Chapter 2

I left the ceremony and headed home quickly.

I needed to make sure my parents were still alive and well.

In my previous life, Harry had taken revenge on me by sabotaging my parents’ business. It drove them crazy.

He even had them locked up in a madhouse.

This time, since I hadn’t become Harry’s mate, none of that would ever happen again.

When I got home, my father-wolf and mother-wolf looked at me with concern. They could tell I was upset.

They told the servants to remove all the wedding gifts they had given us from our new mansion. The servants had them destroyed and thrown away.

Because my parents didn’t want those things to make me sad.

Soon after, the entire pack community learned about the abrupt end of my mate bond ceremony. They all knew about Harry’s affair and the pups he had with Teresa.

It was utterly humiliating.

Since Harry was still the Beta, this even began to affect my family’s business.

Stephen called a pack leaders’ meeting.

As the Alpha, he declared that he deeply detested Harry’s despicable act of destroying the sacred mate bond between two werewolves.

He announced he would suspend all of Harry’s Beta duties, revoke all his current authority and forbid him from approaching me. He even demanded Harry compensating my family for all economic losses and my mental anguish caused by this incident.

From that day on, Harry fell from power completely.

To express my gratitude to Stephen, my parents prepared a suit of armor with anti-magic defense.

I went to deliver it to him.

But when I arrived at Stephen’s mansion, I saw Harry walking out the front door. His face was black and blue, his shoulders were covered in scratch marks and blood. His hair was messy.

Clearly, he had been beaten by the guards and thrown out.

I tried to avoid him, but he came up to me and grabbed my wrist.

“You finally came to see me, Ivy,” he said. “I knew you would. I’m sorry, I was too selfish at the ceremony. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

He paused, then added, “The Alpha punished me, and most of my business partners have cut off the business. I finally understand. I shouldn’t have been with Teresa. Our business and family interests are more important.”

“Stay away from me, Harry.”

“No. After Teresa gives birth to the pup, I’ll find them an apartment in the suburbs, so you’ll never have to see her. Just be my mate, okay?”

I stared at him and shifted my hands into wolf claws again.

“Are you looking for another punch from me?”

Harry knew I wasn’t joking.

I had always been good at hunting and fighting. He stepped back.

“Calm down,” he said. “Do you think any other werewolf in the pack will want you? Fine, Teresa’s pup will call you mother-wolf. But the pup must be my first heir. Stop being angry about Teresa, she just loves me too much.”

I couldn’t hold it back anymore.

I lunged at him, slashing his face and body with my claws. “I said you’ll never be my mate! Are you out of your mind?”

Then I heard footsteps behind me.

I turned to see Stephen standing there, watching me. He made no move to stop me, but I suddenly felt my cheeks flush, as a red rose.

I let go of Harry’s collar. His face was covered in fresh claw marks, his shirt was torn open. He laid on the ground.

I stood up and picked up the gift box from the floor. I walked over to Stephen. “Alpha, this is…”

Stephen interrupted me, “Come with me. I need to talk to you.”

He turned and walked into his study. I didn’t look back at Harry and hurried after Stephen.

The study smelled of bergamot. My favorite scent.

Stephen looked at the blood on my claws, then handed me his silk handkerchief.

“Wipe it off,” he said. “Don’t dirty your claws.”

He stared at me. He almost made me flushed again.

“What is it, Alpha?” I asked.

“Our former Beta?” he said. “Do you still love him?”

“No, of course not!”

He nodded and looked at the gift box in my hand. “Then why did you bring him a gift?”

I placed the box on the desk in front of him.

“This is from my parents, Alpha,” I explained. “It’s for you. It’s a suit of gold armor with anti-magic defense. It was one of our most precious collections. And… thank you for speaking up for me at the meeting.”

“It was the right thing to do. Are you sure you want to leave him?” He paused. “After all, you’ve liked Harry since you were young. The whole pack knows that.”

“I already tried being with him once. In the end, he not only betrayed me, destroyed my family, but also kidnapped me to the cliff.”

I froze. I had said too much.

When I looked up, Stephen was staring at me in shock.

“Wait,” he said. “Did you… also come back from the past?”