I opened my eyes to find myself surprisingly alive. “Amy hurry, you’re going to be late.” I jolted up and look around, confused. What was going on? Where was I? “Amy!” The voice called again and I shook myself. I stood up from the bed and looked around again. I recognized this room. It was my childhood bedroom.
I hadn’t stepped foot in this room since I found my mate, Brandon. I heard a knock on the door and my mother opened it. Before I could process what was happening, I ran into my mother’s arms. “Mom, you’re here.” I started to cry. “I’ve missed you so much.” “Amy. My girl.” She laughed as she patted my back. “I saw you yesterday.” She pulled back and I looked into her amber eyes that matched my own. “Happy birthday, baby.” I leaned into her hands and realized that today was the last day I spent at home. I found my mate on my eighteenth birthday. “Thank you, mom.” “Hopefully, you will meet your mate today and start your new life.” She smiled at me and I felt my blood freeze. I didn’t want to meet Brandon. Not when I knew what was going to happen. “I’d rather stay here with you.” I smiled as I kissed her cheek. “I don’t want to miss you and Morgan. And I knew that when Brandon thought I cheated on him, before he killed my baby and me. He killed my mother for her involvement. Shannon’s father, my mother’s husband, watched her die. Don’t get me wrong I knew he loved my mother, and he was hurting, but his scheming daughter was the cause of all of this. He stood by and watched it all happen. I understood why he supported his daughter, but I didn’t like it, nor him, for that matter. “Baby. You won’t miss us. We will be there every step of the way.” She kissed my cheek, and I wrapped my fingers around hers. “Mom, can we just leave? You and me? Leave Shannon and Morgan and move back to daddy’s pack?” My father, the Alpha of the Silvermoon pack, wasn’t a good husband, but he was a good man. He cheated on my mother, betraying her when he was drunk. But he swore it was a mistake. It was another Alpha’s maneuverings to break them up, but my mother said it didn’t matter. It was too late. His betrayal cost the life of my brother growing inside of her, and she refused to move past it. “No baby. I can’t go back.” My mother’s face fell as she turned away. “I don’t want to be betrayed, mom. Not like you and not any worse. I don’t want a mate.” I whispered my new truth. “Mates don’t hurt each other, baby.” She tried to smile but I shook. I knew exactly what mates do to each other. “Would you be made if I refused my mate?” “God no baby. The Moon Goddess makes a path clear, but it is up to us to choose it. If you don’t want your mate, you can reject him.” “And if it is the Alpha’s son?” My mother looked at me. She knew that if it was the Alpha’s son, I would be screwed. They wouldn’t allow me to leave. An Alpha has to mate his first mate, even for a day to come into his full power. “What do you know?” I watched as her eyes searched mine. I pulled her back into my room and away from the door. “I don’t know for sure, but I am terrified that if I am mated to Shannon’s boyfriend, I will die after we are mated. Mom, the chances that he will match with an Alpha far outweigh the chance that he is mated to the daughter of the beta.” I pulled back. “I don’t want this for me.” She weighed my words, and I watched as she came to the same conclusion. “Okay baby. But you can’t leave. It would be too conspicuous. You will have to mask your scent whenever he is around.” I tossed my hands in the air. “How would I do that?” “There is much you don’t know that I would leave in the past but if you are sure…” She trailed off and I just nodded my head. “Then let me make a few calls. You don’t have to go to school today.” I lept back into her arms. “Thank you, mom. I don’t know what I would do without you.” “I love you, baby. You will never be without me. That I can promise you.” She kissed my cheek and then left me alone in my room. I ran to my phone and checked the date to make sure. It was twenty eighteen; I went back six years. Six years to the day that I met Brandon. I could relive everything, make better choices. I could live, and maybe this time around, so would my pup. I rubbed my flat stomach. “Don’t worry, my pup. This time around, no one will hurt you.” I went into my ensuite and jumped into the shower. No way was I going to face today, looking like I just crawled out of bed. I stood in side my closet in a towel trying to figure out what to wear when I heard my bedroom door open. I was about to turn and call out to my mother, but I heard a soft step, which my mother wouldn’t do. So I hid behind my winter coats and I waited. “I’m telling you, if she is Brandon’s mate, I’m going to kill her.” “You can’t mean that, Shan.” The nasily voice of Megan, Shannon’s best friend, came from the cell phone pressed to her ear. “Of course I do. Brandon is mine.” “Only because you put out. He was hoping Shannon would notice him.” “You shut your fucking mouth, Megan.” Shannon snarled and her eyes flashed. “He’s mine.” “Whatever I gotta go. Hurry the fuck up before I leave your ass,” Megan called, and then the line went dead. A honk sounded from outside and Shannon was snatching something before I grabbed her hand. “What do you think you’re doing in my closet?” “Amy?” Shannon’s mouth dropped out. I squeezed her hand until I heard a crack. Her scream was muffled by my hand. “You’re lucky I only broke one finger. You just threatened to kill me. Didn’t I hear that correctly? A beta’s daughter threatening an alpha.” I tsked. “I didn’t do shit.” She snarled back at me as her hand reformed. “Lie again and I will break all of your fingers and hold them while the bones heal.” I couldn’t stop my grin as I felt her tremble. “Did you threaten me?” “Yes.” she screamed at me. “You’re going to take Brandon from me.” “I don’t want your pathetic alpha now or ever. Keep him.” I pushed her away. “Now get out of my room before I change my mind about maiming you.” I turned back to my clothes and picked out low-rise jeans and a tank top. “What the fuck is your problem?” “You. Now leave.” I let my wolf come forward and my eyes flashed. I pushed my alpha command into my words and forcing her out of my room. Stupid bitch. How dare she come into my room to take something of mine? My wolf growled lowly. This was our den. I shook myself and refocused. Closing the doors, I hopped back into bed, pulling out my phone. I tried to remember everything that happened in the last six years that could help me with my plan. Because make no mistake, Brandon and Shannon would pay.I shook my head. I had to think of what I would say next. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “When the goddess was giving me power, I felt something.”He cupped my cheek. “Tell me.” The trust and devotion in his eyes settled me. “My babe.” His breath caught.“You're pregnant with my pup?” I shook my head.“Shush. Just listen.” I grabbed his hands. “When the goddess was filling me with power, when it reached my stomach, I felt it. The flutter of life.” I struggled to find the words. “But it was familiar. One I had grown to know, one I had memorized.” His brow furrowed. “You aren’t making much sense. All babies move the same.” He tried to make sense of my jumbled words. I shook my head. “In my first life.” I think in that moment he started to understand, and his face turned a little sad. “What are you saying, Amy?” Toya’s voice was soft. But I could feel her behind me.I shook my head. “I’m just going to say it out loud, and then we can argue about the ridiculousness of it.” Ro
Everyone spun from the grave to see Alannah bent over in pain. Her hands were clutching her heavy belly as she stared down at the barely filled grave. “No…it’s too soon. They aren’t ready.” She turned to look at me, and I could see the panic there.My mother grabbed for her side. “I don’t think they agree with you, Momma.” She wrapped her arm around her back, and Wendy stepped up to my side, taking my place. “Baby?” My mother looked at me over her shoulder as she spun the groaning Alannah back towards the cabin. “Yeah?” I felt my stomach clench as I watched as my friend was herded away. “Finish here. Then come upstairs.” She turned away as Rowan stepped up next to me. “I don’t think we have the time to stay for the birth.” His voice was soft, but Toya came back to our side. She closed her eyes for a second and she shook her head. “All the mindlinks from my pack were severed.” Her voice was soft but filled with worry. “I’ve been trying to reach my father since the battle.”I reache
I leaned against the side of the cabin, and Rowan settled next to me. “That was…” His voice was soft, and hesitant. “A lot.” I finished. He laughed. “It’s gone.” He looked back at the grave.“What’s gone?” I turned to look at him.H waved his hand at me. “Your mark. You are back to normal.” He smiled. “Which is great because I missed your normal eyes.” He leaned over and kissed me. “You are so beautiful.”I snorted. “I’m covered in dirt, blood, and I don’t want to think about what else.” He cupped my cheek and stared down into my eyes. “That changes nothing. You are still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” He kissed me again as the door slammed open.“Get a room, you two.” Rick limped out, a bruise healing on his face. “You look rough.” I grabbed for him as he stumbled over the hose. “Yeah…I’m still weak from Vince. So healing is taking a little longer.” He winced as he licked the corner of my mouth. “Can’t worry about it too much.” He settled next to us as he nodded ove
Rowan stared at me for another long second before he traced my forehead with a finger. “Your Goddess Blessed.” He sounded breathless and surprised. I nodded, staring into his eyes. “Yes…” I furrowed my brow. “I thought you knew.” A soft light rippled on his face, and I looked up to the sky, trying to see if the moon was trying to shine down on us through the clouds.“I did.” He tilted his head, still staring at me. “But hearing it and seeing it are two very different things. This,” he waved his hand. “Is different.”“What do you mean?” I looked from him to Alannah and then landed on my mother. “Mom?”“Your mark…your eyes…they changed.” She pointed to her own forehead. “It was a normal Goddess Blessed mark, the crescent moon. But now it’s more…” She trailed as she leaned closer. “I don’t know why.”“More?” I looked back at Rowan. “, More how?”He pulled his phone from his pocket and aimed it at my face. I heard the click of his camera as he took the photo. He turned the screen towards
I wiped my tears and stood. I turned to see my mother peeking around the corner, but I waved her off. Rowan furrowed his brow. “Why did you wave her off?”I grabbed one of the shovels in his hands and then started digging. “I didn’t want her to come back over with Alannah until the evidence was gone.” I waved my hands over my face. “Why?” Rowan smiled, but it was a little hesitant, like he didn’t know why I wouldn’t want Alannah to see me cry over her mate.I rolled my eyes. “Don’t play dumb.” I pointed at him. “You know exactly why.” I looked up, and I realized he didn’t. His eyebrows were pinched, and he was staring at me. “I'm an Alpha, and until she settles at my dad’s pack, she is mine.”“So?”I stopped digging. “An alpha needs to be strong for their pack; we can’t show our weakness.”“That’s bullshit. I watched you with Toya and Wendy.”“That’s different.” I shook my head.“How?” He started digging again, and the hole started to get wider. “When I’m just me, just Amy, then I d
Once the pair disappeared around the cabin, Rowan handed me my shovel, but I held up a finger. I moved over to Ternen. “Hey friend.” I wiped his hair out of his face. “I know you are worried about her.” Rowan came up behind me. I could feel his strength trying to seep into me, but I pushed it away. I didn’t deserve the peace he was offering. “You probably don’t believe me when I say I’ll watch over her. I was supposed to watch over you too, and now look at us.” My voice caught. “I’m so fucking sorry.”“Amy.” Rowan reached for me but I shook my head. “This isn’t your fault.”I couldn’t stop the chuckle that left my lips, but it quickly turned into a sob. I slapped a hand over my mouth trying to push it all away. I didn’t have time to break down. “It is.” I looked back down at Ternen and I cupped his cold cheek. “He was alive, and warm less than an hour ago. I should have been faster.” I shook my head again. “He’s dead because of me.”Rowan dropped next to me. “He’s dead because Garith