CHAPTER 1 : THE DAY THEY KILLED ME

The executioner raised his blade.

I scanned the crowd, desperate for the man I loved.

Lucian wouldn’t look at me.

That hurt more than the silver chains digging into my wrists.

“Lucian.”

I barely managed his name.

He stood just below the platform in his black royal coat, one hand hanging at his side, the other curled tight, knuckles white.

His mother, Velara, stood beside him.

Velara.

Her silver crown glinted in the morning sun.

She looked elegant. Calm. Untouchable.

Like she wasn’t watching the woman she’d once called daughter kneel beneath a blade.

I tried to swallow against my dry throat.

“Lucian, please.”

He stiffened.

For a second, I thought he might step forward, might save me.

He’d promised it. Last night, I’d laid against him, listening as he whispered that nothing in this kingdom could ever take me away from him.

I choose you, Seren.

He’d said it. I’d believed him.

Now he couldn’t even look at me.

“Look at me,” I begged.

Slowly, Lucian lifted his head.

Our eyes met.

My heart cracked.

I saw guilt in his expression.

But not enough to save me. Not enough for him to move.

“Why?” I whispered.

His lips parted.

“Seren…”

“Why are you letting them do this?”

His jaw hardened.

Velara placed a graceful hand on his arm.

And just like that, he looked away.

Something inside me went cold.

That tiny gesture said everything.

He’d chosen her.

He’d chosen the crown.

He’d chosen whatever future he thought waited for him after I died.

And I’d been stupid enough to believe I was part of that future.

A booming voice echoed across the square.

“Seren Vale, daughter of the former Bloodmoon Alpha, you have been found guilty of treason, conspiracy, and the murder of your own brother.”

The crowd erupted.

“Traitor!”

“Kill her!”

“Bloodmoon must pay!”

My knees trembled.

“My brother was murdered!”

No one listened.

“I didn’t kill him!”

The executioner moved behind me.

I smelled iron.

I strained against the chains.

“Please!”

My eyes snapped back to Lucian.

“Tell them!”

Silence.

“Lucian!”

He closed his eyes.

That was it—the moment I stopped begging.

Not because I wanted to die.

But because I finally understood.

He wasn’t going to save me.

The man who once whispered he’d stand between me and the world was standing there, watching the world execute me.

My eyes burned.

I refused to cry.

Not in front of them.

Not in front of him.

Then, all of a sudden, the crowd quieted.

Not completely, but enough to notice.

People moved aside.

A line opened in the packed square.

And through it walked Darius Veyne.

My breath caught.

Even surrounded by hundreds of wolves, he walked like he owned the space. People stepped back without even thinking.

No crown on his head. He didn’t need one.

His black coat hung heavy from broad shoulders. Silver clasps shone at his throat. Wind had ruffled his dark hair, but his eyes—

His eyes locked right on me.

I’d spent years hearing that Darius Veyne was dangerous. Hungry for Bloodmoon land. Ambitious beyond the border. Hated my family.

I believed all of it.

But the man standing there didn’t look victorious.

He looked wrecked.

His hands clenched at his sides.

Breath uneven.

When the executioner got closer, something flickered in Darius’s face.

Fear.

Real, raw fear.

Why?

Why would the most feared Alpha be afraid of my death?

Our eyes met.

Everything else dropped away—the council, the crowd, even my own heartbeat.

Darius stepped forward.

A guard blocked him.

“Alpha Veyne.”

Darius held his ground.

“Stay back.”

His jaw twitched.

“Move.”

He said it softly, but the guard blanched.

Two more warriors hustled to block him.

My heart pounded.

What was he planning?

Darius looked at me again.

For the first time, I saw something in him I never expected: regret.

His lips moved.

“I’m sorry.”

I frowned.

Sorry?

Why?

I hated him. He’d never shown me kindness. Never been a friend. Never given me any reason to trust him.

So why did his apology sting like it was carved into me?

“Why?” I mouthed.

His face changed.

For once, the fierce Alpha looked completely helpless.

The executioner raised his sword.

Darius lunged.

“STOP!”

His own warriors grabbed him.

“Let me go!”

His voice tore through the square.

I stared at him.

He was fighting for me.

Why?

The blade started to fall.

I looked at Lucian one last time.

He still wouldn’t look.

I looked at Velara.

She was watching me.

She was smiling.

The sword struck.

Pain exploded through me.

I couldn’t breathe.

My knees buckled.

The sky spun overhead.

Someone screamed.

Maybe Lucian.

Maybe Darius.

I couldn’t tell.

Warm blood pooled beneath my cheek.

Vision swimming.

Darius struggled, shouting.

“SEREN!”

I managed to look at him.

For one impossible second, our eyes met.

Something in his face terrified me more than dying.

He looked like a man watching his world collapse.

Then blackness swallowed everything.

I woke up choking.

My hands went to my throat.

I screamed.

Nothing.

No wound.

No blood.

No chains.

I tumbled out of bed.

My palms hit the wood.

I gasped for air.

“I’m alive…”

The whisper drifted out.

I checked my neck.

Smooth skin.

I crawled to the mirror.

And froze.

The girl staring back was twenty-two.

Not twenty-five.

My face looked softer.

My hair longer.

No scar beneath my jaw.

I touched my cheek.

The reflection copied me.

“No.”

I stumbled back.

“No, no, no.”

My eyes swept the room.

Blue curtains.

Carved wardrobe.

Cracked table by the window.

Moon-shaped carving over my bed.

I knew this place.

I hadn’t seen it in three years.

My knees buckled. I gripped the table.

Three years.

My mind refused to believe it.

I ran to the window.

Below, the Bloodmoon training yard blazed under sun.

Wolves sparred.

Guards barked orders.

Horses stomped in their stalls.

And then, I saw him.

My brother.

He crossed the courtyard laughing, a training sword balanced across his shoulder.

Alive.

My fingers slipped.

I covered my mouth.

A sob escaped.

My brother.

I had watched him die.

Held his bloody body.

Screamed until I lost my voice.

But here he was.

Alive.

My chest hurt so badly I could hardly breathe.

I pressed my forehead to the glass.

“Thank you.”

I didn’t know who I was thanking.

Moon Goddess.

Fate.

Death.

Anyone.

Anything.

Because somehow, I’d been given the impossible.

Time.

A second chance.

But why?

Before I could catch my breath, someone knocked.

Three quick knocks.

Every muscle in me went rigid.

No.

The door swung open.

Lucian stepped inside.

Alive.

Healthy.

Smiling.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

He looked exactly like he did before everything went wrong.

Same dark hair.

Same golden eyes.

Same crooked smile that made my heart race once.

He closed the door behind him.

“You’re awake.”

I stared, silent.

He walked closer.

“You’ve been sleeping longer than usual.”

I couldn’t speak.

His smile softened.

“What is it, mate?”

The word hit like a slap.

Mate.

My wolf stirred restlessly in my chest.

Lucian.

I gripped the table.

No.

Not again.

Not him.

Not after everything.

Lucian reached for my hand.

I pulled away before he could touch me.

His expression changed.

“Seren?”

I stared at him.

The man who watched me die.

The man who apologized too late.

The man destined to die in three years.

Except…he wasn’t.

Because I wasn’t living past the aftermath.

I was standing at the beginning.

Three years before the execution.

Three years before my brother’s murder.

Three years before the crown.

Three years before Darius stood beneath the platform and whispered sorry.

My eyes filled.

Lucian stepped toward me.

“What’s wrong?”

I looked at him—really looked.

And then the truth hit me, hard enough to buckle my knees.

He was alive.

My brother was alive.

I was alive.

The future hadn’t happened yet.

The betrayal hadn’t happened yet.

The execution hadn’t happened yet.

And somewhere in Bloodmoon, the person who’d destroyed everything was still waiting.

I wiped my tears.

Lucian frowned.

“Seren?”

I stared into the eyes of the man I once loved.

“You’re alive.”

He looked confused.

“Of course I am.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

My voice shook.

“You don’t understand.”

I glanced at the window.

The sun rose over the kingdom that watched me die, once.

But not anymore.

I refused to let fate decide my story.

This time, I’d find out who wanted me dead.

And I’d discover why Darius Veyne looked at my execution like he was the one losing everything.