CHAPTER TWO: THE DAY OF THE MATING BALL

SYLLA

"It is way after eight am, Sylla. What are you still doing in bed for Christ's sake?”

The all too familiar voice tears through my subconscious like a knife. I open my eyes and am met with a pair of blue eyes staring down at me impatiently.

Mom?

Wait, what happened? I sit up and wince when I feel a sharp throbbing pain in my temple.

The last thing I recall is seeing Noah's shocked and almost pained expression, before my body gave up. Did I reunite with my mother in the afterlife? But if that's the case why does my head feel like it was run over by a truck? Isn't death supposed to be painless?

" Why are you looking at me like that? Did you hit your head somewhere?” Mom asks, folding her arms and glaring at me.

A whirlwind of emotions wash over me and next thing I know, I’m jumping out of the bed and flinging myself into my mom's arms. I wrap my hands around her and break down in tears.

“Oh Mom!" I sob. “I thought I was never going to see you again. I thought I had lost you forever. I never could have imagined I'd reunite with you in the afterlife."

Mom pushes me away, her expression confused and places a hand on my forehead. “No fever, so it should be the alcohol. I clearly told you not to drink too much last night. Only the moon goddess knows what you're babbling about."

“Aren't we dead?"

“Christ, Sylla!" Mom exclaims, smacking the side of my head. " What nonsense are you talking about now? Get up and get dressed. Emma's waiting outside so you two can go shopping for your dresses.”

" What dresses?” I ask, trying and failing to make sense of what is currently happening. “And Emma, is she dead too?"

Mom looks at me like I am going crazy and sighs. “I have no idea what on earth is wrong with you Sylla, but the mating ball is tonight. So I'll be grateful if you stop acting weird and meet Emma downstairs so you both can go shopping.”

The mating ball? Wait, what day is it?

I grab the phone on the nightstand and turn it on. Saturday, August 2025!

I look around my surroundings. Purple wall paint, the custom made teddy on the bed, the purple unicorn comforter. This is exactly what my bedroom before I married Noah looked like.

That's when it clicks.

I've been reborn five years back to the day of mating ball, one of the most important events in the pack. The day I signed off my life to Noah Sterling.

That means the Moon goddess has given me a second chance to have my revenge on those who hurt me and killed my baby. I screwed up by giving Noah Sterling my heart blindly. This time, I'll make no such mistake. This time I'm going to right the wrongs I did before.

“Sylla!" Mom yells again, startling me. " Did you not hear a thing I said?”

“Can I skip the mating ball, Mom? I don't feel too well,” I tell her, wanting to skip the ball and avoid the mistake that ruined my life.

“I honestly don't know what is wrong with you, Sylla, but Emma is downstairs waiting for you." With that, she's out of my bedroom.

I head to the bathroom and take a quick shower, then throw on a light dress before heading out.

I spot Emma in the living room with a plate of cookies in hand. She smiles the instant she sees me.

" There you are!” She rises and grabs hold of my hand. " Let's go or we'll be late."

~~~

The mating ball is the biggest and most important event in all of the Night Claw pack. It celebrates the coming of age of eighteen year old females. It is also during this ball where they get to know who their mates are.

“You look amazing, honey," Mom says, lifting a stray lock of hair out of my face. “I hope you are blessed with a strong and loyal mate."

She said the same words to me last time, and I got stuck with a cold and heartless bastard for five miserable years. No way that's happening this time around.

I smile, hug her one last time and step into the ballroom of the palace. It's filled with people dressed in expensive suits and evening gowns. Three quarters of the people here are hoping to leave with their mate at the end of the night. Too bad not everyone will get their wish granted.

I search around with my eyes for a side door I can use in escaping. There's absolutely no way I'd stay here and not get mated to Noah a second time.

I spot a door heading outside and I quickly move towards it. Getting there, I see that the door leads to the back garden of the palace. If my memories serve me right, there's a gate at the end of the garden that leads right outside the palace.

I glance back into the room one last time to make sure no one is watching me. When I'm certain of that, I grab hold of my gown and walk out the door calmly. I head for the back gates and almost cry from relief when no one stops me on my way there.

I slowly push open the gates and step outside.

Fate might have played me cruelly last time by mating me to the one who would kill me, but not this time.

This time, I will rewrite my fate and Noah Sterling will be the villain in my story.