I awoke in Moonlight Hall with the memories of my past life searing in my mind. I had given everything to Shawn and he only had eyes for Quinn. "Aunt Diana," I interrupted her before she could finish, "call off the marriage to Shawn. Obsession is not love. I am going to the Border to marry General Jason." Quinn is back, too. She had cornered me and said, "I told Shawn I love him first this time. You will never have him." I laughed. But Shawn, he had found the jasmine handkerchief, my handkerchief, and had finally discovered that I was the one who had saved his life years ago and not Quinn. He had chased me to the Border begging, "Leah, I was wrong. Come back." But by that time Jason, cold, sharp and yet the one who remembers I love gardenias and who protects me from sandstorms and has taken a blow for me had captured my heart. And Quinn? Her lies blew up. She lost her kid and went mad.
I was reborn.
At the grandous moonlight hall.
I knelt on the ground and beads fell down.
"Leah."
"Both Quinn and you have became adult. I wanted to mate you with Shawn Yates, a future alpha. As to Quinn, I plan to mate her with General Jason Hayes, who defends the border?"
"Luna Diana, you're so kind but I can't accept that."
She put her teacup down.
"Why? Don't you love Shawn anymore?"
My fingers curled slightly. "I shouldn't have mistaken obsession for love."
"I learned Shawn and Quinn are in love. I'll go to the borderland and mate with Jason."
Diana slammed the table hardly. "Leah, you must be mad!"
"The borderland's conditions are harsh. If Jason falls in battle, the you will be."
She suddenly stopped and said to me gently.
"The wound you got for shielding me years ago made you fragile. Here in Belmor Town, I can look after you."
In my last life, Diana treated me like her own pup, yet she asked me to break with Shawn in the end.
"Diana, I have made up my mind." I bowed again.
"Please."
After a long silence, she sighed.
"Fine. As you wish. I'll issue the decree today. In half a moon, you and Quinn will both be bounded. Quinn would be bound to Shawn and you to general on the borderland. But if things go wrong out there, tell me. I'll have your back."
"Thank you, Diana."
I step out of the hall, clutching the decree, a bitter smile as tears burn my eyes.
"Shawn, this time, I'm finally giving you what you want."
The memories of my former life surge back.
I was fourteen when I first saw Shawn at the spring hunt; beneath a tree he stood, looking like a wolf lifted from a fairy tale. A single glance and I was lost forever.
Not long after, I pulled Diana, Shawn's aunt away from an assassin's blade just beyond the pack boundary.
Her gratitude ran deep; she folded me into the family, and, once she saw how I looked at Shawn, she engineered the bond, matching me to him and Quinn to Jason.
At the binding ceremony, I stood with my heart racing, expecting Shawn to lift my veil, yet he refused even the ritual cup of wine. 'Get some rest,' he murmured, then turned and left.
For three years I simmered soups and carried them to his study, only to watch them come back untouched.
One winter night, with my knees throbbing from old injuries, I stitched him a cloak, and he shrugged it off and handed it to a servant.
Three winters I spent stirring pots, sending hot soup to his desk; every bowl returned full. Later, when frost glazed the windows, I cut and sewed him a cloak, my knees burning from past wounds, he flicked it toward a footman without a word.
The worst came when word arrived from the borderland: Quinn had passed. Shawn sat in his study all night, broken. The next day, news spread that he'd died in a riding accident. But I later learned from borderland wolves that he hadn't died. He'd gone to Quinn's grave, built a hut, and became its keeper.
That's when it hit me: Shawn wasn't cold by nature. His heart was just full of Quinn. There was no room for me at all.
This time, I will not hold on to a wolf whose heart is already claimed.
I have witnessed how deeply he loved Quinn.
I shouldn't be their hinder anymore.
"Leah!"
Quinn cries and walks past me.
" Diana called you here to parcel us out? She asked you to keep Shawn, while I'm sent to the borderland?"
I am shaken by her tone.
Last life, Quinn was very timid.
Since when did she become this fierce?
"Why should you be famous while I'm left to rot out there?" A hard glint flared in her eyes. "I won't let the past play out again."
My fingers went cold. Was Quinn reborn too?
"Last life, I thought I couldn't beat you, so I went to the borderlands."
She took a step closer.
"But it wasn't until after I died that I realized who Sean really loves. It's me . I won't let you take him away from me anymore. Just now..." A wicked smile curled at the corner of her lips.
"I already told Sean how I feel."
Before I can begin, a tall silhouette strode up the palace path.
Shawn looked handsome as I remembered.
"Leah," he nodded slightly, yet his gaze drifted towards Quinn.
"I know Aunt originally intended to betroth you to me. I am truly grateful that you saved her life. But my heart..." He paused, "Has already been given to Quinn. Just now, I have asked Alpha William to issue an edict, half a month from now, she will stand beside me as my equal mate, and we will be bonded forever."
I kept looking into his smiling eyes, still recalling the chill he showed when Diana tied us together in my previous life.
Now that Alpha William gave Quinn his blessing, his happiness overflows and he can no longer conceal it.
I tried to explain Diana's changed decree, but Quinn threw herself into Shawn's arms. "Shawn, I'm finally yours!"
He ruffled her hair gently, then turned to me. "It's late. I'll escort you both home."
"No."
Quinn grabbed my wrist. "Come on, sister! We'll both be bound to Shawn soon. We should get closer."
Half-pulled into the carriage, I flatten myself against the window.
Shawn's long fingers lifted a strand of hair from Quinn's cheek with a gentleness I once pleaded for.
"Shawn, I want candy!" Quinn chirped, pointing out of the window.
He chuckled. "Alright."
They stepped off the carriage, and I finally exhaled, only to hear pups laughing nearby. Suddenly, the horses screamed, and the carriage lurched violently.
I cried out, thrown against the wall. Through the swaying curtains, I saw Shawn turn, sprinting toward me, but then Quinn stumbled, crying, "Shawn! My ankle. it hurts!"
He hesitates, then turned back to her, leaving me with nothing but his retreating silhouette.
Shawn, drunk and moon-gazing the night Quinn died in my previous life, while I stood in the corridor and felt my heart crack.
This time, I'm done chasing Shawn's shadow.
Chapter 1 Chapter 1
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Chapter 2 Chapter 2
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Chapter 3 Chapter 3
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Chapter 4 Chapter 4
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Chapter 5 Chapter 5
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Chapter 6 Chapter 6
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Chapter 7 Chapter 8
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Chapter 8 Chapter 9
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Chapter 9 Chapter 10
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Chapter 10 Chapter 11
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Chapter 11 Chapter 12
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Chapter 12 Chapter 13
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Chapter 13 Chapter 14
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Chapter 14 Chapter 15
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Chapter 15 Chapter 16
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Chapter 16 Chapter 17
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Chapter 17 Chapter 18
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Chapter 18 Chapter 19
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Chapter 19 Chapter 20
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Chapter 20 Chapter 21
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Chapter 21 Chapter 22
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Chapter 22 Chapter 23
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Chapter 23 Chapter 24
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