Chapter 4: The Message

My heart nearly stopped beating.

The black note trembled violently between my fingers as I stared at the three words written across the paper.

THEY KILLED YOU.

The room seemed to tilt around me.

My mouth went dry.

My pulse thundered inside my ears so loudly that it drowned out every other sound.

Those words.

That handwriting.

That horrible feeling crawling beneath my skin.

I had seen this before.

Not in this life.

In the other one.

In the life that ended with a wolfbane dagger buried in my chest and my blood staining the healer's floor.

A chill raced down my spine.

Then I remembered the silver eyes watching me from the forest.

The figure standing beyond the manor walls.

Watching.

Waiting.

Knowing.

I rushed toward the window.

The curtains flew open beneath my trembling hands.

Moonlight spilled across the forest.

Trees swayed gently beneath the night breeze.

Shadows danced between the branches.

But there was nobody there.

Nothing.

The figure had vanished.

Yet I knew what I had seen.

Someone had been watching me.

Someone knew I had died.

Someone knew I had returned.

The realization sent a wave of terror through me.

"This shouldn't be possible," I whispered.

My fingers tightened around the note.

If I had truly come back alone, then nobody else should remember the future.

Nobody should know about my death.

Nobody should know what happened beyond that healer's room.

Unless...

The thought struck me so suddenly that I almost staggered backward.

What if I wasn't the only one who remembered?

What if someone else had crossed time with me?

What if someone had been waiting for my return?

The possibility chilled me far more than the note itself.

I locked my bedroom door immediately and returned to the desk.

There had to be something hidden.

Something I had overlooked.

Some clue buried within the paper.

I unfolded the note carefully and examined every inch.

Every corner.

Every crease.

Every mark.

At first I found nothing.

Then I froze.

A scent lingered on the paper.

Faint.

Almost impossible to detect.

I lowered the note closer.

Pine.

Snow.

And something darker beneath it.

Something wild.

Untamed.

Dangerous.

I had never encountered that scent before.

Not in my first life.

Not in this one.

Which meant the note had not come from anyone I knew.

A sudden knock at the door shattered the silence.

Three sharp knocks.

My entire body tensed.

"Lady Lyra?"

A maid's voice sounded from outside.

I released a breath.

"It is late."

"The Luna requests your presence at breakfast tomorrow morning."

The Luna.

Damian's mother.

A woman who had always treated me with perfect courtesy while secretly wishing her son would choose someone more suitable.

Someone stronger.

Someone more elegant.

Someone like Selene.

"I'll be there."

The maid left.

But sleep never came.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw silver eyes staring at me through the darkness.

Watching.

Waiting.

Knowing.

The next morning was somehow worse.

The entire manor buzzed with gossip.

Servants stopped talking whenever I entered a room.

Warriors stared openly.

Whispers followed me through every hallway.

"That's her."

"The girl who rejected Alpha Damian."

"What was she thinking?"

"Maybe she found another mate."

If only they knew the truth.

I entered the dining hall.

The atmosphere shifted immediately.

Damian sat at the head of the table.

Selene occupied the seat beside him.

Just as she always had.

The sight once would have shattered me.

Now it merely irritated me.

Selene noticed me first.

Her smile appeared instantly.

Too fast.

Too perfect.

Too practiced.

"Lyra."

I inclined my head politely.

"Selene."

The brief response surprised her.

I saw it immediately.

Good.

Let her wonder.

The Luna gestured toward an empty chair.

"Sit down."

I obeyed.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the table.

For several minutes nobody spoke.

Then Damian broke the silence.

"You ignored my messages."

I looked up.

His silver eyes were already fixed on me.

Studying.

Watching.

Analyzing.

The attention felt strange.

Not because I wanted it.

Because I wasn't accustomed to receiving it.

The Damian I remembered rarely paid attention to me at all.

Now he seemed incapable of looking away.

"I wasn't aware I was required to answer."

A fork clattered somewhere nearby.

Several servants looked horrified.

Damian's eyes narrowed.

"Lyra."

His voice carried a warning.

I ignored it.

The Luna intervened immediately.

"Damian."

But he wasn't looking at her.

He was looking at me.

Only me.

The tension stretched.

Heavy.

Dangerous.

Then Selene laughed.

The sound felt forced.

Artificial.

"Everyone is still discussing yesterday's ceremony."

Her gaze shifted toward me.

"You certainly caused a scene."

There it was.

The first attack.

Hidden beneath sweetness.

Wrapped inside concern.

The same tactic she had always used.

Only now I recognized it.

I smiled politely.

"I wasn't aware exercising free will had become a crime."

Several servants nearly choked.

Selene's smile faltered.

Only slightly.

But I saw it.

The Luna saw it too.

And surprisingly...

So did Damian.

Something dark flashed briefly across his face.

Not directed at me.

Directed at Selene.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The future was already changing.

After breakfast, I escaped the manor.

I needed answers.

And answers rarely lived inside places filled with lies.

The village marketplace bustled with activity.

Merchants shouted.

Children laughed.

Pack members moved through crowded streets.

Life continued normally.

As if fate itself hadn't been rewritten.

As I passed a small bookstore, a memory surfaced unexpectedly.

The owner.

In my previous life, he had died only weeks after my mating ceremony.

A robbery, according to official reports.

A tragic accident.

At least that was what everyone believed.

But standing there now, something felt wrong.

I pushed open the door.

A bell chimed overhead.

The elderly owner looked up.

A warm smile appeared immediately.

"Lady Lyra."

Then his expression changed.

Completely.

His eyes widened.

His face paled.

Shock flooded his features.

Not recognition.

Fear.

As if he had seen a ghost.

My heartbeat accelerated.

"You..."

The word escaped him.

I froze.

"What?"

His face grew even paler.

Then he looked away.

"Nothing."

A lie.

Every instinct inside me recognized it instantly.

I stepped closer.

"What do you know?"

His hands began shaking.

"Nothing."

"You reacted the moment you saw me."

"You are mistaken."

"Look at me."

The command slipped out before I could stop myself.

Slowly, he obeyed.

Fear filled his eyes.

Pure terror.

My pulse quickened.

"Why are you afraid?"

His lips trembled.

Then he whispered something so quietly I almost missed it.

"They said you would return."

Everything inside me stopped.

The bookstore vanished.

The world vanished.

Only those words remained.

"What did you say?"

His eyes darted frantically toward the windows.

Toward the door.

Toward every shadow.

As if he expected someone to emerge at any moment.

Then suddenly he grabbed my wrist.

Hard.

Desperate.

"Leave."

I stared at him.

"What?"

"Leave now."

His voice cracked.

"They're watching."

Ice flooded my veins.

"Who's watching?"

The old man released me instantly.

Terror filled his face.

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"I've already said too much."

I stepped closer.

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

The bookstore door suddenly opened.

A cold breeze swept through the room.

Every hair on my body stood upright.

The old man's face drained of color.

My heart pounded violently.

Slowly, I turned toward the entrance.

A man stood there.

Tall.

Broad-shouldered.

Dressed in a black coat.

Dark hair framed a striking face.

A complete stranger.

Yet the moment our eyes met, the atmosphere changed.

The air became heavier.

Dangerous.

Predatory.

His gaze settled on me instantly.

Sharp.

Calculating.

Interested.

The stranger smiled.

The bookstore owner nearly collapsed.

The reaction shocked me.

I had never seen anyone respond that way.

Not even to Damian.

Not even to an Alpha.

"Good afternoon."

His voice was deep and smooth.

The sound sent an unexpected chill through me.

He wasn't speaking to the shopkeeper.

He was speaking to me.

"Lady Lyra Silverthorne."

My stomach tightened.

How did he know my name?

The stranger's smile widened.

As though he had read my thoughts.

"Interesting."

The single word felt like a warning.

A promise.

A challenge.

The old man dropped to his knees.

Trembling.

Terrified.

Yet the stranger never looked at him.

His silver eyes remained fixed on mine.

Unwavering.

Fascinated.

Then he took one slow step forward.

And everything inside me froze when he spoke.

"Tell me, Lyra."

My pulse thundered.

The room seemed to shrink around us.

His silver eyes gleamed with dark amusement.

"What was it like..."

He smiled.

"...dying?"