chapter 3: CHANGING FATE

AURENNA’S POV

I rode so hard that my horse was covered in sweat by the time Vethara came into view.

The village was located in a small valley in the midst of two low hills. It has always been peaceful and harmless, the kind of place no one would think needed protection.

In my previous life, forty-three people had died here; farmers, their children and families. Amongst them, an elderly healer named Maren had been found holding a child she had tried to shield.

I remembered every detail because I had studied the survivor reports obsessively, searching for anything that might have prevented the tragedy.

I stopped my horse at the village gate and jumped down before it fully came to a halt.

The gate warden was a large man with a gray beard and the cautious expression of someone who had survived too much of the war to trust sudden visitors.

"Commander Voss." He straightened immediately. "We weren't expecting military officers."

"Where is your village elder?" I asked. "I need to speak with him right away."

"Elder Cass is at the meeting hall. Commander, what's wrong?"

"Get him. Now."

The warden quickly sent a boy running. I tied my horse and headed to the center of the village. By the time I reached the meeting hall, Elder Cass was already coming outside. He was older than I expected. I wasn't sure why that surprised me. In my past life, I had never met him. He had been dead before I ever came to Vethara.

"Commander." He offered his hand. "This is unexpected. Is there trouble at the ridge?"

"Something is about to happen here," I said. "Within three days, maybe sooner. I need you to move everyone out of this valley tonight."

The silence that followed told me they weren't going to agree easily.

Cass frowned. "Based on what?"

"I have information that suggests a wolf attack is coming within the next seventy-two hours. I need your people relocated to Thornfield Station. It has walls and soldiers.”

"Information?" he repeated. "What form of information?"

I had expected the question. Unfortunately, I couldn't give him the real answer. I couldn't tell him I had already lived through this. That I had watched his village burn. No one would believe that.

"I can't reveal my source," I said. "I'm asking you to trust my judgment."

A woman stepped forward from behind him. She was clearly a member of the village council.

"Commander, with respect, you're asking us to abandon our homes, livestock, and supplies based on information you won't explain." She folded her arms. "We've lived here for eleven years. The wolves have never attacked us."

"They haven't attacked yet."

"I think fear is clouding your judgment," she replied. "Peace talks are starting soon. Everyone knows that. Why would the wolves attack now?"

"Because the peace talks are a distraction." The words slipped out before I could stop them. I immediately corrected myself. "Because attacks don't always follow diplomatic schedules."

"We're not leaving," Cass said gently. That somehow felt worse than anger.

"I understand you're concerned, Commander, and we appreciate it. But we can't move forty-three people based on a warning without proof.”

I looked around, at Cass, the council woman, the gate warden. At a little girl standing quietly in the doorway. In my previous life, she had been one of the forty-three.

"Then I'm staying," I said. "And I'm requesting reinforcements from the ridge camp."

Cass sighed. "Commander, that's unnecessary."

"Probably," I said. "But let's do it anyway."

I sent my fastest rider with the message. Then I spent the next two days in Vethara. I helped wherever I could. I identified the strongest buildings. I walked the village boundaries and studied the two routes the wolves had used before, the Northern forest line and the dry creek bed to the East. I placed my six soldiers where they would be most useful.

Still, nobody believed an attack was coming. Until it did.

The wolves arrived at dawn on the third day. Exactly as I remembered. They emerged from the Northern trees in organized ranks. This wasn't a simple raid. It was a planned slaughter. They knew the village layout and expected no resistance.

Their surprise was obvious when they found me waiting at the Northern gate. My soldiers stood ready. The village men I had spent two days quietly convincing were armed with whatever weapons they could find.

"Now!" I ordered.

The battle was brutal. People were hurt. Screams echoed in the valley. At one point, a wolf twice my size slammed me against a fence. For a moment, I thought this might be where my second life ended too. Then Sergeant Wren drove a spear through the wolf's shoulder. The pressure vanished. I got back to my feet and kept fighting.

The battle lasted less than twenty minutes. When it was over, the surviving wolves had either fled or died, and Vethara was still standing.

I stood in the village square with blood on my sleeves that wasn't mine. People around me stared in shock. Some cried. Some clutched their weapons with trembling hands. Others simply looked confused.

But they were alive. All of them. The little girl from the meeting hall sat on a wall while her mother hugged her tightly. Both alive.

Elder Cass found me later. The confidence he had shown two days earlier was gone.

"You knew," he said.

"I suspected."

He studied me for a long moment. Then he grabbed my forearm in a soldier's grip. "Thank you, Commander."

I nodded. I couldn't trust myself to speak. Something inside my chest was finally loosening. Since waking up in my command tent, I had carried a weight that never left.

Now, for the first time, it felt lighter.

The people who had died before were standing right in front of me, alive, talking, arguing, looking for bandages and complaining about damaged fences. All forty-three of them lived.

I released a long breath and silently thanked the mysterious voice that had given me another chance.

***

As my soldiers searched the bodies for weapons and identification, one of them called out.

"Commander! You need to see this."

I started toward her. Then something else crossed my mind. During the battle, I had noticed someone. A masked figure. At first, I ignored it because the fight demanded my attention. But now I remembered clearly. The figure moved like a wolf; fast, precise and deadly.

Yet every human they encountered was spared. They weren't killed. They were just either pushed aside or pulled out of danger. Directed away from attacks.

The stranger had been fighting against the raiders. I had seen it more than once. Now I searched the square and the surrounding buildings and found no trace. The figure was gone.

"Commander."

My soldier's voice pulled me back. She was kneeling beside a dead wolf and holding something carefully.

A sealed letter. The wolf had hidden it inside his vest, protecting it during the battle.

I took it and turned it over. The seal made my stomach drop. It had a wolf's head, a single star and the Drakhar crest. Zevran's personal seal. Not the military seal or an official court seal. It was his own. Used only for private orders.

I tried to steady my hands as I broke it open. I read the contents.

This attack hadn't been a rogue operation. It wasn't the work of an ambitious commander. It wasn't unofficial or unauthorized. It had been planned, approved and signed by Zevran himself.

He had personally ordered the deaths of forty-three innocent villagers. Three days before inviting me to discuss peace and he had put it in writing.

I folded the letter carefully and held it to my chest. In my previous life, I had walked into that summit believing peace was possible.

Now I held proof of his crimes in my hands. Tomorrow, I would still send my acceptance letter. I would still attend the summit, and smile when I agreed.

But this time, everything was different. This time, I knew exactly who Zevran truly was and I would be very careful with my next move.