I'll Trade Myself for Your Peace

My wolf went insane after I watched my parents take their own lives right before my eyes.

My childhood protector, Alexander, had to hold me every night.

The only thing that can soothe my wolf is Alexander's Alpha scent.

Later, Sophie, the Beta he cherished, took her own life, leaping from a bridge into the sea.

Everyone thought I had pushed Sophie into the sea, so that I could have Alexander all to myself.

The warmth Alexander once had for me was gone, replaced by an endless, desolate disappointment.

He kept whispering, "Why... did it have to be this way?"

But when a vampire’s lethal curse came for me, he still drained his Alpha strength to take the fatal blow.

As he lay dying, he used his last ounce of strength to wipe a tear from my cheek.

"It was my fault… I spoiled you, Elena. I never should have… brought you into my pack."

Alexander's parents, the former Alpha and Luna, called me a cursed Omega.

They said I was a calamity, that I was the one who destroyed their proud, noble Alpha son.

Consumed by regret, I went to the altar of the Moon Goddess and offered my soul.

I begged for a second chance, even if it cost me my soul's eternal peace.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Alexander discovered my sick obsession with him—my desperate need to claim him as my mate.

This time, I would crush every delusional fantasy.

My only wish was for him to find his true mate and live a long, powerful, peaceful life.

As for me… my life was a price I was willing to pay.

...

"Elena..." His voice was a shocked whisper. "I always thought you were so innocent. How could you… harbor these kinds of feelings for me?"

The familiar voice echoed in my ears.

Before consciousness fully returned, I felt my heart hammering under the weight of his complex Alpha scent.

I stared, stunned, at the living, breathing, powerful Alpha before me.

Tears instantly welled in my eyes.

"Say something."

He sighed, tossing a shirt heavy with his scent over to me, covering the damning evidence.

A dark flush crept up his neck, a sign of shock and confusion.

At his feet lay a wooden box, its contents spilled across the floor—my secret hoard of items, all soaked in his scent.

It was undeniable.

My feelings for him went far beyond the bond we shared as packmates.

My wolf was sick with the need to possess him.

But right now, I didn't feel a single drop of shame for being discovered.

Instead, a wave of relief so powerful washed over me that I burst into uncontrollable sobs.

My endless nights of praying to the Moon Goddess had finally been answered.

I was reborn, sent back to the very moment Alexander discovered my dark obsession with him.

I trembled with the sheer joy of this new beginning, tears streaming down my face.

Alexander noticed something was off.

He must have thought his serious tone had terrified me.

He softened his voice, his gaze complex as he pointed at the box.

"Listen to me, Elena. Burn it." His voice was low, laced with a soft, weary emotion. "Just get rid of it, and we can pretend… this never happened."

Last time he said those words, the wolf inside me had snapped.

I'd grabbed him by the collar and kissed him.

He'd stared at me, utterly shocked, before recoiling as if burned.

From that day on, he refused to be in the same room with me.

If he saw me in the manor, he avoided me like the plague.

That one forbidden kiss had shattered my last restraint, fueling my obsession.

It also deepened my hatred for Sophie, the she-wolf who had captured his attention.

And that led to all the tragedies that followed.

So this time, I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand.

I scrambled to gather the scattered items, placed them back in the box, and carried it toward the fire pit in the backyard.

"Okay."

"I'll burn it."

When I was seventeen, my pack was destroyed overnight.

In his despair, my father drove us—my mother and I—up a winding mountain road.

The wind howled that day, and I remember my father's bloodshot eyes as he looked at me. "Elena, don't blame us."

I closed my eyes, ready for the car to plunge off the cliff.

But at the last second, he shoved a Moon Goddess charm into my hand.

Then he wrenched the steering wheel, throwing me clear of the vehicle.

The next moment, the car, with my parents inside, plummeted into the ravine and erupted in a ball of fire.

I sat on the edge of the cliff for what felt like an eternity.

Until Alexander found me.

He was only five years my senior, but he already carried himself with the unshakable presence of a future Alpha.

He handled the arrangements, fending off the vultures circling to claim my father's debts.

After the funeral, I moved into Alexander's home.

But every night, nightmares consumed me.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that all-consuming fire.

Alexander tried everything.

He'd take me on walks under the full moon.

He would wrap me in his Alpha scent, staying by my side from dusk till dawn.

Then, one stormy night, my control finally shattered, and my wolf went feral.

I nearly tore my own throat out with my claws.

Alexander pinned me down, using his own body as a shield, letting my teeth and claws rake bloody marks across his arms, but he never let go.

That night, cocooned in his Alpha scent, I cried myself to exhaustion and finally found a peaceful sleep.

At seventeen, at eighteen, how could I resist a powerful, gentle Alpha who was so fiercely protective?

I began to collect anything that held his scent obsessively.

His shirts, his watch, even a paper bag he'd tossed aside…

Anything of his was enough to make my heart race and my wolf howl.

I prayed to grow up faster, just so I could finally confess.

But before I had the chance, the beta he loved, Sophie, killed herself by jumping into the ocean.

Everyone thought her death was my fault.

Alexander’s eyes turned to ice.

He looked at me with a gaze that held none of its former warmth, only endless disappointment and distance.

Yet when a vampire's lethal curse came for me, he still shielded me with his body without a second's hesitation.

Alexander was perfect in every way.

It’s just that his feelings for me seemed to be nothing more than an Alpha’s instinct to protect a member of his pack.

Mine was an Omega's primal craving for her mate.

In my past life, when Alexander's mother heard he had died, she collapsed on the spot.

His father pointed a shaking finger at me and roared.

"Elena, you are a calamity sent by the Moon Goddess! Will you not be satisfied until everyone who loves you is dead?!"

I remembered Alexander's last words:

"I spoiled you."

"If only… I had never brought you into my territory."

He regretted it.

And so did I.

I clutched the Moon Goddess charm to my chest.

They say if your prayer is sincere enough, the Goddess will answer.

I wanted to pray that in the next life, he would never meet me.

But perhaps I truly was cursed to walk alone forever.

I knelt before her statue for countless days and nights.

Until my energy was utterly depleted, and the charm in my palm began to glow faintly.

A voice, ancient and ethereal, echoed in my mind:

"What is done cannot be undone… but it can be relived."

"You are the calamity woven into his fate. If you do not resolve it, all your efforts will be in vain."

"Whether you repeat the tragedy or forge a new path, the choice is yours."

When I woke, the cracked charm in my palm was proof that it was no dream.

This life, I won't make the same mistakes.

No matter the cost, I will ensure my Alpha has a life of peace and happiness.