CHAPTER 2 : I WILL NEVER LOVE HIM AGAIN

The calendar glared back at me. Three years left. I watched the numbers swim until my vision blurred.

June 14.

Three years ago. The start of another summer—well, that’s what I’d thought at the time. But the truth? It was three years before my own execution.

My hand hovered over the paper. It shook. I whispered, “It’s real.” The sound barely filled the tiny room.

In my head, I counted backward. Twenty-two. I was twenty-two. My brother was alive. Lucian was alive. And somewhere out there, the people who’d tear my life apart… they were still out there, still living like nothing was coming.

I yanked the calendar off the wall. I needed something more—something solid. I opened the drawer by my bed. Under a mess of ribbons and old letters, I found it. A birthday invitation. My twenty-second birthday. Same date. My gut twisted hard. This wasn’t a nightmare. This was real. I’d come back.

But why?

Who decided I deserved another shot at life? And why did Darius Veyne give me that look, like he already knew how my story ended?

Then—a knock. The door opened before I managed a word.

Lucian stepped in, holding a little black box. He smiled. So familiar, it hurt.

“I brought you something.”

Three years ago, that smile could’ve made me forget the world. Now, all I saw was the man from the execution platform. The man who didn’t look at me when I needed him most.

“What’s that?”

“Birthday present,” he said, crossing the room. He popped the box open—a delicate silver bracelet. My old favorite. I remembered. He gave it to me that year. I’d worn it until the day I was arrested.

My hands curled into fists, and the memory ached.

“You remember it?” he asked.

“Yeah.” My voice sounded small.

He grinned. “I knew you would.” He stepped closer.

I stepped back.

Uncertainty flashed in his eyes. “Seren?”

He reached for my hand. I let him. Only for a second. Then I pulled away.

He frowned. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re acting strange.”

“I just woke up.”

He stared at me. “You’ve been strange since you opened your eyes. You’re looking at me differently.”

I kept quiet.

He took another step. “Did I do something?”

Yeah. You watched me die. You chose your crown over me. You stood besides the woman who wanted me gone. You let them call me a murderer. You let them chop off my head.

But I said none of it. I couldn’t. Not yet. I didn’t even know what had changed. Didn’t know who else remembered. And there was no way I was telling him I’d lived through these next three years already.

Lucian reached out, brushed a strand of hair off my cheek. My whole body went tense. He leaned in. I turned my head away. He stopped, lips inches from mine.

He pulled back slowly. “What are you doing?” His voice was soft.

“I was going to kiss my mate.”

The word “mate” twisted my stomach. “You shouldn’t.”

He stared. “Shouldn’t?”

I met his eyes. “I don’t want you to kiss me.”

For a second, he looked like I’d slapped him. “You’ve never said that before.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“Why?”

Because I remember dying. Because I begged you to save me. The last thing I saw before the blade—your face, looking away.

I swallowed. “Because I don’t want to.”

His face hardened. “What happened to you?”

I walked to the window. “Nothing happened.”

He didn’t let it go. “Seren. You’re my mate.”

I spun to face him. “That doesn’t mean you own me.”

He just stared. I’d never spoken to him like this. Not ever. The old me would’ve apologized, worried about his feelings, kissed him to erase the tension. Not this time.

Lucian studied me like I’d turned into someone else. He set the box on my table.

“Fine.” He walked to the door, hesitated, looked back. “I don’t know what happened to you while you were asleep. But I’ll find out.”

The door slammed. I waited for his footsteps to fade before breathing. My hands were still shaking.

Telling Lucian no felt good. Scary too. I’d just changed something. Last time, I spent years chasing him. This time, it took one morning to push him away.

What would that change? His choices? His feelings? My future? I had no idea. And yeah, that terrified me.

I walked to the mirror. The girl staring back looked young, but her eyes—those eyes belonged to someone who’d already died.

I closed them. Darius’s face flashed into my memory. Not Lucian’s—Darius. On the day of my execution. The way he fought. The way he yelled my name. The way his lips barely formed those words, “I’m sorry.”

Why?

Why did Darius look gutted if he wanted me dead? If he hated my family, why fight for me? If he’d really done all the things Lucian said… why did he watch me die like he was losing someone he loved?

I sat on the bed heavy with regret. For years, I’d believed the stories people told about him. Darius Veyne is dangerous. Darius Veyne wants the throne. Darius Veyne betrayed us.

But I never asked him. I just trusted everyone else. That almost got me killed.

Not this time.

“No more.” My voice was steady.

If I wanted to survive, I couldn’t make the same mistakes. I wouldn’t spend three more years reacting while everyone else decided my fate. I needed answers. There was only one person who had them—

Darius.

I pulled out an old map. Blackthorn jumped out at me in bold ink. Darius’s territory. I traced the name, determined. I’d find him. I’d find out who he really was. And most importantly—I’d find out why he was sorry when I died.

A knock pulled me out of my thoughts. I turned; a servant stood at the door, eyes down, voice soft.

“Lady Seren.”

“Yes?”

“An envoy from Blackthorn has arrived.”

My heart stuttered. “Why?”

“Alpha Darius Veyne has arrived.”

The map slipped from my hand and hit the floor. Darius. Here. Now. Three years before my execution.

That wasn’t how it happened last time. Darius hadn’t come to Bloodmoon this early before. Something had already changed.

I hurried out of my room. My heart pounded louder with every step. Down the grand staircase—just in time for the doors to swing open.

Cold air swept in. Warriors in black strode through the hall. And then—

There he was. Darius Veyne.

Just like I remembered. Tall. Broad. Calm in that dangerous, tightly-held way.

He saw me. And froze.

All the color left his face. His warriors noticed. I noticed. This wasn’t an Alpha meeting someone new. This was something else—raw, pure shock.

Darius stared, like I’d come back from the dead.

My chest tightened.

He moved, slow. His eyes searched my face, my hands, my throat—like he was checking for something. Then his gaze locked onto mine.

His lips moved. No sound. But I saw the words.

You’re alive.

My heart stopped. How did Darius know? I never told him.

A wild new fear lit up inside me. This wasn’t just about changing my future. It was about whether I was the only one who’d come back.