Chapter 5: The Alpha I Was Never Meant to Meet

Emmett gave Nolan a flat, dismissive glance.

“I’m here to collect my bride.”

The color drained from Nolan’s face.

His eyes remained locked on Emmett, his mind struggling to connect this powerful young Alpha with the bedridden old man from his memories.

“That’s impossible,” Nolan blurted out. “The Ironwood Alpha is an old man. He’s been bedridden for years.”

Emmett’s expression didn’t change.

“You seem to know quite a lot about my family.”

Nolan’s face tightened.

“Everyone knows about Victor Shaw. He was the former Alpha of Ironwood.”

A faint, cold smile touched Emmett’s lips.

“Former Alpha.”

Those two words landed like a stone in the silence.

Robert finally stepped forward, his expression uncertain.

“Alpha Shaw, there must be some misunderstanding. The marriage agreement was made with the former Alpha. My daughter is supposed to marry him.”

Emmett looked past him and directly at me.

“The agreement was made with Ironwood. It never specified which Alpha would become her mate.”

Robert’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Diana’s face changed several times in quick succession.

She had been expecting me to marry a dying old man and disappear into Ironwood with a modest dowry. Instead, the current Alpha himself had arrived in a convoy guarded by royal security.

Chloe was the first to break the silence.

“Then… who is Laurel marrying?”

Emmett’s gaze shifted to her.

“Me.”

The single word sent another wave of shock through the crowd.

Chloe’s fingers tightened around Nolan’s arm.

Nolan looked at me again.

For the first time since I had returned to this life, I saw something other than hatred in his eyes.

Shock.

Disbelief.

And beneath it all, something dangerously close to regret.

I almost smiled.

So this was the man who had spent thirty years telling me I had ruined his life.

The man who had believed I stole Chloe from him.

Now he was watching me become the wife of a powerful Alpha instead.

Emmett walked toward me.

His footsteps were steady against the stone path, and the people around us instinctively moved aside.

When he stopped in front of me, I had to tilt my head slightly to meet his eyes.

Up close, his presence was even more overwhelming.

But strangely, I didn’t feel afraid.

Instead, there was a faint warmth spreading through my chest.

Emmett studied my face for several seconds.

Then his expression softened almost imperceptibly.

“Laurel Jennings?”

“Yes.”

He extended his hand.

“We’re leaving.”

I looked at his hand.

In my previous life, no one had ever reached out for me when I needed them.

Not my parents.

Not Chloe.

Not Nolan.

I placed my hand in his.

The moment our palms touched, a sharp sensation ran through my body.

My breath caught.

Emmett’s fingers tightened around mine at the same instant.

His pupils contracted.

For one brief second, the calm mask on his face cracked.

He felt it too.

The bond.

The unmistakable pull of a fated mate.

Neither of us spoke.

But the silence between us suddenly felt different.

Emmett lowered his gaze to our joined hands before looking back at me.

“You didn’t know?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head.

“Know what?”

His jaw tightened.

Before he could answer, an elderly man in Ironwood's formal uniform stepped forward.

“Alpha, the royal physician warned that the bond may react strongly because Miss Jennings has already been promised to another pack.”

Nolan’s expression darkened.

Emmett turned his head slightly.

“She isn’t promised to another pack anymore.”

The old official immediately bowed.

“Understood.”

I looked at Emmett in confusion.

“You knew about me?”

He was silent for a moment.

“I knew the name of the woman coming from Riverbend.”

His gaze lingered on me.

“I didn’t know she was my mate.”

My heart gave a strange little beat.

In my previous life, I had been trapped in a marriage where love had never existed.

I had spent thirty years begging for scraps of affection from a man who despised me.

And now, on the very day I was supposed to marry another man for political convenience, fate had placed the strongest Alpha in the kingdom in front of me.

I almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it.

Behind me, Chloe suddenly spoke.

“Nolan…”

Her voice trembled.

“What does this mean?”

Nolan didn’t answer.

His eyes were still fixed on Emmett and me.

Then his gaze dropped to our joined hands.

Something dark flashed across his face.

“Laurel,” he said.

I turned toward him.

“What?”

His lips parted, but the words seemed to catch in his throat.

He had probably intended to warn me again.

Perhaps he wanted to remind me that Emmett was only marrying me because of the alliance.

Perhaps he wanted to tell me that Chloe was still the woman he loved.

But none of those words came.

Instead, he asked quietly, “Are you really going with him?”

I looked at him for a long moment.

Then I smiled.

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

His face went pale.

I turned away before he could respond.

There was nothing left to say.

Emmett guided me toward the waiting vehicle.

As I climbed inside, I heard Chloe call my name.

“Laurel!”

I paused but didn’t turn around.

“I hope you’ll be happy,” she said.

Her voice sounded fragile.

I almost believed her.

Almost.

Then I remembered the photo she had sent me after the dinner in my previous life.

Thank you for making this happen for us.

Nolan said marrying me is the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to him.

I stepped into the car.

The door closed behind me, cutting off the sight of the Jennings family.

For the first time in three years, I was leaving that house without feeling like I had been abandoned.

Emmett entered from the other side and sat beside me.

The vehicle began moving.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

Finally, Emmett broke the silence.

“There’s something you need to know before we arrive at Ironwood.”

I turned toward him.

“What is it?”

His expression became serious.

“My uncle Victor is alive.”

I frowned.

“I know. He was supposed to be my husband.”

“That was never going to happen.”

Emmett’s voice was low.

“The rumor that you were being sent to marry a dying old Alpha was deliberately allowed to spread.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

He looked out the window at the passing streets.

“Because there are people in Ironwood who don’t want anyone to know that my wolf has awakened.”

I stared at him.

“Your wolf?”

He nodded.

“It awakened three years ago.”

Three years.

The exact year I had been brought back to the Jennings family.

A strange thought crossed my mind.

“Why did Ironwood agree to the marriage with Riverbend if you already had a mate?”

Emmett looked at me again.

This time, there was something unreadable in his eyes.

“Because we didn’t know who my mate was.”

He paused.

“Until you walked out of that house today.”

My fingers curled slightly in my lap.

Outside the window, the city disappeared behind us as the road stretched toward Ironwood territory.

For the first time since my rebirth, I realized something important.

Maybe fate hadn’t brought me back simply to escape Nolan.

Maybe it had brought me back to uncover the truth that had been hidden from me in my previous life.