Chapter 3

As the ceremony approached, Nathan visited more often, always claiming he had brought Ivy another gift. Yet whenever I looked up, I found his gaze lingering on me.

One afternoon, he arrived with a box of apple pie that was still warm from the oven. He offered it to Ivy.

"I passed the bakery on my way here."

Ivy frowned and pushed the box back.

"I never eat cheap human food."

Nathan went still, then glanced at me without thinking.

He had passed the shop and remembered how often I stared at apple pies in bakery windows. After becoming his mate, I baked them many times. He never tasted one.

By the time he realized what he was doing, he had already bought the entire pie.

"If Ivy doesn't want it, you can have it," he said.

He held out the box as if offering me something no one else wanted.

I looked at it and lifted my chin toward the kitchen.

"You can ask a maid to put it in the food waste bin."

Then I turned and went upstairs without looking at him again.

Nathan stared at the box, probably wondering why he had bought something so far beneath an Alpha heir's dignity.

In my room, I checked the alliance agreement, property inventory, and arrangements for the mating ceremony. At my request, North Ridge had changed the convoy's route to avoid the road where Ivy had been killed.

Everything was in order.

Only one day remained before I left Pine Hollow.

That evening, Mother entered carrying a faded white ceremonial dress.

"The seamstress is busy finishing Ivy's mating gown and doesn't have time to take your measurements."

She held the dress out to me.

"I wore this when your father and I formed our mate bond. It's old, but it will do for your ceremony."

Pearls hung loose from its cuffs, the skirt was snagged, and dust stained the yellowing lace.

"No, thank you, Mother. I already have something to wear."

Mother's face hardened. She threw the dress onto my bed.

"Your situation is not the same as Ivy's. She's about to become Silver Moon's future Luna, the pride of our family. Every guest will be watching her."

Her eyes swept dismissively over my room.

"You're being sent north to secure an alliance. Who cares what you wear? Stop being difficult."

She turned and left.

I closed the door and went to the wardrobe.

Inside hung a pure white gown. Its satin gleamed like pale champagne, the waist fit me perfectly, and delicate moonstone beading curved toward the collarbone.

The North Ridge steward had delivered it that afternoon, made to my measurements for the mating ceremony.

At least the strangers in North Ridge had remembered to ask what size I wore.

Someone knocked again.

When I opened the door, Nathan stood outside.

He looked strangely uncomfortable, his gaze settling on my packed suitcases.

"Ivy said your parents agreed to let you move back to that human town."

I said nothing.

"My mating ceremony with Ivy is tomorrow. Don't try to ruin her happiness."

His voice turned cold.

"Ivy suffered too much in our previous life. This time, I won't let her experience another moment of pain."

I almost laughed.

Pain?

Ivy had grown up with our parents, received the finest education, and been cherished by the entire pack. She had their company, beautiful clothes, and everyone's devotion.

I grew up in a human border town, delivering pizza, washing dishes, and pulling weeds to pay for food and school.

Even after returning home, I slept in a former maid's room and wore Ivy's discarded dresses. Other wolves mocked my human scent and said I could never pass for an Alpha's daughter.

After Ivy died at the border in our first life, everyone blamed me.

At her funeral, Mother sobbed in front of the assembled guests, "If Ivy had been the one bonded to Nathan, none of this would have happened!"

Years later, when illness finally took my life, not one of them remained beside me.

My silence unsettled Nathan. He noticed the white gown behind me.

"What's that?" he asked with a frown. "Are you planning to wear that to our ceremony?"

His tone sharpened with criticism.

"You'll only embarrass yourself if you show up dressed like a bride."

I had no desire to argue with such an arrogant man.

I shut the door in his face.

Nathan barely avoided being struck. He stared at the closed door, his expression darkening.

After a long moment, he gave a cold scoff and walked away.