BLURB:I had hate in my heart when I died. The Moon Goddess herself linked me to a guy who was meant to adore me, but he betrayed me. I was alive and complete five years ago when I opened my eyes once again. I vowed that this time would be different. My so-called fated mate, Darius Blackthorn, would never be allowed to come near me close enough to ruin me once again. Before he could attack, I would forge my own route, guard my heart, and discover the truth about his treachery. However, it seems that destiny is difficult to change. Killian Draven comes in. Perilous, enraged, and all too alluring, he makes me an offer: if I act like his mate, he would shield me from Darius. I shouldn't play that game since it would only lead to heartache. But the longer I'm in Killian's embrace, the more I question if my fate isn't bound to him. Darius then comes after me and says I've been duped and that the betrayal I believed I saw wasn't what it seemed to be. He is battling not just for me but also for our pack's future. And I am really shaken by the facts he exposes. Because if Darius wasn't the one who betrayed me, then who was it? And why does it seem like I could lose more than my heart in this second chance?
Chapter 1 The Dead and Reborn
CHAPTER 1: The Dead and Reborn
"You were never meant to survive."
The words reverberated in my brain like a sharp, icy sword twisting once again. My eyes sprang wide as I gasped. Suffocating darkness closed in. Heavy, palpable blackness, not the gentle, unending darkness of death. My limbs were heavy and ungainly as I struggled. Where had I gone?
My lungs were screaming for oxygen, and my chest was burning. I felt as if I had been pulled out from the bottom of an ice lake, drowning. My hands found familiar, silky sheets as I forced myself to stand. My sleeping quarters? However, that was not feasible.
With my bare feet striking the chilly hardwood floor, I staggered out of bed. Although the room was dark, the familiar furniture was painted in silver color by the moonlight that flowed through the window. My heart was hammering frantically against my ribs as I walked up to the mirror.
The younger, smoother face was looking back at me. The shadows of treachery, the lines of sorrow and suffering, were gone. I raised a quivering hand and traced the contour of my face with my fingertips. I didn't recall myself, yet it was me.
I looked down at my neck. Normally, my skin was disfigured by a jagged scar that served as a continual reminder of Darius's rejection. Now, however, there was simply a thin, almost undetectable mark that glowed dimly in the moonlight. Mark, my friend.
I was hit by a rush of nausea. Five years. I had been dead for five years. Dead, deceived, and now resurrected?
I recalled Darius's golden eyes turning to ice, the knife, and the icy steel gliding between my ribs. "You were never meant to survive." Like he was swatting a fly, he had stated it so nonchalantly.
I tried to ignore the recollection by squeezing my eyes tight, but it was like a splinter, deeply lodged and festering.
I had sacrificed everything for him. My soul, my devotion, my heart. And he had stabbed me in the back as payback.
"This time will be different," I said in a raspy voice.
I refused to allow him to get close to me. I would erect walls so high and dense that he would never be able to get to me again. I would go off on my own, free from destiny and unaffected by his deception.
My thoughts were racing as I paced the room. How could this have happened? Why had the Moon Goddess given me a second chance? Or was she? As I passed away, I recalled cursing her name.
I was startled out of my reverie by a gentle rustling. My senses sharpened as I froze. There was a person outside my window.
I slipped over to the window and looked through the drapes. In the darkness, a person stood with their face hidden by the shadows. However, there was something familiar about the way they carried themselves, the way they posed.
"Who's there?" My voice was no more than a whisper when I shouted out.
The person remained silent. I was left alone with my terror as they just turned and vanished into the night.
With my heart thumping in my ears, I slammed the window shut. I couldn't get rid of the sensation that I was being watched and that someone was hiding in the shadows, waiting for me.
I had to leave this place. I needed to find out what was occurring and why I was back.
After grabbing a jacket, I crept out of my room and made my way through the house without making any noise. Tension permeated the air, and the only sound to break the stillness was my own heart's desperate pounding.
When I arrived at the front door, I opened it and stepped outside into the refreshing night air. Long, unsettling shadows were thrown over the yard by the moon, which was high in the sky.
In an attempt to quiet my racing anxieties, I inhaled deeply. I had to think straight. I had to decide what I should do.
Suddenly, a voice burst through the hush.
"Aria?"
My heart sprang into my throat as I whirled around. Darius's golden eyes gleamed in the darkness as he stood in the shadows. He seemed older and changed, yet his eyes still had the same icy quality I recalled.
"What are you doing here?" With a quivering voice, I demanded.
He moved in closer, staring into my eyes. "We need to talk."
I said, "There's nothing to talk about," and stepped back. "You killed me."
"I know it looks that way," he added quietly, "but you must trust me." I didn't choose it.
"Then whose was it?" With hatred in my voice, I questioned.
He paused, turning his head away. "That's what I need to tell you."
I could see the agony in his eyes as he stepped closer. It was a suffering I was all too acquainted with.
He replied, "Someone is trying to kill you again, Aria," in a frantic tone. "And this time, I won't let them."
A man with a face obscured by the shadows behind him appeared before I could reply. Gleaming silver in the moonlight, they surged toward Darius.
Darius's physique shifted in a second, revealing his wolf. He met the attacker's assault with a growl that tore through the darkness.
As the brawl played out in front of me, I remained still. Fast and nimble, the attacker's actions were lethal. They were a tornado of fangs and claws, a flurry of movement.
Desperate to keep me safe, Darius battled with a fierceness I had never seen before, his wolf a seething beast. However, the assailant persisted, delivering strong, accurate blows.
Darius fell to the ground as the assailant suddenly delivered a punch. He closed his eyes and lay still.
With their face still obscured by the darkness, the assailant turned to confront me. Through the darkness came the sound of a familiar, icy voice.
"You were never meant to survive, Aria."
The face of the person emerged into the moonlight. My throat tightened each breath.
Selena was the one. My sister.
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