I Died In His Arms Now I’ll Marry Another Chapter 01
I was born fiercely competitive, and I’d spent my life locked in a battle of wills with the equally proud Emilia Hawthorne.
To outdo me, she agreed to marry Dominic Vale—the man I’d always wanted. The marriage would give Stonebrook and Redmont Packs shared access to the eastern trade routes and border defenses, and she would become the envy of everyone as the wife of an Alpha heir.
In my last life, I retaliated by setting my sights on her revered older brother, Adrian Hawthorne.
I drugged Adrian with wine laced with wolfsbane, then made sure the hotel cameras caught us spending the night together. I threatened to kill myself until the Stonebrook Pack Council was forced to recognize our marriage.
On my wedding day, Emilia was shaking with rage. But in front of guests from both Packs, she had no choice but to acknowledge me as her brother’s wife.
In time, Adrian accepted me with a quiet gentleness.
For him, I sanded down my sharp edges and tried desperately to fit in at Stonebrook. I even reconciled with Emilia. I thought I’d finally found love, and a home.
But when Emilia had an unexpected miscarriage, the man who’d sworn he believed me said this to his father behind a closed door:
“Laurel has a paranoid nature. Even if she’s changed, we can’t rule out the possibility she hurt Emilia. Investigate her.”
And that’s when I realized: he had never truly trusted me.
That night, I slipped and fell into the water. I went into premature labor, gave birth to a stillborn child, and bled to death in Adrian’s arms.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the news of Emilia’s engagement broke.
This time, I wanted nothing to do with the Hawthornes.
So when my father asked if I would consider the man he had chosen for me, I nodded.
“Callum Rhodes is fine. I’m willing to marry him.”
…
My father and stepmother exchanged a look.
Neither of them believed me.
It wasn’t surprising. Everyone in Crown Pack knew I’d do anything to win, and they all knew I’d spent years chasing Dominic.
My stepmother, Celeste, lifted her coffee cup, hiding the appraising look in her eyes behind its rim.
“But Emilia is marrying *Dominic*. Redmont Pack already announced their engagement on their official channels.”
Everyone knew that marrying Dominic had once been my life’s ambition.
His mother, Princess Grace, was Alpha King Roland’s sister. Dominic himself was the heir to Redmont Pack. Between his royal connections, territorial resources, and personal prestige, he was flawless.
And now, he had chosen Emilia.
I asked calmly, “I’m the one getting married. Why do you keep bringing up someone else?”
My father, Thomas Jennings, was a senior advisor on the Royal Council, but he held no territory and had no authority in Pack decisions. Callum’s father had been Greyhaven Pack’s border commander. Our families were discussing a private marriage, not a political alliance. No land would change hands.
That suited me perfectly.
My father studied me for a long moment before his expression softened with relief. “Laurel,” he said, “you’ve finally grown up.”
My stepmother, however, refused to believe I’d really let Dominic go.
Two days later, she had her assistant deliver Emilia’s wedding invitation to my room.
Dominic had designed the invitation himself. At the end of the digital version was a short message he’d written to Emilia, each word solemn and deliberate.
In my last life, I’d deleted the invitation on the spot, then put on my most dazzling dress and crashed their wedding.
I hadn’t cared what the media said. I just wanted to prove I hadn’t lost.
Until I saw Dominic bend down in front of everyone to straighten a stray fold in Emilia’s gown. He couldn’t bear to let her walk another step, so he swept her into his arms and carried her down the long, flower-lined aisle.
In that moment, I knew I’d lost. Completely.
When I got home, I’d cut my dress to shreds and sent my people to investigate Adrian’s schedule.
At a private dinner he attended, I tampered with his drink, making him swallow wine laced with a wolfsbane sedative, then followed him into his hotel suite.
Our scents mingled in that room all night, and the hallway cameras captured me going in.
When Adrian woke up, he’d offered to make a public clarification and compensate me from his private assets.
I put a knife to my own throat and forced him to register our marriage with the Stonebrook Pack Council.
Calm, disciplined, self-restrained—he was the ideal man in the eyes of countless women.
And I had dragged that man, by force, into the vortex of my obsession.
When Emilia learned of the marriage, she smashed her phone.
But at my wedding, she still had no choice but to stand beside Dominic and publicly acknowledge that I was her brother’s wife.
For days after, I laughed even in my dreams.