The King gave me a choice between a werewolf and a vampire as my mate.

I fell for the werewolf Damien at first sight and chose him without hesitation.

On our wedding day, Damien marked me in front of his entire pack, binding us as mates.

His childhood sweetheart Phoenix ran from the pack in fury, only to encounter hunters who brutally killed her.

When Damien arrived at the scene and saw Phoenix's mangled corpse, he said nothing.

He just carried her away and buried her with his own hands.

He continued playing the loving husband like nothing had happened.

But the moment he united the wolf packs, he drove a blade through my throat, his eyes filled with hatred.

"If it wasn't for your voice calming my pack during the full moon, why would I have been forced to marry you?"

"Phoenix wouldn't have run away heartbroken and gotten killed by hunters. Now I'm sending you to apologize to her!"

Pain tore through me, and when I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day the King made me choose a husband.

The two portraits lay before me. Damien on the left smiled with wild confidence.

But all I felt was bone-deep cold as the agony of that blade piercing my throat flooded back.

My face went pale as I quickly looked past him and pointed to the vampire.

"Your Majesty, I choose Caelan."

The King's voice held hesitation. "Bella, you're not choosing Damien?"

"Marriage is no game. Once you decide, there's no going back."

The King knew about my feelings for Damien, so my choice confused him.

But the rebirth was too bizarre to explain, so I just nodded firmly.

"I'll never regret this."

Seeing my resolve, the King stopped questioning and carefully put away Caelan's portrait.

"I'll send for the Shaman immediately. Tomorrow we'll hold the ceremony and announce your union with the vampire clan."

The Shaman came from the witch tribe, able to commune with heaven and earth. All inter-clan marriages required his blessing and divine approval.

I nodded, bowed to the King, and left.

Outside the palace, my personal maid Aria hurried over, winking at me.

"Holy Maiden, did you get what you wanted?"

I was about to shake my head when I saw Damien rushing toward us.

He stopped in front of me, his disgust unconcealed.

"Holy Maiden, I already have someone I love. I can't marry you."

I looked up in surprise. In my past life, when the Shaman announced our union, his eyes showed reluctance but he didn't refuse.

Now he couldn't even wait for the Shaman and was desperate to get rid of me.

Looks like Damien was reborn too.

Seeing my silence, Damien grew agitated.

"Bella, can you have some self-respect? I've made myself clear. You're not seriously going to force me to marry you, are you?"

I glanced at him mockingly. "What makes you so confident I'd choose you?"

"You can relax. I didn't pick you, so whoever you love is none of my business."

Damien's expression froze, then he frowned.

"How could you not choose me? Bella, stop being childish. Go back and tell the King to arrange another marriage. It'll be too late once the Shaman arrives."

I felt incredibly irritated. Thinking about how he'd played me for a fool in my past life, then repaid my kindness with murder, made my teeth itch with hatred.

I had no patience for his nonsense and just said, "Believe it or not," before walking away.

Aria puffed up indignantly on my behalf.

"Holy Maiden, Damien is so awful! You sent him treasures constantly, and he accepted everything."

"When you showed him affection, he never refused. He even flirted back sometimes."

"Now he suddenly says he loves someone else? He's just playing with your feelings!"

I laughed bitterly. Yeah, Damien had countless chances to reject me.

I wasn't the type to desperately cling. If he loved someone else, I would have backed off.

But he wanted my siren abilities, needed my voice to calm his pack during the full moon madness.

Yet he didn't want to betray his precious Phoenix.

How ridiculous. He needed my help but acted all high and mighty about it.

The wolf packs weren't united. The northern Snow Wolves had a new, vicious leader who'd been defeating Damien's clan repeatedly.

During full moons, all wolves became frenzied and lost their minds.

Damien used my voice to keep his pack calm, then launched surprise attacks on the Snow Wolves during the full moon, successfully uniting the wolf clans.

The moment he achieved unity, instead of thanking me for my crucial help, he chose to kill me to avenge his little sweetheart.

This time, I wanted to see how he'd defeat the Snow Wolves without my assistance.

Lost in thought, I was suddenly blocked by a woman.

She looked stubborn, her eyes red as she said, "Holy Maiden, Damien and I love each other. Please don't tear us apart."

I was forced to stop. People in the palace corridor paused to watch, whispering among themselves.

"What's happening? Is the Holy Maiden stealing someone's man?"

"I always said the Holy Maiden was spoiled and willful. You defended her, but now her true colors show!"