Chapter 1

At the gathering, Sherry Lark became increasingly emotional. Her eyes were red, and she was slightly tipsy as she held onto Ian Glover's hand while tearfully talking about her regrets of the past.

She said, "I never imagined it was all just a misunderstanding. If I'd known, I would've handed you the scarf myself instead of leaving it in your desk drawer. If I'd done that, you wouldn't have misunderstood and thought I liked someone else!"

Sherry's emotions spiraled out of control. Stimulated by the alcohol, her wolf became unstable, and her scent fluctuated chaotically.

Ian remained standing at her side the entire time. He stroked her back gently to comfort her. He even personally handed her calming blood wine.

Since the beginning, he never looked at me once.

"No one could've known that fate would play such a cruel joke."

The young wolves around us started cheering excitedly.

"This is unexpected. The brightest Alpha of the Whitestone pack finally reunited with his fated mate after all these years!"

"A newly risen Alpha and the most beautiful she-wolf in the college… They're absolutely perfect together!"

"If they'd formed their mate bond back then, their pups would probably already be going through their first transformation by now."

Suddenly, one wolf spoke up. "If it weren't for a certain shameless she-wolf releasing pheromones to seduce him back then that disrupted Sherry's mating signal, they wouldn't have missed each other for so many years after leaving the college."

Everyone immediately turned to look at me.

Some were bold enough to ask outright, "Nadine, was it you who interfered back then? You deliberately switched Sherry's scarf, causing them to lose their chance to be together."

I opened my mouth to deny it, but the surrounding noise drowned me out.

"It had to be her. Back then, everyone could tell Ian and Sherry had naturally compatible bloodlines. They'd already sensed each other long ago."

"But Nadine kept trying to cling to Ian. No matter where he went, she always followed him around."

"Switching Sherry's gift is exactly the kind of thing she'd do."

I clenched my fists tightly and looked helplessly toward Ian. He ignored my silent plea and deliberately looked away.

None of them knew that we had already formed a mate bond long ago. We had simply never made our relationship public.

Ian had said that he had only recently inherited the position of the Alpha of the Whitestone pack. His authority over the pack wasn't stable yet, and everyone was waiting for him to make a mistake. The fact that he had chosen a mate himself would become their most convenient weapon against him.

So, even after we had been mates for three years, he had never once made it known to the others.

The only exception was Zed Saunders, Ian's closest friend. He had known about our mate bond from the very beginning.

Still, he had always despised me. He was convinced that I had schemed my way into my current position.

Not only had he refused to help clarify things for me, but he even mocked me sarcastically. "Some she-wolves have no abilities or capabilities whatsoever. They just shamelessly throw themselves at others."

Tears blurred my vision.

From the very beginning, Ian had been the one who approached me first. He had always been reserved and restrained—he never liked attention. He had never publicly displayed the mark symbolizing our mate bond.

Every act of closeness, every test, every possessive gesture… He had been the one to initiate them all. But somehow, he still managed to appear like an innocent bystander.

He was the most highly regarded Alpha. He was regal and untouchable, with wolves bowing wherever he went. As for me, I had never been worthy of standing beside him in everyone's eyes.

"Actually, Ian and I—"

The moment I started speaking, I felt Ian's sharp gaze that was full of warning sweep coldly across me.

In the next second, a familiar wave suddenly spread through my consciousness.

Ian spoke to me via our mind-link. "Nadine, don't reveal our mate bond. Now isn't the right time."

I lifted my head abruptly and stared at him in disbelief.

I had always preferred quiet and disliked noisy gatherings. The only reason I came tonight was that Ian had repeatedly begged me to attend and promised that he would announce our mate bond at the gathering.

Persuaded by his coaxing, I had reluctantly agreed.

But now, because of that so-called misunderstanding from years ago, he still refused to reveal our relationship even when I was verbally attacked and humiliated by the crowd.

Only at this moment did I finally understand that my place in his heart mattered less than the possibility of rekindling his love with Sherry.