Chapter 3
When I woke up, my head was pounding like a war drum. A dull ache pulsed right at my temple, and I groaned softly.
“Who brought me back?” I rasped, my throat dry and raw.
Queenie, my maid, stepped into the room carrying a tray with medicine. At the sound of my voice, she paused and gave me a knowing little smile.
“It was Beta Kevin” she said, almost teasing. “He carried you all the way from the packhouse like some hero out of a romance story. The pack doctor nearly had a heart attack–he thought something horrible had happened.”
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My eyes widened. “Kevin?”
She nodded. “Mm–hmm.”
My mind flashed to that last moment before everything went black–the chaos, the pain, the look on Kevin’s face. My heart gave a tiny, traitorous flutter.
“Did he… say anything?” I asked, trying to sound casual. “Did he look… I don’t know, worried?”
Queenie tilted her head, thinking. Then she grinned. “He still looked like the same old Kevin–carefree as ever. After laying you on the bed, he said he was off to visit Green Moss Pack, something about-”
She cleared her throat and mimicked his lazy, drawling voice, “Since I’m clearly not in the running for mate selection, I might
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as well hit up the Green Moss fighting tournament. Maybe snag a cash prize. But hey–on Felicia’s wedding day, I’ll swing back by with a big ol‘ gift.”
I almost burst out laughing.
A gift? The man I’m planning to choose as my mate wants to bring me a gift on my wedding day?
In the following days, the Moonfang Pack buzzed with gossip–sweet, syrupy tales of Samuel and Larissa’s blooming love.
“Did you hear? Gamma Samuel went to the witch’s market this morning. Made pear tonic himself for Miss Larissa.”
“That’s nothing! Yesterday was Larissa’s birthday, and Samuel bought every single item at the auction for her!”
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“Someone saw them in the forest this morning–Samuel was carrying her on his back. Said she twisted her ankle.”
Queenie was practically stomping her feet with rage. “Miss Felicia! Listen to this! Even if Gamma Samuel’s capable, he was chosen by Alpha Godfrey as your mate candidate. Yours! And now he’s parading that girl around like she’s mate already. Isn’t that just a slap in the face?”
I looked out the window, smiling faintly.
Yes. It was a slap in the face.
But it wasn’t the first time.
“Go get the old box from the back of my storage closet,” I said.
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When Queenie returned, I opened the lid and stared down at its contents.
Marbles Samuel used to play with as a boy. A button from one of his shirts. A threadbare handkerchief he left behind during training….
An entire box full of scraps and memories.
Proof of just how pathetically in love I once
was.
“Tell the driver to get the car ready. We’re paying Samuel a visit.”
When we arrived, Samuel wasn’t home.
The butler informed us that he and Miss Larissa had gone on a picnic.
I had the box carried into the living room. I was about to leave when footsteps echoed
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When Queenie returned, I opened the lid and stared down at its contents.
Marbles Samuel used to play with as a boy. A button from one of his shirts. A threadbare handkerchief he left behind during training….
An entire box full of scraps and memories.
Proof of just how pathetically in love I once
was.
“Tell the driver to get the car ready. We’re paying Samuel a visit.”
When we arrived, Samuel wasn’t home.
The butler informed us that he and Miss Larissa had gone on a picnic.
I had the box carried into the living room. I was about to leave when footsteps echoed
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outside.
Then her voice drifted through the door.
“Samuel, you’ve been so kind to me lately… If Miss Felicia found out, she’d be furious.”
Larissa.
Samuel’s voice followed, gentle and calm. “That’s exactly why I made sure the pack knew about us. I wanted Felicia to get the message and give up.”
“But Felicia’s been in love with you for years. Would she really let go that easily?”
“Even if she chooses me, I’ll find a way out of it,” Samuel said softly. “Larissa, ever since I saw you that night on the training field during Harvest Festival, I knew. You stole my heart. You’re my fated mate. I’ll marry no one
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else.”
My breath caught in my throat.
Harvest Festival? The training field?
Wait.
I was the only one at the shooting range that night.
Kevin had pissed me off earlier that day -again–and I’d spent the whole morning chasing him around, trying to land a hit on his smug face.
Frustrated and furious, I snuck off to the range alone that night, hoping to let off some steam. I remember putting on a mask, not wanting him–or anyone–to know where I
was.
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Samuel… saw me.
And thought it was her.
My knees wobbled. I staggered backward, bumping into the table.
A vase toppled, shattering on the floor.
Who?
The door burst open.
Samuel stepped in, his usual calm aura flickering into something colder the moment he saw me. His brow knit, voice clipped. “Felicia? What are you doing here?”
I looked at his face and for a moment, I almost laughed.
This was the man who, in my last life, gave
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> everything for Larissa. And yet… he ouldn’t even remember who first stirred his
eart.
felt the words bubbling up inside me. The truth. I almost told him right then and there that it was me on the training field that night, not Larissa.
But what was the point?
Maybe fate really didn’t want us together. After he faked his death in our past life, I should’ve known–whatever existed between us had already died.
And Larissa… she was his fated mate. There was no fighting that.
“I’m just here to return something” I said, stepping aside so he could see the box I’d placed in the living room.
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His expression turned glacial. “Bit early to be moving in the dowry, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t-”
“I’m not interested in being your mate,” he snapped, cutting me off like a cold blade. “And I sure as hell don’t want to be Alpha.”
His eyes were hard, voice like winter. “Larissa is both my fated mate and the woman I love. I’m not going to play house with someone I don’t want. Forced love never ends well.”
My fingers curled into trembling fists at my sides.
Every time. Every damn time.
There were Alphas and Betas from every pack in the Mississippi River region who
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nyung to stand by my side.
And yet here he was–treating me like some cursed burden he had to shake off.
I wanted to scream, “I didn’t choose you!”
But before I could get a word out, Larissa let out a breathy gasp behind him.
“Oh–ow!” she cried out, collapsing
dramatically to the floor. “Samuel… I think I twisted my ankle…”
Samuel didn’t hesitate. He swooped her into his arms with practiced ease and carried her past me like I wasn’t even there. Not a glance. Not a flicker of guilt.
I stood in the doorway, watching through the narrow crack as he sat her down gently and began tending to her ankle. His voice was a soft murmur, laced with concern.
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“Does it hurt?” he whispered.
That gentleness… that tenderness…
It was everything I used to beg for in another life.
But he never once offered it to me.
Samuel, you’re blind.
Blind in the eyes. Blind in the heart.
You can’t even recognize the girl who once made your heart skip a beat.
So be it.
May your blindness chain you to a life of regret.
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I closed my eyes and turned to leave.
