The Man Who Let Me Die

For one terrible second, I forgot how to breathe.

Kael stood in the doorway as though nothing had happened between us.

He was younger than the man from the courtyard, but not by much, and there was warmth in his eyes that I had not seen in years.

That warmth frightened me more than his hatred ever had.

“There you are,” he repeated, amusement touching his voice. “I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.”

Once, I would have crossed the room without thinking. I would have wrapped my arms around him, complained that he had taken too long to visit, and spent the rest of the morning trying to steal whatever time I could before his responsibilities dragged him away.

Instead, my body remembered dying.

I stepped back before he could reach me.

Kael stopped.

The smile disappeared from his face.

Mira looked between us. “Okay… did I miss something?”

“No.”

The answer came too quickly.

Kael’s brows drew together. “Selene?”

I forced my fingers to relax around the edge of my nightdress. He had not done anything yet. I had to remember that. This Kael had not accused me of treason.

But I had.

And apparently memories did not care which version of him stood in front of me.

“I just woke up,” I said. “I’m still a little confused.”

His expression softened immediately.

That almost made it worse.

Kael crossed the remaining distance and raised his hand toward my forehead. Instinct took over before thought could stop it, and I turned my face away.

Silence filled the room.

His hand remained suspended between us for a moment before he lowered it.

Mira’s confusion deepened.

I hated this.

I had barely returned to the past, and already I was making mistakes.

Kael knew me too well. Or at least, he knew the woman I had been.

If I suddenly became cold, suspicious, and unwilling to let him touch me, he would start asking questions I could never answer.

I made myself look at him.

“I had a bad dream.”

It was not exactly a lie.

“What kind of dream?” he asked.

“The kind I don’t want to remember.”

Something about my answer made his gaze sharpen, but he did not push.

Instead, he picked up the bracelet I had dropped and held it out to me. “You should eat something. You promised you would come to the council house this morning.”

My stomach tightened.

“The council house?”

Kael gave me a strange look. “For the border meeting.”

A memory stirred.

I knew this day.

Not because anything terrible had happened yet, but because this had been the beginning of something I never understood until it was too late.

Three years ago, Kael had asked me to begin taking a larger role in the pack’s administrative work. I had been thrilled. I thought it meant he finally trusted me as his Luna.

Over the following months, I gained access to patrol schedules, trade agreements, financial reports, and council records.

The same access later became the reason everyone believed I could have betrayed them.

My heartbeat slowed.

This was where it started.

“Selene?” Kael asked.

“I remember.”

He studied me for another moment before nodding.

“I’ll wait downstairs.”

When he left, I did not move until his footsteps disappeared.

Mira closed the door.

“What was that?”

I sat on the edge of the bed.

“What was what?”

“You looked at your mate like he crawled out of a grave.”

If only she knew.

“I told you. Bad dream.”

Mira clearly did not believe me, but before she could continue, another knock sounded.

The door opened almost immediately.

Nadia walked in.

For the second time that morning, the past became painfully real.

“There you are.” She hurried toward me. “Mira said you weren’t feeling well.”

I watched her approach.

In my first life, I had trusted this face more than almost anyone.

Nadia had slept beside me when we were children. She had borrowed my dresses without asking, stolen food from my plate, cried in my arms after nightmares, and stood beside me during my mating ceremony.

How many of those moments had been real?

She reached for my hand.

I let her take it.

Her fingers were warm.

Just like Mira’s.

The difference was that Mira had died trying to save me.

Nadia had lived by helping destroy me.

“You look pale,” she said.

“I’m fine.”

“You should stay home.”

My eyes narrowed slightly.

Nadia smiled and squeezed my hand. “I can go with Kael instead. There’s no point exhausting yourself over a boring council meeting.”

There it was.

Such a small thing.

So harmless that the old me had never questioned it.

I remembered what happened next.

I had laughed, thanked Nadia, and stayed home because I genuinely had been feeling unwell that morning. Nadia attended the meeting with Kael.

After that, she began accompanying him more often.

At first because she was helping me.

Then because the council liked her.

Then because Kael found her useful.

By the time I noticed how deeply she had inserted herself into pack affairs, everyone considered her presence normal.

My first instinct was to tell her no.

Then I stopped myself.

Knowledge.

That was my advantage now.

If Nadia was already making the same moves, then I could learn exactly when her betrayal began.

I smiled.

“You’re right.”

Surprise flickered across her face before she hid it.

“I am?”

“I don’t feel well.”

Mira looked at me sharply.

I ignored her.

Nadia’s smile widened. “Then rest. I’ll take care of everything.”

“I’m sure you will.”

Nadia released my hand and headed toward the door, clearly pleased with herself.

I waited until her fingers touched the handle.

“Nadia.”

She turned.

“There’s one thing I need you to do for me.”

Her smile remained in place. “Anything.”

I looked at the woman who had already begun walking the same road that once ended with my death.

This time, I knew where it led.

“Bring me a copy of every document discussed at the meeting.”

Her smile faltered.

Only for a second.

But I saw it.

And for the first time since waking in the past, I felt something other than fear.

I felt certain.

Nadia had not simply become my enemy years from now.

She already was one.