Reborn as my Alpha's brothers wife

Astrid POV

Blood covered my hands, it was warm and sticky, dripping slowly onto the cold marble floor beneath me. I stared at it blankly, my entire body trembling as another sharp pain tore through my chest. My breathing came out uneven, broken, every inhale feeling like shards of silver slicing through my lungs.

I was dying and my mate was watching me die.

I slowly lifted my head, Alpha Caspian Ravencrest stood only a few feet away from me, tall and untouchable in his black clothes, his golden eyes cold enough to freeze my soul.

Once upon a time, those eyes used to make my heart race but now they looked at me with hatred, pure hatred.

“You should’ve been the one in the grave instead of Nora.” His words shattered what little remained of me.

My lips trembled. “C-Caspian…”

“Don’t say my name.” His voice turned sharp. “You lost that right a long time ago.”

A painful ache spread through the mate bond between us, suffocating me worse than the blood filling my lungs.

I lowered my gaze weakly.

How pathetic, even after everything he had done to me… I still loved him. I still looked at him like he was my entire world.

Maybe that was my biggest mistake.

“I didn’t kill her,” I whispered.

My voice sounded broken and small.

Caspian laughed coldly, and the sound hurt more than the chains digging into my wrists.

“You expect me to believe that?” he asked. “Because of your family, Nora is dead.”

Nora, my stepsister and the woman Caspian truly loved. The woman he wished the Moon Goddess had chosen for him instead of me.

Tears burned my eyes.

“I never wanted any of this…”

“But you enjoyed it, didn’t you?” he snapped. “The moment Nora died, you got exactly what you wanted. You became my Luna.”

No…. no, that wasn’t true.

I would’ve given up the title of Luna in a heartbeat if it meant he would look at me with love instead of disgust.

I loved him long before the mate bond existed.

Back then, I truly believed he loved me too….what a foolish dream. Caspian slowly crouched in front of me, gripping my chin harshly before forcing me to look at him.

“I hated every moment of our marriage,” he said cruelly. “Every touch. Every second beside you.”

Something inside me cracked.

Completely.

I remembered our wedding day.

The way my hands shook when he placed the mark on my neck. I thought I was the happiest woman alive.

Meanwhile, he was probably imagining another woman standing beside him.

Nora. It was always Nora!!!, how did I not notice this all along

My chest tightened painfully.

“She killed herself because she didn’t want to marry that monster,” Caspian continued angrily. “If it weren’t for your family forcing her into that marriage, she would still be alive.”

Monster.

That was what everyone called Zane Ashblood.

He was the ruthless omega, the banished wolf feared by every pack.

Stories about him spread like poison: He kills women. He bathes in blood. He enjoys torture. He has no mercy.

Even hearing his name once made me afraid.

The council forced Nora to marry him to strengthen the alliance between packs.

But before the wedding…

Nora died or at least that’s what everyone believed.

A sudden sound echoed through the hall.

Footsteps, Soft and Slow.

My body froze, for a moment I thought death was finally making me hallucinate because the woman walking toward us was impossible.

Beautiful blonde hair, her soft smile and familiar green eyes. My breath caught painfully in my throat.

Nora, She is Alive!!!How???

My entire body went numb.

“N… no…” I whispered weakly.

She walked straight toward Caspian before slipping her arm around his like she belonged there.

Like she had always belonged there.

My heart stopped beating.

I stared at Caspian desperately, silently begging him to deny it.

To tell me this was some cruel joke.

But he said nothing.

Nora smiled down at me sweetly.

“Oh, Astrid,” she sighed. “You still believe everything so easily.”

The room spun around me.

“You’re alive…” My voice cracked. “You… faked your death?”

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Obviously. Did you really think I would marry that disgusting omega?”

Every word stabbed into my chest.

My hands shook violently against the floor.

“You let everyone think you were dead…” I whispered.

“It was the only way to escape.”

Escape.

She destroyed my life just to escape a marriage.

Slowly, my eyes lifted toward Caspian again.

“You knew?” I asked shakily.

Silence.

Then… “I found out later.”

My soul shattered.

A broken laugh escaped my lips before turning into a sob.

“You knew…” Tears streamed down my face. “And you still tortured me?”

His expression never changed.

“You were useful.”

Useful….That was all I ever meant to him.

Not his mate nor his wife, just something useful.

Nora leaned her head against his shoulder while looking at me with fake pity.

“You should thank me, Astrid,” she said softly. “At least you got to experience being Luna for a little while.”

I couldn’t breathe, everything hurt too much.The mate bond,my heart and my soul. Caspian stepped closer before crouching in front of me one last time.

“If the Moon Goddess had given me a second chance,” he said coldly, “I would choose nora every single time.”

My vision blurred completely.

Darkness slowly swallowed the edges of the room.

And for the first time in years…

I stopped loving him.

I looked at the man I once worshipped and felt nothing but emptiness.

If the Moon Goddess truly existed…If she was listening!

Then in another life….I would never choose Caspian again.

Even if I had to marry a monster instead.

Even if Zane Ashblood killed me himself.

That fate would still hurt less than loving Caspian Ravencrest.

My eyes slowly closed.

And the last thing I heard before darkness consumed me was Nora laughing beside my mate but then suddenly my eyes opened and I was on my bed wearing my silk robe, and then suddenly, a knock echoed on the door.

“Astrid,” a maid’s voice called softly, “Alpha Caspian is here to see you.”

What happened a moment ago I was surrounded by my blood but now I'm on my bed and I'm dreaming or have I travelled back to the past?.