Chapter 7

FREN

“Now that is your problem, Fren.”

How dare that bitch speak to me like that?

Sage had always been my shadow—someone who stayed behind me, never daring to block my light. Since childhood, my mother had trained her to be nothing more than a submissive dog if she wanted to keep living as our father’s daughter. She never had any preferences of her own. She always accepted the cast-off things I blessed her with. Competing with me had never even crossed her mind—not in beauty, not in body, and certainly not in relationships.

But after marrying Rain, she had changed completely.

“That’s exactly why I told you to marry Alpha Rain yourself,” my mother snapped over the phone after I told her everything. “But you were stupidly stuck on that useless boyfriend of yours!”

It felt like she was rubbing salt into the wound.

I had pushed Sage into the marriage with Alpha Rain after hearing about his reputation. People said he was cold, emotionless, and had been forced into the arrangement. Some even claimed he was ugly, covered in scars from the wars, which was why he rarely showed his face. I had assumed the marriage would be abusive given his wild nature. Of course I hadn’t wanted to be tied to a man like that forever.

But the moment I saw him at the wedding standing next to Sage, I regretted everything.

“So what if she married Rain?!” I snapped back, my chest burning as I recalled the way Sage and he had smiled while sharing that sandwich. Ever since that day, he returned every evening just to drink the tea she made. The two of them would stay in the kitchen for a long time, talking. Whenever I walked in and tried to talk to Rain, he would have his all attention on Sage.

“Sage should just disappear like she always has now that Rain is MY soulmate! How dare she use her status as his wife to keep stealing his attention from me?!”

I swept everything off the table in a fit of rage.

“I always knew that girl was a snake—just like her dead mother,” my mother gritted out. “And now she dares to interfere with your mate bond with Alpha Rain? I’ll show her exactly where she belongs.”

I ended the call taking a deep breath to calm my rage. Rain was only mine!

The next day I made the herbal tea for Rain before Sage could.

“How is it?” I asked with a bright smile.

“Good,” he replied.

I smiled even wider and stole a glance at Sage, who sat across the dining table quietly eating an apple. The one thing Rain still needed her for was now gone. Happily, I began chatting with him,

“Rain, you remember that tomorrow my mom and dad are coming over for lunch, right?”

He raised a brow. “Why?”

“It’s tradition to invite your soulmate’s parents after finding your mate,” I said softly, letting a delicate blush color my cheeks. “And you’ve had me for over a month now. So I invited Mom and Dad. Please make some time tomorrow.”

He gave only a slight nod in response.

I smiled brightly and shifted my gaze to Sage, who was watching Rain.

I frowned secretly. Why wasn’t she leaving us alone?

“By the way, Sage,” I said with a sweet smile, “Mom said she’s been calling you, but you’re not picking up. Are you mad at her?”

As I spoke, I watched Rain’s attention shift toward her, exactly as I wanted—so he could see her true, ungrateful nature. Sage glanced at me and in a moment of distraction ended up injuring her finger with the knife.

“Don’t be mad, okay? Mom just loves you so much. She cares about you even more than she cares about me.”

“Really?” Sage gasped softly.

My smile faltered.

The next moment, she pulled out her phone and dialed our mother’s number. The second the call connected, Sage put it on speaker.

“YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE MY CALLS?!”

Horror flooded me.

No… why did she put it on speaker?

Rain’s expression turned ice-cold in an instant.

“Mom, sorry for the late reply,” Sage said innocently. “Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Why the hell is a whore like you getting between Fren and Alpha Rain?!” my mother shouted.

I noticed a faint, cold smile playing on Sage’s lips. Meanwhile, Rain’s face had grown dangerously dark.

“You are no one to him! They are soulmates—”

Before she could say another word, I lunged forward and snatched the phone.

“Mom, why are you talking about Sage like that?” I said into the phone, forcing an innocent tone. “It’s not like Sage doesn’t feel awkward between Rain and me, but don’t blame her. I know you care about both of us.”

“Calling me a whore is truly motherly love, Fren,” Sage said suddenly.

My heart lurched.

This bitch. Why was she saying that in front of Rain? She had always hidden it before—why now?

“I’ve grown up hearing it,” she continued calmly, “so tell Mom I don’t mind.”

Then she slowly stood up.

“Also… I don’t feel strange no matter who comes between Rain and me.”

Her eyes locked with his as she placed the plate of sliced apples in front of him.

“I trust him.”

Rain’s expression shifted into something softer under her gaze. The way their eyes held each other made my stomach twist with hatred. I clenched the phone tightly as I noticed the faint flush at the tips of his ears.

Sage left upstairs but Rain’s cold eyes came to me, “Only invite your father over. If you want to meet your mother, then you can go to your house for that,” he got up to leave.

“But Rain…” he did not stop and left upstairs.

I clenched my fists. “This bitch…almost ruined everything for me,”

SAGE

After washing the blood from my hand, I sat on the bed with a first-aid kit and tried to bandage the cut myself. Before I could finish, a larger hand reached out and took the bandage from me.

I looked up to find Rain sitting beside me on the bed. He carefully took my injured hand into his.

“Rain.”

I clearly hadn’t expected him to follow me into the room.

“Your stepmother always calls you by those names?” he asked quietly.

“Yes.” I didn’t bother hiding it. I had already died once. Keeping secrets had never done me any favors.

“And what about your father?” He began wrapping the bandage neatly around my finger.

“He doesn’t call me names. He simply never acknowledges my existence. But he was happy when I married you.”

He locked eyes with me as he finished securing the bandage. “So you married me to make him happy?”

His voice was low.

I nodded. “Yes.”

His gaze dropped to my lips. “And now? Are you staying with me… taking care of me… smiling… trying to get to know me… only to make him happy?”

His warm breath brushed against my face as he searched my eyes.

“I stopped trying to make other people happy the moment I became your wife in that aisle,” I said, placing my hand against his chest. “In this life, I may not be your soulmate. I may not be your special person. But I’m not giving up on you, Rain.”

His wolf flared sharply in his eyes at my words.

He drew in a deep breath—

—and the next thing I knew, he crushed his lips against mine.

His mouth claimed mine with raw hunger, lips parting mine roughly as his tongue pushed inside. I gasped, and he took full advantage, deepening the kiss until I could barely breathe. One of his hands slid into my hair, gripping tightly, while the other pressed against the small of my back, forcing my body flush against his solid chest.

I could feel how hard he already was.

A low growl rumbled from his throat as he tilted my head and kissed me even deeper, tasting me like he had been starving for it. My fingers curled into his shirt. Heat flooded my body. Every stroke of his tongue sent sparks down my spine. He bit my lower lip, then soothed it with another searing kiss, refusing to let me go.

His breathing grew heavy and he laid me on the bed never breaking the kiss as his hand slid inside my dress. I closed my eyes and kissed him back with equal passion. His hand slid along my inner thigh, fingers trailing higher, about to touch me where I ached most—

“Rain!”

Fren’s voice shattered the moment.

“Rain, where are you?”

She was knocking on his bedroom door, but I knew she was doing it deliberately. She was fully aware he was in my room behind the closed door.

Rain pulled away from me. For a long moment he simply looked at me, eyes still dark with heat, before he stood and left without a word.

I held my breath and pressed a hand against my racing heart.

It wasn’t as if I were a virgin. But in my previous life, he had never once touched me. So the feeling of his hand between my legs just now…

I couldn’t finish the thought.

I only clenched my thighs tightly together, trying to suppress the sharp desire he had left behind.

The next day my father arrived for lunch—but he was not alone.

He had brought Rain’s father with him.

In my previous life, only my father had come. This change meant one thing: Fren had interfered again.

The way she smiled at our father made it obvious. Especially when the conversation slowly shifted to focus solely on Rain and Fren.

“I never expected my younger daughter to be Alpha Rain’s soulmate,” my father said with forced warmth. “The Goddess truly has good judgment, pairing an Alpha like Rain with my innocent daughter.”

He turned to Rain and added, almost hesitantly, “She is rather naive when it comes to… matters of the bed, Alpha Rain. Please take good care of her.”

Fren blushed deeply and looked down in practiced shyness.

Rain, however, stared at my father with a completely emotionless expression—as if he could sense something about the man that he despised to his core.

Rain’s father’s expression, on the other hand, had grown serious. Whatever other intentions he may have had when arranging Rain’s marriage to me, now that Fren was the confirmed soulmate, his priorities had clearly shifted.

“Of course,” Rain’s father said proudly. “Our bloodline has always produced a son from the soulmate. Rain is well aware of this.” He paused, then added, “His rut is also approaching. We may receive good news as early as next month.”

Fren glanced at me with a secret, satisfied smile.

But my eyes immediately found Rain’s—and he was already looking at me.

He might have been able to ignore Fren’s heat, but ignoring his own rut would be impossible. Especially when his wolf would crave only his mate.

At that moment I understood.

My father had come to build a bridge for Fren, just as he had in the past.

The only difference this time was the method.