In my past life, my mate rescued an orphan girl from the battlefield of the witch clan—and she gave me a pair of hairbands. From the moment I put them on, I felt drained of energy day after day. In the end, I contracted a filthy disease. My body rotted from the inside out, and I died. Only after death did I learn the truth: she had been the lowest-ranked prostitute of the witch clan. After their defeat, she had used her beauty to bewitch my mate. Once inside our Gem Pack, she performed a ritual exchange—trading bodies and destinies with me. My mate became obsessed with her body while he let me die in a filthy corner. After I died, they rolled me into a straw mat and threw me into a mass grave. Only one person came for me—a lowly slave with no wolf, someone I had once helped at a royal banquet. He snuck out of the palace in secret and buried me. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the moment she offered me those gem hairbands. She wanted my alpha bloodline? Fine. I would give her a body with no wolf. — “The Alpha has won a great victory. Surely he’ll be rewarded with a higher rank.” “Our Alpha returns triumphant. He truly is the pride of our pack.” The guests raised their glasses one after another, smiling toward my mate and me at the head table. “Alpha Harlan is so blessed—he was gone three months on campaign, and the two luna awaited him faithfully. How enviable!” Bella Vane had no formal status yet, but hearing herself called “luna” made her eyes gleam with barely restrained triumph. She glided to stand before me, her smile honeyed and sharp. “Sister, I know how faithfully you’ve prayed for the Alpha all these months. I made a special trip to the Temple of the Moon Goddess on your behalf and asked the Moon Goddess to bless you with peace. Here—she sent this through me.” She produced a wooden hairband. “If you wear it, Sister, I’m certain the Moon Goddess will grant the Alpha continued victory and a safe return.” In my past life, I had been overjoyed by my mate’s triumphant homecoming—and so moved by Bella’s gesture that I let her pin the band into my hair on the spot. What I never imagined was that this wooden gem hairband was cursed. The moment it touched my hair, it began swapping our bodies and destinies. First came the exhaustion—my spirit drained, my body aching in the most shameful places. I called healer after healer, and none could name my ailment. Meanwhile, Bella seemed to bloom overnight. She glowed. And night after night, she shared my mate’s bed. By the time I finally clawed my way back to consciousness, I was already rotting below. The stench clung to me like a second skin. Bella stood at my bedside, waving her hand delicately in front of her nose, coiled against my mate like a snake. “Oh my. It seems the luna has let herself be used and ruined—and caught herself a filthy disease.” Harlan’s expression darkened. “Lock this wretch in the dungeon. Anyone who brings her food or water gets beaten to death.” I tried to push myself upright, tried to speak—but no words came. I could only watch as Harlan turned and walked away without a second glance. I died in that dungeon. Until my last breath, I never understood how the mate who had once loved me so tenderly had become this cold, contemptuous stranger. Only after my soul drifted upward did I learn the truth: Bella had been an enemy spy, a woman sold to satisfy men, defeated in battle. She had seduced my mate with her body and slipped into our Gem Pack under false pretenses. She had been dying anyway. That gem hairband was her salvation—she used it to steal my identity and my fate. I raged. But as a soul, I was powerless against her. The music swelled around me. I blinked back to the present. Bella’s eyes flashed with cold venom for just an instant before her expression smoothed into something soft and sweet. She extended the gem hairbands toward me. “Let me put them on for you, Sister.”
I stepped aside quickly. She blinked, startled. Then the tears came—instant and perfect. “Sister, do you not like what I’ve brought you?” “I knelt before the Moon Goddess for forty-nine days to earn this blessing for you and the Alpha.” “I know you think I’m beneath you—just an orphan girl, and you’d naturally look down on anything I offer.” At those words, several lunas at the table immediately softened. “What a sincere gift. And yet you greet it with a cold face. Well, I suppose none of us will dare give you anything from now on.” “Rescued from the battlefield—what a kind-hearted girl. And here the luna makes her look like the villain.” … I had no choice but to force a smile and say I appreciated both the sentiment and the gift. My hair was already pinned with a comb, I explained. It would be awkward to swap things out now. Bella dabbed her eyes and looked at me with wounded dignity. “A humble gift, given with a full heart. My gem hairband may not compare to your jeweled comb, Sister—but I scraped my knees raw kneeling in prayer for it.” “I only ask that you try it on for a moment. It would suit you so beautifully.” It was clear she would not relent until I wore it. At that very moment, a slave with no wolf stepped into the hall, head bowed respectfully toward Harlan. “My lord Alpha, I come at the Luna Queen’s command to escort the Luna to the palace for a flower-viewing.” My heart lurched. It was little Finn—the one who had dug me out of the mass grave and given me a proper burial in my past life. Finn glanced at me with quiet concern. I seized the opportunity to excuse myself—but Bella surged forward and caught my arm. “Sister, let me put the gem hairbands on before you go to see the Luna Queen. It wouldn’t do to outshine her with that jeweled comb, would it?” She reached for my hair again. Then Finn spoke, his tone carefully neutral. “This young lady looks familiar. Weren’t there dancers brought from the northern territories last year? I believe I’ve seen her before.” Bella froze. Then she recovered quickly, her smile plastered back into place. “You must be mistaken. I am an orphan the Alpha rescued from the battlefield. I don’t dance.” Finn said nothing more. I took my chance. “Since the Luna Queen has summoned me, I’ll go at once.” I turned to Bella with a placid smile. “We can worry about the gem hairbands when I return, Sister.” I moved toward the door. Bella grabbed my sleeve. “Are you running from me, Sister? It only takes a moment to put on a hairband. How much time could it possibly waste?” Then she swayed—and crashed into Finn. “You—you dared touch me!” she shrieked, clutching her side, tears streaming down her face. The lunas at the table erupted. “In broad daylight—a worthless slave daring to lay hands on someone from the Alpha’s Gem Pack!” “A creature like that deserves to be beaten to death!” Bella wept with breathtaking beauty, her voice trembling. “I may be lowborn, but I am a clean and honest woman. To be violated like this—I’d rather die than endure it!” She lurched as if to throw herself against the stone pillar. Harlan shot to his feet and caught her, pulling her into his arms. Finn had gone chalk-white. He dropped to his knees. “I didn’t touch her! She lost her balance and nearly fell. I reached out to steady her—I never made contact!” Bella only wept harder. Harlan’s voice was ice. “Drag this slave out and give him fifty lashes, then send him to the punishment chamber.” I stepped forward quickly. “My lord, he was sent by the Luna Queen herself. If he is beaten—or worse—in our Gem Pack, how will we answer to her?” Bella choked out a sob and cut in. “Why is Sister defending an outsider? Unless…unless it was Sister he was touching, and Sister enjoyed it?” The malice in those words was razor-sharp. She was implying, openly, that Finn and I had something between us. Harlan’s gaze slid to me, and something cold and shadowed moved through it. I opened my mouth—but Finn spoke first, pressing his forehead to the floor. “My lord, I accept whatever punishment you see fit.” “I only ask that you spare my life, for the Luna Queen’s sake, so I may return and fulfill my duty.” Something clenched tight in my chest. If I pleaded for him, it would prove the accusation. Finn was protecting me. I was trembling with fury. My eyes fell on the wooden gem hairband still in Bella’s hand, and an idea took shape. She wanted to swap bodies and destinies with me. Then I would give her something very specific in return. I looked at Finn. I wondered if he would understand what I needed from him.
The dull thud of a lash came from the dungeon. In my past life, he had buried my body. In this life, he was taking my punishment. What could I do for him? Help him escape that broken body. Give him freedom. Just then, a maidservant hurried in to find me. “The slave with no wolf has lost consciousness. Do they continue?” My stomach dropped. “What does the Alpha say?” “The Alpha is with Miss Bella. He gave no order to stop.” No order to stop meant an order to kill. Bella wanted Finn silenced permanently. I spun toward the dungeon—but Bella’s voice stopped me cold. She appeared at the far end of the corridor, two maidservants trailing behind her. “If you go to him now, Sister, everything said at the table today becomes truth.” I laughed, sharp and hollow. “You’re right, Sister. What do I care whether that slave lives or dies?” I glanced at the gem hairbands in her hand. “About those gem hairbands, Sister—do you still want to put them on me?” Bella’s eyes lit up. She thrust the wooden band toward me. “You’ll wear it?” I took it from her, then let out a slow sigh. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother’s death. I’ll be going to the Temple of the Moon Goddess to pay my respects.” “If you truly mean what you say, Sister, come with me tomorrow. We’ll stand before the Moon Goddess together, and you can put the gem hairbands on me yourself—as a proper offering.” A flicker of suspicion crossed Bella’s face, but it drowned quickly in triumph. She probably thought I was afraid of the gossip and needed an excuse to save face. “Very well. I’ll go with you tomorrow.” She smiled exactly the way she had when she won, in my past life. I nodded, turned, and walked back inside. “Aren’t you going to the dungeon, Sister?” “No.” Finn had already lost consciousness. Going now would not save him. Pleading would only confirm what Bella had implied—and hand her exactly what she wanted. But I had another way. I went straight to my room and wrote a letter, pressing it into a trusted maidservant’s hands to be delivered to the palace in secret. The Luna Queen might not care much about the life of one lowly slave—but she cared a great deal about her dignity. Her own man had been beaten in another pack’s territory. Sooner or later, she would ask questions.
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