eyes filled not with recognition, but with disdain.

"No, I think you got it wrong. You need to wait sixteen years for me, little pup."

When they returned to our den from hunting, David didn't even spare me a single glance. His words, though casual on the surface, were laced with regret.

"Kane, I really envy you," he said with a sigh. "You have such an elegant and strong mate. The two of you are a perfect match—in every aspect."

I sat down on a nearby rock, utterly confused by his words. My mind spun, trying to make sense of what he'd just said.

I wanted to tell him—David, it's not me who remembered it wrong. It was you.

But I didn't say it.

Because deep down, I knew you were always busy—so many responsibilities, so many friends.

And me? I had no friends. I had nothing, really… nothing but the quiet hours I spent fixing battle gear, waiting, hoping.

So it was fine.

I had time—so much time—and I was willing to spend all of it waiting for you to finally bond with me.

You always said my memory was bad, a burden too troublesome to take along when we moved to a new territory.

But this time… didn't I do well?

I left early, went ahead to the place where you'd be working. No fuss, no dragging me along, no need to worry about me.

Didn't that make me… clever, for once?