I Won’t Reject You the Sixth Time Chapter 01

I Won’t Reject You the Sixth Time Chapter 01

According to tradition, the mate of a royal wolf had to be chosen by the Moon Priestess through a lottery.

Out of love for Alpha Harlan, I went to the Dark Abyss every year to gather the purest Moonflowers and pray to the Moon Goddess for her blessing.

But for five years in a row, the lottery picked someone else, and each time Harlan was forced to reject me as his mate.

In the sixth year, I gathered the Moonflowers early and returned to the temple.

Then I heard the Moon Priestess’s confused voice.

“Harlan, she’s clearly your fated mate. Why do you insist on destroying the crystal with your name on it every single year for five years?”

“Doesn’t it pain you to watch the princess faint every year from being rejected?”

Her voice was full of frustration.

Harlan’s deep voice answered, “Of course it hurts.”

“But Liora is the one who saved me. I promised her I would be her chosen mate for six years, to give her a place to belong in Streamveil Pack.”

“Besides, Ivy would never choose anyone else.”

“Next year, I’ll finally let her have what she wants.”

With that, he snapped the crystal engraved with his name, and in that moment, my heart died.

Because my father, the Wolf King, had said that as a princess, I could only indulge myself five times.

Since the crystal with his name wouldn’t appear in the sixth year, I wouldn’t force it.

……

A chill crawled down my spine.

The sound of the crystal shattering was unbearably sharp.

But Harlan’s explanation was even more chilling.

His voice was always slightly raspy, I’d heard it countless times at balls and in carriages.

But it had never broken my heart like this before.

I had just returned from the Dark Abyss. The thick fog there was suffocating for a wolf. Ancient dark creatures lurked in the shadows, ready to devour anyone careless.

Yet I went there without hesitation, for the largest Moonflowers grew only deep within the Dark Abyss.

According to wolf legend, the hero wolf had plucked this very flower to prove his courage and devotion to the Moon Goddess, who then blessed wolves with the mate bond.

The Moonflower symbolized love’s loyalty.

I longed to pick it, to place it in the temple, and to pray to the Moon Goddess: let me draw the crystal bearing Harlan Gareth’s name.

My courage defied the abyss’s shadows; my love would never let me lose my way.

Every year during the Moon Ceremony, that was my prayer.

And every year, I could only stare in disappointment at a crystal engraved with a stranger’s name.

Now, the poison mist of the Dark Abyss still seemed to cling to me. The wounds on my body throbbed.

I wanted to storm into the temple and demand to know why Harlan had watched me risk my life in the Dark Abyss year after year.

Why, when he already had a chosen mate, had he hidden it from me for six years!

But the moment I pushed the door open, a sharp pain shot through my knees.

All the strength drained from my body, and my legs gave out, dropping me to my knees. I gasped in pain.

At the noise, the conversation inside stopped instantly, and the door was thrown open.

The Moon Priestess looked horrified.

“Harlan, bring the princess inside to rest! She must have been attacked by something in the Dark Abyss again. I’ll get the healer!”

Harlan walked over and lifted me into his arms. I leaned against his firm chest, breathing in the familiar scent of cedar and smoky leather.

He set me gently on a bench, his emerald eyes filled with worry and tenderness.

I opened my mouth, trying to force the words out of my dry throat, “I heard everything.”

I wanted to ask if his concern was fake. If he really had destroyed his own crystal five years in a row.

But before I could speak, hurried footsteps sounded outside the temple.

A warrior from Streamveil Pack said in a panic, “Alpha! Liora fell off her horse!”

Harlan’s expression shifted in an instant. The trace of gentleness from moments ago vanished completely.

Without hesitation, he pried my fingers from his collar.

I didn’t need to ask anymore. Harlan’s actions had already given me my answer.

“Take care of Ivy,” he said to the Moon Priestess, then turned and strode away.

A cold wind blew through the temple, carrying away the lingering trace of his cedar scent.

“It is a little cold,” my wolf said clumsily inside me, trying to comfort me. “If you want to cry, go ahead.”

I wiped my tears away fiercely and said to my wolf, “I won’t shed a single tear for a liar.”

The Moon Priestess came over. I had never noticed before, but she had the same emerald eyes as Harlan. And Harlan had never once mentioned that his sister was the Moon Priestess.

“Harlan really does worry about you,” she said, a flicker of awkwardness crossing her face.

Then she touched my forehead, wrapped my wounds, and asked carefully, “Princess… did you hear anything just now?”

“No,” I said coldly.

Relieved, she let out a small breath.

Then she took my hand and said with sincere conviction, “The Moon Goddess will be moved by your devotion, Princess. I believe you will draw the crystal with Harlan’s name this year.”

I looked at the wound on my leg and gave a bitter smile. “Really?”

“Of course,” the priestess said firmly. “May the Moon Goddess bless you.”

I suddenly remembered Harlan’s promise: next year, he wouldn’t break the crystal with his name. We were true fated mates. As long as the crystal remained, I would draw him.

Then he would accept me as his mate, and we would live happily together.

What a pity.

He wouldn’t get the chance.