Mag-log inARIA'S POV. I stare at Lily, and then something warm rushes through my chest, so strong my breath catches. It's relief, and I can't believe she's making her move already. Last time, Lily hid her intentions toward Damon for years, and I never saw the truth until it was too late. Now she's fast-forwarding the whole thing, showing me her true colors before it can hurt me. I could almost thank her. 'Aria,' Sasha says carefully. 'Your face is too happy.' 'Oh, yeah, right,' I fix my expression before it can betray me. If I look too happy, Lily will start asking more questions about my odd happiness, which I don't want. And beside me, Dana goes completely still, probably expecting me to lash out because the old Aria would never have entertained a conversation like this. But that isn't me anymore. "Sure," I say, shrugging like it's nothing. "Ask him." Lily blinks rapidly, also clearly caught off guard. "Really? You're not upset?" "Why would I be? You said it yourself. A br
ARIA'S POV My brain short-circuits, but Sasha is hissing in my head. 'Aria, you look suspicious again. Say something!' But I can't tell him the truth... I can't tell him I'm going to see a witch to break our mate bond that hasn't even happened yet. He would drag me straight to my father. So I do what any girl in my position would do. I lie beautifully. "I'm going to buy a beauty treatment," I blurt out. He blinks, raising his left brow. "What?" "A beauty treatment," I repeat, and this time I make my voice smaller and more embarrassed so he'll buy the lie. "There's a... a woman in the forest. She makes this special remedy. For glowing skin." Damon frowns. "A beauty treatment?" "Yes." "But we have five healers in the pack who do beauty treatments. Doesn't your mom get one every week?" I cross my arms, trying to sell it. "Those are basic treatments. This one is different. It's old magic, and it's special." "Special how?" I look away, pretending to be shy. "It makes
ARIA'S POVDamon leads us away from the ring, past packmates still whispering behind their hands, until the noise finally fades near the equipment shed.The smell of dust and sweat clings to the air even out here, and somewhere behind us, Lily's laugh carries over the arena — bright and easy, like she owns the place.I roll my eyes because even in this life, her irritating voice is everywhere I am like in my past life.I clench my jaw and force myself to ignore it. I didn't come back to life just to let Lily get under my skin again. I'm here to rewrite my fate.I turn my full attention to Damon.He drops his towel over one shoulder and crosses his arms. He isn't exactly hostile, but there's a distance in his eyes that I'm not used to seeing.And maybe that's what I failed to notice in my past life because I was so busy being in love with him, I never stopped to see how he really felt about me."Okay," he says, breaking my chain of thoughts. "Before we talk about why you came here — wh
ARIA'S POVI look at Damon's name on my phone, and my stomach does something funny because his contact is still saved as “Mon Cheri,” with eight heart emojis.I saved his number like this when I was fifteen, right after he showed me the smallest bit of affection.Oh, Moon Goddess. This is so cringe... Embarrassment creeps up, then a wave of nausea. "Goddess, do I really have to call him?" I mutter. "Yes," Dana says. "Unless you want to walk into the Dark Forest with just you, me, and my very new, very weak wolf who gets scared by squirrels." "Your wolf does not get scared by squirrels." "She does! Now call him, Aria!" she snaps. "Okay." I hit call before I can second-guess myself. Goddess, I hate what I'm about to do... It rings once, and then anxiety floods me. This is the man who ordered my cruel punishment in my past life. It led to my death, and my babies'. No. I can't do this with him. I pull the phone away from my ear, ready to hang up, when he suddenly answers
ARIA'S POV Lily's eyes go wide instantly like I just slapped her. Her bottom lip wobbles and she looks at Dad. "What did I say wrong daddy?" Her voice cracks perfectly on cue. "I was just trying to be nice to Aria because she was so nervous yesterday about the mate ball and Damon and... I just wanted to wish her happy birthday!" I can't help it. I scoff. "Oh, cut the crap, Lily. You don't care about me. You've never cared about me." She gasps like I slapped her again. "Aria? What did I ever do to you? If I did something, just tell me! I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!" "Aria!" My dad's voice snaps. That soft, confused look he had two seconds ago when I hugged him? Gone. "What is wrong with you? Your sister gets up early to be nice to you on your birthday and this is how you talk to her?" Dad, if I were you, I wouldn't stand between us. The words are right there on my tongue and as much as I want to say them out loud, I bite them down. I can't be cruel to him after losing him
ARIA'S POV. The word echoes through the hall while my mind goes into shock. How can I have twins when the scan confirmed only one child??? Lily, on the other hand, freezes as she whispers, "What?" Dana looks up at her, terrified, as she confirms, "She's carrying twins." For a heartbeat, Lily looks as stunned as I feel. Then her expression twists with pure, livid rage. Her sweet mask finally cracks. "TWINS?!" she shrieks. "No! There has to be a mistake! The Goddess can't give her another chance to have an Alpha's child! The pack doctors confirmed she was only having one... I was there!" "But there is," Dana says firmly. Despite everything, a small smile touches my lips because the goddess gave me a second chance to become a mother even though Lily is hellbent to end my bloodline. "Dana..." I breathe, gripping her hand. "I need to push again." "Okay. Just like before," she says quickly. "Push when you feel the urge." But before the next contraction can come, something







