第1章

When Kieran finished speaking, every wolf in the hall turned to look at me.

Not one of them had expected him to ask for my sister.

Three years ago, in a battle, I had saved his life, and then nursed him myself for three months.

Everyone had simply assumed that this choosing was a formality.

My father frowned and lowered his voice.

"Cassia, what is going on between you two? Is the choosing something you can play games with?"

I closed my hand into a fist. It was as though I could still feel the pain of being tormented by countless werewolves.

The moment I realized I had come back, I swore I would never let Kieran touch my life again.

What I had not expected was that he would be the one to switch first.

I was about to speak when Kieran cut in ahead of me. "Cassia! I never once wanted to be your mate. Stop chasing me!"

I saw the loathing in his eyes, and I understood at once. He had come back too.

My father's face went dark. He slammed his hand on the table.

"Enough!

"Every wolf in both packs knows you came to Dawnlight over and over to see Cassia.

"Now you stand here and say it is Adeline you love. What do you take my daughters for, a shelf you can pick from!"

Gold flickered in my father's eyes. That was the sign that his anger was about to turn him.

But Kieran did not back down. If anything, he grew more urgent, more determined to bare his heart.

"Alpha! I respect you as an elder, but what I feel for Cassia is gratitude, nothing more.

"I went to Dawnlight to see Adeline. Cassia misread what was between us on her own.

"Adeline is an Alpha's daughter and she puts on no airs. She trains with the warriors.

"Cassia does nothing but slack off, and the moment training starts she disappears! How could she ever compare to Adeline?

"The only one I truly love, the only one I want as my mate, is Adeline. No matter who tries to stop me, no matter what it costs, I will be with her."

Watching him say it made my stomach turn.

In my last life, when he threw me out, he told me that all those visits had been a screen.

He had let me believe he loved me, and then blamed me for believing it.

At the choosing he had thought my father valued me more, and he had not dared say what he really wanted, so he took the easy path and took me.

Only after he became Alpha of Brightvale did he find the nerve to say the truth out loud.

But in the end, the one he loved most was himself.

When Kieran was done, the fury on my father's face had doubled.

"You are in no position to sit in judgment on my daughters!"

His hand shifted into a wolf's claw, and he was a breath away from crushing Kieran's skull.

But Adeline stood up and put herself in front of Kieran, her cheeks red.

"Father, I want Kieran as my mate."

Every wolf froze.

Even I had not expected Adeline to accept him.

My father's shock was written all over his face.

"Adeline, this boy was tangled up with your sister, and now he stands here saying this to you. He is plainly a piece of filth!

"Do not do something stupid. Do not let a few pretty words fool you. He is not worth you."

Adeline pulled my father aside and said something to him under her breath.

His eyes moved to Kieran, hesitant.

"Is that true?"

Adeline nodded.

"I believe him."

They kept their voices low, but I read her lips. She had told him that Kieran would become the Alpha of Brightvale.

My chest went cold. How could she know that?

Had she come back too?

My father shut his eyes for a moment, then looked at me, resigned.

"Let it go, Cassia. Kieran and your sister want each other. Give them your blessing and stop making a scene."

Adeline raised an eyebrow at me.

"Cassia, feelings can't be forced. Kieran has no one but me in his heart. Nothing you do will change that."

They all seemed to have decided that it was Kieran or nothing for me.

I smiled a little.

"I never said I was choosing Kieran."