The Crown’s Chosen Mate

Two portraits lay on the table before me.

On the right was Owen Blackwood. In the painting, the Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack wore the same bold, unrestrained smile that had once captivated half the court.

Now it only made my skin turn cold.

For a moment, the phantom memory returned with brutal clarity.

I forced my gaze away from the portrait and lifted my hand.

“Your Majesty,” I said calmly, pointing to the other painting, “I choose Lord Sebastian.”

King Aldric frowned slightly. “Selena, you are certain you do not wish to choose Owen?”

He studied me carefully. Everyone in the royal court knew how close Owen and I had once been.

But the truth of my rebirth was too strange to explain.

I simply lowered my head and answered with quiet certainty.

“Father, I will not regret this.”

The king watched me for another moment before nodding.

He rolled up Sebastian’s portrait and handed it to the chamberlain.

“I will summon the High Cleric and prepare the covenant between the Crown and the Vampire Dominion.”

The High Cleric was one of the rare few born of both bloodlines, half vampire and half werewolf. Every marriage between the three races had to be recorded by him in the Royal Covenant Archives and sealed through a formal rite.

I bowed to the king and withdrew from the throne hall.

Outside the palace gates, my lady’s maid Ivy hurried toward me, her eyes bright with excitement.

“Well, Your Highness?” she whispered, grinning. “Did you finally get your wish?”

I was about to shake my head when a familiar presence approached.

Owen.

He strode across the courtyard in long, impatient steps and stopped directly in front of me. The dislike in his eyes was not even hidden.

“Princess,” he said coldly, “there’s something you should know. I already have someone I intend to claim as my mate. I cannot enter a royal bond with you.”

I looked up at him in surprise.

In my previous life, when the High Cleric announced our alliance, Owen had been reluctant, but he never refused it.

Now he had come running before the ceremony was even declared.

So he had returned as well.

When I didn’t respond immediately, irritation flashed across his face.

“Selena, have some pride,” he snapped. “I’ve made my position clear. Don’t tell me you still plan to force this marriage.”

I glanced at him and laughed softly.

“Who told you I chose you?”

“You can relax,” I continued, my tone light but sharp. “I didn’t.”

For a second, Owen’s expression froze.

Then his brows drew together.

“That’s impossible,” he said. “Selena, stop acting childish. Go back and choose again. Once the High Cleric publishes the covenant, it will be too late.”

My patience snapped.

My patience snapped.

I felt a surge of irritation. The moment I thought about how he had deceived me in my previous life, used my devotion, and then repaid it by murdering me, my teeth clenched with hatred.

I had no desire to waste another second arguing with him.

Behind me, her face flushed with anger.

“Your Highness, that was outrageous,” she muttered. “You’ve sent him gifts from the royal treasury for years and he accepted every single one. When you confessed your feelings he never rejected you. Half the court thought you were practically engaged already.”

“And now he suddenly claims he loves someone else?”

She scoffed. “That’s just playing with your feelings.”

I let out a mocking laugh, Owen had countless chances to refuse me.

If he had said he loved someone else, I would have stepped aside without hesitation.

But Owen had wanted the power of the Crown.

Only a child born from the royal bloodline could rule the three realms. If he married me, his heir would become the future sovereign.

That would elevate the Bloodmoon Pack above every other wolf clans.

The wolf clans had never been united.

In the north, the Frostfang wolves had been growing stronger for years. Their warlord was ruthless, and Owen’s pack had been losing ground.

In my previous life, Owen used the bond we shared growing up to draw me closer. He never said he loved me, but everything he did made it seem as if my feelings were returned.

Believing in that unspoken promise, I willingly placed the Crown’s armies and power behind him, becoming the support that strengthened his pack.

With that support, he launched a surprise campaign against the Frostfang wolves and unified the wolf clans.

He became the Lycan King.

And on the night our child was born, he murdered me to avenge Nora.

This time, I was curious to see what would happen.

Without the Crown standing behind him, how would Owen defeat the Frostfang wolves?

And how exactly did he plan to become Lycan King now?