After Hearing Their Thoughts, I Chose My Rival as My Mate Chapter 03

After Hearing Their Thoughts, I Chose My Rival as My Mate Chapter 03

How could I describe how moved I was in that moment?

Before Rowan spoke, I had nearly burst into tears.

Why was I still so far from them when I had already done enough?

When I was a child, everyone had said Aveline was the princess Silvercrest Pack should have cherished and protected above all others.

Before Mother gave birth to me, she survived an assassination attempt in the pack palace. The shock forced her into premature labor.

When I was born, my cries were so weak they were almost inaudible.

Back then, she had loved me too. I heard from the attendants that she once held me through entire nights, soothing me to sleep and refusing to let even my father take over.

Later, her closest friend died at the border, leaving behind a daughter still wrapped in swaddling clothes.

That girl was Serena.

Out of loyalty to her old friend, Mother gave all her tenderness to Serena.

She personally taught Serena etiquette and how to become a poised princess.

I, meanwhile, was left to be raised by servants.

I had a wild temperament. With no one to discipline me, I played as recklessly as I pleased. I also kept clinging to Father and begging him to practice swordsmanship with me. Over time, I became the eldest pack princess everyone said was the least like a princess.

To fight for Mother’s attention, I secretly competed with Serena.

But every time Serena cried, Mother’s gaze toward me grew a little colder.

Later, when I grew older, I learned to rein in my temper. I learned to greet her in the proper way she liked.

But she did not even look at me. She only reached out to catch Serena, who ran laughing into her arms, and coaxed her softly, “Slow down. What if you fall?”

Only then did I realize that what she disliked was not my behavior.

It was me.

So no matter what I became, I would never earn even a shred of her patience.

But now that she was truly condemning me in front of everyone, my heart still hurt.

Then I heard Rowan’s voice.

“She is the most decisive and resilient woman in this pack.”

The great hall went silent in an instant. Everyone froze.

No one had expected those words to come from my longtime rival.

Mother was the first to recover and said stubbornly, “The political mate alliance was always her responsibility as the eldest pack princess. If she truly had that sense of duty, why hold a Mate Selection Ceremony at all?”

“The old Alpha of Bloodfang Pack may be older, but a powerful Alpha knows how to protect his mate. Aveline would not exactly be wronged by going to him.”

Then she looked at Rowan, her gaze dropping to his legs.

“These two were the men I originally had in mind for Serena. Since Aveline refuses the political mate alliance, letting her seal the mate bond with a crippled failure like you is fitting enough.”

The words were so ugly that even my usually gentle father went completely cold.

Rowan’s ruined legs were a mark of honor. If he had not held the northern border, if he and his parents had not given everything for Silvercrest Pack, everyone standing here enjoying peace today would have already become Bloodfang Pack’s captives.

I was furious enough to rush forward and argue, but then I saw him lower his head deeply, burying himself in shadow.

[Forget it. She’s right.]

[A useless man like me would only drag Aveline down for the rest of her life.]

I looked at him sharply.

The Rowan I once knew had been better than me at everything.

But the prouder a person was, the harder it was for him to endure becoming what he was now.

His face showed no emotion, but inside, he had already torn himself down completely.

Mother thought she had struck the truth, and a trace of satisfaction even appeared in her eyes.

Suddenly, I laughed.

“Fine.”

Everyone’s gaze fell on me.

I walked up to my father, lifted my head to look at him, and said firmly,

“Father, I choose Rowan Blackthorne as my mate.”