After Rebirth, I Chose the Bastard

Back in my room, I went to the most hidden drawer and pulled out an old iron box. Inside was a protective amulet that smelled of mint. On it was the Alpha insignia of the Stormfang Pack.

When I was ten, I was small for my age and the other pups used to bully me. One freezing winter, one of them shoved me into a frozen lake.

I struggled and screamed for help, but no one came.

Just as the icy water was starting to pull me under and I was losing consciousness, a small boy risked his life to save me. All I saw was a blurry figure before I blacked out. When I woke up, the only thing beside me was this amulet.

I recognized the pack's insignia. And at the time, Kay was the only young heir to the Stormfang Pack that anyone knew about, so I just assumed it was him who had rescued me. From that moment on, I was completely smitten with him.

But in my last life, I gave him everything and ended up dying a horrible death.

Now that I've been given a second chance, I have more important things to do.

When Kay and Lia found me, I was in the study, studying the pack's defense maps.

There was a weakness in the southern forest's defenses. In my past life, that's where the opposing rogues had breached our perimeter, catching our warriors completely by surprise and leading to heavy casualties.

Since I knew about it this time around, I had to prepare.

The moment he saw me, Kay started talking. "Lia is too good. She's afraid you've misunderstood things between us, so she asked me to come explain."

After saying that, he pulled a moonstone ring from his pocket and shoved it into my hand. "This is for you."

I ignored them, keeping my focus on my work.

As I was marking the map, Lia reached out to touch my arm.

"Sister, there's really nothing between me and Kay," she said softly. "He only took me to the hunting grounds because I've never been hunting before. Please don't misunderstand. The Alpha was just trying to be kind to a poor omega like me. He went through so much trouble to find this moonstone for you. He still cares about you, you know."

After speaking, she pretended to look pitiful and reached out to touch my hand. Ink from her finger dripped onto the valuable defense map.

Annoyed, I shook off her hand, wanting her to stop messing up my markings.

In the struggle, I noticed the sapphire healing bracelet on her wrist—the Stormfang family heirloom and symbol of the Luna, possessing top-tier healing capabilities.

In my past life, I had risked my life three times to save Kay before the Stormfang Pack elders finally passed this bracelet down to me. And now it was so casually worn on Lia's wrist.

Kay noticed where my gaze had fallen and frowned.

"This is for Lia," he said firmly. "She's an Omega, her health is fragile. This stone is for her protection. Don't read too much into it."

I said nothing. Lia's eyes reddened again.

"Sister, Kay just worries about me..."

"I'm sorry, sister," she said with feigned regret. "If you don't want me to wear this bracelet, I'll take it off."

But while her words were apologetic, her body remained perfectly still.

Kay gently took her hand in his, shooting me a pointed glance.

"Don't be so hard on Lia."

I didn't respond, simply trying to move away to find a quiet spot to continue marking the defense map.

Sensing my cold demeanor, Kay should have realized something was wrong, but he confidently dismissed it as just another attention-seeking tactic.

He grabbed my arm as I tried to leave and pulled a moonstone ring from his pocket, pressing it into my hand.

"Enough with these games," he said sternly. "You're about to become my Luna—even if only in name—so you're making me look bad when you act like this."

I looked at him calmly. "So who's your true mate? Lia?"

My question struck a nerve, and his expression turned a mix of anger and pride.

"You'd better watch your mouth," he warned. "Lia's nothing like you. She's kind and pure-hearted, not like some tramp who'll go with anyone."

"If you dare cause trouble for her or try to expose this, you'll become a laughingstock for the entire pack at our binding ceremony!"

Hearing this, I almost laughed out loud.

He wanted me to be his mate to help him fully control Stormfang Pack, yet he couldn't let go of his feelings for Lia.

So he kept provoking and threatening me, trying to force me to accept this arrangement.

I ignored him and turned to leave.

As I did, Lia pretended to stop me and lunged forward. Her sharp nails instantly tore the scroll in my hand.

The defense map I had worked so hard to annotate was ruined.

Before I could say anything, Lia hid behind Kay with tearful eyes. "I'm sorry, sister... I didn't mean to..."

"You frightened her," Kay frowned, though not at Lia. "The map can be redrawn. Lia didn't do it on purpose," he said dismissively, holding her close.

I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug into my palms.

In that moment, the truth became crystal clear: Kay didn't not see Lia's schemes—he simply didn't care. My sacrifices and frustrations meant nothing compared to a single tear from Lia.

Without another glance at the two of them, I turned and left.

A short while later, I received a provocative text from Lia. In the photo, the moonstone on her wrist glowed brilliantly in the dark.

I recognized that rare moonstone—the one that had been auctioned off for an astronomical price not long ago.

So the mysterious bidder had been Kay after all.

I remembered the ordinary moonstone Kay had given me earlier and took it out to examine it closely.

Sure enough, it was just a freebie the seller had thrown in when purchasing that rare piece.

Regardless of past or present lives, I have always been the one who was not valued.