A Healer's Final Rejection

My Alpha mate Jonas's childhood friend, Cassia, was a prophet.

She peddled prophecies that my wolf would corrupt his, using curses and other schemes to sabotage our bond. But each time, Jonas would let her off the hook, insisting she "just cared too much about him."

Her sabotage reached its peak when she fed him an aphrodisiac and left her scent on his body. Then, while I was at my most vulnerable—enduring the agony of our bonding ceremony—she convinced Jonas to sever our mate bond.

I died with all my hope shattered.

But when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of our bonding ceremony—just in time to see her about to lace our ceremonial wine goblets with "Corrosive Silver" powder.

This time, I decided I would no longer hold back.

"I think you're the one who needs purifying!" I snarled, flinging the wine in her face before the entire assembly.

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1

My eyes snapped open the moment the Moon Goddess granted me a second chance.

"Miss Calloway, are you alright? You must be exhausted—you drifted off for a moment there."

The makeup artist gently dusted a brush across my cheek.

I shook my head, my throat too tight to speak.

The bonding ceremony was about to begin.

Just as the officiant was about to announce the exchange of ceremonial goblets, I caught sight of a figure slipping in through a side door.

Cassia Valerius. My Alpha mate Jonas's childhood friend, the so-called prophet.

She was dressed in a sommelier's uniform, her head bowed as she carried a tray draped with a velvet cloth.

My heart sank. Memories of my past life surged back with nauseating clarity.

The spiteful curse on our anniversary.

The defilement charm left on the doorstep of our new home.

And the image of him, drugged, with her scent marking his chest.

My gaze narrowed, turning to ice.

She glided toward the officiant, her smile sickeningly sweet. "The goblets require a final purification. Allow me."

The unsuspecting officiant handed her the pair of ornate crystal goblets.

I strode toward her and slapped my hand down over hers on the tray. "That won't be necessary."

Cassia glanced up, her eyes wide with practiced innocence. "I was just helping to purify them—"

"I said," I repeated, my voice low and cold, "that won't be necessary."

The next second, I snatched the goblets and, in front of everyone, channeled my Spirit Healer's perception into them.

An ominous silver shimmer pulsed from within the goblets—Corrosive Silver, a vicious powder designed to poison a werewolf's inner wolf.

The entire hall erupted in an uproar.

Jonas strode over, his brow furrowed. "What's going on here?"

I held up a goblet, my eyes locked on Cassia. My voice was quiet, yet each word dripped with ice. "Cassia Valerius, care to explain?"

The mask of innocence shattered, replaced by a look of pure, theatrical grievance. Her eyes welled with tears as her voice trembled. "I just… my foresight warned me the goblets were tainted. I was afraid it would harm the Alpha… I only wanted to help…"

Tears streamed down her face as she gazed at Jonas with those pitiful, pleading eyes.

Jonas let out a long-suffering sigh, a familiar note of resignation in his voice. "She's just overprotective, Rowan. Don't hold it against her."

I had to fight the urge to scoff. The same damn words. It was always the same excuse in my past life, his go-to line for every one of her transgressions.

I smiled, then lifted the tainted goblet and, before the stunned crowd, flung the wine straight into Cassia's face.

"If they're so tainted," I said, my voice ringing through the hall, "then I think you're the one who needs purifying."

A dead silence fell over the hall.

Cassia froze, tear tracks stark against her skin as the red wine dripped from her chin.

Jonas's face was a thundercloud. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

I looked him straight in the eye. My voice wasn't loud, but it carried through the cavernous hall. "Jonas, your childhood friend put Corrosive Silver in our ceremonial goblets. At our bonding ceremony. And instead of asking her why, you're asking me what I'm doing?"

Jonas was speechless.

I turned my smile on Cassia. "Cassia, you claim I'm jealous of your foresight. Why don't you tell everyone—how did you 'foresee' that business negotiation and then have me give Jonas the wrong information?"

At this, the guests began to whisper. "That's terrifying. Does she really use black magic?"

"I heard she deliberately leaked information and made the Sterling Pack lose a huge deal."

As the whispers grew, the blood drained from Cassia's face.

The crowd's murmuring made Jonas uneasy. He rushed to my side, trying to smooth things over. "Rowan, Cassia was just... being dramatic. Let's continue the ceremony, shall we?"

In my past life, heartbroken by the scent of Cassia's treacherous perfume on him, I would have ignored this farce and numbly completed the ceremony.

But this time, I saw the flicker of guilt in his eyes.

I shook off his hand. "There's no need. We aren't right for each other. I reject this union."