Selena's breath came in shallow gasps as she sat up in bed, trembling, eyes wide and glassy. Her fingers clawed at her throat as if expecting chains to still be there. They weren't, No blood.No mud.No betrayal.
Just the soft scent of lilac sheets and sunlight warming the canopy of her bed.
She turned slowly, almost afraid she was hallucinating. Everything looked... exactly as she remembered it ten years ago. Her vanity table was untouched, with rows of unused lip balms and perfume bottles. Her bookshelf held the same leather-bound romance novels she had once adored before love became a curse. The mirror across the room still had the slight crack in the top corner from when her younger sister had tossed a hairbrush during an argument.
No, not argument. Warning.
Selena swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her knees shook as her bare feet touched the cold marble floor. She stood like someone learning how to walk again.
Was this real?
Her hands trembled as she grabbed the nearest object a hand mirror and stared at her reflection.
She was young again. Seventeen. Unmarred. Her skin glowed. Her long black hair spilled in waves down her back, not yet cut short in grief. Her violet eyes always rare among werewolves, shimmered with confusion, fear... and something else. Fire.
Downstairs, the mansion was alive with sound. Footsteps echoed. Maids bustled. Her father's deep voice rumbled from the office, likely yelling at someone about territory disputes. Everything was as it had been before the betrayal.
Her chest tightened. She hadn't imagined it. She remembered dying. She remembered her bones breaking, her breath catching. She remembered Elira's cold smile. Damien's dead eyes. The betrayal of the man who was supposed to be her mate.
Selena pressed a hand to her heart. It still hurt. But not as much as the truth now pulsing through her veins: She was back.
Back in the past.
Back before she made the mistake of loving the wrong people.
She took her time getting dressed, ignoring the blush-colored gown her maids had laid out for her. Instead, she pulled on a simple black dress sleek, elegant, powerful. It wasn't appropriate for morning tea or greetings, and she didn't care.
In this life, she would not be the docile future Luna everyone expected. She would not play the delicate bride-to-be. She would not be a soft-hearted fool waiting for love to destroy her again. NO, this time, she would be the one holding the knife.
By the time she entered the dining room, her mother had already noticed the change.
"You're up late," her mother said, carefully buttering a croissant. "And wearing... that."
Selena simply smiled and sat without a word.
Her mother blinked, thrown by the calmness or perhaps the silence. Selena had always been eager to please her before. To earn affection. To prove she was worthy of being Luna.Not anymore."I trust you slept well?" her mother tried again.
"Very well," Selena replied coolly, taking a sip of tea. "I had the most enlightening dream."
Before the conversation could turn awkward, the butler entered the room, holding a silver tray with a crisp white envelope atop it.
"A message for Lady Selena," he said, bowing.
Selena's gaze sharpened as the envelope was placed beside her plate.
She already knew what it was.
The paper bore the Blackthorn family crest a silver wolf wrapped around a crescent moon.
Her fingers hovered over the envelope for a moment, remembering how this letter had changed everything in her first life.
The engagement proposal.
Back then, she had accepted it with giddy excitement. She had dreamed of a love story. Of a strong, handsome mate who would protect her, cherish her, raise her status to Luna.Instead, she had walked into a trap.
This time, she picked up the envelope with no illusion.
She opened it slowly, deliberately, and read the words she already knew by heart:
> "The Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack, Damien Blackthorn, proposes a formal engagement between himself and Lady Selena D'Archer, to be sealed under full moonlight in thirty days' time..."
Her eyes narrowed. Thirty days.Thirty days until the contract would be official.
Thirty days until she would be bound to a man who had once killed her. Unless she chose otherwise.
She looked up to find her mother watching her with barely hidden anticipation.
"You should be honored," her mother said, trying not to smile too widely. "The Blackthorn family is powerful. Alpha Damien is the most eligible wolf in the region and he chose you."
Selena leaned back in her chair and folded the letter calmly.
"Did he choose me, Mother? Or did he choose what marrying me will give him access to D'Archer territory?"
Her mother's face paled slightly.
Selena smiled. "Don't worry. I'll respond to him. But this time, I'll make the terms."
Later that afternoon, she stood in front of the mirror once again, dressed in deep crimson. Not the fragile white of a hopeful bride. Not the soft pastels of a submissive mate. She was preparing to meet Damien Blackthorn the Alpha who would one day reject her.
And this time, she would not go to him with open arms. She would go as a woman reborn. A woman who remembered everything.
And she would play her role to perfection until it was time to end the game.