Chapter Three

Dakota’s POV.

“Dakota? Sweetheart, wake up. The guests are all here.”

A familiar voice filled my ears and my eyes flew open with a start, my chest heaving heavily as loud gasps slipped past my lips.

Instead of the cold ground soaked with my own blood under a starless sky with a full moon, the first thing my eyes rested on was the soft baby pink canopy of my old bed in my parents house.

Sunlight streamed through the wide open window, catching dust motes in the air.

I jerked upright, my hands slamming against my oddly flat stomach as I clawed at the fabric of my night gown, searching for the wound, the blood, the horrific hollow space he had ripped my baby out from.

But to my utter disbelief, there was nothing.

Just smooth skin, flat and untouched, not even a single scar.

My eyes shot around the room wildly, my breath coming in short, panicked gasps as I struggled to make sense of what was happening.

This was my room. Not the matrimonial bedroom I shared with Lucian in the pack house, but my very own bedroom in my parents’ house. The walls were covered in old sketches and pack banners. My favorite books were stacked neatly on my desk just as it had been years ago.

But that wasn’t possible, I had everything cleaned out when I moved into the pack house as Luna.

This couldn’t be real.

“Are you going to keep looking around like that or will you get up and get dressed.” That familiar voice filled my ears again and my head whipped to the side to see my mother, Lupe, standing right by the window, pushing the large, heavy curtains aside to let in more sunlight.

“You were so excited about this party last night. Now look at you, you’re going to be late for your own birthday party.” She added as she turned to me with a warm smile on her face.

My head was pounding, like a jack hammer had been let loose inside of it. I could barely think straight, not with my brain all over the place. I could still feel Lucian’s claws tearing me apart so how was I alive?

How was she here?

“Everyone’s waiting downstairs for you, your brother even rushed all the way from the border to make it here on time so don’t keep him waiting.” She continued, oblivious to the chaos inside my mind.

Stefan was here? I haven’t seen my brother ever since I left for the pack house.

"Lucian is outside too, looking very handsome,” she winked at me as she turned toward the door, “I’ll send the maids in to help, hurry up.” She mouthed before the door clicked shut behind her.

I stiffened the moment she mentioned that name.

The two realities crashed together in my head and I groaned out loud in pain as I clutched onto my head tightly.

The brutal murder under the full moon and this sun drenched bedroom from my teenage years crashed together in my head. My body began to tremble, a full, uncontrollable shake that started in my hands and seized my core.

I stumbled out of bed, my legs felt like jelly underneath me but I staggered forward.

My eyes caught my reflection in the standing mirror and breath hitched.

I looked so much younger. My face was rounder, softer, without the tired lines that had grown around my eyes. My hair fell in loose waves, not the style Luna braids I used to carry with so much pride.

And my body…

I turned sideways and gasped in shock at my flat, empty stomach. It was as if I had never been pregnant before.

A broken whimper that sounded like a half-sob, half-gasp, choked out of me.

It wasn’t a dream. I could still feel the pain, it felt too real to not be. This… this had to be something else.

I had read about old tales in the pack archives, stories about second chances granted by the moon goddess herself in moments of profound justice, which always came with heavy cost.

But those were just stories… weren’t they?

I pressed my hand against the cool mirror, just to be sure this wasn’t a dream or an illusion. The girl that stared back at me was brimming with so much life.

This was the girl I was at eighteen. There was no denying it… I was back at the very beginning.

The door burst open, this time, my brother Stefan stood at the entrance, his large frame blocking the entire doorway while my Mom’s much slender frame tried to squeeze past him.

“Hey, what’s the hold up, Dee? The cake’s not gonna eat itself?”

A sob ripped from my throat and I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I lunged forward and threw my arms around him, burying my face in the rough fabric of his jacket. I clung to him as if he was the only solid thing in my rapidly dissolving world.

My body shook as the tears burst free.

“Whoa, hey!” He chuckled, patting my back awkwardly, “it’s just a birthday party, Dee. Did you miss me that much?”

I couldn’t speak. There was no way I could make it make sense to him. So, I held onto him, my fingers gripping his arm so tight I was certain I had hurt him.

My mom finally pushed past him and her brows furrowed in concern as she pressed a hand to my forehead, “Dakota, baby, is everything alright? Do you feel sick?” She asked.

I reached for her hand and clutched onto it, squeezing it tightly.

“I’m fine, Mom. I-I… I just missed you both.” I managed to stutter even though my throat stung really bad.

When I finally pulled away from Stefan , I wiped my tears off my cheeks with the back of my hands and forced a tight smile on my face.

“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Guess I’m just a little nervous.”

Mom and Stefan exchanged a look but they didn’t push any further,

“Come on then.” Stefan said, slinging an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close. “Let’s go show everyone how amazing you look in this dress.”

I let them lead me outside into the packed foryer that had been decorated by the maids and turned into a beautiful stage filled with flowers and chairs.

The whole pack seemed to be there, laughing and talking. Maids walked around with drinks on trays, the smell of grilled meat and sweet berries filled the air.

And standing next to the refreshment table, talking to my father, was Lucian.

He looked younger, his perfect smile locked in place, he was nothing like the monster that ripped me apart in the dark.

He turned and our eyes locked. Instinctively, I stumbled back, the memories of his claws, the pain flashing before me.

He began to walk toward me, his smile growing wider.

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, their gaze piercing through me like a thousand needles. I let the shaky smile settle on my face, I tried to keep my shoulders relaxed and my hands from trembling.

And then, just as I remembered, Lucian stepped forward. The crowd parted for him as if they knew exactly what he was about to do, the air became heavy with anticipation as he got down on one knee in front of everyone.

With one hand, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a luxury black box. He opened it slowly and the large diamond ring caught the sunlight dramatically, sparkling in the most mesmerizing way.

This was it, the moment that changed my entire life.

I remember fawning over it, almost passing out when he did this but now all I could see was the monster he had hidden so well under his skin all these years.

“Dakota,” his soft voice that used to make a fluttering feeling explode inside of me, now made my skin crawl with disgust and my chest burned with hatred, “my beautiful girl, make me the happiest Alpha alive by being my Luna.”

The crowd went wild with applause as everyone yelled,

“Say yes! Say yes, Dakota!”

Even Claire nudged me forward, her excited voice encouraging me to take the ring from him but my face remained blank as I stared down at him, at the man that should have been my husband but felt like a stranger to me.

Hot rage flooded my veins, burning away the shock and replacing with a something hard and sharp.

Lucian’s expectant smile began to waver as his brows furrowed in confusion at my complete silence. The crowd’s cheer softened, as if they could all sense that something wasn’t right.

I glanced up at the pack members watching me with bated breath, my family… my friends, all waiting for me to utter one single word.

And I opened my mouth to speak. “No.”