Reborn, I Refuse to Be My Fated Mate’s Substitute

The moment I realized I had been reborn, my fiancé—Alpha Noah—was waiting for me in the Pack’s main hall for our marking ceremony.

Instead of going to him, I walked downstairs and sat on the old swing in the courtyard. I watched the sky above me, blue and white clouds drifting slowly across the bright horizon. The sun was warm on my skin.

For a moment, everything felt peaceful. Until my mother came outside and spotted me still lingering there.

She hurried over, frowning slightly.

“Mia, aren’t you supposed to be having your marking ceremony with Noah today? Why are you still sitting here?”

I stood and wrapped my arms around her, pressing my cheek against her chest like I used to when I was a child.

“Mom… I had a nightmare last night,” I murmured. “I woke up, but I’m still scared.”

She gently rubbed my hair, her voice soft with comfort. “That was just a dream. You’re about to marry Noah, after all. Such a perfect mate—what could you possibly be worried about?”

I lowered my head, hiding my expression.

“Maybe you’re right,” I said quietly. “I’ll go later. Noah won’t blame me.”

Marry Noah? Not in this lifetime.

In my previous life, Noah and I had just completed our marking ceremony when the Pack held a grand bonfire banquet.

That was when he ran into a girl—Ann. She was an Omega working as a server at the banquet.

For the rest of the night, Noah said almost nothing. I thought he was simply following the good man code.

Only when I was dying did I finally learn the truth. That single collision had allowed Noah to discover his fated mate.

His silence that night hadn’t been husbandly duties. It had been regret.

Regret that he hadn’t postponed the marking ceremony with me by even a single day.

After that night, Noah became distant toward me. Whenever my wolf grew restless during the full moon, he rarely comforted me.

Instead, he would sit alone in the great hall of our residence, staring out at the courtyard where the banquet had been held.

I asked him why. He never answered. Sometimes he changed the subject. Sometimes he simply stayed silent. Eventually, with Pack affairs piling up, I stopped asking.

I told myself that when he figured things out, he would talk to me.

Soon after, as the Luna of Black Moon Pack, I was assigned to the northern frontier to help control newly awakened wolf pups whose powers had gone out of control.

Meanwhile, Noah—Alpha of Black Moon Pack—was sent west to lead negotiations with the Western Alliance.

It was the first time we had been separated.

I thought it would only last six months at most.

But after that, every new assignment placed us in different territories.

I handled rogue wolves in frozen wastelands. He oversaw resource restructuring in the southern territories.

When I was summoned to the capital for alliance meetings, he was “coincidentally” assigned to border patrol.

I brought it up to him once.

“The Pack has no rule saying an Alpha and Luna must carry out missions separately.”

He replied calmly, “We follow the King Alpha’s arrangements.”

His tone was cold, professional. Like he was speaking to a subordinate.

Then one day, after returning to the Black Moon main hall to report, I overheard several elders chatting outside the council chamber.

“Noah has been very careful these years,” one elder said with a chuckle. “He always volunteers to avoid being stationed in the same place as Mia.”

“He says the witches predicted unstable bloodlines—claims two powerful wolves in the same territory might affect Black Moon’s fortune.”

Another elder snorted. “Witch prophecies? Please. That’s clearly his own request.”

That was the moment I realized the truth. Except for the very first assignment, which had indeed come from the King Alpha.

Every separation afterward had been requested by Noah himself. He had personally arranged for us to live apart.

When I confronted him that night, our argument was fierce.

“What are you avoiding me for?” I demanded.

He stayed silent for a long time. Finally, he said quietly, “Some things… are better if you don’t know.”

Later that night, he held me and apologized. But he still refused to explain.

From that day forward, the mate bond between us slowly faded.

When morning came, he left the main hall.

Usually when an Alpha traveled, he would leave behind a trace of his spiritual imprint for his mate.

But that day— He left nothing.

That was when I realized something terrifying. Our marriage might truly be over.

But fate rarely gives warning before it strikes.

Because right then—

I found out I was pregnant.