Chapter 1

"I want to marry Ethan."

I was still trembling when my older sister, Chloe Fuller, finished speaking.

It felt like I still had seawater stuck in my throat. She'd grabbed the shoulder strap of my dress and dragged me over the railing with her.

Her final words had been colder than the water itself. "Why do you get to have everything while I'm left with nothing?"

But at that moment, sunlight was glinting off the glasses in the dining room.

Ethan Wright stood by the fireplace, while the other Alpha, Adrian Owens, sat in a wheelchair with a thin, dark blanket draped over his lap.

This was the day our families had agreed to finalize our engagements.

In my previous life, my parents chose Adrian, whose territory was far wealthier, for Chloe and betrothed me to Ethan.

No one could have guessed that Adrian's legs, wounded by silver bullets, would take so long to heal.

Adrian and Chloe completed their marking ceremony in private, but the public ceremony kept getting postponed, and they never once shared a room.

At first, Chloe pressed him about it, but he told her they'd make arrangements once he'd recovered. But as time went on, Chloe grew increasingly restless.

She waited and waited, yet Adrian's legs showed no sign of getting better. The gossip only grew worse, until she couldn't take it anymore. She and Adrian argued constantly, turning their home into a battleground.

In the end, she asked to dissolve their mate bond. After a brief silence, he agreed.

Around that time, Ethan had just thrown me a birthday party. There wasn't a soul in the pack who didn't envy the way he treated me.

Even on a tight budget, he'd genuinely given me the best of everything he could scrape together.

That night, Chloe stood in a corner. She watched Ethan drink the toasts meant for me, drape his jacket over my shoulders, and even pick the decorations I hated off my cake when it reached me.

It wasn't until I died that I finally understood the hatred in her eyes. Now, she was pressed close against Ethan's side and didn't even spare Adrian a glance.

I knew it. She'd been reborn, too.

Mom was the first to speak. "When it comes to relationships, what matters is whether they like each other. You have no objections, right, Irene?"

It may have sounded like she was asking for my opinion, but she'd already taken away the invitation draft with Ethan's name on it.

Dad chimed in, "They're both Alphas. No matter who you marry, you won't be shortchanged."

Chloe lowered her eyes. "I know you've always given in to me, and I know I should do the right thing as your older sister and let you choose first. But I really like Ethan, Irene. Could you please let me have my way just one more time? This will be the last time, okay?"

When she finished, she looked at me, the very picture of pitifulness. It was a trick she'd been using since we were little.

As long as she cried first, anything I said afterward would make me look like the unreasonable one.

However, Ethan didn't take the drink she offered him. "Let's hear what Irene has to say first."

He looked at me, his voice just as gentle as I remembered. "If you don't want this, just tell me."

For a moment, my mind went blank. He'd stood up for me like this in my previous life as well.

My birthday party didn't have to be rescheduled for Chloe. I didn't have to give up the white gown I loved for her. Even when my own parents forgot what I couldn't eat, he remembered.

And because he really had been that good to me, I kept telling myself that he wouldn't let me down.

I lifted my head. "I'm fine with switching."

Ethan's hand stilled on the rim of his glass. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure."

Mom visibly relaxed. She immediately turned to Adrian and started praising me for being quiet, considerate, and the perfect person for taking care of someone.

Adrian cut her off. "What I need is a mate, not a caregiver."

He looked over at me but didn't hold out a hand for me to go to him. "Irene, I'm still undergoing treatment. There's no telling when I'll be able to stand on my own again. You don't have to accept an engagement your sister refuses to go through with."

He was the first person today to tell me I didn't have to get married at all. I walked over and sat down in the chair beside him. "I'm fine with it. Could we talk in private?"

Chloe finally broke into a smile. There wasn't even a hint of feigned remorse left on her face.

She thought I'd just agreed to take on the misery she'd been stuck with. But as I looked at Ethan's free hand, I finally felt like I could breathe again.

In this life, I would never have to beg him to give my pup back to me.