The first time my childhood sweetheart’s werewolf traits awakened, his friends called me to help calm him down. But what they didn’t know was that I heard him say:

“I really don’t want to waste my first time on her. A werewolf’s love is for life. Whoever we mark first becomes our only mate. When Chloe gets here, I’ll have to resist, even if she begs me to let her help.”

But he waited and waited, and I never came.

What he didn’t know was that his older brother’s bodyguard had been blowing up my phone.

“Miss Hayes, the young master marked you as his mate a long time ago. Please, I’m begging you, can you come and kiss him?”

It turns out, five years ago when I died in a skiing accident, his brother saved me. He performed a blood bond, giving me half of his own werewolf lifespan to pull me back from the brink of death.

That night, I wrapped my arms around his brother’s neck, my voice a low, seductive whisper. “Come on, Matthew. Don’t hold back. Tell me… how many years have you been secretly in love with me?”

1

My childhood sweetheart, Leo, comes from a family of werewolves. After their twentieth birthday, every full moon sends them into a powerful heat. And according to their ancient laws, the first person they mark becomes their one and only mate for life.

I always thought that when the time came, Leo would choose me.

So when his friends called me on the night of his first transformation, telling me he was in agony and needed me, I rushed over without a second thought. But as I reached the door of the private room, I heard Leo’s voice, tight with frustration.

“God, I really don’t want to waste it on Chloe.”

“I want to go after Isabelle, the most popular girl in school, but she’s not the easy type.”

“Not like Chloe. She’s like a pathetic little lapdog who comes running whenever I call.”

“When she gets here, I’ll have to resist, even if she begs me to let her help. The last thing I need is to be shackled to her for life after one mistake. She’d have me wrapped around her little finger forever.”

I stood frozen outside the door, my mind a complete blank. I couldn’t believe it. The boy I’d grown up with, the boy I adored, saw me as nothing more than that.

His friends, all of them the type to kiss up and kick down, burst out laughing.

“So, she’s just a toy to you.”

“Should I call and tell her not to come? Save her the trouble of trying to climb into your bed and trap you. Honestly, man, you get what you pay for.”

But Leo stopped him. “No, don’t,” he said, his voice strained with discomfort. “If we tell her not to come now, how would that make her feel? Even if she is just a toy, she’s one I’ve cared for since we were kids. I don’t want to hurt her.”

He let out a ragged breath. “When she gets here, I’ll just… see if I can hold back. I don’t want to spell things out for her, but maybe this will finally make her understand.”

In that moment, I wanted to storm in there and scream at him. You don’t want to hurt me? You call me a dog in front of your friends and let them laugh at me, and you think you have the right to my devotion?

But I held back. Why waste my breath on someone who didn’t value me?

I turned and walked away, a humiliating retreat. Don’t cry, I told myself. Don’t you dare cry.

Then, I remembered a different call. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number of his brother’s bodyguard.

“That offer you made earlier… to help Leo’s brother? Is it still on the table? Send me the address. I’m on my way.”

2

Half an hour earlier, the bodyguard had called and revealed a truth Leo had deliberately kept from me.

“Miss Hayes, do you remember five years ago? When the second young master, Leo, took you skiing and you fell into that ravine?”

“The eldest young master, Matthew, led the search party. It took us three days and three nights to find you, buried under the snow. You were frozen solid, like a statue of ice. You weren’t breathing.”

“Master Matthew told Leo that a werewolf can give half of his lifespan to his mate through a blood bond on the night of a full moon. It’s another form of marking. Once performed, that person becomes their eternal mate.”

“But Leo… he refused. He couldn’t bear to let you die, he just held your body and sobbed, but he wouldn’t do it.”

“In the end, it was Master Matthew who saved you. As luck would have it, that night was a full moon. To save you, he performed the blood bond himself, giving you half of his life. In doing so, he marked you. For the rest of his life, you are the only one he can ever be with.”

“Leo begged him never to tell you. For the past five years, Master Matthew has endured every full moon alone. He never disturbed you, and he forbade any of us from ever revealing what he did.”

“But tonight… tonight is different. He’s been gravely injured, his life is on the line. And with the full moon… he won’t make it without you. Please, I’m begging you. Can you come help him?”

My mind went completely blank.

I had died once? Five years ago, I had actually died?

Leo, the boy who had cherished me my whole life, refused to sacrifice for me. But his brother, Matthew—the cold, intimidating man everyone called the Ice King—had pulled me back from death’s door.

Even so, my heart had been stubborn. “I’m sorry,” I had told the bodyguard. “Leo needs me more tonight.”

I was willing to be ungrateful, to ignore the man who saved me, all to rush to Leo’s side. And my reward? To be called a pathetic lapdog. A worthless toy.

God, I was such a fool.

I deserved to be treated like dirt.

But not anymore.

I scrubbed away the humiliating tears, my knuckles white as I clutched my phone. “Is it too late to repay my debt?” I asked the bodyguard, my voice shaking. “If Matthew really needs me tonight… I’ll be there. And I’ll give him everything he needs.”

The bodyguard’s voice was choked with relief. “It’s not too late! Not at all! Miss Hayes, I’m sending you the location right now. If the master wasn’t so badly hurt, if his life wasn’t on the line, I would never have disobeyed his orders. The family punishments are severe.”

I understood. Matthew probably just wanted to save my life, not to have me clinging to him forever out of obligation.

And I just wanted to repay the debt.

It wasn't about being heartbroken by the younger brother and immediately running into the arms of the older one. It was just… a debt.

3

I never expected what I’d find when I arrived at the hospital’s VIP wing.

Isabelle, the most popular girl in school, was standing outside the door, frantically trying to push her way in.

“Let me in! It’s the full moon, isn’t it? How do you know Matthew doesn’t need me? Matthew! Please, just let me in and help you!”

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. Leo had called her "not the easy type," yet here she was, throwing herself at his brother.

The bodyguard who had been blocking her saw me and immediately opened the door, his eyes welling with tears of relief.

“Miss Hayes, you’re finally here. Please, come in. The master really needs you tonight.”

Isabelle’s face twisted with a vicious mix of envy and hatred. “Why does she get to go in?” she shrieked. “He’s only in this condition because he was saving her! She’s a jinx! How can you let her near him again?”

I froze. Saved me again? What does she mean?

The scene inside the room was chaos.

I saw Matthew, bare-chested and lying face down on the bed. His face was flushed with fever, his short hair soaked with sweat. His fingers were curled tightly into his palms, fighting the waves of heat rolling through him. His back was wrapped in thick white bandages, now stained a horrifying, spreading crimson.

A doctor stood beside him, shouting in desperation.

“For God’s sake, man, stop fighting it! I’m begging you, just find a woman to help you! We just changed these dressings and they’re already soaked through! How much blood do you have to lose? On a full moon, a werewolf’s blood is already agitated, and your clotting ability is shot. I’ve given you the strongest coagulants we have, and they’re doing nothing!”

“You have to relieve this fever, or you’re going to bleed to death before morning! Where is this girl you said could save him?”

The bodyguards by the bed had already seen me. In unison, they turned and bowed a full ninety degrees, their expressions a mixture of reverence and gratitude.

“Doctor,” one of them said. “She’s here.”

At their words, the man who had been suffering his own private hell on the bed suddenly opened his eyes. They were a deep, mesmerizing crimson, burning with a fierce, restrained desire. His gaze, powerful and sharp, landed on my face, and his expression shifted to shock, then fury.

“Who brought her here? Get her out!”

One of the bodyguards bowed his head. “It was me, sir. If Miss Hayes can help you tonight, I will accept any punishment. Besides, you were injured this time saving her life. Again.”

“You’ve risked your life for her twice now, and you won’t even take the credit. You might not feel wronged by it, sir, but we do. On your behalf.”

I stole a glance at the formidable man on the bed. Though I’d grown up with Leo, I had always been terrified of Matthew. He was known as the Ice King for a reason. Even the most arrogant heirs and troublemakers in our circle turned into meek little boys in his presence. His power and aura were absolute. I usually went out of my way to avoid him.

But now, that same terrifying man was gripping the bedsheets, his toes curling in agony, his whole body radiating a palpable heat. His ragged, shallow breaths filled the room. The contrast was jarring, almost… alluring. A fallen king on his sickbed was a dangerously captivating sight.

“Wait,” I said, my voice small. “You said he was hurt because of me… again?”

A bodyguard started to speak, but Matthew cut him off with a roar. “Shut up! Say one more word and see what happens!”

Then, he turned his voice on me, forcing a tone of gentle dismissal. “Chloe, you should leave. I don’t need you here.”

Another bodyguard spoke up, seemingly fearless. “Sir, stop pretending. Stubbornness won’t win you a wife. You act all tough, but your heart is soft when it comes to her. Did you think we were blind? When Miss Hayes is in danger, you’d walk through fire for her. You literally did.”

4

It wasn't just one; all the bodyguards in the room started chiming in, a chorus of fearless truth-tellers.

“Exactly! Last full moon, who was it that spent the whole night staring at a picture of Miss Hayes on his phone? You were so out of your mind with fever you kept whispering her name. I bet you were dreaming of her, too.”

“And the month before that! You parked your car outside her dorm building and sat there all night. How many times did you almost get out and go in, only to force yourself to stay put? Job himself would have tapped out.”

“If we don’t say anything, she’ll never know! Are you really planning to suffer like this for the rest of your life?”

“Shut up,” Matthew said, his gaze dropping. “I can handle it.”

The doctor practically exploded. “Handle it? Handle my ass! You keep ‘handling it’ and you won’t live to see the sunrise!” He turned to me. “Young lady, what are you just standing there for? Do something! Help him!”

The bodyguards all bowed to me again, their faces pleading.

But I was at a loss. “What am I supposed to do? I… I don’t know how.”

The doctor, snipping away the blood-soaked bandages, didn’t even look up. “Kiss him!”

My face flushed a deep crimson. Standing there, at the head of the bed, with everyone watching… how could I kiss a man who pushed everyone away?

Suddenly, a bodyguard shouted, “Miss Hayes, do you know how the master got hurt? Two days ago, there was a fire in your university’s auditorium! You were trapped inside, weren’t you? You passed out from the smoke inhalation and almost died.”

“It was the master who saved you. Because of the mark, he can sense when his mate is in danger. He ignored everyone’s warnings and ran into the burning building to find you. As he was carrying you out, a flaming beam fell and hit him across the back. His whole back was on fire.”

“But he gritted his teeth, held on through the pain, and used the last of his strength to get you out. And what happened then? Your precious Leo swooped in and took all the credit. He saw his brother carry you from the flames and snatched you out of his arms. If he was so worried about you, why didn’t he run in there himself?”

What?

I couldn’t believe it. That was how Matthew had been injured?

I remembered waking up from the smoke inhalation two days ago. Leo was sitting by my bedside. I had assumed… I thought he was the one who saved me.

My head was spinning with too much new information to feel shy or awkward anymore.

Saving him was all that mattered.

Acting on pure instinct, I leaned over Matthew, fixed my eyes on his lips, and pressed a firm kiss against them.

“Don’t,” he growled, his voice harsh, pushing me away with his words. But his hands only gripped the sheets tighter, his throat working as he swallowed hard, his eyes a terrifying shade of red. The sight of him, so powerful yet so vulnerable, was an invitation to sin.

His voice turned colder. “Chloe, do you have any idea what you’re doing? You usually act like you can’t get far enough away from me. Don’t do something you’ll regret just to repay a debt. And don’t listen to them. It’s useless. You can kiss me all you want. I feel nothing.”

But the doctor suddenly cried out in excitement. “It’s working! The bleeding is slowing down! Miss Hayes, keep going! Kiss him again! His body is a hell of a lot more honest than his mouth. Kiss him like you mean it!”

The doctor’s words were a direct slap to Matthew’s stubborn pride. His face looked deeply uncomfortable, and in a move that stunned me, he buried his head in the pillows.

Was he… blushing? His ears were so red they looked like they were about to catch fire.