Chapter 2 — Sixty Days to Rewrite Everything

Ryan remained standing in the middle of my bedroom, staring at me as though the woman in front of him had suddenly become a stranger.

Maybe I was.

In my first life, I would have panicked the moment he looked at me that way. I would have tried to explain myself, softened my words, apologized for hurting his pride, and eventually convinced myself that rejecting my mate was impossible. I had spent years believing the bond between us meant I had no right to walk away from it.

But the woman who had died outside that gate had learned something the hard way.

A mate bond could tell me who fate had chosen.

It could never decide what I was willing to endure.

Ryan took a step toward me. “Mara, what are you talking about?”

I forced myself to keep my expression calm. The memory of his hand on the gate flashed through my mind, followed by the sight of Claire standing behind him with one hand over her stomach.

I pushed the memory away before it could weaken me.

“I said I reject you.”

His face hardened. “You don’t get to make a decision like that without explaining yourself.”

A bitter laugh almost escaped me.

That was Ryan. Even now, before the world collapsed, he already believed my choices belonged to him.

“You’re right,” I said quietly. “I should have explained myself years ago.”

He stared at me.

I could see the confusion turning into anger, but I refused to give him anything more. There was no point telling him about the apocalypse. No point telling him that in sixty days the roads would disappear beneath floodwater, that electricity would become unreliable, that food would vanish from stores, and that the pack he was so proud of would eventually tear itself apart fighting over supplies.

He would never believe me.

And even if he did, I wouldn’t trust him with that knowledge.

Ryan stepped closer. “Is this because we argued yesterday?”

“No.”

“Because my father said something to you?”

“No.”

“Then what changed?”

Everything.

The answer sat inside my chest, but I didn’t say it.

Instead, I looked at him and realized something that made my stomach twist.

He had no idea.

He had no idea that the woman he was arguing with had already mourned him. He didn’t know that I had spent years believing his love was worth every sacrifice I made. He didn’t know that I had died knowing I had wasted my entire first life trying to earn a place beside him.

And he certainly didn’t know that his future was no longer mine to protect.

“I’ve changed my mind,” I said.

Ryan’s expression became colder.

“You can’t just reject your Alpha because you’ve changed your mind.”

“I just did.”

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then he walked out, slamming the door behind him.

I waited until his footsteps disappeared before allowing myself to breathe.

My hands were shaking.

I sat on the edge of the bed and pressed my palms against my knees.

Rejecting him had felt easier in my imagination.

Reality was different.

There was still pain beneath my anger. The bond I had broken hadn’t disappeared without consequence. It felt like a thread being ripped from somewhere deep inside my chest, leaving behind an ache I knew would take time to fade.

Raya was unusually quiet.

Are you okay? I asked.

No.

Her honesty almost made me smile.

Neither am I.

For a moment, we simply sat with the silence.

Then I looked at the calendar hanging beside my desk.

Sixty days.

I stood.

Grief could wait.

Fear could wait.

Ryan could wait.

The apocalypse couldn’t.

I crossed the room and pulled an old notebook from the bottom drawer. In my first life, I had used it for grocery lists and pack expenses.

This time, I opened it to the first clean page and wrote four words.

SURVIVE. DON’T TRUST. PREPARE.

Underneath them, I began making a list.

Food.

Water.

Medicine.

Fuel.

Weapons.

Generators.

Vehicles.

Communication equipment.

Clothing.

Tools.

Seeds.

Building materials.

I knew what happened when people waited until the disasters began before preparing. Stores emptied within hours. Fuel became more valuable than money. Medicine became impossible to find. People who had once laughed at survivalists fought each other over bottled water.

I wasn’t going to be one of them again.

My phone rang.

I glanced at the screen.

Tessa.

I hesitated before answering.

In my first life, Tessa had been one of the few people who remained kind to me, but even she hadn’t survived the first winter. I still remembered finding her name on a list of missing survivors.

My chest tightened.

I answered.

“Hello?”

“Mara?” Tessa sounded confused. “Are you sick? You sound weird.”

I closed my eyes.

Her voice was the same.

Alive.

“I’m fine,” I whispered.

“You’re definitely not fine. Ryan just walked past me looking like he wanted to punch a wall.”

Despite everything, I smiled.

Some things hadn’t changed yet.

“I’ll explain later.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

She was silent for a moment. “Okay. But whatever happened, don’t let that idiot convince you that you’re wrong.”

My smile disappeared.

Tessa had no idea how much those words meant.

“I won’t.”

After we hung up, I opened my banking application.

My savings weren’t enough.

Not even close.

But I remembered something else.

My mother.

Before she disappeared when I was six, she had left behind a small wooden box. My father had always told me it contained nothing important, and after his death, I had forgotten about it completely.

Until now.

I rushed downstairs.

The house was quiet. My father hadn’t yet left for work, which meant I still had time to find the box before anyone noticed what I was doing.

I went directly to his study.

The old cabinet stood exactly where I remembered it.

My fingers moved over the back panel until I found the loose section.

I pulled it away.

Behind it was a narrow compartment.

Empty.

My heart dropped.

Then I noticed the envelope taped underneath the shelf.

My name was written across it.

Not Mara Bennett.

My mother’s handwriting had written another name.

A name I had never seen before.

I tore the envelope open with trembling fingers.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

There were only two sentences.

If you’re reading this, the Royal bloodline has awakened.

Do not let the Alpha find you.

I stopped breathing.

Because I knew exactly which Alpha the letter meant.

Ryan.

And suddenly, rejecting him wasn’t the biggest problem I had anymore.

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