I WANT TO FORGIVE YOU

MAYA

Maria was winning.

She had won against me when I was Princess Philomena, taking away my life, my title, and my future. And now, reincarnated as Maya—a quiet servant girl with forbidden magic—she was winning all over again.

Every single morning brought a fresh layer of agony. The palace was filled with a heavy, suffocating tension. I watched from the shadows as Edward ordered the servants to completely redecorate the mansion.

The pictures Maria had secretly taken down from the main lounge,Edward had caught her hiding it and went into a cold, ruthless fury. He didn't just order that single portrait restored to its rightful spot above the fireplace; he went straight into his private vaults and brought out dozens of hidden wooden crates of Philomena.

Inside those crates were countless paintings, portraits, and photographs of Princess Philomena—of me in my past life.

Out of sheer anger toward Maria, Edward insisted that the servants hang those pictures in every single corner of the house. Every hallway, every dining area, every grand parlor was now covered with my old face staring back at the pack.

I remember standing in the corridor last Tuesday, sweeping the rugs while Edward and Maria had a heated argument right in the middle of the foyer.

"You are being ridiculous, Edward!" Maria had screamed, her sharp voice echoing against the vaulted ceiling as her face contorted in rage. "This house looks like a shrine to a dead girl! Why are you hanging her face in our private hallway?! I am your Luna!"

"Philomena was the royal princess of this pack!" Edward had growled back, his voice booming with absolute authority, leaving no room for debate. "Her bloodline built these walls, Maria! You removed her picture behind my back while I was sick, thinking I would never notice. I am the Alpha, and my words in this house are final! Hang every single one of them!"

Maria had slammed her door so hard the glass chandelier trembled, but the pictures stayed up.

It was a twisted kind of torture. The more Edward adores Philomena’s pictures, the more it deeply hurts Maria's pride. Every time Maria walks down the hallway, she has to look at the beautiful, unblemished face of the princess she murdered, reminding her that no matter how hard she tries, she will always live in Philomena's long shadow.

And yet, watching Edward obsess over my past self broke my heart into a thousand pieces. Because he didn't know Maya was Philomena. To him, Philomena was a dead memory, and Maya was a secretive girl who had broken his heart.

He avoids me now. He rarely looks directly into my eyes, and he keeps a firm, agonizing distance between us in our private moments. But despite the emotional wall he built around himself, he still protects me.

One late night, after a formal pack dinner where Maria had spent the entire evening glaring at the portraits on the dining room walls, I was clearing the wine glasses from the side table. Maria couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Why do you keep doing this to me, Edward?" Maria hissed, leaning over the dark mahogany table, her eyes red with tears of humiliation. "You surround me with her ghost! It hurts! It stings my heart every single day to see her face everywhere I turn!"

Edward sat at the head of the table, cutting his meat with precise, quiet control. He slowly set his knife down and glanced toward the corner where I was stacking dirty plates.

"Look at Maya, Maria," Edward said softly, his voice calm yet heavy with a strange observation. "Maya is also my wife. She lives in this house, yet the pictures do not hurt her the way they hurt you. Why is that?"

Maria snapped her head toward me, her eyes flashing with pure hatred. "She is a foolish street maid! She doesn't have the feelings or the blood of a real royal!"

"Maya is not hurting," Edward continued, ignoring Maria's outburst completely. His clear amber eyes rested on me for a fleeting second, filled with an unreadable, distant pain. "She walks past Philomena's face without anger or jealousy. Perhaps she understands respect better than you do."

Living in the palace had become a bizarre, split reality for the three of us. As the Alpha, Edward was required to attend formal territorial functions, host visiting diplomats, and dine publicly with his wives.

The two of us go to functions with Edward. We both eat at his long dining table every afternoon. We both answer to the title of Luna when the pack members address us. I attend every grand evening function right by his side, dressed in elegant silk gowns that Edward personally ordered for me.

But out in public, Maria gets all his physical attention.

She clings to his arm like a golden snake, flashing her fake, dazzling smile at the nobility. She whispers in his ear, leaning into his broad chest, desperate to show the world that she is the favorite, the true woman in his life. I am forced to walk half a step behind them, silent and watchful, playing the part of the quiet second wife while my heart bleeds internally.

Yet, whenever we return behind the closed doors of the palace, Edward's instinct to defend me never fails.

Two days ago, Maria tried to trap me in the laundry corridor. She grabbed a heavy brass candle holder, her face twisted in a vicious scowl as she raised her hand to strike my shoulder for failing to iron her silk robes on time.

"You lazy, ungrateful little bitch!" Maria screeched, swinging her arm back. "I will teach you how to obey your superior!"

Before the brass could touch me, Edward materialized out of nowhere. His large hand clamped around Maria's wrist with terrifying speed, freezing her in place.

"Touch her, and I will snap your wrist, Maria!" Edward roared into her face, his voice vibrating with such raw, guttural Alpha authority that the servants down the hall dropped their trays in panic.

Maria gasped, dropping the heavy candlestick onto the floor with a loud clang. "Edward! She disobeyed me! She is disrespecting my position!"

"I don't care!" Edward yelled back, stepping between us and shoving Maria back a full step. "You will not raise your hand against Maya in this house! She is my wife, not your punching bag! If I catch you threatening her again, I will strip you of your keys and lock you in the west wing!"

Maria burst into furious tears and ran up the stairs, leaving us alone in the quiet corridor.

I stood there, clutching my hands against my dress, my heart hammering against my ribs. I love this part of him so much. I love that deep down, his protective mate instinct still flares up the moment I am in danger.

But I was shocked, truly shocked, because this is not the Edward I used to know.

Edward was fierce, but he was always gentle and soft-spoken around Maria, treating her like a fragile glass doll. Now, he was harsh. He was firm, commanding, and totally unyielding. But strangely, he was not harsh to Maria out of hatred alone—he treated her like a burden he was forced to endure.

A quiet, alarming thought settled deep inside my mind as I watched him breathe heavily in the quiet hallway.

Could it be that he was under a spell all those years ago?

My mind raced back to the old dark magic Maria had used to poison him. What if Maria had placed a love hex or a mind-control curse on Edward years ago to force him to cherish her and ignore her evil nature? And what if my five days of blood rituals at my own grave side—when I awakened my ancestral telekinesis and shattered his blindness—had actually broken her spell?

If my grave rituals healed his body and cleared his mind, then the fog of Maria's dark magic had finally lifted from his soul. He was seeing her clearly for the very first time in his life—a manipulative, cruel woman who had destroyed his peace.

That night, the atmosphere in the palace reached a dangerous boiling point.

It was the night of the Full Moon.

According to ancient pack law, on the night of the Full Moon, the Alpha is required to perform the sacred midnight moonlight ceremony in the central courtyard to bless the pack's territory. And by sacred tradition, the Alpha is to be with just one Luna by his side on the altar.

Maria had spent the entire morning preening herself, wearing a grand velvet cape lined with white fur, convincing herself that she was naturally the one who would stand on the high platform with Edward. She stood in the main foyer, barking orders at the guards, acting as if the territory was already completely hers.

When midnight approached, the courtyard was filled with hundreds of pack members. Torches blazed against the dark night sky, casting long, dancing shadows across the stone floor.

I stood near the back entrance of the private garden, wearing a simple navy blue gown, fully expecting to watch the ceremony from the dark shadows. I knew my place. I knew the elders would riot if a girl accused of running away with street boys stood on the sacred altar.

Edward stepped out onto the grand balcony wearing his full Alpha regal armor. He looked breathtaking—strong, golden, and imposing under the silver rays of the giant full moon above us.

Maria stepped forward, reaching out her hand to take his arm so they could walk down the ceremonial stairs together.

"Let us go, my Alpha," Maria purred, her voice dripping with sweet triumph as she smiled up at him. "The pack is waiting for us."

Edward didn't take her hand. Instead, his sharp amber eyes scanned the crowded courtyard below, cutting right through the sea of nobles until his gaze landed directly on me, hiding near the rose bushes.

"Maya," Edward called out, his voice echoing clearly over the silent crowd.

Every head in the courtyard turned toward me. Maria's sweet smile instantly vanished, replaced by a pale, horrified shock.

"Come up here," Edward commanded gently, extending his hand down toward the garden stairs.

Maria gasped, grabbing his sleeve frantically. "Edward, what are you doing?! This is the Full Moon Blessing! You cannot bring a disgraced maid up to the altar! The tradition dictates that your true Luna stands beside you! I am to be the one!"

Edward turned his head slowly, looking down at Maria's hand on his arm until she nervously pulled it back.

"The pack needs to see their Alpha united with his family," Edward said coldly to her. But his heart wasn't with Maria. I could see it in the slight tremor of his fingers, in the sheer desperate longings burning in his eyes as he looked down at me.

Edward would love me to be by his side. Every fiber of his soul was pulling him toward me, begging him to choose me over the woman who had poisoned his life. But the heavy weight of his doubts, the lies Maria had planted about my five-day disappearance, kept a thick wall between us.

He took a slow step down the stairs toward where I stood, leaving Maria standing frozen on the top platform under the furious glares of the pack elders.

Edward stopped just two feet away from me near the edge of the quiet garden shadows, out of earshot from the gathering crowd. The moonlight caught the sharp edges of his handsome face, highlighting the deep, agonizing conflict tearing him apart inside.

He looked down at me, his chest heaving, his amber eyes softer than they had been in weeks.

"Maya," he pleaded, his voice dropping to a low, desperate whisper that vibrated right through my skin. "Please... just tell me about the boys."

Tears sprang to my eyes, hot and painful, as I looked up at the man I had loved across two entirely different lifetimes.

"Or even tell me where you were," Edward begged, stepping closer, his hands trembling slightly as if he desperately wanted to reach out and pull me into his arms. "Just give me a single name, a location, anything at all. I want to forgive you, Maya. I am starving to forgive you... but please, give me a reason to."