The Witch's Warning

Calista Rivers' POV

I woke up in a place that smelled like old books and candle wax.

My head throbbed. My body ached. For a moment, I thought I was back in the hospital, recovering from some terrible accident. But when I opened my eyes, I saw wooden shelves crammed with bottles, jars, and strange objects I could not name.

I sat up slowly. I was lying on a couch in what looked like the back room of a bookstore. Dust floated in the shafts of sunlight streaming through a small window.

"You are awake. Good."

I turned my head and saw a woman sitting in a chair across from me. She was older, maybe in her fifties, with long black hair streaked with silver. Her eyes were a piercing, unnatural blue. She wore layers of dark clothing and held a cup of tea in her hands.

"Where am I?" I asked. My voice was hoarse.

"My shop," the woman said. "You fainted. Kael brought you here."

Kael. The werewolf.

The memory came flooding back. The parking lot. The creature. The transformation.

I stood up too quickly, and the room spun. The woman did not move to help me. She just watched, sipping her tea like this was a normal conversation.

"I need to leave," I said.

"Sit down, Calista."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know a lot about you," the woman said. "More than you know about yourself."

I did not sit. My instincts screamed at me to get out of this place, away from these people, back to my normal life where werewolves and shadow creatures did not exist.

But my legs would not move.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"My name is Elena Morgana," the woman said. "I am a witch. And before you say it is impossible, remember that you just watched a man turn into a wolf. So let us skip the denial and get to the part where I tell you the truth."

I stared at her. A witch. Of course. Why not? At this point, nothing surprised me anymore.

"What truth?" I asked.

"You are not who you think you are," Elena said. She set down her tea and stood. "You were not born Calista Rivers. You were born Luna Calista of the Silver Moon Pack. And you died three hundred years ago."

The words hit me like a punch to the chest.

"That is insane," I whispered.

"Is it?" Elena walked toward me. "Tell me, Calista. Have you ever felt like you do not belong? Like some part of you is missing? Have you had dreams you cannot explain?"

I opened my mouth to deny it. But I could not.

Because she was right.

I had always felt like something was wrong with me. Like I was walking through life wearing someone else's skin. And the dreams. God, the dreams. I had been having them since I was a child. Forests. Fire. A man with silver eyes.

"This is not real," I said.

"You are a reincarnation," Elena continued. "Your soul has been reborn in this body, but your memories are locked away. That is why you do not remember Kael. Why you do not remember what he did to you."

"What he did to me?"

Elena's expression darkened. "He killed you, Calista. Three hundred years ago, Kael Varyn drove a dagger through your heart and sacrificed your life to save his pack."

The room went cold.

"No," I said. My voice was barely a whisper.

"Yes," Elena said. "And the Moon Goddess cursed him for it. She made him immortal, unable to die, unable to love, until your soul forgave him. But every time you are reborn, you die again before that forgiveness can happen. This is your fourth life, Calista. And if you do not break the curse this time, it will not just kill you. It will destroy every werewolf in existence."

I sank back onto the couch. My mind could not process what she was saying. It was too much. Too impossible.

"Why me?" I asked. "Why does any of this matter to me?"

"Because you are the key," Elena said. "The curse is tied to your soul. Only you can break it. Or doom us all."

The door to the room opened, and Kael walked in.

He looked at me with those silver eyes, and I saw something in them I had not noticed before.

Guilt.

"Is it true?" I asked. My voice shook. "Did you kill me?"

Kael did not look away. He did not flinch.

"Yes," he said.

And my entire world shattered.