Elara's POV
The poison burned like fire in my throat.
I couldn't move. I couldn't move. My body lay on the cold dungeon floor, and all I could do was stare at the stone roof above me. Each breath hurt worse than the last.
"You served your purpose, little Luna," Kieran said from somewhere above me. His voice was calm, like he was talking about the weather. "The rite is complete. I don't need you anymore."
I tried to speak, but only blood came out of my mouth. Seven years. I gave him seven years of my life. I loved him. I trusted him. And now he was watching me die like I was nothing.
My wolf whimpered inside my mind—still locked away, still trapped, even now at the end. I never got to shift. Not even once. Not in all twenty-five years of my life.
"Why?" I choked out. The word was barely a whisper.
Kieran crouched down beside me. His handsome face showed no expression. "Because you had something I needed. Magic older than our packs. It was locked inside your wolf. The ritual took it from you. Now you're useless."
Tears ran down my face. This couldn't be how I died. Alone. Betrayed. Still unable to reach my wolf.
My vision started to go dark. The jail disappeared. The pain disappeared. Everything disappeared.
Then I heard a voice—soft and old and kind.
"Walk your way again, daughter. Choose differently."
The Moon Goddess.
Before I could understand what she meant, the darkness took me whole.
I shot up in bed, screaming.
My hands grabbed at my throat, looking for the poison, the blood, the pain. But there was nothing. My throat was fine. My body didn't hurt. I could breathe.
I looked down at my hands. They were shaking, but they were... wrong. These hands were smooth. Young. Unscathed. Where were my scars? Where were the marks from seven years of suffering?
My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst.
This wasn't the prison. I was in a bedroom. My bedroom. The one I left when I turned eighteen and went to live with Kieran in the North.
"No," I whispered. "This is impossible."
I jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror on my wall. The face looking back at me made my knees weak.
I was eighteen years old again.
My hair was longer, thicker. My face had no worry lines. My body was softer, not starved from years of Kieran managing what I ate. I lifted my arms—no bruises. I checked my wrists—no chains marks.
I looked exactly like I did before everything went wrong.
"This is a dream," I said to my image. "I'm dead. This is just my mind playing tricks before I go."
But everything felt so real. I could feel the wooden floor under my bare feet. I could smell the lavender soap my mother always put in my room. I could hear birds singing outside my window.
I pinched my arm hard. It hurt. Dead people don't feel pain.
My wolf stirred inside my mind—weak, locked away, but there. Alive.
"You're real," I whispered to her. "We're both real."
She whimpered softly, confused and scared, just like me.
I ran to my window and looked outside. The sun was rising over our pack lands. The small houses looked exactly like I remembered. Nothing had changed. Everything was the same as it was seven years ago.
The Moon Goddess's words echoed in my mind: "Walk your road again. Choose differently."
"She sent me back," I breathed. "She actually sent me back in time."
My door suddenly banged open. I spun around, my heart jumping into my throat.
My brother Cassian stood there, looking angry and worried at the same time. "Elara! Why are you screaming? I could hear you from downstairs!"
I couldn't move. I couldn't move. Cassian was living.
Cassian died three years into my marriage with Kieran. Assassins came for me, and he jumped in front of their knives. He died in my arms, bleeding and telling me to run.
I lived with that shame every single day after.
But here he was. Twenty-two years old. Healthy. Alive. Frowning at me like I was being dramatic.
"Elara?" He stepped into my room. "Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost."
A sob burst out of me before I could stop it. I ran across the room and threw my arms around him. I hugged him so tight I was probably hurting him, but I didn't care.
"Uh... sis?" Cassian patted my back awkwardly. "What's going on?"
"You're alive," I whispered into his shoulder. "You're really alive."
"Of course I'm living. Why wouldn't I be?" He pulled back and looked at my face. "Did you have a nightmare or something?"
I opened my mouth to tell him everything. About the timeline. About Kieran. About how he died saving me. But the words stuck in my throat.
How could I explain? He would think I was crazy. I would sound crazy.
"Yeah," I said finally, wiping my eyes. "Just a really bad nightmare."
Cassian studied me for a moment, then squeezed my shoulder. "Well, shake it off. Today's the Moon Dance, remember? You've been excited about it for weeks."
The Moon Dance.
My blood turned to ice.
The Moon Dance was tonight. That was where I met Kieran. That was where he asked me to be his mate. That was where I said yes and destroyed my entire life.
"What's wrong?" Cassian asked. "You suddenly went pale."
"What time is it?" My voice came out strange and tight.
"Almost seven in the morning. The Dance starts at sunset. Why?"
Twelve hours. I had twelve hours before I faced Kieran again.
Twelve hours to figure out what to do better.
"Elara, you're scaring me." Cassian grabbed my hands. "Talk to me."
I looked at my brother—alive, young, still innocent because the awful things hadn't happened yet. I could save him this time. I could save both of us.
But only if I was smart. Only if I didn't make the same mistakes.
"I'm fine," I lied. "Just nervous about tonight."
Cassian relaxed a little. "Don't be worried. You'll be the prettiest girl there. And who knows? Maybe you'll find your fated mate."
I almost laughed. My fated mate. I refused the idea of a fated mate in my first timeline. I picked Kieran instead because he was powerful and rich and promised me everything.
That choice killed me.
"Cassian," I said slowly. "If I do something crazy tonight... something that doesn't make sense... will you trust me?"
He looked confused. "What are you planning?"
"Just promise me. Please."
He sighed. "Fine. I promise. But you're being really weird right now."
He left my room, closed the door behind him. I stood there alone, my mind running.
The Moon Goddess gave me a second chance. I was eighteen again, standing at the exact moment where everything went wrong.
I could change things. I could reject Kieran. I could choose differently.
But what should I choose?
My wolf whined inside my mind, reminding me of the biggest problem. She was still locked. Still cursed. Without her, I was exposed. Weak.
I needed to figure out who cursed me and why. I needed to unlock my wolf before Kieran tried to use me again.
And I needed to do it all before sunset.
I walked to my closet and opened it. Inside hung the silver dress I would wear tonight—the same dress I wore in my first reality. The same dress I burned three years later because I hated what it represented.
I touched the soft cloth, and a memory hit me hard.
Kieran's last words in the dungeon: "The ritual took the power from you. Now you're useless."
My locked wolf had magic inside her. That's why someone sealed her away. That's why Kieran wanted me.
But if the magic was so important, why seal it? Why not use it?
Unless...
My hands started shaking again as a terrible thought formed.
What if someone locked my wolf to protect the magic until I was old enough? What if they planned to use me later?
What if Kieran wasn't the only one who wanted my power?
A knock on my door made me jump.
"Elara?" My mother's voice called. "Are you awake? We need to prepare you for tonight."
I stared at the door, my heart racing.
In my first timeline, I got ready with my mother's help. She was so excited. She helped me with my hair and makeup. She kissed my face and told me to have fun.
She had no idea she was sending me to my death.
But now I wondered something I never questioned before.
My mother was there when my wolf got locked. She was there when I was eight years old and suddenly couldn't shift.
She said my wolf was just late. She said not to worry.
But what if she lied?
What if my own mother knew about the curse?
"Elara?" My mother knocked again, harder this time. "Open the door, sweetheart."
I backed away from the door, my heart racing.
Trust no one. That's what seven years with Kieran taught me.
Everyone lies. Everyone has secrets. Everyone wants something.
"Coming," I called out, trying to keep my voice steady.
I took a big breath and reached for the door handle.
This was it. My second chance started now.
I just had to figure out who I could trust before tonight.
Before I faced Kieran again.
Before I made the choice that would either save me or kill me all over again.
I opened the door.
My mother stood there happy, holding the silver dress in her arms.
But her eyes—for just a split second—flashed with something cold.
Something that looked almost like fear.