Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My sister and I were both bound to a System that forced us to win the hearts of shifters.

She chose the gentle fox. I chose the cold, aloof wild bird who loved only once.

Turns out her fox was a shameless player who never cared about her at all. He spent his days in brothels, and he even tried to pass her around to his best buddy to share.

My sister failed her mission and was about to be erased from existence.

But the wild bird I picked turned out to be the Phoenix King. Once I coaxed his heart open, he adored me beyond reason, and after I laid his phoenix eggs, he crowned me Queen.

My sister went insane with jealousy. Right before the System erased her, she stabbed me to death.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day we chose our shifters.

This time, my sister grabbed the wild bird first.

I smiled. If she wanted to be the blood sacrifice that badly, then as her little sister, of course I'd let her have it.

...

"I am the Courtship System," the voice said. "Win the heart of your shifter within one year, and you will both be reborn."

The System had barely finished speaking when my sister, Cheryl Somers, rushed over and scooped up the badly wounded wild bird. She gently stroked his charred black feathers. "System, I choose this wild bird."

She moved so fast, like she was terrified I might beat her to it.

Then she turned to me with a playful look, but her eyes were full of warning.

"Don't you go stealing from your big sister now, Josie. See how good I am to you? I'm leaving you the nice, easy shifter, while I only picked the half-dead one for myself."

Then she pointed at the fox strolling past on the other side, all sweet and helpful. "That gentle-looking fox over there would be perfect for you. Pick him, and you'll probably finish your task way before I do."

Finish before her? More like die before her.

In my last life, my sister had set her sights on that fox the moment she saw him.

Not just because he looked gentle, but because he was strikingly handsome. When she walked up to flirt, those fox eyes of his knew exactly how to lure a woman in, and his smooth words had her head spinning.

The other shifters around were either weak or ugly, none of them good enough for her, so she chose the fox.

I, on the other hand, felt sorry for the wounded wild bird, so I chose him.

My sister had mocked me for being blind. "Sis, why would you pick such a scrawny black bird? He can probably barely take human form, and you actually want to fall in love with him? Once I'm rich, I'll take you to get your eyes checked, before your brain goes bad too."

But nobody expected that the fox she picked was a shameless flirt―gentle on the surface, greedy and fake underneath. He lived in the brothels, with a different female shifter on his arm every week.

He got creative with his fun, too. At one point he even tried to pass my sister off to his best friend so they could share her.

Meanwhile, as I nursed my wild bird, I learned he was cold but fiercely loyal. So every single day, I teased him and flirted with him, until his heart finally opened.

Once his wounds healed, he accepted me. He told me himself that he was Cassian Fenwick, the Phoenix King, and that he would take me home to the Phoenix Clan.

After I laid his phoenix eggs, he crowned me Queen.

I knew exactly what my sister was plotting right now.

She was jealous of all the love I'd received in my last life. Not only did she want to steal the Queen's crown, she wanted me to suffer everything she had suffered.

"Thanks for the concern, Sis, but I like this lop-eared bunny better."

I smiled my thanks at her, walked over, and poked the lop-eared bunny that had just hopped out of the bushes.

His face turned red instantly. He bared his little teeth like he wanted to bite me, all puffed up with anger. "How dare you, human! You poked my face!"

My heart melted on the spot.

"So cute."

"System, I want him."

"Targets locked. Once bound, a shifter cannot be switched. Please complete your courtship task within the time limit."

Then the System vanished.

My sister stared at me like I was the biggest idiot alive. "Josie, think this through. How are you supposed to win over a grass-eating bunny? Even if you pull it off, you'll be nibbling grass next to him for the rest of your life!"

"My life is my business, Sis. Don't worry about it."

She didn't push it. She just smirked to herself, secretly delighted, certain I'd been stupid enough to hand her the win.