Chapter 7: Awakening At The Funeral

Ethan's POV

Darkness swallowed me whole. I couldn't feel my body, couldn't sense the ground beneath me or the air around me.

"I'm I dead?" I wondered with a heavy heart, my thoughts echoing in the void. "Is this how it all ends?"

But something wasn't right. Even in death, I could still feel her. Jessie's presence pulsed somewhere in the distance, but it was faint. Her heartbeat called to me through the darkness.

"No," I growled, though I had no voice. "I won't let you die. Not like this. Not when I just found you."

Suddenly, a blinding light pierced through the darkness, forcing me to shield my eyes. When I opened them again, I was no longer in the void. I stood in a vast, misty realm, the ground beneath my feet cracked and ancient, as though it had witnessed the birth and death of countless souls.

"Where am I?" I turned in circles, my chest heavy with confusion and anger.

"You are in Bamafida, the realm between life and death." The voice answered, thundering like a thousand voices speaking as one.

I spun around to see a huge figure emerging from the mist.

"Am I dead?" I demanded, my fists clenching at my sides.

"Your body was destroyed in that crash," the being replied, tilting its head. "But your soul refuses to let go. There is something, or rather someone, drawing you to the mortal world."

"Jessie," I breathed, my chest tightening. "Send me back, now!! Please!! I am willing to offer anything."

The being’s laughter echoed. "You think you can command me? Even here, you carry your arrogance like armor."

"I don't have time for this," I snarled, my voice breaking with desperation. "My mate is being buried alive. I have to save her."

The being paused, its glowing eyes narrowing. "Your mate? Ah, yes, Jessie. The one who was brought here moments before you arrived."

My heart, or whatever was left of it in this place, seized. "She was here? She is… dead?" At that instant, I felt empty.

 "Don't be in a hurry, wolf. She was sent back to a time before her death, at her mother's funeral. Four years in the past."

"Four years? That means she is still alive”. My mind felt a bit relieved, like a seed of hope was replanted in me. "Then send me back to the same time, too. I need to find her, I need to protect her."

"The Moon Goddess has already made one exception tonight," the being said slowly. "But you, Alpha Ethan, are bound to this woman by threads even death cannot sever. The prophecy that ties you both is older than your bloodlines."

"I don't care about prophecies at this moment," I said through gritted teeth. "I care about her."

Don’t you crave vengeance against those who brought you here before your time?”

“It was a mere accident,” I said firmly.

A cold laugh echoed. “Accident? How gullible you have become. Your obsession with your fated mate has clouded your judgment, dulled the fire that once burned in you.”

The being studied me for a long moment. "Very well, you will return to a point where your paths can intersect naturally. The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways, Alpha. Trust in her design."

Before I could respond, a brilliant silver light erupted behind the being, and a figure descended, radiant and impossibly beautiful, the Moon Goddess.

"Ethan," she said, her voice soft like a gentle breeze. "Your devotion to your mate is admirable. I will grant you this: you will wake at her mother's funeral. From there, you must find your way to her, naturally. Prove that your bond is strong enough to transcend time itself, but remember, there is always a price to pay."

"I will. Whatever the price is, I don't mind paying it," I promised, my voice fierce. "I'll find her. I'll protect her. Whatever it takes."

The Moon Goddess smiled, and the light grew blinding. "Then go, Alpha. Your mate needs you."

I gasped, my lungs burning as air rushed back into them. My eyes flew open, and instead of twisted metal and shattered glass, I found myself standing at a funeral. Confusion gripped me for a moment before I heard it: a mournful howl in the distance, the sound of a pack in mourning. I looked down at myself and realized I was completely uninjured, dressed in the same clothes I'd been wearing before the crash, but clean, whole.

"The funeral," I murmured, understanding flooding through me. "Jessie's mother's funeral."

I didn't know how I knew, but I did. The pull toward her was stronger now, like a compass pointing true north. Without hesitation, I began walking toward the sound of grieving wolves.

As I approached, I saw the gathering. Pack members dressed in black, a casket surrounded by flowers, and standing near the front, a young woman whose aura called to every fiber of my being. 

“Jessie”.

She looked younger, though I could see she was drowning in fresh grief.

Before I could approach, I noticed her body beginning to tremble with rage, her eyes fixed on two people near the back: a man and a woman standing too close, their body language intimate despite the somber occasion. Derek and Gaty.

My wolf snarled, recognizing them instantly as the ones who had and would betray her, who would kill her. But then Jessie began moving toward them, her wolf rising to the surface with a deadly intent.

I moved without thinking, my hand shot out to grab her just as she shifted towards them. "I wouldn't do this if I were you," I whispered, pulling her back against my chest.

She gasped, the rage in her melting away as our skin made contact. I felt it too, the electric shock of recognition, like we had known each other for thousands of years, the way the world seemed to right itself with her in my arms.

"Who.." she started to say, but before she could finish, her father and the pack guards rushed over, and in the commotion, I slipped away into the shadows, watching from a distance.

"Not yet," I told myself, even though every instinct screamed at me to go to her, to claim her right then and there. "The Moon Goddess said I need to find my way to her naturally; there must be a reason."

Over the next two days, I watched from afar, learning the layout of her pack, identifying the threats. I saw Derek making his pathetic attempts to woo her, saw Gaty playing the role of a concerned best friend. It made my blood boil.

Then, on the night of her eighteenth birthday, I felt a sharp spike of fear through our bond. Jessie was in danger.

"No," I growled, immediately shifting and racing toward the source.

I tracked her scent to an abandoned school building on the outskirts of the territory. The door was locked, but that meant nothing to me. I crashed through it, my wolf fully in control, taking down the three men who had dared to kidnap my mate.

And there she was, tied to a chair.

When she mentioned my name, I felt my feet pause. “She knows my name”. She had spoken it with such certainty. “She knows who I am”. My heart raced faster as I loosened the ropes that were used to tie her. I carried her up to my chest, and the scars on her body made me rage with anger that made me want to tear everyone to pieces.

I saw confusion written all over her face as she stared at me.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching. Derek's voice rang out, "Princess Jessie, hold on, I'm coming to save you."

I pulled open the door just as he reached it, making sure he saw me holding Jessie in my arms. The look on his face was priceless: shock, rage, and the dawning realization that his plans were crumbling.

"This can't be," he muttered.

"I am the one to save her. She is my mate," Derek howled angrily.

I tightened my hold on Jessie, letting my eyes flash with warning. Without a word, I carried her past him and toward my car.

“Why did you save me? How did you find me? Do you even know me?” she peppered me with questions as I drove her home, but I remained largely silent, knowing that soon, very soon, everything would become clear.

When we arrived at her pack house, the relief on her father's face was indescribable. And when he mentioned the promise he'd made about mating her to whoever saved her, I felt my wolf surge forward.

At the same moment, like we had planned out, both our wolves howled "Mate."

Just then, Derek walked in. His shoulders sagged under the weight of defeat, and disappointment was written all over his face. The instant I saw him, my hand found Jessie’s, pulling her closer to me without a second thought.

Her eyes lifted to meet mine, and for a brief, electrifying moment, everything else faded. It was just the two of us, bound by something powerful and undeniable.

Gaty appeared right behind him, and the second her eyes met Derek’s, they shared a look, brief but loaded. Disappointment flickered between them like a secret no one else was meant to see. In that split second, I could tell their carefully laid plans were starting to fall apart.

They had no idea. This was only the beginning. A storm was coming, and neither of them was ready for it.