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His Mate in One Life, His Regret in the Next
His Mate in One Life, His Regret in the Next
Penulis: Hyacinth

Chapter 1

Penulis: Hyacinth
After the banquet, Mother found me standing alone in a corner. Tears shimmered in her eyes.

"Tessa, I knew you were a good and sensible girl."

I said nothing.

All I could think about was my death in my previous life. Mother had received word that I was dying, yet she had refused to visit me even once.

I looked up as Ivy approached. Nathan was still across the room, speaking with his father.

"I'm sorry, Tessa," she whispered, her eyes already red. "Mother told me about North Ridge. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have to go."

When we were little, Pine Hollow was attacked by a rival pack. While escaping, my parents carried Ivy to safety but left me in the car.

The attackers took me, then abandoned me beside a road when I became too much trouble. A kind human woman found and raised me.

My parents only brought me home years later, when Pine Hollow's decline left them needing two daughters for two alliances. Otherwise, they might have forgotten me forever.

Ivy covered her mouth and began to cry.

Nathan returned just then and immediately pulled her into his arms.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head against his chest.

"I just wish Tessa weren't upset with me."

"Don't cry. None of this is your fault."

He bent to kiss her forehead. When he raised his eyes to me, all the tenderness in his expression had vanished, leaving only disgust.

"I've made my choice," he said. "Don't make Ivy feel guilty for it."

Mother wiped away her tears and came over with a wineglass in her hand.

"This is something worth celebrating. Ivy can finally form a mate bond with the man she truly loves."

Father had already begun discussing the ceremony date with Nathan. After a moment, he glanced at me as if only then remembering I was there.

"Nathan, there's also something about Tessa—"

"Nathan, you promised we'd choose our wedding bands tonight." Ivy slipped her hand into his. "The jeweler is waiting on the terrace."

He looked down at her, and his expression softened.

"All right. Let's go."

She led him away before Father could finish.

Once the terrace doors had closed behind them, Father turned to me.

"Since Ivy's mating ceremony will take place this month, Tessa can leave for the North Ridge Pack on the same day. Their Alpha has agreed to hold your mating ceremony that evening."

Mother clearly approved. In front of the guests, however, she put on a hesitant expression.

"Wouldn't that be a little unfair to Tessa?"

Father laughed.

"Her prospective mate is North Ridge's Alpha. He may be old and sick, but his territory, status, and wealth are beyond an ordinary wolf's dreams."

He looked at me with exaggerated affection.

"Tessa, your father is so happy for you."

The pack elders and guests gathered around with their glasses. I heard them whispering.

"The old Alpha of North Ridge? He's supposed to be a brutal man."

"I heard he's almost sixty and barely leaves his bed anymore."

"Poor Tessa. Her family only brought her home a few years ago, and now she's already being sacrificed for an alliance."

In my previous life, I would have hidden in my room and cried.

This time, I simply picked up another glass of wine and took a slow sip.

When we left the banquet, Nathan and Ivy walked ahead of us. Mother and Father followed beside them, eagerly discussing every detail of Ivy's mating ceremony.

No one noticed that I had been left behind.

I watched Nathan open the car door, crouch to arrange Ivy's skirt, and help her into the back seat. Ivy lowered her eyes with a sweet smile and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ivy, now that we've seen how much Nathan loves you, your mother and I can finally stop worrying," Father said. He patted Mother's hand before leaning into the car to say something else to Ivy.

It was exactly the same as before.

They never saw the daughter walking behind them.

I looked down at my dress. The hem dragged across the floor because it had belonged to Ivy. Mother said altering a new dress would take too long, so I could wear one Ivy no longer wanted.

Everyone praised Ivy for being generous enough to lend me her clothes.

No one had ever asked whether I wanted her castoffs.

Nathan finally noticed me as he closed Ivy's door. He frowned and walked over.

"Tessa, you don't have to look so miserable. Just because I'm marrying Ivy doesn't mean no one else will want you."

Then he lowered his voice.

"Once the ceremony is over, things can settle down. You'll get used to it."

He believed I would stay here and learn to accept whatever he gave me.

"I understand," I said calmly.

Nathan studied me, unsettled. The Tessa he remembered would have cried, argued, and begged him to reconsider.

After a brief silence, he turned and climbed into Ivy's car. Father helped Mother into another vehicle.

Once the convoy had disappeared, a message appeared on my phone.

[We forgot you weren't in the car. Call a ride and come home on your own.]

I had grown accustomed to being forgotten in my first life.

By the time I reached home alone, Ivy was waiting eagerly inside. A moonstone engagement ring glittered on her hand.

"Tessa, Nathan formally proposed to me after we left. He said he was grateful to the Moon Goddess for giving us another chance to choose."

She stroked the ring, unable to hide the triumph in her eyes.

"Thank you for letting us be together."

I smiled at her and returned to my room.

After closing the door, I looked at the suitcase I had already half packed.

Three days remained before I left the Pine Hollow Pack.

This time, I would give them the life they had always wanted.

Then I would leave for good.
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  • His Mate in One Life, His Regret in the Next   Chapter 9

    On the final day of the courtship, representatives from Pine Hollow and North Ridge met to review the alliance proposal. Mother and Father arrived early. Silver Moon had also sent representatives to discuss restitution for the transport losses, and Nathan came with the completed investigation.Mother embraced me as soon as she entered the council chamber. “Tessa, we're so proud of you. Everyone has been talking about how you exposed Mason.”Father shook Silas's hand and said he had always known I would distinguish myself. Neither mentioned the message about his father's death that Pine Hollow had received after my departure. By then they had been told about the new proposal, my work with the finance team, and the position I had been offered. Mother had written twice to remind me how much the alliance meant to our family.“Once everything is settled, you can speak to Silas about the northern trade routes,” she said now. “Pine Hollow could use better terms.”I placed the deed to the a

  • His Mate in One Life, His Regret in the Next   Chapter 8

    Nathan returned to Silver Moon with a copy of Mason's confession. For three nights, he barely slept. Whenever he read the account of the planned ambush, he remembered another detail from Ivy's funeral: the surviving guard's explanation, Tessa trying to speak, his own refusal to hear her.Other memories followed. He remembered finding her asleep at a desk after she had stayed up to finish work he had left her. He remembered the gifts he had never opened and the meals she stopped asking him to share. When she became ill, he had assumed she wanted his attention. He had not even called the doctor himself.He opened their current message history. His last warning before she left was still there, followed by the unanswered calls he had made on his wedding night. He began an apology and deleted it several times. In the end, he sent a request to visit her again. She answered that she was working and did not wish to see him.Ivy noticed him reading the reply. “You went north because of her,

  • His Mate in One Life, His Regret in the Next   Chapter 7

    Two nights later, scouts found rogue wolves gathering near an abandoned quarry on the route supplied to Mason. North Ridge's guards surrounded them before dawn and arrested six men. At the estate, another guard detained the clerk who had approved the false invoices.The clerk's messages showed how he and Mason had divided the payments. Among them was an exchange about my journey north. Mason had sold the original route and escort arrangements before I requested the change. The rogues had waited on the eastern road while my convoy traveled by another route.Silas sent the evidence to Pine Hollow that morning. By noon, Father had confirmed Mason's detention. With his accomplice in custody and the payments documented, Mason admitted selling transport schedules and using false emergencies to draw guards away from the convoys.I read the report at the council meeting. The road, the payment arrangements, and the plan to separate a convoy from its guards all matched what I remembered of I

  • His Mate in One Life, His Regret in the Next   Chapter 6

    By morning, Nathan had left two messages asking whether I had known about Silas before I left Pine Hollow. I answered while waiting for the finance team to bring the invoices.【I learned about his father's death when I arrived. Silas and I have agreed to a thirty-day courtship.】His call came before I had put the phone down.“You agreed to stay with him?”“I've agreed to get to know him. What happens after that is my decision.”“Tessa, you met him yesterday.”“And I've known you for more than twenty years. Knowing someone longer doesn't make them a better choice.”He went quiet. I ended the call when the finance clerk knocked and put my phone away.Nathan had intended to tell himself he was worried about my safety. After hearing my answer, he could no longer quite believe it. He had been frightened when he thought I was marrying the old Alpha, but learning that Silas was young and healthy had brought him no relief.At breakfast, he asked for apple pie before remembering who was sittin

  • His Mate in One Life, His Regret in the Next   Chapter 5

    Nathan stayed in front of the open door, waiting for me to answer. Behind him, Ivy stood halfway down the drive with her veil caught over one arm. The guests had stopped pretending not to listen.“You have a ceremony to attend,” I told him. “Move, Nathan.”“We need to talk before you leave.”“You had twenty years to talk to me.” I kept my voice low enough that only he could hear. “Yesterday you told me not to ruin Ivy's happiness. Go back to her.”He flinched, but when I stepped toward the car, he reached for the door again. The driver moved between us.“Miss Arden has asked to leave, sir.”Nathan looked past him at me. I got into the car and gave the driver permission to close the door. Through the window, I could see Ivy take Nathan's arm. He pulled away from her and followed the car several steps before we turned out of the drive.The steward was waiting at the North Ridge estate when we arrived that afternoon. Beside him stood a man in his early thirties, dressed in black. I look

  • His Mate in One Life, His Regret in the Next   Chapter 4

    There were no flowers or decorations waiting for me that morning. My suitcase stood by the front door, where Mother had told me to leave it.“Come downstairs as soon as you're dressed,” she said. “We can't keep them waiting.”She left before I could answer. Through the open door, I heard her calling for someone to help with Ivy's veil.Nathan arrived while I was putting on my shoes. He asked where Ivy was, then hurried upstairs without waiting for the maid to show him.When I came out of my room, he was holding her in his arms.“You're going to crush my dress,” Ivy said, laughing.He loosened his hold but kept her hand in his.“Sorry. I just wanted to see you.”In our first life, this was the morning Ivy had left for North Ridge. By evening, she was dead. Nathan must have remembered too. He kept looking at her as she talked about their mating ceremony, smiling at everything she said.I went downstairs to collect my suitcase.“Tessa?”Ivy had seen me. She lifted her skirt and followed m

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