6. HER MEMORIES

~HEAVEN~

Friend or foe? That, I wasn't certain of but the way his emerald green eyes stared at me with so much affection, I could only conclude that he was someone close to Elena.

“Here, I found your pendant at the place where your carriage got ambushed. I know how much this means to you.” The man said ever so gently as he placed a deep-blue, crescent-moon-shaped pendant in the palm of my hand.

The moment he lets go, a blinding blue light emits from the pendant and I suddenly find myself in a garden, the smell of lavender mix with the nights' breeze hits my nostrils, and I feel the warm hands of a man around my neck as he helps me put on the pendant, his fingers grazing my skin slightly, which made me shiver, slight jolts of electricity coursing through my body.

“Let's get married.” He says, his alluring voice unfamiliar yet nostalgic.

“Elena, are you okay?” I am pulled to reality as I feel a gentle nudge on my shoulder. The strange man is staring at me keenly, expecting some sort of reaction from me but my mind is a blank slate.

My gaze drops to the pendant in my hand, I must have had some sort of flashback of Elena’s memories that seems to have been locked up in it.

I try to put the pieces together but none of them fits.

Who was that man? Is he the same man standing in front of me?

It couldn't have been Kian, I would have recognized the voice otherwise.

Maybe Elena had a lover? It wasn't clear yet.

“Elena, talk to me. What's wrong?” He asked again and I bit my lower lip, trying to find the right words to say.

How do I tell him I have no idea who he is? That I wasn't Elena but merely borrowing her body? That the real Elena was dead, or probably trapped in my own body in some other alternate universe?

“My queen.” We are suddenly surrounded by the guards and a scorn appears on the man's face.

As much as I was grateful for the distraction, I realized now that my plans to escape had become an epic fail.

“We have to escort you back to—”

“She just got here! Can't you give us more time?!” The man thundered but remained rooted to a spot as he gently pulled me behind.

Okay, who exactly is this man?

“You can visit your cousin all you want, Kris...”

That voice...

Kian!

He walked up from behind the guards and they all gave a slight bow as he graced his way towards us, each step exuding power and dominance.

However his words hit me hard.

Cousin? So this man was my relative? That explains his display of affection towards me.

“But for now, it's time for my queen to go home.” Kian completes his sentence, his grey eyes fixated on me and I found it hard to break away from his gaze.

I could hear the sound of my racing heart and the low grumbles of kila. She seemed pleased by kian's presence.

“I do not wish to go to the palace with you.” I blurted out, still being shielded by Kris, whose tensed aura had finally leveled down, probably because of Kian.

“We had an agreement, Elena. Or do you wish for your cousin to return to the coal mines?” Kian asked, his tone ice cold and his gaze sharp, intimidating, the kind that makes one bend a knee in an instant.

However, I wasn't going to let myself get intimidated by him or anyone! If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it already.

“My cousin is not your prisoner, Kian. I never asked for this trade!” Kris growled, and I could instantly sense the enmity between the two.

What deal did Elena make with Kian? I had no idea what I was up against, and so it made it hard for me to take a stance with anyone.

Kris was family, so obviously I should be on his side, but Kian didn't seem like he was going to let me stay behind. If anything he could have Kris killed and me forcefully dragged to the palace.

This was him being tolerant, and I wondered if it had anything to do with the mate bond.

Something about those eyes, I sensed it before and now I'm having that feeling again. As though we've met before, but I couldn't tell if I met him as Elena or in my own body.

“Elena,” Kian called, giving me one simple nudge with his head, and I suddenly found myself walking out from behind Kris who stared at me in a perplexed manner.

Call it instincts or hypnosis but that look Kian gave me was enough to make me understand that he wasn't going to argue any further.

“Why do you keep trying to fight with our mate? If anything we should claim him now!” Kila growled and it finally hit me that she was the one steering the wheel!

“Kila, stop!” I shut my eyes and forcefully pushed her back inside, taking control once more, but it was already too late, I was already standing before Kian whose gaze now seemed to have softened a bit.

“You can send a raven two days prior to your visits to the palace. You are her family after all, I won't stop you from visiting.”

That was kian's final words to Kris and the next thing I knew, I was being helped onto a carriage by Kian.

Kris gave me a gentle nod, as though encouraging me to stay strong and reassuring me that he will fine, and I found myself smiling faintly at him. I may not know him, but someone I could feel Elena's connection to him. She cared deeply for her cousin, and I was certain that I could trust him.

I kept my gaze on the pendant throughout the ride to the palace, as I wasn't interested in having any conversations with Kian, not that he was interested in starting any.

One minute he was being friendly, and then the next he acted like I didn't even exist. I've always heard rumors about the cold-hearted lycan king back when I was a palace maid, but I never really got to meet him or anyone else from the royal family since I wasn't stationed at the west wing of the palace, until that night...

I let out a long sigh, tightening my hold around the pendant. This was truly going to be my life now, wasn't it?

However, I couldn't shake out the feeling that Elena was silenced, and now? I intend to be the one who listens. If I was truly given a second chance, then I would use it not just to survive… but to uncover the truth.

I may be trapped in her body, but this time, I will not die quietly!