THE ALPHA'S REBORN

Chapter Two: The Woman Who Remembers

Aria’s POV

For several seconds, I couldn't move.

Damien's words kept echoing inside my head.

Selena knows we're both reborn.

The room suddenly felt too small.

Too cold.

I stared at Damien, searching his face for any sign that he was lying.

There was none.

He looked terrified.

Not for himself.

For me.

And somehow, that made me even angrier.

In my first life, I had spent years begging this man to believe me.

Now that he finally knew the truth, I didn't care anymore.

“You expect me to believe you?” I asked.

Damien took a step toward me.

I immediately stepped back.

“Don't.”

He stopped.

“Aria, I know you're angry.”

“Angry?”

I laughed.

The sound was bitter.

“You think I'm angry?”

I walked toward him.

“I died, Damien.”

His face tightened.

“I know.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You don't.”

I pointed at my chest.

“I remember everything.”

His eyes dropped.

“I remember standing in the rain while your guards dragged me away.”

My voice trembled.

“I remember looking at you and hoping you would stop them.”

Damien closed his eyes.

“I remember calling your name.”

His jaw clenched.

“And you watched me die.”

A tear rolled down his cheek.

I froze.

I had never seen Damien cry.

Not when his father died.

Not when our pack went to war.

Not even when he nearly died from the poison.

But now he was crying.

For me.

I should have felt satisfied.

Instead, I felt empty.

“I can't change what happened,” he whispered.

“No.”

I wiped my tears.

“You can't.”

He looked at me.

“But I can make sure it never happens again.”

I shook my head.

“You still don't understand.”

“What?”

“I don't want you to save me.”

His expression broke.

“I don't want your protection.”

“Aria—”

“I don't want your love.”

Silence.

His eyes searched mine.

“You loved me once.”

“I did.”

“And you will again.”

I almost laughed.

“You're very confident.”

“I know what we were.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You know what we were supposed to be.”

I turned away.

“You lost the right to decide what happens between us when you chose to believe her over me.”

Damien didn't answer.

For a moment, there was only silence.

Then—

A sharp pain exploded inside my head.

I grabbed the edge of the table.

Damien rushed toward me.

“Aria!”

I pushed him away.

“Don't touch me!”

The pain became worse.

A strange scent filled the room.

Roses.

Dark roses.

My stomach twisted.

I knew that scent.

Selena.

The door opened.

A soft voice floated into the room.

“Alpha Damien?”

I froze.

Damien turned.

Selena stood in the doorway.

She looked exactly as she had in my previous life.

Beautiful.

Elegant.

Innocent.

The same woman who had smiled while watching me die.

But this time, there was something different in her eyes.

Recognition.

She looked at Damien.

Then at me.

Her smile disappeared.

For one brief second, fear flashed across her face.

Then she recovered.

“Aria?”

I stared at her.

She walked into the room.

“I heard you were awake.”

I said nothing.

Selena approached me.

“I was so worried.”

She reached for my hand.

I pulled it away.

Her smile faltered.

“Are you all right?”

I looked directly into her eyes.

“You killed me.”

The room went silent.

Selena's face went pale.

Damien stared at her.

“What did you say?” she whispered.

I stepped closer.

“You heard me.”

She looked at Damien.

“Alpha, she's confused.”

“Am I?”

I smiled.

“I remember the poison.”

Selena's breathing changed.

“I remember the cellar.”

Her lips parted.

“I remember you standing over me.”

She took a step backward.

“And I remember you telling me that Damien would never believe me.”

Damien's expression hardened.

“Selena.”

She looked at him.

“I swear—”

“Don't lie.”

His voice shook the room.

Selena stared at him.

“You remember too.”

It wasn't a question.

It was a realization.

Damien stepped forward.

“You remember everything.”

Selena's face changed.

The innocent expression vanished.

A cold smile slowly appeared.

“Yes.”

My blood ran cold.

She laughed softly.

“I remember everything.”

Damien's fists clenched.

“How?”

Selena looked at me.

“Just like you.”

She tilted her head.

“Just like her.”

I felt my wolf stir beneath my skin.

Selena had been reborn too.

This wasn't just a second chance.

It was a war.

And all three of us remembered how it ended.

Damien’s POV

I wanted to kill her.

Every instinct inside me screamed to rip Selena apart.

But I couldn't.

Not yet.

We were standing in the same room where I had first met Aria five years ago.

In my first life, I had brought Selena here because I trusted her.

I had introduced her to Aria as my childhood friend.

I remembered Aria's smile.

She had welcomed Selena.

She had trusted her.

And Selena had repaid that kindness by destroying her.

I looked at Aria.

She was standing near the window, staring outside.

She looked calm.

Too calm.

I knew her.

She was hurting.

But she would rather bleed silently than let me see her weakness.

“Why?” I asked Selena.

She smiled.

“Why what?”

“Why did you do it?”

She shrugged.

“Because I wanted what belonged to me.”

“Aria wasn't yours to take from.”

“No.”

Selena looked at Aria.

“She wasn't.”

Her smile became colder.

“But you were.”

My fists tightened.

“You manipulated me.”

“I didn't have to.”

She laughed.

“You already wanted to believe the worst about her.”

The words struck me harder than any weapon.

Because she was right.

I had made the choice.

Selena had lied.

But I had believed her.

I had rejected Aria.

I had humiliated her.

I had watched her die.

And now I had been given a second life.

I looked at Aria.

“I'll fix it.”

She turned toward me.

“No.”

“Aria—”

“You can't fix the past.”

“I can protect your future.”

She shook her head.

“I don't need you.”

Then she walked out.

I watched her leave.

Every instinct inside me wanted to follow her.

But I knew I had no right.

Not yet.

I turned back to Selena.

“You will never go near her again.”

Selena smiled.

“You're already falling for her again.”

I stared at her.

“I never stopped.”

Her smile disappeared.

“Then you will lose her again.”

She walked past me.

But before leaving, she whispered—

“This time, Alpha, I won't make the same mistake.”

I turned.

“What mistake?”

She smiled.

“Leaving her alive long enough to tell you the truth.”

My blood froze.

Aria’s POV

I ran.

I didn't know where I was going.

I only knew I needed to get away from them.

My heart was pounding.

Selena remembered.

Damien remembered.

And somehow, that frightened me more than death itself.

In my first life, I had been innocent.

I had been powerless.

I had trusted everyone.

This time, I wouldn't.

I reached the old training grounds.

The place was empty.

I leaned against a tree and finally allowed myself to breathe.

My wolf whispered inside me.

Mate.

I closed my eyes.

“No.”

Mate.

“I said no.”

The bond between me and Damien was already beginning to awaken.

I could feel him.

His heartbeat.

His emotions.

His pain.

That was the cruelest part of being reborn.

Fate had returned everything.

Including the bond I had spent years trying to escape.

I clenched my fists.

“I won't be his Luna again.”

A voice answered from behind me.

“Who said you have a choice?”

I spun around.

A tall man stepped from the shadows.

He wore the silver crest of the Blood Moon Pack.

I immediately recognized him.

Alpha Ronan.

In my previous life, Ronan had been Damien's greatest enemy.

But he had died before the final war.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

He smiled.

“Waiting for you.”

My wolf growled.

Ronan took another step forward.

“Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you.”

“Then leave.”

“I can't.”

“Why?”

His expression became serious.

“Because I remember our first life too.”

My heart stopped.

“You knew?”

He nodded.

“I remember everything.”

I stared at him.

“Then you know what happened to me.”

“I know.”

“And you know Selena killed me.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you here?”

Ronan looked toward the pack house.

“Because there is something you don't know.”

“What?”

He lowered his voice.

“The poison that killed you wasn't Selena's original plan.”

My blood ran cold.

“What do you mean?”

“She was working for someone.”

“Who?”

Ronan looked directly into my eyes.

“Someone much more powerful than Selena.”

I swallowed.

“Who?”

He stepped closer.

“The person responsible for your death…”

He paused.

“…wasn't trying to destroy you.”

My heart pounded.

“They were trying to destroy Damien.”

Before I could respond, a howl tore through the night.

Not an ordinary howl.

An Alpha command.

Ronan's face changed.

“He knows you're here.”

“Who?”

Ronan looked toward the forest.

“Damien.”

A second howl echoed.

Then another.

The entire pack seemed to come alive.

Ronan grabbed my wrist.

“We have to go.”

I pulled away.

“Why?”

His eyes filled with urgency.

“Because someone just attacked the pack house.”

My heart stopped.

“Damien?”

Ronan shook his head.

“No.”

He looked toward the flames beginning to rise in the distance.

“Selena.”

I turned toward the pack house.

Smoke was already filling the sky.

Then I heard a scream.

A scream I knew too well.

Damien's.

I started running.

And as I reached the burning pack house, I saw something that made my entire body freeze.

Damien was on his knees in the flames.

And standing behind him—

was Selena, holding a blood-covered silver dagger.

She looked directly at me.

Then she smiled.

“Welcome back, Luna.”