A Second Chance, A New Curse

Ava's POV

I shot my eyes open to an unfamiliar sight... My eyes dimmed as the bright light threatened to blind me.

"Quick, call Her Majesty! Princess Elora is awake!" someone who was fanning over me called out.  

 _Princess Elora?_ 

What sick game was this?

I am not Elora. I am Ava.  

Ava the scarred omega. The unloved. The betrayed.  

I tried sitting up, but my limbs felt strange. Heavy. A sharp pain surged through me as I held my head.  

Sweat clung to my skin.  

 _Wait... skin?_ 

I blinked again. I wasn't cold. I wasn't bleeding. I was... alive.  

My hands flew to my chest.  

 _No wound_ 

My heart thundered in my ears.  

Then everything came back—my mother, my sister, Vera, Kael... my mate. Their laughter. Betrayal. The pain. The darkness.  

The death.  

And yet...  

Here I was.  

The moon goddess had granted me a rebirth, and I was sure not going to waste this chance.  

They would pay. Vera. Kael. Even my mother. They would taste the wrath of my sword. I would make them beg for death... I would become their nightmare.  

But as I moved again, something felt wrong.  

Everything felt wrong.  

My fingers trembled. My arms were fuller, softer. My body wasn't mine.  

I stumbled out of the bed, pushing the duvet aside, ignoring the panicked murmurs of the women around me.  

I needed a mirror.  

And when I found it—I screamed.  

There I was. The scar still cut across my left cheek. But my face was rounder. My cheeks fuller. My body... larger. Curvier.  

I lifted my arms. Pressed against the reflection. Still me... but not me.  

The door slammed open.  

A strange woman gasped, "Oh Elora, you scared us," she rushed to me, tears in her eyes. "What were you thinking jumping over the cliffs..." She paused a bit to examine my features.  

Her embrace was like a blanket I had never known I needed.  

It stunned me.  

"My poor child. I know you are scared of getting married to the Devil, but that doesn't mean you should go as far as trying to kill yourself."  

 _Jumping off a cliff?_ 

 _Marriage?_ 

 _To the devil?_ 

I stiffened as she guided me back toward the bed.  

"Where am I?" I rasped, my throat dry, and voice foreign.  

"You are in StormClaw Pack, Elora," she smiled nervously, cleaning her tears. "You're the daughter of Alpha Darius. You had jumped off a cliff and blacked out. Thank the moon you're safe."  

Alpha Darius?

Daughter?

What...?

I tried to speak, but my voice died.  

No. No. No. This wasn't the kind of rebirth I wanted. This wasn't justice. This was... a trap.  

Not only did I return with the same cursed scar, but now I was fat, in a stranger's body, about to be married off to someone this woman had just called 'the devil.'  

That means their daughter had died. Why would the moon goddess do this to me? Trap me in the body of this Elora girl...  

Before I could think, another man walked in. Stern, tall, and draped in royal fur laced with power.  

He looked at me with relief and annoyance.  

"You scared us. But now that you're awake, we must prepare."  

"She just woke up, Alpha Darius," the woman beside me—my new 'mother'—protested.  

"Silence, woman. Or do you want to go in her place?" the stern-looking man—I guessed was Elora's father—snapped. "Why are you all painting me black?" he added after dismissing everyone but the queen and me.  

The queen was now sobbing silently, and I was just too weak to react, looking discreetly at Alpha Darius as he spoke.  

He sighed, rubbing his temple. "Do you think I enjoy giving away my only daughter to the devil? Of course not. But she has been betrothed to him since she was born, and now it's time to remit our dues. We wouldn't want the wrath of the moon goddess upon us, would we?"  

He stepped closer.  

"Elora... this might be hard for you, but be strong. You have to do this for the Pack. For us. Maybe he's not as gruesome as he was rumored to be."  

Gruesome? My stomach dropped.  

Just then the trumpets blew... and the loud voice of someone echoed within the palace.  

"Welcoming Alpha Dravin of Sulk Pack!"  

Time stopped.

"Dravin..." I whispered. "Is he the one I am marrying...?" I asked as fear washed over me.  

Alpha Darius didn't hesitate. "Why are you acting oblivious of that? Quick, you will be seeing him tonight... I have to go welcome him," he turned to the woman who held on to me like a leech. "Get her dressed and don't go planning another scheme for her escape, or trust me, you will be given in her place..." He sneered and left.  

And she returned to her crying. I patted her gently on the back.  

"I'm sorry, Elora. I tried everything to stop this. I begged him, but he wouldn't listen. And now we're out of time."  

Something deep inside me cracked as she held on to me.  

My own mother had barely touched me without disgust. She called me cursed, hideous. She never hugged me, and I'm sure she might not have been the one who breastfed me—after all, we had a lot of cows.  

But this woman? This stranger? She clung to me like I was her world.  

"Mother," I said quietly, bracing for a slap, a shove—something.  

Instead, she pulled me into a much deeper hug.  

Something I haven't experienced. Though scarred, fat, and very much still ugly, it seemed Elora was loved in this pack. And now... I was her.  

Unlike mine, where I was labeled a cursed-born.

"Elora, please forgive me. I couldn't do anything to stop this."  

"It's okay, Mother," I said awkwardly. The word felt strange on my tongue, but warm in my chest.  

She cupped my face gently, looking into my eyes, her eyes pained. "We have to get you ready, please. They are here already, and we don't want to upset your father again," she said as she scrambled through the closet, and some maids rushed into the room, their hands flying around.  

"Elora," she called softly.  

"Uhmm..." I looked up, still trying to adjust to this new name, this new body, this new fate.  

"Are you ready for this?" she asked.  

Ready?

How could I be?  

I was an Omega yesterday. Sacrificed. Betrayed.  

Now I was a princess in a stranger's skin. From scarred sacrifice to fattened bride. A living offering.  

What kind of second chance was this?

I didn't answer right away.  

Alpha Dravin. I had thought he was a legend. I had read of him during my barely free time at home.  

He was the rumored Dracula.  

The man who tore through armies. Half-wolf, half-demon.  

The one even other Alphas feared.  

A being older than time. Feared. Hated. Unloved.  

And I was to be handed to him like a gift.  

Still scarred.  

Still cursed.  

Still... me.  

Maybe that woman was right... I was the devil's artwork, and now I would be returned to him.  

"Yes, Mum." I mumbled the lie out.  

But inside, my heart thundered...  

If the moon goddess gave me a second chance, I will make everyone pay. Starting from Vera. Kael. And maybe the devil I was about to marry.  

I'm no longer just Ava.  

I am Elora now.

And this time I will watch the world burn before they destroy me again.