The Alpha's Debt, My Second Life

My fated mate, Corbin, fell in love with his assistant, Aria, and insisted on severing our mate bond.

To preserve the alliance between our powerful packs, I gave him some practical advice.

"She's just a low-ranking Omega. She can't help you become the Alpha of the Sterling Ridge pack. You'd be better off providing for her outside the territory for now."

Humiliated and furious, the she-wolf named Aria publicly crashed the Moon Goddess Festival, staging the self-destruction of her inner wolf.

Five years later, the first thing Corbin did after becoming Alpha was wage war against me. He annexed my Vance pack's businesses, drove my father to his death, and destroyed my home.

"This is for what you owe Aria," he snarled.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to my twenty-second Laurel Festival.

Corbin's grandfather, Alaric, the current Alpha of the Sterling Ridge pack, asked me what my wish was.

"I wish for Corbin and Aria Frost to be together forever. May the Moon Goddess bless them."

I bowed slightly.

"Please, Alpha Alaric, grant my wish. Allow me to sever the mate bond with Corbin."

————————

1

I died on a rainy night.

I should have lived to see the autumn leaves on the Holy Mountain, but Corbin couldn't wait.

I tumbled down the sacred steps, one by one, a silver dagger twisting in my heart as blood pooled beneath me.

As if that wasn't enough, he ripped the purification-runed dagger out, only to drive it back in.

The agony nearly choked the words from me, but I managed to gasp, "Why?"

I didn't understand.

Our two packs had been allies for generations. We grew up together, designated by the Moon Goddess as fated mates.

For over a decade, my Vance pack had poured resources into helping Corbin secure his footing within the Sterling Ridge pack, ensuring his position as heir.

In return, he lured my father into a trap, annexed my family's businesses, and drove him to suicide.

"Why, Corbin?" I rasped, desperately clutching his sleeve.

His face was terrifyingly pale. He was the one who had destroyed my pack, yet he glared at me as if I were the one who had betrayed him.

"This is for what you owe Aria," he hissed through clenched teeth.

Aria?

Aria Frost?

The name sounded so distant it took me a moment to place it.

And with it, I remembered the innocent, delicate face behind the name.

I couldn't help but laugh, a broken, rattling sound.

Five years.

For five whole years, Corbin had never forgotten her.

He blamed her death on me and the entire Vance pack.

"Corbin, you really are..."

...a fool.

Before I could spit out the last word, his hand closed around my throat.

The air was squeezed from my lungs, bit by bit.

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

The color was a perfect match for the autumn leaves blanketing the mountain.

...

"Layla, another headache from your second sight?"

The cold rain vanished.

The hard stone steps beneath me were gone.

It was a perfect autumn day, the celebration hall bustling with guests.

This was my twenty-second Laurel Festival, the very ceremony where my bond with Corbin was to be formalized.

Perhaps the Moon Goddess had finally taken pity on me. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn.

Not only was I alive, but I had returned to the age of twenty-two.

In that year, the Vance pack was at the height of its power. My father was one of the most powerful Alphas in the region.

And my mate bond with Corbin had not yet been publicly recognized.

"You shouldn't have a headache," a voice behind me sneered. "Corbin just went public on social media yesterday. His Omega assistant is his new flame."

My best friend, Kiera, turned to confront him, but I stopped her.

It wasn't just an admission.

Three months ago, while patrolling the territory, Corbin was drugged with wolfsbane by a rival pack. She helped him survive the resulting fever.

That night, Corbin decided she was his true love. He wanted to mark her, to make her his.

Including yesterday, this was the third time the pack's trackers had photographed them being intimate in Moonsong Park.

"Layla, don't believe that gossip. You and Corbin grew up together, all those years of affection..."

I looked at my best friend and shook my head.

She fell silent.

Of course, I knew what she wanted to say.

I had woken up in the pack's territory a week ago.

A week was enough time for me to sort through everything that had happened in the five years before my death.

"Layla," Kiera suddenly prompted, "Corbin's here."

...

I looked up and saw Corbin striding toward me, surrounded by a crowd.

The murmurs around us immediately died down.

Corbin and I grew up together.

We were fated mates. Our union had been arranged by our Alphas when we were five.

If any other pup bullied me, he was always the first to bare his fangs to protect me.

If he was punished, I was always the first to plead with the old Alpha on his behalf.

Until this moment, no one had ever doubted that I was Corbin's true love.

And yet, he brought another woman to my celebration.

Aria was slender and fragile, like a pale, delicate flower, clinging tightly to his side.

Corbin smiled and bent down, whispering something in her ear. His Alpha scent made her legs go weak.

Aria turned to me, a flash of panic on her face. Then, she hurried forward.

She sank to one knee before me, executing a deeply submissive bow and exposing her vulnerable neck in a gesture of complete surrender.