Reborn, I refuse the bond to my mate

Yuri's gentle mask slipped, his eyes narrowing. "So, what? You're still hung up on Carson?"

His hand grazed my cheek, cold as the needle that drained me in my last life. "Xandra, Carson belongs to Willow. I won't let you come between them. You're bonding with me, period."

My body shook with rage. To them, my refusal was just some coy game, a ploy to bide my time and strike.

In my last life, Carson wasn't the only one obsessed with Willow. Yuri had a secret crush on her too, but since she only had eyes for Carson, he stayed in the shadows, protecting her, sacrificing everything for her. Including lowering himself to play me for three years. Poor wolf, must've been rough.

Fine. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I knew by heart, right in front of Yuri. "Hey, you said you'd bond to me anytime I was ready. Still mean it?"

The voice on the other end lit up with excitement. "Hell yeah, I mean it! Where you at, Xandra? I'm coming to you. Meet me at the County Clerk's Office in ten."

I agreed fast, leaving out one tiny detail: my condition for bonding with him was taking down the Stone family for good.

I hung up the phone, and Yuri smirked at me, his voice dripping with mockery. "Xandra, if you're gonna put on a show, at least make it convincing. How much did you pay for that call?"

"Real or not, once I'm bound, your precious Willow won't have to worry about me, right?" I shot back.

Yuri's face darkened, and I couldn't tell why. "So you'd rather shack up with some random wolf than bond to me?"

I shoved past him. "Move. You're blocking my way to the courthouse."

But Yuri grabbed my arm, hard. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then clamped it shut. Before I could figure out how to shake him off, the Stone family's butler rushed up.

"Yuri, Carson's passed out. Grace wants Xandra back at the house, now."

My heart skipped a beat. They just wouldn't quit, would they? I'd already told them I couldn't cure anyone.

Yuri didn't care that I was fighting him. He hoisted me over his shoulder and started walking. I thrashed, panic bringing tears to my eyes.

In my last life, Yuri was all smiles when I said yes to his proposal, setting off fireworks across the pack. After wearing me out in bed, he carried me like this, saying he'd draw me a bath-only to blindfold me and drag me to a freezing operating table.

"Quit squirming," Yuri snapped, smacking my backside. I sank my teeth into his back, tearing off a chunk of flesh.

He yelped, dropping me. We'd reached Carson's room. Grace wasn't there-just Willow, perched in Carson's lap, dressed in a flowing white dress.

Carson sneered at me. "What, disappointed I'm not dying? Guess you can't use your fake saint act to force me to bond to you now."

I took a deep breath, swallowing my rage. "Don't flatter yourself, Carson. I told you, I'm not bonding with you. I've got places to be."

But to them, my anger was worthless.