Chapter 3

It was Evander. The Alpha's eldest son.

A sharp crack — and Theodore let out a strangled groan. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

"Evander, you dare lay a hand on me!"

Evander stepped in front of me. He glanced at the cuts on my face, and his expression turned savage.

The violent aura rolling off him made Sophia shrink behind Theodore on instinct.

I didn't want to deal with Theodore anymore. I tugged lightly on Evander's arm and murmured, "Let him go."

A flicker of reluctance crossed Evander's face, but he released his grip.

Theodore glared with vicious eyes. "What is he doing here?"

*He's my future mate. Of course he's here.*

Besides, we still needed to discuss the mating ceremony on the next full moon.

But I wasn't about to explain that to Theodore.

"The Alpha sent for him," I said coolly. "You should leave."

Theodore's face went dark, but he had no leverage. He carefully helped Sophia out of the room.

I watched them go in silence.

That fall of Sophia's had been expertly staged. Not a single scratch on her body.

Theodore was one of the pack's fiercest fighters. There was no way he hadn't noticed.

He simply didn't care.

I turned away from the two of them and looked at Evander — the man who, in my past life, had gone to war against the entire Blood Moon Pack for me.

He wore a gunmetal-gray fitted shirt today, only the bottom few buttons fastened. Even a casual glance revealed the powerful build of his chest — forged by years of hunting in the Black Forest.

He seemed to catch me looking. The tips of his ears flushed, but he kept his voice level.

"What did you need me for, Seraphina?"

I slipped The Lovers card into his shirt pocket.

"I want you as my mate."

Evander's hand froze mid-reach for the card.

His golden pupils contracted sharply. His inner wolf let out an excited growl — the primal response to a fated bond.

But he didn't say yes right away. After a long pause, he pressed his lips together and spoke:

"I understand. If Theodore doesn't come to stop the ceremony, we'll consider the mating void."

"You can walk away from me at any time."

It took me a beat to process what he'd said.

He actually thought I was doing this to bait Theodore into crashing the wedding.

"I'm serious, I—"

"Evander, the Alpha is asking for you!" A Beta's voice cut through the air.

I knew the Alpha still had things to discuss with him, so I let him go.

That night, I received an encrypted message from Evander. Short — just one line:

*"If you change your mind, you can pick someone else anytime."*

I smiled softly and told him to hold onto The Lovers card.

The next morning, I was still half-asleep when the door was slammed open.

My eyes snapped open. Theodore.

He closed the distance in two strides and clamped down on my wrist hard enough to crush bone.

"Seraphina, you make me sick!"

"To keep me all to yourself, you actually sent someone to attack Sophia with a wolfsbane dagger!"