Chapter No. 3

Ada Steele:-

With a wild gasp of repulsion, I awoke, my hand darting to my chest where a moment before the dagger had struck through my heart, or rather what had seemed a moment. It felt as though my lungs were burning, my throat was scorched, and I was gazing with wide-open eyes at the gentle morning light pouring in the usual transparent curtains. My heart was beating with great thudding, my bosom heaving up and down under violent gasps of breath, as I gazed around this small, humble room, formerly my own, in the packhouse.

My room. But how?

I grabbed hold of the sheets under me, and the cotton under my fingernails was warm and genuine. There was the odor of dew and pine and sunlight on the breeze that came in by the window, so devastatingly commonplace that it seemed a mockery. Heavy breath, mind racing, I surveyed all the nooks and crannies with the space I had not imagined would ever get a chance to see again.

"I died," I murmured. “I died… They pierced me. They burned me up…”

Memories rushed back into me like a tidal wave, the mating ceremony, how I was betrayed, how Kimberly smirked when thrusting a blade into my chest, how Alaric mocked me, how I heard helpless screams of my parents being murdered in front of my eyes. The wolfsbane sting. The burning flames. The prayer that I spoke to the Moon Goddess in my dying prayer.

I gouged my nails into my scalp as stinging agony slit through my head. I was screaming, drawing into a ball with my hands pressed to my head as each broken moment was replaying in the most vivid detail--each one worse than the other.

Then, suddenly, silence. When I opened my eyes this time, I was no longer in my room.

I was in the midst of a forest clearing that was silver with moonlight, and the trees were creeping; it was as though they would breathe as well. The moon was at full, shining brightly overhead, the stars that thronged the heavens like a court of admirers.

"Where am I?" I whispered with a tremulous voice. "What is going on with me?"

"You are in my dimension, Ada Steele," said a peaceful voice behind me.

I wheeled round, gasping with admiration.

There was a glowing woman, as white as a moon, and her silver hair shone like a stream of stars, hanging down her gown, and a shining pendant of a crescent moon dangled on her chest. Her eyes, pale aquamarine and boundless, gazed into mine with an archaic tincture of sorrow that seemed to me, well, maternal.

"Are?--Are--you the Moon Goddess?" I hesitated and pulled back, unsure whether to kneel or run.

"Yes," she answered, and her smile was a gentle yet powerful force. "In your last moment, you called to me, grant me another life, to help you. I listened to you, my child, which is why I have come to grant you what others have had precious little of a chance."

I fell on my knees. Dropping upon the ground, my tears trickled down my cheeks, and I bowed my head. “Please… I do not want justice. I am seeking revenge. In honor of my parents. On account of what they had done to me. They cremated me alive…”

Then she moved forward and touched me on the head. "And, with my blessing, you shall receive it. I will restore you to life--but--there is a price.”

I gazed up at her with my heart beating hard. “Anything.”

"You shall go back into the world of the living, a year before the coming of your death. You will have 365 days to settle the score on what you have lost, to unearth what is yet to be unraveled, and to take what is rightfully yours. However, your time is up on the day of your death. You must come back to me, at all costs.”

"So, you are saying after one year, I will die on the same day I died?" I asked, my heart breaking once again, as the hope of getting a better life after taking my revenge died within me, but at this moment, nothing mattered to me more than my revenge and taking back what rightfully belonged to me.

"One year," she answered gently. “No more. No less. Do not waste it.”

I gulped and stood upright. "Well, in that case. A year at most is all I live, but I will make each goddam minute count.”

Once again, the Moon Goddess smiled. "You will enter your second life, not as the ingenious and enslaved omega they had thought you to be. But as the true Alpha of the northern blood. You will bear the power of your blood, the flame of your elders, and the wrath of the moon. You will have memories from your previous life, including the wolf that was supposed to awaken after the mating bond, since you are being given a second chance. You will no longer be the wolfless she-wolf they all looked down at. So, my child, do you accept the terms?"

I nodded in tears. "I accept."

And then she touched my heart with her palm. “Now enter your second life where challenges and new life await you."

I awoke again in my room, and the sun was shining inside as though under no circumstances had it known that the burden of the world had altogether changed. There was a kind of sickening stillness when I rose slowly to sit up and, with a slow turn of my head, read the calendar on the wall opposite me.

The date was looking back at me, daringly like a curse that held no words. Three hundred and sixty-five days. Those were all I possessed. Before I knew it, the door creaked open, and in came Kimberly with her features twisted into a mask of concern that would have fooled me in the past.

"Ada, oh my dear friend, are you alright?" she asked, pretending to be worried about me. "I heard you scream while I was walking down the corridor, and came running as fast as I could. Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am alright." It came out colder than I expected, making her flinch and look at me with a frown, "Sorry, just shaken up after the bad dream."

"Oh, it's alright." she plastered a fake smile on her face instantly, and approached to hug me, and squealed, "Oh my God, my best friend has turned eighteen today. It's a big night." she went on, as if she was excited, thinking that it would be my days of doom that would be getting started, when she doesn't know this time I would be the one becoming their doom by turning tables on them, and one by one, I am going to kill all of them.

"Happy Birthday, Addy," she wished as she pulled away from the hug and winked, "And, just so you know, since it's your special day today, your hot crush, my handsome big brother Alpha Alaric, has invited you over for breakfast in his private chamber."

"He has?" I asked, pretending to be shocked, when I clearly remembered this day from my previous life. The only difference was that I was too naive to see the difference between right and wrong, but this time, my eyes were wide open, like a hawk, as I planned my next move carefully. "

"Yes, so you better put on something nice and join him in his chamber. My brother is waiting for you," she says and disappears out of my room in a hurry. The moment she was out, I took a deep breath and decided to start the first day of my revenge.

By the time I got to the Alpha Chambers, luxury and perfidy stank the place. The breakfast table was prepared as a seat of honor, and Alaric was waiting at the head. I suppressed my features and sat down as he received me with a smiling countenance, which in the old days had sent my heart racing.

"Happy Birthday, Ada. You look beautiful as always," he complimented and kissed my cheek, making me clench my fist and hold myself back from killing him. No, killing him would be an easy death for him. I want to make him pay, and in the process, I need to find out about my parents' whereabouts as well. Where is he and his parents keeping my parents locked away?

I was seated facing him when a young maid entered with a steaming tray. As soon as I glanced at her face, I froze. I recognized that face as I saw it before my death, staring and laughing at me. That smile. That wary sideways look as she turned. She was one of Alaric's spies in my previous life—a faithful small rat who brought the poisoned teas and grinning treachery beyond her apron.

I just gave her a thankful nod, yet within me, I put the first name on my kill list—the first soul to strike off. And as I started to take the plate, the voice of Kitara, my wolf, rumbled in my head as a warning.

"No, don’t eat that, Ada. It is potent with a bond spell. Exactly as before." I stopped halfway in reaching and gave a strained attempt at smiling.

“I... I am sorry, Alpha," I said to Alaric, my hand shaking as though I were ill. I do not feel good. I am experiencing stomach discomfort. Perhaps I had better sleep.”

Alaric looked troubled, but it never came up to his eyes. He got up and circled round the table with his hand on my back, drawing me to his side. I had to restrain a shudder at his touch. "Oh, dear little wolf. I hope you're doing well." He mumbled over my hair. "Rest yourself for the day, but after eating a small portion of breakfast at least, as tonight is going to be a special night for you. The maid will bring your breakfast to your room."

"Thank you for your kindness, Alaric." I thanked him and began to leave when he stopped me by grabbing my hand and speaking.

"Oh, by the way, before you leave, I wanted to let you know that the Supreme Alpha Evander Knight will be attending your birthday party tonight. I invited him," he informs, and I nodded, my heart beating rapidly at the mention of Supreme Alpha, as it always had, even in my previous life, but I never got the chance to figure out why.

"Oh, okay. I will just take my leave now." I told him and left his chamber, then watched as the same maid followed me back and put the tray on my nightstand. I waited for her to go, and I threw the plate directly into the trash bin.

"Nice try," I said, mopping my hands. I stuck the window, and the breeze blew in as I spoke to my wolf. "Thank you, Kitara."

"Always, human." she answered in my head, "So, what's with this Supreme Alpha, that makes your heart race like this?"