3. The Alpha Who Shouldn't Me

#Livia’sPOV 

“Livia,” My Father called again, his knuckles tapping twice against the heavy door. “The Future Alpha wishes to meet you.” His voice carried urgency.

I couldn't answer him as my fingers dug deeper into the velvet curtain until my knuckles turned white. The fabric bunched beneath my grip, but I barely felt it. 

While outside, Asher stood in the courtyard, surrounded by his guards yet his attention remained fixed upward, locked onto my window.

The distance between us was too great for me to see every detail of his face. But I instantly recognized his golden, sharp eyes. They were the same eyes that had watched me kneel on the execution platform while the executioner raised his sword.

Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck. My breathing became shallow while inside me, my suppressed wolf stirred and whimpered softly. “Mate...”

“No…” I whispered, my voice trembling. “He's not…not yet.”

He wasn't the Alpha who had condemned me. He wasn't the man who had shattered my heart. He wasn't the king who had let a crowd throw stones at my feet, while I bled. 

Then why did he keep looking at me with such a strange confusion on his face? As though, he had been searching for something ….or maybe someone.

The door handle clicked and the bedroom door swung open inward. My father stepped inside with his usual warm smile, but it quickly faded when his eyes landed on the shattered white porcelain scattered across the floor then shifted to my pale face, my trembling hands and the curtain clenched so tightly in my grasp that my fingers had lost all its color.

“Livia?” He stepped over the broken shards , his brows furrowing with gentle concern. “What happened my child?” 

I forced myself to loosen my grip. “I…dropped a vase. It was an accident.”

He glanced out the window toward the courtyard before chuckling softly. 

 “Nervous?” his dark eyes sparkled with amusement. “I suppose that's entirely natural given the occasion.”

Behind him, Mira pressed her palms over her mouth, muffling a light giggle.

“Nervous ?” I repeated, my eyebrows pulling together as I tried to ground myself against the dizziness rolling through my head.

“ Yes, nervous.” my father said, stepping closer. “Because the Future Alpha made a rather unusual request the second his horse crossed the threshold.”

A sharp knot formed in my stomach. “What request ?”

 “He arrived only moments ago.” Father said, his voice laced with pride. “Before greeting the council, before even dismounting fully he asked, if Lady Livia was within the estate.”

The room fell silent as I tried to recall my past memories.

No. That isn't how it happened.

In my first life or whatever that nightmare had been Asher had barely acknowledged me during his first visit. We had been formally introduced hours later, during the grand welcoming fist in the hall. He had been distant, polite and completely detached.

The timeline was already fraying. Something had already changed. A knot formed in my stomach as I swallowed the lump formed in my throat.

If the beginning of the story was changing, how much of the future could I still predict? How could I protect myself from a trap I no longer understood ?

My Father stepped closer, resting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “You don't need to be afraid, princess. He is a noble Alpha. You'll see.”

If only he knew what that noble Alpha will do to me, I thought he would draw his blade and drive him from these gates.

“I am coming.” I said, forcing a faint nod.

“Good.” He smiled, stepping back toward the corridor. “They're waiting.”

 I followed him out into the broad hallway. Every step toward the staircase felt heavy as my fingers wrapped around the polished wooden railing. The smooth surface felt cold beneath my palm. My knees weakened as I swallowed hard. My throat still remained dry.

This is a different Asher. I repeated like a silent mantra with every step down. He hasn't betrayed you. He hasn't accused you. He hasn't sentenced you. Yet my body refused the logic.

My pulse hammered in my ears, loud and suffocating. Each descending step reminded me of another staircase leading to an execution platform beneath a blood red moon.

Halfway down the flight, my knees gave out slightly, forcing me to grip the rail to keep from falling.

“Livia ?” My Father turned back, his brows knit. “Are you sure you're alright dear?”

I forced a smile that never reached my eyes. “I'm fine, Father.”

It was the same lie I'd told myself after every nightmare. By the time we reached the drawing room, my pulse was pounding in my ears.

We reached the arched double doors of the main drawing room. The guards standing outside bowed his head and pushed the heavy door open, his voice echoing into the room. “Lady Livia Hartwell.”

The ongoing conversations ceased instantly as the room fell into complete silence. 

Alpha Asher turned his head in our direction and for a brief second, neither of us moved as our gaze collided.

The silence stretched until it became almost unbearable while his brows slowly drew together. His eyes searched my face with quiet intensity. His breathing caught slightly.

His one hand resting behind his back, curled into a loose fist. He looked confused as though seeing me awakened something he couldn't understand.

I stared back searching desperately for the man I remembered. The merciless judge, the cold Alpha and the mate who never once asked if I was innocent. But the man before me looked younger. His expressions lacked cruelty. His posture remained respectful and almost gentle.

This contrast unsettled me more than hatred ever could. Without realizing it, I stepped backward. One step then another. The movement was small, almost invisible yet everyone noticed.

My father frowned slightly, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. “Livia ?” 

Asher noticed it too as his eyes narrowed slightly in concern, a subtle shift of pain crossing his face before he could mask it.

Why? Why would he….

“Princess, Livia.” Asher’s voice cut through the silence and laced with authority.

Exactly the same voice that had once declared my death judgement. A violent shiver raced through me as I flinched at my place, barely enough for my shoulders to tense and my breath to catch.

Asher’s gaze noticed it all…every tiny detail about me. And for some unknown reasons, I couldn't explain, guilt flickered across his face.

Inside Asher’s chest, something invisible seemed to tighten as his wolf stirred uneasily which even he failed to understand. 

He had never met her before today so why did seeing terror in her eyes make his chest ache? Why did it feel like she'd once smiled at him? Why did it feel like he'd once lost something precious before ?

He couldn't explain the strange emptiness burning inside him nor the absurd thoughts that suddenly crossed his mind.

“Why does it feel like I've already lost her ?” Asher mumbled under his breath.

My father, entirely blind to the suffocating tension growing between us, let out a booming, hearty laugh. “Our Children seem speechless today.”

Asher’s Beta chuckled politely. “The Future Alpha isn't usually at a loss for words.”

Asher still didn't respond to their conversations as his attention remained fixed entirely on me.

My every instinct told me to look away from him yet I chose to study his expressions. His shoulders weren't rigid with contempt. His eyes weren't cold like before they used to. His eyes now held curiosity, that once held hatred, accusation and disappointment for me.

How could this man become the monster who watched me die ? I thought, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs. Or…..Had I misunderstood him completely ?

 The thought alone terrified me more than the blade ever had.

My father began discussing trade agreements between the packs. His voice faded into the background while Asher took one step forward then another toward me.

Before anyone realized what he intended. He raised his hand slowly toward me with hesitation. His fingers trembled slightly as he reached toward my cheek stopping barely two inches away from my skin as the entire room froze in disbelief.

Asher’s own eyes widened in shock as he looked down at his outstretched hand as though it belonged to someone else.

“Forgive me..” He murmured, his voice dropping to a low rough whisper as he snapped his hand back to his side. “I…don't know why I did that.” 

He stopped because he truly didn't know neither did I. But the place where his hand had almost touched my face tingled in a strange way. My wolf had gone completely silent.

Asher studied my expressions for another long moment before speaking softly, the words meant only for me. “Have we met before ?”

Suddenly the whole room burst into laughter hearing his question as my father smiled widened.

“Impossible, Alpha Asher! You only crossed our border at dawn. I assure you, this is your very first meeting.”

Every pair of eyes in the room suddenly turned toward me as my mouth felt dry. 

“No…” The words barely escaped. “We've never met.”

The lie had barely left my lips when a blinding agonizing flash of pain exploded behind my eyes as I gasped, my vision whiting out as my knees buckled again.

The room suddenly vanished and suddenly I saw blood….so much blood. Asher knelt on the ground, his clothes soaked in crimson as he cradled a woman's lifeless body against his chest. His hands trembled violently as tears streamed down his face. His voice cracked with unbearable grief.

“Forgive me…” He buried his face against her hair. “I came too late.” 

The vision suddenly shattered as I stumbled backward, barely catching myself against the wall. My chest heaved, my breath coming in jagged, desperate gasps as hands reached out to stabilize me.

“Livia.” my father called out, stepping forward in alert.

I didn't hear him. I saw only Asher, looking at me with scared confusion, his face pale, his eyes wide with a terrified, impossible recognition.

Because the man in that memory wasn't the cold Alpha who had ordered my execution. He was a broken man mourning the woman he had failed to save.

And for the first time since my rebirth…I wondered if the life I remembered had never been the whole truth.