Reborn in the Ashes of My Rejected Mate Bond

That was the catalyst for the rift between Saul and my father.

It was also the beginning of his disdain for me.

He asked if I had known all along that my father would take that girl to witness everything firsthand.

I shook my head frantically, clumsily trying to explain, but he didn’t believe me.

He tossed the necklace I had given him into the fire pit with a dismissive flick of his wrist.

The flickering flames slowly devoured it, obscuring his face across from me.

"You’re a fool. How could you have chosen something like this?"

He scoffed, his gaze like icy blades scraping across my face.

"The Crawford family really thinks they can manipulate me like a puppet, don’t they?"

His dark eyes were filled with emotions I couldn’t decipher, more intense and terrifying than the flames in the fire pit.

I instinctively reached for his sleeve, pleading with him not to be angry, but Saul looked at me with disgust and shook me off, turning to leave.

The force sent me tumbling to the ground, scraping my hands.

The embers in the fire pit had died, leaving nothing but ash where the necklace had been. Beside it lay a silver pendant, blackened by the flames.

The necklace wasn’t something I could have crafted on my own.

But the silver pendant—that was my mother’s.

As my fingers traced the first crack on its surface, tears finally spilled down my cheeks.

Even my father had called me foolish in his rage, and my caretaker, Angela, had wept late at night, worrying about what would become of the "silly little girl."

I had thought Saul would never call me a fool.

After that, I only remember Saul becoming busier with pack affairs, rarely coming home for meals.

My father’s expression grew darker whenever Saul’s name came up.

Angela told me Saul was openly opposing my father in pack meetings, siding with the Lycan King to undermine him.

I didn’t understand the anger and worry in her voice, but I listened quietly, as I always did.

Late at night, I remembered Saul’s bitter laugh as he buried his face in my shoulder after too much drink.

"Eve Crawford, why don’t you just let me go?"

So when my father confronted Saul in front of the Lycan King, pressuring him to honor our mate bond, Saul’s face turned ashen, and the Lycan King looked torn.

I tugged at my father’s hand and shook my head. "Father, I don’t love him anymore."

Every Beta and Gamma in the hall heard it clearly.

On the long walk back, my father’s expression was stormy, his strides quick.

I struggled to keep up, my dress in my hands, but I still tripped and fell.

My father hurried to check my scrapes, but I grabbed his hand, shaking it gently, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"Father, don’t be angry."

"You’re such a fool!"

He gritted his teeth, pinching my cheek before carefully checking me over. Then he hoisted me onto his back.

"If you don’t hold onto Saul, who’s going to protect you when I’m gone?"

I covered his eyes with my hands, just like I used to as a child, and laughed.

"You’re not going anywhere."

He shook his head with a sigh, his voice thick and heavy in the cool autumn breeze.

"After raising him for so many years, how could I not care for him?"

I wiped his tears. "Then let’s let Saul go, okay?"

From that day on, Saul never returned to the pack house. It seemed he had already prepared for this.

Angela cursed him for his lack of gratitude, but I sipped my milk with a small smile. At least I’d secretly repaired the silver pendant and slipped it into his belongings.

A month later, my father took me to a pack run at the Silver Moon Sanctuary.

Beneath the oak trees, I met Sebastian Fox for the first time.

The spring scenery was soft and fresh, but he stood out in a bold crimson jacket, his dark hair tied back with a silver clasp, his waist cinched with a black belt adorned with silver accents. He looked confident and untamed.

When he saw me, his eyes lit up with appreciation.

Brushing a stray leaf from my hair, he leaned in, backing me against the tree.

He smiled and said, "Your scent is intoxicating."