Chapter 1

• Aurora’s POV
• “Aurora, listen up. You have to marry Ethan Green.”
• “Aurora, if you ever get a chance to break free from Ginder Pack, you better grab it with both hands!”
• Luna Rebecca’s cold voice collided violently with my mother’s anxious warnings echoing in my mind. I gripped my phone so tightly my knuckles turned white. On the other end, Luna Rebecca grew more impatient with my silence, her tone sharp enough to cut.
• “The Green Pack is our most important ally. Their eldest son needs a bride now. This is your duty and your honor,” she insisted, every word tightening around my neck like a heavy chain.
• When I was eight, my parents, who served as loyal Betas to the Alpha, died in a suspicious clan conflict while protecting Alpha Tom of the Ginder Pack.
• As an orphan, I should have been sent to Angle Orphanage, the institution created for the children of fallen warriors. But Alpha Tom, wanting to reward my parents’ bravery and loyalty, took me into his own home, sparing me from the hardships of orphanage life.
• On the surface, it looked like a blessing: elite education beside the Alpha’s children, no worries about food or clothing. But in reality, I was trapped in a more polished form of torment.
• Josephen Ginder, the true princess of the Pack, wore her natural superiority and her hatred for me, the “outsider,” with pride. With her entourage of eager followers, she bullied me for more than ten years. This house was nothing more than an elegant prison.
• Now, I finally had a chance to escape. My mother’s words kept ringing in my ears as I planned how to use this opportunity to leave Ginder Pack once and for all.
• “Luna Rebecca,” I said, forcing down the storm rising inside me and trying to keep my voice steady, even though my nails dug deep into my palm, “I heard that the Green Pack’s eldest son, Ethan, was poisoned by wolf venom and is still unconscious. And you still expect me to marry him, right?”
• Sunlight poured through the windows, filling the living room with brightness, but it could not melt the cold dread building inside my chest.
• “If not for that, do you really think someone like you would have any chance of marrying into an Alpha family?” Luna Rebecca snapped, her tone laced with the usual guilt-tripping phrase about how the Pack had “raised” me. The words landed like blows.
• “Listen, Aurora. This is your chance to repay the Pack. Don’t be ungrateful.”
• I took a slow breath and cut straight to the point. “I just want to know the truth. Am I basically getting married in Josephen’s place? Does the Green Pack even know which daughter from Ginder Pack they are marrying?”
• A heavy silence filled the line. When Luna Rebecca finally spoke, her voice was coated with a forced gentleness. “Aurora, the witches of the Green Pack predicted that a bride from Ginder Pack might be able to wake Ethan. Josephen… her constitution is too fragile. She cannot handle that kind of pressure. You are stronger than she is and better suited to face whatever may come. This is the best choice for Green Pack, for Ethan, and for you.”
• “Fine.” I cut her off, my voice sharper than I expected even from myself.
• “I’ll marry him. I’ll take Josephen’s place and marry the comatose Ethan Green.”
• “…What did you say? You agreed?” Luna Rebecca sounded stunned, as though she never imagined I would accept. Her voice rose with disbelief and urgency.
• “Aurora, are you serious? Once you agree, you cannot back out. This will wipe away every debt the Ginder Pack owes you. In one month, Green Pack will send someone to collect you for the ceremony. If you dare come back early… then you had better watch your back.”
• The moment she finished, the call cut abruptly, leaving only the harsh beep of disconnection.
• I slowly lowered the phone, my chest tight with unease. Seventeen years ago, my mother’s final warning echoed in my memory. “Aurora, promise me you will live well. If you ever get a chance to break free from Ginder Pack, take it. But wait for the right moment. You are still too weak. Don’t let yourself become a helpless rogue.”
• I had been only eight, too weak and too naïve to understand the meaning behind her tears. The next day, both of my parents died on the battlefield.
• Over these seventeen years, I have pieced together the truth behind her desperate warning. Josephen Ginder was born under a cruel curse. Since she turned eight, she has suffered from constant illness. Rumor has it that if the curse remains, she will not live past twenty-five.
• Luna Rebecca sought out witches to break the curse, but the price was horrifying. They needed a girl born on the exact same year, month, and day as Josephen. Through ancient witchcraft, that girl would become her “substitute,” carrying the curse’s suffering in her place.
• My hand drifted to my wrist, where a black, tattoo-like mark curled around my skin like some twisted artwork. It looked striking, but it had been the source of my unexplained pain and constant misfortune for years.
• This year, we will all turn twenty-five. Josephen’s healthy life has been built on my suffering. And now, marrying the unconscious Ethan Green feels like the final curse I must face, the last mission this “stand-in” version of me must carry out for her.
• “Nana, do you think this is my fate? Why did I have to receive this call today?” I whispered to myself.
• My gaze drifted to my phone just as a new Facebook post from Grace appeared on the screen. A series of warm, happy wedding photos filled my feed. Grace stood in a pure white wedding dress, leaning sweetly against the shoulder of a handsome young man in a tuxedo.
• Grace Quain was John’s first love. She left the country four years ago, returned last year, and somehow ended up living right here with us. And that man in the picture? That was my mate, John Palmer.
• John Palmer, since you chose another she-wolf, I no longer need any other reason to end things with you.