I Rejected My Alpha Mate After Rebirth Chapter 09

I Rejected My Alpha Mate After Rebirth Chapter 09

By the time Landon found me again, the silk floss trees in 

the Eastern Territory were blooming brilliantly red. 

He stood downstairs outside the training camp dormitories, 

his uniform wrinkled beyond recognition, a wilted bouquet of 

sunflowers clutched in his arms. 

Three months apart had hollowed him out. 

His cheekbones were sharp now. Dark circles shadowed his 

eyes. Wildness burned inside the wolf staring back at me. 

“Nora…” His voice came out rough and broken. “I’m sorry. I 

came too late. It took forever to get approval for the 

transfer.” 

I sat in my wheelchair while the ball of yarn in my lap rolled 

onto the ground. 

Landon immediately crouched to pick it up, moving too fast. 

and slamming his knee hard against the concrete. 

Something twisted painfully in my chest when I saw how 

ruined he looked. 

He reached toward the knees hidden beneath my blanket, 

but stopped halfway. 

“Do your legs still hurt?” 

I shook my head softly. 

“They’re better. Ethan found a healer for me here.” Then I 

paused. “How’s Layla?” 

His throat bobbed. 

Slowly, he pulled out a letter from inside his jacket. 

“Nora… Layla and I are innocent. I asked her to write 

everything down. To explain…” 

“Landon.” I interrupted him gently. “You don’t need to.” 

I looked at him quietly. 

“More than anyone, I know you never loved me. Don’t ruin your future with Layla because of guilt. She’s a good girl. I hope you two are happy.” 

A flower petal drifted onto his shoulder. 

Instinctively, I reached out to brush it away before stopping myself. 

His eyes were bloodshot. 

“There’s no future for us anymore,” I whispered. “But you and Layla still have one.” 

Landon shook his head violently, his voice choking apart. 

“No. No, that’s not true.” Tears filled his eyes. “That day… when you asked me if I would’ve saved Layla first if it had been her in the water… I know the answer now.” 

A tear splashed onto the back of my hand. 

“I would save anyone,” he whispered hoarsely. “But you… you’re the only one who ever made me afraid.” 

Slowly, he tugged open the collar of his shirt, exposing the vicious scar carved beneath his collarbone. 

“I got this rescuing Layla during the fire.” 

His breathing turned uneven. 

“But do you know what I was thinking the entire time?” His eyes locked onto mine desperately. “I kept thinking I had to get to you. I was terrified… terrified that if I was even one second too late, I’d never see you again.” 

At that moment, Ethan returned from the dining hall carrying 

takeout containers. 

He jogged over casually before stopping dead the second he 

saw us. 

But Landon acted like he didn’t even exist. 

He lowered his forehead against the back of my hand, his 

tears soaking through my sleeve. 

“I’ve always loved you,” he whispered brokenly. “I was just 

too stupid to realize it until I lost you. Nora… can you give 

me one more chance?” 

I stared into his reddened eyes and suddenly remembered 

the moment from my past life when he severed our mate 

bond before dying. 

Back then, his tears had been just as hot. 

“Landon.” I slowly pulled my hand free before brushing the 

flower petal off his shoulder. “It’s over.” 

Ethan suddenly coughed loudly. 

“Nora. Food’s here.” 

Landon finally stood. 

“I won’t force you,” he said quietly. “I’ll come back 

tomorrow.” 

“You don’t need to.” I refused softly. “Ethan’s taking care of 

me.” 

He stood there motionless, his shadow stretched long 

beneath the setting sun. 

Even after Ethan wheeled me around the corner, I could still 

feel Landon’s gaze burned heavily into my back. 

Later, Landon came several more times. 

Once, during a storm, he stood downstairs all night in the 

pouring rain. By morning, he was burning with fever and had 

to be dragged away by fellow warriors. 

Slowly, something strange started happening. 

I began forgetting him. 

The first time I realized it was when I pointed downstairs at 

the man standing outside and asked Ethan: 

“Who is that? Is he waiting for someone? Why does he keep 

standing outside our building?” 

Ethan stared at me in shock. 

“You… don’t remember him?” 

Only then did I realize I was supposed to. 

I remembered everyone else perfectly. 

Except him. 

The strangest part was that everyone kept saying I had 

forgotten someone, yet nobody could clearly explain who 

that person was. 

“Do you remember?” I asked Amy through our mind link. 

Deep within my soul, Amy paced anxiously. 

“I can’t remember either, Nora.” 

Vaguely, I recalled making some kind of exchange with 

someone once. 

Maybe this was the price. 

One day, Ethan suddenly cupped my face and studied me 

carefully. 

“Nora… why do you keep staring at your ring finger lately?” 

Confused, I looked down. 

My right thumb was unconsciously rubbing the ring finger on 

my left hand over and over, as if something used to be 

there. 

But I had never worn a ring before. 

I smiled at him faintly. 

“You tell me. I just keep feeling like something’s missing 

there.” 

Ethan blushed before wrapping me tightly in his arms. 

“Soon,” he murmured. “Very soon.” 

Not long afterward, Ethan proposed to me. 

I was happy. 

The afternoon I met that man again, I was trying on wedding 

dresses. 

A tall figure stood outside the boutique window, sunlight 

outlining him in gold. 

“Nora…” he called softly through the glass. 

I gave him a polite smile. 

“Sir, do we know each other?” 

His expression shattered instantly. 

At that moment, Ethan rushed outside and grabbed him 

hard. 

“Landon! You promised you’d stop coming here!” 

Landon. 

I repeated the name silently in my head. 

Three days later, while I was waiting beneath the silk floss 

trees for Ethan, Landon appeared again. 

This time he carried a faded pressed sunflower preserved 

inside a frame. 

I noticed the terrible scar beneath his collarbone. 

Suddenly, he spoke. 

“The day of the training camp fire… you told me if I saved 

Layla first, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.” 

I blinked at him in confusion. 

His hands trembled as he pulled out a green gemstone ring. 

“But I did regret it…” 

“Sir,” I interrupted gently, “I think you’ve mistaken me for 

someone else.” 

Something inside his expression completely broke apart. 

After a very long time, he finally turned and left. 

One year later, during my mating ceremony with Ethan, I saw 

Layla again. 

“Why are you standing out in the sun?” I hurried toward her 

in surprise. “Come inside.” 

Layla stood pale at the entrance, clutching a large envelope 

in trembling fingers. Her eyes fixed on the wedding ring on 

my hand. 

“Nora…” Her voice shook violently. “Do you really not 

remember him anymore? Landon…” 

“Who?” I blinked at her. 

Layla stared at me in disbelief. 

“You remember me. You remember Ethan. You remember the Alpha and Luna. He’s the only one you forgot?” 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a tall figure in the distance quietly stepping backward into the shadows. 

I lowered my gaze calmly. 

“I really don’t remember him. And if I forgot him… then I guess he was never important to me.” 

Layla broke down sobbing. 

“He died,” she choked out. “Last week. Lung cancer. Three 

months from diagnosis to the end.” 

The sunlight suddenly felt blinding. 

I narrowed my eyes and noticed the black border around the envelope peeking through her fingers. 

An obituary. 

Quietly, I stepped forward and hugged Layla. 

“I’m sorry for your loss.” 

Then I turned around. 

Ethan was waiting for me inside to greet the guests. 

I walked back to him and slipped my hand into his. 

Time only moved forward. 

And the dead could never be chased back from the past.