CHAPTER 1: I Reject You First

“I, Alpha Kade Stone, hereby declare that Elara Moon is unworthy of being my Luna, and I—”

DING!

A metallic voice exploded inside Elara’s head.

[LUNA SYSTEM ACTIVATED!]

[WARNING: IF YOUR MATE REJECTS YOU FIRST, YOU WILL LOSE 50% OF YOUR LIFE FORCE, AND YOUR WOLF WILL BE DESTROYED FOREVER!]

[URGENT QUEST: REJECT HIM FIRST TO UNLOCK YOUR WOLF AND SURVIVE!]

Elara froze.

One second ago, she had been reading a paranormal romance while walking down the street. The next, she had fallen into an open sewer—and woken up inside the body of the novel’s most pathetic heroine.

Now she was standing in the middle of the Red Moon Pack’s Great Hall, facing the very man destined to destroy her.

Kade Stone.

Her mate. Her Alpha. And the bastard who was about to reject her in front of the entire pack.

Beside him stood her half-sister, Lyra Moon, looking far too pleased with herself in a stunning red dress.

Elara knew exactly what would happen if she let Kade finish.

In the original story, she would accept his rejection, beg to remain by his side, and eventually become Lyra’s personal maid. Then Lyra would frame her for attempting to murder her unborn child, and Elara would be beaten and banished to die in the snow.

Not this time.

“—and I reject—”

“I REJECT YOU FIRST!”

Elara’s voice cut through the Great Hall.

Silence crashed over the crowd.

Kade’s mouth snapped shut. Lyra’s smug smile vanished.

Every wolf stared at Elara as if she had just grown a second head. A wolfless girl like her was supposed to kneel before her Alpha, not reject him in front of an entire pack.

But Elara lifted her chin and met Kade’s furious gaze.

“I, Elara Moon, reject you, Kade Stone, as my mate and my Alpha!”

The mate bond snapped.

Kade's face twisted, his words choking in his throat as pain exploded inside his chest where the Mate bond lived and breathed.

Kade staggered backward, his hand clutching his heart as blood suddenly spilled from his lips.

Lyra gasped, her body jerking forward as she grabbed Kade's arm, her face turning pale with shock and furious disbelief.

"What did you do, you fat useless witch, what kind of dark spell did you cast on your Alpha to make him bleed like that?"

Lyra's voice trembled, her eyes filling with fake tears that quickly turned into real panic because her entire perfect plan was shattering into pieces.

Lyra leaned closer to Elara, "You will regret this, sister, because no man in any pack will ever want a chubby wolf-less thing like you as his Mate."

Elara's lips curled into a cold smile, tilting her chin higher, "My dear beautiful sister, I would rather starve alone in the snow than spend one more day as your personal maid who scrubs your dirty floors."

Lyra's perfect smile cracked, her fingers digging into Kade's arm as she realized this chubby sister was no longer the easy puppet she could control.

Kade coughed harder, his knees hitting the cold stone floor as his own wolf howled in agony inside his mind, whimpering for the mate he lost.

His Betas rushed forward, their hands hovering over their Alpha, unsure whether to attack the girl who dared to make their Alpha bleed like this.

A low, dark chuckle suddenly echoed from the darkest corner of the Great Hall, cold, ruthless, and familiar enough to make every wolf shiver.

Silas Stone leaned against a stone pillar, tall and massive, dressed in black, his face hidden behind a black iron half-mask.

Silas was Kade's stepbrother, the Alpha of Obsidian Fang Pack, a pack ten times richer and stronger and more feared than Red Moon could ever be.

The stories about him were whispered at night to scare young pups, about how he was cold and ruthless and wore a mask because battle had scarred him hideously.

Elara remembered this man from the book, the wasted second male lead who died alone because the author never gave him a happy ending or a Mate.

The system rang again inside her head, its metallic voice urgent and excited, as if it had been waiting for her to finally look at this man.

[NEW FATE PATH DETECTED: ALPHA SILAS STONE - THE MASKED ALPHA. STATUS: CURSED BY WITCH BLADE. TIME LEFT: 364 DAYS.]

[IF HE DIES, YOU DIE. LINK QUEST: MAKE HIM YOUR MATE TO SURVIVE. REWARD: THE CURE CODEX.]

Elara's breath caught, her mind racing as she understood that this cursed scarred Alpha was her only ticket to surviving this cruel romance novel.

The crowd parted instinctively as Elara lifted her dress and walked toward the masked monster.

Lyra's mouth dropped open, her face twisting with jealousy and confusion as she watched.

Kade coughed blood again, his hand reaching out weakly as if to grab Elara's dress and pull her back from making another terrible mistake.

Elara stopped right in front of Silas, her head tilted back so she could look up into his cold grey eyes.

Silas's eyebrow lifted slightly, his cold ruthless aura pressing down on her chubby shoulders, testing whether she would flinch or run away screaming like others.

Elara did not flinch, her hands steady at her sides, her voice loud and clear enough to reach every wolf who had mocked her seconds ago.

"I want you to be my mate, Alpha Silas Stone, not because I am desperate or pitiful but because I choose you with my own eyes."