Chapter 3

Brooks took Cassia to the hot-spring estate, the one built where the Moon Goddess was said to have once walked the earth.

Her giggling drifted across the grounds without a pause.

I found a quiet spot to sit in the sun, and a maid beside me muttered under her breath.

“Luna Cassia has to be the Alpha's fated mate. He used to work until dawn every night, his whole mind on the pack, and now he spends every day at her side.”

“Right? We've seen the Alpha's other girlfriends before, and he never doted on any of them like this.”

In my last life, every one of those words had been about me.

I was still sitting there in a daze when the steward called out to me.

“Dr. Hart, the Alpha's asking for you.”

The servants looked at me with something close to pity in their eyes.

I used to be the one always at the Alpha's side.

He had never once left me the time to sit out here in the sun alone.

But now he had fallen for the woman who worked under me.

I drew a few deep breaths, steeled myself, and walked to the spring where he soaked.

I thought I caught a figure behind me, and I spoke softly.

“Alpha.”

When no answer came, I slowly lifted my head.

Brooks was staring straight at me, like he wanted to swallow me whole.

But there was no sign of Cassia anywhere near him.

Something felt wrong, and I started to back away, but a pair of warm, wet hands shot out, caught my waist, and dragged me to the edge of the pool.

On instinct I shielded my belly, and to my relief, the child was fine.

Brooks's grip was strong enough to crack ribs.

I didn't dare move, and the hand over my stomach trembled.

There was barely a fist of space between us, and the steam off the water blurred my sight.

Brooks looked down at my hand.

A faint suspicion showed in his eyes.

My heart nearly leapt out of my throat.

All around us the water murmured.

Brooks twitched his nose, then fixed his stare on my face.

“Has your scent changed?”

When I gave no answer, he went on.

“I've slept beside Cassia these last few nights, and the one who saved me doesn't feel like her. I don't know if I'm imagining it, but I keep thinking it was you that night.”

I tore out of his hold and quickly threw out the excuse that I'd changed perfumes.

He caught my wrist instead.

His fingertips pressed through the fabric while his eyes stayed locked on mine.

“Something's off. Lena, we grew up together, and I wonder if you've ever thought about being Luna.”

His words made my chest tighten.

“My mind was a mess that night, but my wolf wasn't.”

He cut me off, his voice dropping low.

“I'd know that scent and the feel of that body even burned to ash. So tell me, why is Cassia's scent wrong?”

I opened my mouth and couldn't find anything to throw back.

All I could do was step back and put some distance between us.

“I've always thought of you as a good friend, since we grew up together, and nothing more. If you think of me as the playmate you grew up with too, then please don't ever say things like this.”

He clearly hadn't expected me to push him away so hard.

The cold dropped over Brooks's face at once.

He stepped out of the spring and pulled on a robe.

He looked down at me from above.

“Take good care of Cassia. Get her body right so she can carry my heir.”

His steps were slow, deliberately giving me room to say something.

But I never opened my mouth.

If he truly cared for me, he wouldn't have treated me the way he did in my last life.

Right now, he was just in a certain mood as an Alpha, using me to soothe his inner restlessness.

So this was the kind of man he was.

Just thinking about it turned my stomach.