Chapter 3

Sera gasped and clutched his arm dramatically. “Elisa, how could you say something so cruel? Kieran’s only trying to help you understand the situation.”

I was about to tell them both exactly who I’d chosen as my mate when I caught sight of my father nearby. He shook his head at me in a warning.

That’s when I suddenly remembered our conversation from earlier that evening.

“Elisa,” my father had said, pulling me aside before the ceremony began. “I don’t know why you chose Damon Thorne, but I respect your decision. However, we need to keep this quiet for now.”

He'd glanced around. "Damon is undergoing the ritual to break his curse. The Silvermoon Pack's elders began performing it this morning, but it's a delicate process that requires complete focus and silence."

“If we announce your choice now, the attention and speculation will disturb the ritual. The curse can rebound and kill him. So please, keep this between us until the bonding ceremony next week.”

Damon Thorne was rumored to be cursed, brutal, and weak. His pack had fallen from power and everyone whispered that his abilities were nearly nonexistent.

I hadn’t known much about him personally.

We’d never spoken.

But I remembered his fate clearly from my previous life.

Less than a year after Kieran and I bonded, news spread through the packs that Damon had finally succumbed to his curse.

He died alone in the Silvermoon Pack’s ancestral grounds.

But this time, I wouldn’t let that happen.

Kieran must have mistaken my silence for defeat because his smug expression grew even more pronounced.

“See? You’re finally accepting reality. There’s no one else who will bond with you except me, so stop with these childish games.”

He reached out to grab my wrist. “Now come apologize to Sera for being so rude, and then we can—”

I pulled my arm away before he could touch me. “You’ll find out who I’m bonding with soon enough.”

I turned to walk away but Sera stepped in front of me.

“Elisa, I know you’ve liked Kieran for years. And I do love him, but you’re my best friend and an Alpha’s daughter. I could never compete with you. Just promise you won’t punish me for his feelings.”

Perfect victim act.

Making everyone think I was the jealous one ruining their love story.

But I knew better.

In my past life, I’d found the pregnancy test hidden in the bathroom trash after Sera had visited our house.

When I’d confronted him, he didn’t even bother denying it.

He just stared at me with cold eyes and said Sera was carrying his pup.

My father had sent Sera away the moment he learned the truth, exiling her to another pack to avoid the disgrace.

She'd moved on quickly, finding herself a wealthy mate from another pack.

But Kieran never forgave me.

He started bringing home she-wolf after she-wolf, all of them bearing an uncanny resemblance to Sera.

He’d parade them through our house, making sure our mate bond forced me to feel every intimate moment.

The torture went on until my body finally gave out.

“You’re right,” I said to Sera. “You could never compete with me. So take him. He’s yours.”

Kieran laughed behind me. “Nice try, Elisa. But we both know you’ll be crying at the ceremony begging me to mark you.”

The bonding ceremony was scheduled for one week from today.

Before then, Damon would need to recover from the ritual, and I would need to prepare everything for our announcement.

I spent the next three days organizing the ceremony details myself, selecting everything from the venue decorations to the menu.

My father had offered to hire event planners, but I wanted to handle it personally.

Meanwhile, Kieran and Sera were impossible to avoid.

Sera’s social media was flooded with posts of the two of them together—at restaurants, at the beach, even shopping for what looked suspiciously like bonding gifts.

Every romantic activity a couple could do, they were doing it.

And Sera made sure to tag me in every single post.

On the fourth day, my phone rang while I was reviewing the guest list.

It was Sera.

“Oh Elisa! Kieran and I just got back from the pack borders, and he was so worked up that he couldn’t even wait until we got upstairs. He took me right there in his car and kept saying he needed to get his fill of me before his bonding with you. He’s never been that rough before, I loved every second of it.”

I hung up without saying a word and immediately blocked her number.

Not even five minutes later, Kieran called.

“What the hell, Elisa? Sera just told me you blocked her for no reason. She’s crying now because she thinks you hate her.”

“She fell down the stairs because she was so upset after you hung up on her. She twisted her ankle and everything!”

I could hear Sera whimpering dramatically in the background.

“You need to come over right now and apologize to Sera now. And if you don’t, I’m calling off the bonding ceremony. I don’t care what our packs agreed to, I won’t bond with someone who treats Sera like this.”

I hung up without responding and blocked his number too.

That evening, my father called with news—Damon had survived the ritual.

The curse was broken.

"I've already sent word to the allied packs," my father said. "Tomorrow evening, we'll gather at the main hall to make the formal announcement of your chosen mate."

"Perfect," I smiled.

Tomorrow, everyone would learn the truth.