EPISODE TWO— Second Chance to Alter Fate

Mara's POV 

“My lady, we are done,” a smooth and professional voice reached my ears from my subconsciousness, pulling me back to the present. 

I snapped my eyes open to stare up at a sterile ceiling above me. I don't know that there were buildings in the afterlife. I thought.

Then a lady with a wide grin on her face stared down on me. “Your spa session is over, my Lady.”

Oh..  there were spas in the afterlife too. 

But the lady…… 

I blinked and there she was, still staring at me. No… this can't be the afterlife.

My brows narrowed in confusion as I glanced around me and it sure looked like I was in a luxurious spa. The fluorescent signage on the wall screamed “House of V.”

Wait.. what the hell just happened?!

I  jolted up easily. I touched my chest, no wounds and I was breathing just fine. My knees too were smooth, no blood.

My mouth parted in disbelief. Didn't I get shot and fall down the cliff? Am I not supposed to be dead or something?

I stared at the lady again, her brows narrowed in confusion.

Just then, Mia walked in, dressed in a sophisticated blue dress with a plunging neckline, her heels clicking the floor sharply. “Let’s leave Mara.. Alpha Leon is already waiting outside to take you to the bridal shop for your final wedding dress fittings.”

I didn't reply her; No, I couldn't. 

I'm so confused. What the hell is happening?!

I snatched my phone from the table beside the bed, swiped it open and the date was December, 18. 

How? That was like five days before I discovered that I'm nothing but a bargaining chip. Six days to my wedding. 

Oh… I remembered this day. I had come to do my facials, manicure and pedicure, then we went to the bridal shop and from there to check the hall.

Did I just go back in time? 

The lights on the signage shone brighter and when I looked at it, there was no spa name. There were strange wordings there. “The Moon Goddess had just granted you a second chance to alter your fate.”

Then the words changed again. “Find the Alpha that doesn't celebrate Christmas. Get him to fall in love with you in exactly three months and only then you can truly be safe.”

Second chance at life?

Find the Alpha that doesn't celebrate Christmas and get him to fall in love with me in three months?

How do I know the Alpha that doesn't celebrate Christmas?

I raised my head up to re-read the writings, but it has changed back to the spa name.

“What's wrong?” Mia asked, touching my hands. “You are really scaring me, sister.”

I looked up at her and I saw it. Her smile was fake. It has always been fake.

I had always thought that she was the only one that loved me in the family. She will throw a fit if mother scolds me or locks me up in my room for days, she will cry anytime mother punished me for her own carelessness; if she injured herself or lost something of value. 

But now, I see it clearly. She enjoyed watching me break and I bet she was often careless to have me punished.

A trail of tears slid down my cheeks. Not from pain, but from gratitude and profound happiness.

This second life that the Goddess had given me, I will use it judiciously. I won't love, trust or even care about others blindly. I will not die again. I refused to be a pawn. And to everyone who has ever hurt me, I will make sure they pay.

Her hands felt like a hot furnace on my skin, so I yanked them off me and wiped my own tears.

“Are you okay?”  She asked, her voice dripping with fake concern. 

I didn't answer her. I just stepped out of the bed and when I looked down at my dress, my chest split open. I was wearing one of her old dresses. I was the bride, yet I'm shabbily dressed while Mia looked elegant.  I grabbed my hand bag and walked out of the room.

“What is wrong with you, sister?”  She asked, trailing behind me.

Sister? She must have known I wasn't her real sister. She must have known about the whatever ritual that Leon needed me for too.

Outside, I saw Leon leaning against his Lamborghini, his guards flanking beside him.

He stared up at me from his phone and waved with a fake smile on his lips. Then he held the door open for me.

I let out a dry chuckle. That bastard. He still thought he had me wrapped, didn't he?

I approached him and stood in front of him. He eyed me down, eyes beaming with fake affection. You look so beautiful, my Lady. You look so ready to walk down the—”

Unrestrained anger coursed through me when I remembered how he had spoken without remorse and told me I needed to die to complete the ritual. 

My hand connected to his face in a sharp, resounding slap that snapped his head to the side.

He clenched his cheeks, his eyes blazing. “You bitch—” the words died in his mouth. Then he managed a smile. “My Lady, is there anything wrong?”

I slapped him again. “This is for all the fake love you showed me for four years.”

His brows furrowed. “What did you mean, Mara?”

“We are done, Leon. The wedding is off and I'm rejecting you right now.”

He stared at me for a long moment, then he laughed hard as if I was a joke he didn't quite get. “You can't be serious, Mara.” He gestured into the car. “Come on, get in. We still need to check the event hall today.”

He didn't even mind that I slapped him twice. He is still concerned about the wedding.

I won't waste time exchanging banters with him. Thank Goddess, he wasn't my fated mate, so there was really no need for a proper rejection.

“The wedding is off,” I snapped.

Leon stood frozen like he couldn't wrap his head around it all.

I looked towards Mia, she stood with her mouth and eyes wide open.

Without another glance, I turned and walked towards the highway. “Taxi,” I summoned. It stopped in front of me and I slipped into the backseat. The driver pulled away.

As if Leon was just regaining himself, he started chasing after the taxi but soon stopped.

_______

Wolves & Whispers was everything I hated—red neon lights pulsing like a heartbeat, bass-heavy music pounding against my skull, and the thick scent of cigars and alcohol choking the air out of my lungs. Different scents of wolves mingling in the air. Strippers dressed in fishnet, straddling men and twisting around a polo on the platform.

If it was yesternight, I'd have stormed out of this place immediately, but not anymore.

The distraction was exactly why I came. I needed it to feel alive again.

Sitting at the booth, I threw down the fourth glass of tequila and signaled for another. 

I don't know what to do or where to go from here. I have no one to turn to either. In fact, this was the first time I have ever been on my own, without the company of Mia or Leon. I was home-schooled too.

I bet my so-called mate and family are searching everywhere for me right now.

And where do I find the Alpha that does not celebrate Christmas?

The waitress slid the drink at me with a tight smile on her face as if she was telling me that I have had enough.

I threw it down and slammed the empty glass back on the counter.

By now, everything and everyone is appearing in twos. I looked towards the platform where she-wolves were twisting around polo and it seemed like the Goddess had joined them.  

And fuck, I'm so pressed. I wanted to ask the waitress but she was already walking away with a tray of drinks in her hand. I'd figure it out myself.

I started walking out of the room slowly because it looked like the ground was sinking beneath me, pushing people off my paths. They hurled curses at me but I ignored them.

I saw a room with the plate name screaming “Restroom” and I entered it. But inside, it wasn't a restroom. It looked like a VIP lounge. 

Oh.. fuck. You can't even do anything right, Mara. I pressed my palms to my face in a futile attempt to stay sober. 

I attempted to turn away but that was when I heard it. A deep masculine voice that reverberated through my entire being. Enough to make me sober. To make me feel alive.

“I have never celebrated Christmas because every year I'm afraid that the curse would strike.”