Chapter 10: A Different Turn of Fate

Chapter 10: A Different Turn of Fate

But despite the resolve to let it go, my chest tightened, and a dull ache weighed heavy deep in my heart. Soon, Jay would introduce another woman into his life, into mine, and everything would change. Even if I could forget somehow the pain of the past, I could never eliminate the memory of the day when my world shattered—the day I met Samantha.

What should have been a triumphant moment was now just my public embarrassment.

On the day people from all over were gathered to celebrate my and Jay's engagement, he had walked in with another woman and, beaming pride in his smile, announced that he had found his mate. The shock had sucked the air out of my lungs. How could I have loved such a wicked man?

His smile lingered in my mind. A man who never smiled shone as if it was the most wondrous instance of his life, while I—who had been introduced a moment before as his fiancée—was cast aside and humiliated. A defining moment in my life was reduced to shame. As the celebration came to an end, everyone went their separate ways, murmuring oaths of sympathy and frustration at how so much time, energy, and fortune had been squandered on an engagement that hadn't survived the announcement.

“Are you okay?”

Maya's voice pulled me from my musings. I was aware that my gaze kept drifting toward the clock on the wall again and again. She was my only friend, the only one I had invited. We met in college, and she just so happened to be the little sister of Alpha Don Carter.

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?” she asked once more, a knowing smile pulling at her lips.

I turned my eyes to the other side of the hall, where my father stood with his mate, Agatha, and Beta Mark. An intimidating expression had clouded over his face, sharp and unyielding, a barrier to anyone who would dare approach him. Wolves shifted aside instinctively.

“It took me a while to realize…” I started, then trailed off, searching for my next words.

“You must have a good relationship with your father,” Maya remarked gently, though the tightness in her smile told me she already sensed the truth.

I didn't, not yet. But I was determined to change that.

The doors creaked open before I could reply. My eyes instinctively snapped to the entrance, my heart bracing itself as it expected Jay to walk in with Samantha at his side.

Instead, another presence filled the space.

“Alpha Don, it's an honor to meet you, sir,” one of the elders said respectfully.

Maya looked in my direction and chuckled to herself. "My busy brother is finally here."

I recognized Alpha Don immediately. Though he was Maya’s brother, we had never been formally introduced. He had always been so consumed by business that our paths never quite crossed. Yet his reputation wasn’t so easily ignored. He was Jay’s greatest rival in the Alpha King election and young, strikingly handsome, and immensely popular to boot. A natural leader.

After all, in my past life, the only reason Jay had ever had a chance to stand against him was because of me.

Because of our marriage.

United, our packs gave Jay the greater territory—an undeniable advantage in the race for the throne. Take that away, and his position crumbles. He'd lose, and Don Carter would surely rise as Alpha King.

"Alpha Andrew, a word," Don said firmly, "Let's step outside."

Without waiting for leave, he was already turning on his heel.

I watched them leave, my head reeling. Don had much to gain from a broken engagement. Jay won in my past life because I stood beside him, unshaken. If I shifted my support… the balance of power would change.

I knew the scandals that were coming. I knew the traps that would be laid.

I needed an ally.

Someone strong enough to knock Jay down.

And who better than Don Carter?

It had been about a minute since my dad went outside. Then Jay reappeared in the hallway. Immediately, all the thoughts of Don evaporated. My heart started pounding at his appearance—but when I didn’t find a small, brown-haired woman around him, my eyebrows furrowed.

Where was Samantha?

His eyes cut through the space, scanning it. When they landed on me, the corners of his mouth unleashed a faint, familiar smile. He crossed the space separating us in two steps and wrapped an arm around my waist, hugging me close.

“Where did you go?” I asked, my voice tinged with a worry I wasn't quite sure I was feeling.

“You know I’m not fond of crowds,” he replied smoothly. “I needed a moment to breathe. Did you miss me?”

He drew me flush against his side, his touch possessive.

Maya's voice sighed wistfully from beside him, as if she were witnessing the unfolding of a perfect love story.

“Oh—this is my friend Maya Carter,” I said, turning slightly in Jay’s embrace. “Maya, this is my fiancé, Alpha Jay.”

Maya greeted him with politeness, and Jay responded with the signature aloofness of his grace.

“I will leave you two lovebirds alone,” she said, smiling playfully, and disappeared into the crowd.

Yet my mind was elsewhere.

Jay had met Samantha. I was convinced of it. Still, he didn’t invite her in.

Why?

Was he going to hide her during this lifetime?

"Did anything happen while you were outside?" I asked, studying his face closely.

He didn't look away. "No. Why should you?"

I barely had time to push further when a soft melody wafted through the hall. Jay took my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor. He was sweeping me around with ease, his movements fluid and rehearsed.

Then my gaze fell upon a figure I knew well in the sea of faces.

My stomach fell.

A woman in a red dress.

She was staring directly at me, her eyes full of hatred.

I stumbled, but he caught me in an instant, surgically covering my misstep.

"Careful," he murmured. "Are you alright?"

"There's some weird woman here," I whispered, feeling my heart pound in my chest. "She's wearing red. The look in her eyes—just weird."

Jay lifted his head, scanning the room briefly before looking at me. “There’s no one like that here. Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?”

No.

I hadn’t.

That woman was Samantha.

As I turned back into Jay’s arms, she didn’t blink once. It burned with resentment and fury that seemed to wish the very ground would swallow me whole. And to my own surprise, something deep inside stirred at it—sharp and exhilarated.

And then, Samantha Smith had arrived.

But this time, Jay didn’t reach for her. He didn’t present her to the world. He kept her hidden.

“Jay,” I muttered. “She’s staring at us.”

“I didn’t see her,” he replied carefully.

"It scares me, the way she stares at me. How could you say you don't see her?"

I clutched him closer, now demanding that he recognize my fear.

His face clouded. His glance flickered.

“I see her now,” he said softly.

He let his breath out slowly, his grip on me tightening. “If she's bothering you, I'll tell her to leave.”

A chill ran down my spine.

Things were already changing.

While Jay had proudly claimed Samantha before everyone in his past life, now… he hadn’t.

If this time, too, Samantha was denied her place, she would not go down without a fight. She could turn out to be much more harmful.

How about Jay?

Jay might pose as someone he wasn't.

Why was destiny changing course so early?

The uncertainty clawed at me, but I swallowed my fear. Whatever the future had in store for me this time, twisted in some way, I would be ready for it.

I would not be caught off guard again.