Chapter 1

“Serena, are you joking?”

My father, the Alpha, stared at me in disbelief.

Ever since he had been injured in a conflict between packs, the neighboring packs that had long coveted our territory had begun moving in on our lands. Left with no other choice, my father had agreed to a mating alliance in order to protect the Black Wolf Pack.

In my previous life, Susan had drawn the alliance lot and was sent north to the Snow Wolf Pack.

The North was bitterly cold and unforgiving, and with her wolf already weak, Susan lasted less than a year before she died there, worn down by misery.

I, on the other hand, became bonded mates with Logan, the Alpha of the Gale Pack, only to spend the rest of my life being hated by him.

He believed I had switched the lots because I wanted to stay with him, and that Susan had died because of me.

For the ten years we spent together, coldness was all he ever gave me.

It was only when I contracted wolf-wasting sickness and lay on the verge of death that I finally saw panic and helplessness break through his usual indifference.

I had never imagined that he would care for me so gently in my final days, much less follow me out of this world after I died.

Logan, if you truly hated me that much, why would you go so far for me?

I could never understand what was really in his heart, so after being given another life, I wanted nothing more than to stay far away from him and never become entangled with him again.

“Serena, do you even know where the North is? It’s covered in snow and ice all year round, and the conditions there are brutal. Once you go, you’ll never be able to come back. Have you lost your mind?”

My father looked deeply troubled, sighing again and again.

I knew how much he had loved my late mother. Sending me to the Snow Wolf Pack would leave him burdened with guilt, but Susan was his daughter too, and I knew he could not bear to send her away either.

“Dad, I’ve thought it through. I’m choosing this willingly. Just switch Susan’s alliance arrangement with mine.”

After a long silence, my father finally spoke, his voice heavy with guilt.

“Serena, I’m sorry you have to do this.”

Without answering, I turned and left the Black Wolf Pack.

Now that the alliance arrangements had been exchanged, I intended to go to the Gale Pack myself and end my betrothal.

The betrothal had been arranged between our two packs, so now that the mating alliance had changed, it was only right that I explain everything in person.

I had barely stepped into the Alpha residence of the Gale Pack when I heard someone inside trying earnestly to reason with him.

“Logan, Serena is your fated mate. Why are you so determined to hold on to Susan? Your marking ceremony is only a few days away.”

The former Luna slammed her hand against the table, her chest rising and falling with anger.

Logan sat rigidly upright, the stubbornness in his eyes showing no sign of yielding.

“No matter what happens, I will not stand by and watch Susan be sent to the Snow Wolf Pack.”

Then he noticed me standing in the doorway.

His gaze immediately turned cold, and when he spoke, there was no kindness in his voice.

“Serena, you forced your sister into this alliance just so you could keep me. Now you’ve come here to gloat about it too?”

The cruelty in his words cut straight through me.

In my previous life, hearing him speak to me like this would have left me devastated.

This time, I merely walked over to the former Luna without so much as glancing at him.

“I came here to end my betrothal with Logan.”

Logan’s head snapped up, while the former Luna stepped forward in shock and took my hand.

“Serena, what happened?”

I gently interrupted her.

“I’ve thought it through. If Logan doesn’t want this, then I don’t want to force him. I want to find someone whose heart belongs only to me.”

Only then did I turn to Logan, my voice calm.

“Logan, you can finally have what you wanted.”

Instead of looking relieved, he suddenly flew into a rage and seized my wrist.

“Serena, what exactly are you trying to do? You know Susan agreed to go north for the sake of the Black Wolf Pack. If you break off our betrothal now, you’ll only put even more pressure on her. Are you trying to drive her to her death?”

His words pierced my heart all over again.

No matter what I did, he would always assume the worst of me, as though selfishness and cruelty were simply part of who I was.

“So I’m the one who should go north and suffer instead?”

I asked softly, holding his gaze without blinking.

He quickly looked away, yet still rushed to defend Susan.

“Susan’s wolf is weak. She would never be able to adapt to a place like the North. You’re strong. You’re nothing like her…”

A bitter smile touched my lips.

So that was how he saw it.

Susan was fragile, so she deserved his care. I was a weed. I could survive anywhere, so I needed none.

“Logan, I’ll deal with the Black Wolf Pack’s affairs myself. As for the marking ceremony, there won’t be one.”

I stepped backward slowly before turning away with resolve.

Logan seemed as though he wanted to call after me, but I never looked back, letting the tears slide silently down my cheeks.

In this life, I was willing to let him go and give him the chance to be happy with Susan.