Chapter 1

“Elara, have some coffee. There's no need to be nervous.” Brielle held out the cup with a gentle smile.

I caught the bitter scent concealed beneath the honey, and my heart sank. It was a powerful sedative commonly used in werewolf clinics.

“Is something wrong?” she asked cautiously.

“Nothing. Thank you. I was just getting thirsty.” I accepted the cup. When she turned away to arrange the dress, I poured the coffee into the flowerpot by the window. Two minutes later, I closed my eyes and collapsed onto the sofa.

“Elara?” Brielle called my name several times. Once she was certain I would not respond, she hurried to open the door. Her mother rushed inside, and together they stripped off my white ceremonial dress and took my identification card and mate ring.

“Hurry. The vow ceremony is about to begin.”

Brielle changed into my dress and adjusted the veil in front of the mirror, unable to hide the excitement in her eyes. Then she and her mother slipped out through the side door and climbed into a black car headed for the Full Moon Vow Hall.

Only after the sound of the engine had completely faded did I slowly open my eyes. A smart mirror and a digital calendar hung in the room. The date on the display was the day Nolan and I had been scheduled to complete our mate-bond ceremony five years ago.

“Elara, are you truly going to give Nolan to Brielle?” My mother stepped out of the adjoining room, worry written across her face. “She has taken your things since you were children. Once she completes the vows today, Nolan will become her mate.”

“They suit each other.” Brielle was greedy and deceitful. Nolan was ungrateful and cruel. They had always been the same kind of person.

I removed an employment letter from the drawer and handed it to my mother. “Mom, I'm going to the Central Territory.”

She saw the silver moon crest on the envelope and froze. “The High Council Institute of Lycan Medicine?”

“It is where I've always wanted to go,” I said softly. “I nearly gave up the position for Nolan. Brielle has just made the most important decision of my life for me.”

My mother studied me for a long moment, then took my hand. “Go, Elara. Do what you truly want with your life.”

Meanwhile, at the Full Moon Vow Hall, Nolan recognized Brielle's scent the instant he lifted her veil. A werewolf could never mistake a scent he had known for three years.

With tears in her eyes, Brielle explained, “Elara left the territory with Patrol Captain Dorian Cross last night and never came back. The agreement between our families couldn't be canceled, so I had no choice but to take her place.”

Nolan did not expose her. Instead, he took her hand.

“Since you are the one who came, you will be my mate from now on. As for the woman who betrayed our vows and ran away with another man, I don't want her anymore.”

By the time Nolan personally left his mate mark on Brielle's neck, I had already boarded a flight out of Ironwood Pack. The moment the plane crossed the territorial boundary, the tension in my body finally eased.

In my previous life, Brielle learned that Nolan was about to enter the Central Territory and tried to impersonate me at the mate-bond ceremony. I exposed her in public and demanded that the Pack Council handle the matter. Her family became the disgrace of the entire pack. Brielle was driven out of the territory and eventually died at the hands of that brutal old Alpha.

Years later, Nolan stood before me as one of the most powerful authorities in lycan medicine, his expression terrifyingly dark.

“If not for you, Brielle would never have died. You destroyed her life, so I will make you experience everything she suffered.”

He replaced my medicine, severed our mate bond, and had his guards lock me away on his border estate.

My son slipped inside to save me, only for the guards to beat him until his head split open and both legs broke.

Holding his cold body, I screamed the curse until my throat tore. “Nolan, you monster! I will never let you get away with this!”

I jerked awake. The cabin lights were dim, and my pale reflection stared back at me from the window. It had only been a dream.

I looked at Ironwood Territory disappearing beyond the glass and slowly curled my fingers into a fist.

“Nolan. Brielle. Enjoy the last good days you will ever have.”