Chapter 1

On the day Sebastian formally took over as the Alpha of the Silverfang Pack, he brought only two people with him. One was our son, Leo; the other was his savior, Elina.

Leo had inherited his pure Alpha bloodline. He wasn't about to let his son waste that talent in a human town like this. On the other hand, Elina had once saved his life. He owed her a promise, and he had to keep it.

Only when it came to me did he say, "Faye, wait for me. Once I've stabilized things in the territory, I'll come back for you."

In my previous life, I clung to that promise and waited in that shabby rental year after year. In the end, I died there alone. He never returned for me.

Fortunately, the Moon Goddess gave me a second chance.

I swallowed my last breath on that cold bed. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day Sebastian's bloodline awakened.

I had returned to three years earlier, to a time when everything could still be changed.

This time, I wouldn't wait.

I grabbed my backpack and walked straight toward the highway without looking back.

From now on, he would live his life as an Alpha, and I would live my own life. Our paths no longer needed to cross.

Chapter 1

Faye's POV:

I went to the pawnshop in town and set the silver pendant Sebastian had given me five years ago down on the counter.

Werewolves had an instinctive aversion to silver. When he first gave it to me, he had wrapped it in layers of black velvet before placing it in my hands. He'd said it was his mother's keepsake and told me to take good care of it.

Now, it had been exchanged for seven crisp hundred-dollar bills. That would be enough to buy me a Silverhound Lines ticket to the West Coast and start a new life in some quiet seaside town where no one knew me.

As I pushed open the pawnshop door, I ran into Mrs. Higgins coming out of the convenience store by the gas station at the edge of town.

She carried a bag of household supplies and smiled the moment she saw me, her tone teasing. "I heard the Silverfang Pack's territory is as luxurious as some grand estate. You'll be moving there with Sebastian soon, won't you? So, why are you at the pawnshop?"

The Sebastian she spoke of was my husband, one of the most formidable Alpha werewolves in all of North Arcton.

…

Three days ago, the ancient bloodline within him had fully awakened. A convoy from the Silverfang Pack had rolled into town in a grand procession, coming to welcome their Alpha home.

Sebastian had publicly announced that he would be taking two people back to the territory with him. However, he needed to settle the last of his affairs in the human world before he departed.

Everyone assumed those two people would be me and our son, Leo. Alas, that wasn't the case. In both my past life and this one, he had never intended to take me with him.

I smiled faintly, my tone as casual as if we were talking about the weather. "Sebastian is a powerful werewolf, but I can't even shift. This money isn't for some werewolf estate. It's my fare out of here."

Mrs. Higgins opened her mouth as if to say something more, but I had already turned away from her to head down the muddy road toward home.

Before I even reached the front yard, I heard laughter spilling out from inside.

Leo was practicing how to control the wolf claws that had just awakened within him in the middle of the lawn.

His tiny hands struggled to shift between human skin and sharp talons. Every so often, he would call out, "Papa, I can't control it!"

"Take a deep breath. Feel the call of the wild inside you. You're a born Alpha."

The man he called Papa spoke in a low, magnetic voice.

He wore a simple black T-shirt, the lines of his muscles clearly defined. Even before his awakening, he had carried an overwhelming presence. Now that his bloodline was fully awakened, there was an aura about him that could make ordinary people's knees buckle in fear.

That was my husband, Sebastian.

Five years ago, he had wandered into this remote town in Oceira. We met in the forest under the moonlight. He had been gravely injured, covered in blood, collapsed in a bed of pine needles.

I had followed the heavy metallic scent to find him, pressing my shirt against the torn wound in his abdomen as blood continued to pour out.

At that moment, the wolf within him had recognized me, but not with its eyes. It felt like wandering alone in the dark for hundreds of years, only to suddenly hear another heartbeat.

He had marked me right then.

After he recovered, he never revealed his identity as a werewolf. Instead, he put on an old flannel shirt like any ordinary lumberjack, knocked on my door, and asked if I could spare him a glass of water.

Only later did I learn that he was the sole heir to the most powerful pack in all of North Arcton.

He hadn't taken me by force as an Alpha. Instead, he pursued me as a human man.

He courted me, proposed to me, and swore he wanted to give me everything I deserved.

At the time, I believed him.

Chapter 2

There was one more person on the lawn. It was a shewolf with a striking figure and long, wavy blonde hair.

Her features were sharp, but her demeanor was nothing like Sebastian's cold severity. Instead, she was patient as she guided Leo to rein in his aura. Whenever he stumbled, she reached out immediately to steady him.

That was Elina.

I didn't know how to define her. She had nothing to do with me. Yet, Sebastian and Leo were both intimately close to her. The air around them carried that enviable werewolf presence. It was also something I could never have.

It was already noon.

Thin wisps of smoke curled up from a chimney in the distance. The scene outside looked like a harmonious family of three. They looked so peaceful, almost idyllic in their little bubble.

I couldn't help but wonder whether they'd lived like this in my previous life after Sebastian had taken Leo and Elina back to Silverfang Manor.

I must have lingered too long, or my gaze was too intent as Sebastian noticed my presence.

A werewolf's senses were sharp. He picked up on the extra trace of scent in the air and lifted his head, looking toward the wooden fence.

There was irritation in his gaze at being disturbed. His amber eyes held a chill until he recognized me. Then, his expression shifted slightly.

"Faye?"

After being reborn, I had already forgotten what Sebastian looked like.

Decades had passed in my previous life. If I remembered correctly, the last time we saw each other was around these days. Now that I was finally seeing him again, it suddenly clicked.

So… this was what he looked like in the past. Huh.

When I didn't respond, Sebastian frowned faintly. He strode over to me and reached out, placing a hand against my forehead. "What happened? Your heartbeat is so slow."

I instinctively moved to avoid him.

Sebastian paused momentarily at that. A flicker of something dangerous, something almost possessive, passed through his eyes as his gaze turned darker.

…

Meanwhile, Leo had already retracted his claws. He was only four, but he could already control an Alpha's emotions with ease.

The moment he saw me, the smile on his little face disappeared. Instead, it was replaced by a proper, composed expression.

"Mama." He spoke politely, but there was a distance in his tone that didn't match his age. It was courteous, but it felt distant.

I used to think Leo had inherited Sebastian's disposition and that this was simply how he treated people. But after living through my previous life, I understood that wasn't true. He could be warm and playful, just not with me.

When he was with me, he always carried himself like a little adult. He was distant and polite. He had been the same in our final meeting in my previous life, cold as an iceberg.

He didn't call me Mama anymore at that point, but "that human."

"Father and I have both awakened our bloodline. We won't be swayed by emotions from someone with such weak blood. You're too weak. This bond will only drag you down. Let it go. It's better for everyone."

In my previous life, I waited for both father and son for decades, from my early 20s until my hair turned gray. Even when I was too sick to get out of bed, I held onto my last breath, refusing to let go. Only then did the broken door finally open.

I thought it was Sebastian, so I called out to him. Alas, my pleas were silenced by a cold voice.

"Father is suppressing a territorial rebellion in one of the extremely cold regions. No one is allowed to disturb him."

That was when I realized it wasn't Sebastian but Leo who had returned.

Pureblood werewolves didn't age. The grown Leo looked exactly like Sebastian in his 20s. I saw how those same cold, distant eyes rested on me, who had withered down to skin and bones as if he were looking at a stray dog on the roadside.

Leo said that this visit was his way of repaying the debt of my giving birth to him. He still had to return to the territory to handle the war. He didn't want me wasting more of his time than I already have.

Maybe it was anger at his words, or maybe I had simply reached my limit. Not long after he finished speaking, I closed my eyes.

…

And then I woke up in my younger body.

The sun was blazing outside, and I could hear the roar of engines beyond the windows. Today was the day Sebastian had announced the arrival of the pack's convoy. As for the 700 dollars, I had originally planned to use it to buy Sebastian a tie as a farewell gift.

But now that I had returned with the memories of my previous life, I wouldn't repeat the same mistakes, not again.

Chapter 3

If Sebastian wanted to leave, be my guest. If Leo wanted to be close to someone else, that was his choice. I wouldn't dwell on it anymore.

"Mm." I nodded and turned to head inside, but Leo called out to me again.

"Mama!"

This time, there was an edge of urgency in his voice.

I thought he had something to say to me, so I looked back at him.

His little face was still composed, but his eyes were bright. "Papa taught me how to control my claws today."

I had already seen it.

I was about to nod in acknowledgment when memories from the past surfaced.

In the past, I would always ask Leo how his day went whenever he came home. Then, I would praise him enthusiastically for every little thing he learned.

If he awakened a sharper sense of smell, I would tell him how amazing he was, how he could help me find my lost keys in the future.

Every time, Leo would keep a straight face and say, "These are just the most basic instincts of a werewolf. Silly Mama, your bloodline is too weak. You'll never understand."

Yet, I could see the pride hidden beneath his childish temper, so I let it slide.

But that day, I showed no reaction at all.

If anything, I was lukewarm to anything he had to say. I looked as though I didn't care that he had learned to control his claws. So, it wasn't surprising that Leo brought it up himself.

That said, something in my chest ached faintly.

Still, I simply forced it down. "Mm. Keep up the good work."

The light in Leo's face dimmed instantly. He huffed before turning to Elina instead. "Ms. Elina, am I strong?"

"Of course. You're a born Alpha," she affirmed with a bright smile.

Leo asked if she could take him into town to buy ice cream. Elina nodded, and he took her hand as they passed by me.

"I want three. One for Papa, one for you, and one for me."

I knew that he had said it loudly just to make sure I heard it.

In the past, I would have hidden in my room and cried over something like this. But now… I didn't care about that sort of thing any longer.

…

I went inside and placed the pawned money into a drawer.

When I started packing, I first sorted out Sebastian's and Leo's clothes. Just as I was about to set them aside, Sebastian walked in.

He looked at what I was doing and said in a low voice, "Everything is custom-made in the territory. There's no need to bring these old clothes."

I looked up at him in surprise and immediately realized that he had misunderstood.

Sebastian stepped closer, his imposing presence pressing down on me. His gaze settled heavily on my face. "Faye, we're leaving tomorrow," he said.

I knew that already.

He had said it on the day his bloodline awakened. He had told me he needed three days to settle things in the human world. After that, he would have to return to his territory.

In my previous life, I had still assumed that Sebastian would surely take Leo and me with him now that he had become an Alpha. At the time, I'd been confused because what other unfinished business could he possibly have here if we were both going with him?

Only later did I realize that the "unfinished business" he spoke of… was me. And the people he intended to take were Leo and Elina.

Leo, I could understand—he carried Sebastian's werewolf bloodline. But Elina… I had never been able to understand why.

In my previous life, Sebastian explained that Elina had once saved his life, and he owed her a promise. Elina herself said that her family had fallen. She was a lone wolf seeking protection, hoping to join the Silverfang Pack.

"Elina has nowhere else to go. The Silverfang Pack has strict rules—only by entering as a sworn loyalist can she be allowed into the territory."

And so, I became the one left behind in the human world.

In my previous life, I had argued fiercely with Sebastian over this, but in the end, Leo's words shattered all my illusions.

"You can't do anything in the territory," he said. "You can't even protect yourself. Are you expecting the entire pack to assign people just to guard a useless weak-blood?"

Under Sebastian's guidance, Leo had grown up believing in the werewolf law of survival of the fittest. He thought that rather than clinging to the position of an Alpha's mate and becoming a laughingstock, I should step aside for Elina—someone who could actually fight alongside his father.

Chapter 4

What truly broke me in my previous life was what Elina said in the end.

She had said, "The Silverfang territory is the power center of the strongest pack in North Arcton. Do you think the elders of the Silverfang Pack would accept a human who can't even shift as their Luna?"

The mate bond was sacred, but the internal power struggles of a pack were far more practical than the will of Moon Goddess.

Elina's family had deep roots within the Silverfang Pack. For Sebastian to reclaim his position as Alpha and suppress the factions that opposed him, he couldn't do it without the support of the elders and the major werewolf packs.

And what they wanted was a pureblood she-wolf who could lead the pack to greater strength.

"They gave Sebastian a choice." Elina had stood in front of me, the corners of her lips curling slowly. "In exchange for fully supporting his and Leo's return to the pack, he had to choose a mate worthy of an Alpha in front of all werewolves. A public, formal partner."

Her gaze dragged slowly across my face like a blade. "And you… a useless thing working at a fast-food restaurant, who can't even grow fur, are the obstacle that must be removed."

The color drained from my face, scraped away inch by inch by the mockery in her eyes.

Her cruel voice continued twisting the knife, "Why do you think he left you in the human world? He's protecting you. With your weak bloodline, you'd become a laughingstock in the pack the moment you step into the Silverfang territory. You wouldn't survive even three months there.

"Sebastian chose his position. Being alive is more useful than being dead. I'm sure that's what he must have thought when he made that decision for your sake."

Of course, I had wanted to confront Sebastian.

I wanted to ask him if he had truly placed me on the list of things to be abandoned in that deal. I wanted to ask him if those five years of pursuit, the way his eyes had reddened when he lifted my veil in the church, had all been nothing more than a carefully staged act.

But that night, they had left without me while I slept.

I had clung to life until the moment I breathed my last only because I wanted to see Sebastian one more time and to ask him if it had all been real. Unfortunately, I never saw him even until the end.

From the moment I woke after being reborn, I understood that I couldn't spend another lifetime waiting for an answer.

In a way, Sebastian had traded me for his position. So, this was just me getting myself back from that transaction. Now, it was time for me to live my own life.

And so, when I had to hear Sebastian telling me he would be taking Elina and Leo with him again, I accepted it calmly. There wasn't even a ripple in the pool of water that was my heart.

In the days that followed, I carefully began planning the rest of my life.

Chapter 5

Alas, I hadn't expected that my recent indifference would make Sebastian think I was sulking.

"Faye, I know you're upset, but an Alpha's promise outweighs everything. Wait for me. Once I've fully taken control of the pack, I'll bring Leo back to get you."

When I didn't respond, Sebastian merely frowned as he watched me continue stuffing his jacket into the suitcase.

He gave me the exact same promise as in my previous life, but in a gentle tone. However, I wasn't going to spend years waiting in an empty apartment for that promise ever again.

"Mm. Okay. I know. I understand." I zipped up the suitcase, brushing him off as I spoke blandly.

When he noticed that I had no intention of continuing the conversation, he turned even more silent. There was a look I couldn't decipher on his face. His sharp, invasive gaze lingered on me for a long moment before he finally turned and left.

…

Early the next morning, I was woken by the sound of engines outside the window.

The moment I opened my eyes, I remembered that this was the day Sebastian and Leo would leave.

Well, it just so happened that this was also the day I would leave.

Voices drifted in from the yard, along with the faint smell of pancakes and bacon in the air.

When I stepped outside, I saw that Elina was in the kitchen making breakfast.

Leo stood beside her, his small body leaning forward eagerly as he stared at the freshly made pancakes. Elina smiled gently and used a fork to feed him a piece.

"It's so good! Ms. Elina, your cooking is even better than Mama's!"

"Really? In that case, I'll make it for you every day after we return to the territory." The smile on Elina's face deepened.

As they spoke, Sebastian walked over to them. "Elina, you're a loyalist of the territory. Cooking isn't something you need to do."

Elina blinked and replied softly, "We're heading back to the territory soon. I might as well get used to these things in advance. After all, I'll have to take care of you and Leo in her place since she's not coming with us."

Sebastian fell silent.

After a while, he said in a low voice, "Thank you for your hard work."

He had his back to me. Therefore, I couldn't see his expression. Yet, I could tell that he was wearing a tender expression from his tone alone.

At that moment, Leo reached out and grabbed both their hands. "Papa, Ms. Elina, don't worry. I'll take care of myself. I won't hold you back."

His earnest, childish declaration immediately drew laughter from the yard.

Well, that lasted until my presence broke it.

All three of them noticed me this time. Elina spoke first, her eyes carrying a soft smile. "Faye, you're awake. Come try the bacon I just made."

She stood there with the air of a hostess. From where I stood, it looked as though both Sebastian and Leo were sheltering her.

It reminded me of things from the past.

I had never liked how often Elina came to our house. Nevertheless, it was a fact that she had saved both Sebastian and Leo. Plus, Leo liked her very much, always begging her to come over.

Back then, I'd felt jealous when I saw how close Leo was to her, but I couldn't voice it. So I tried hinting to Sebastian, hoping he would speak up for me.

Unfortunately, he blamed me for being unreasonable. "Leo needs guidance with his wolf instincts. Elina is the best teacher for him. Why would you stop her? Instead of being jealous, you should think about why you can't run through the forest with Leo like she can."

His words had been like a bucket of ice-cold water poured over my head. I had been left speechless.

Later, I understood why. It was simply that my bloodline was too weak, while they were true werewolves.

Leo had always admired Sebastian. He knew his father was no ordinary man and longed to become a powerful warrior like him. Sebastian had high expectations for Leo as well. The two of them often trained together in the forest behind the mountains.

I had wanted to join them. Yet, the things they talked about, like mind link, mate bond, and alpha command… I couldn't understand any of it. Over time, they spoke to me less and less.

Leo even said, "Normal werewolves are already fragile, but Mama is even more fragile."

Yet, he had been born from me, a mother with such weak blood.

It hurt.

So, I stopped involving myself in their training.

When they went hunting, I stayed behind trimming the lawn or baking pies. My days were quiet and peaceful until the day Sebastian took Leo deep into the mountains for training.

Leo was attacked by a grizzly bear. Sebastian was severely injured protecting him, and it was Elina, passing by, who saved them.

Her bloodline carried powerful healing abilities. After she learned of Sebastian's identity, she stayed in our town to seek his protection, training alongside father and son.

One time, Elina came by again.

I wanted to ask her about healing. Since I couldn't fight, I thought at least I could learn bandaging and herbal remedies.

However, Elina merely smiled after hearing me out. There was no warmth in her eyes, just mockery as she sized me up. "Faye, a werewolf's healing ability comes from the power in their bloodline. Yours is almost nonexistent. Don't bother wasting your effort."

I got angry. She wasn't as kind and gentle as Leo claimed. I didn't want Leo getting close to her anymore, so she left due to my outburst.

Later, both Leo and Sebastian blamed me, especially Leo.

He cried and shouted at me, "It's all your fault! You drove Ms. Elina away!"

To calm him, Sebastian drove into the mountains overnight to find Elina and bring her back.

Back then, it had looked just like this with both of them gathered around her, while I stood alone.

I didn't dwell on the faint arrogance and satisfaction in Elina's expression. I simply said, "I'm not hungry." Then, I turned to walk outside. Only then did Sebastian notice the large canvas bag slung over my shoulder, and something within him stirred.

"Faye, where are you going?"

There was a trace of unease in his voice as he stepped forward, blocking my path.

"To the convenience store at the edge of town," I answered plainly. "You're traveling far. You should at least bring some sandwiches for the road."

Leo curled his lip. "Mama, we're going to the airport to take a private jet. We don't need sandwiches from a convenience store."

He thought I was doing something unnecessary again, and I knew that full well. Heck, I was betting on it. After all, I wasn't really going to buy sandwiches.

On the other hand, Sebastian seemed relieved when he heard my answer. "Come back early."

"Okay."

As if.

I walked toward the road.

The misty conifer forests of North Arcton stretched out behind me, the morning breeze brushing past.

The mate bond deep in my chest twisted and tore at me with every step I took, but I didn't look back. I refused to turn even as the pain churned through my stomach.

They had their ancient estate to get to. As for me? Well, I had my own place to be, too.