Chapter 3

Carmen’s POV

I was supposed to be dead.

Unless the afterlife had a comfortable bed, an eerie sort of realism, and an uncanny resemblance to my bedroom, something was very wrong.

I turned slowly to my left where Silas was asleep, his back turned to me as he softly snored. I blinked rapidly, trying to determine whether this was a dream or my reality. But dead people aren't supposed to dream, are they?

I slid out of bed silently, being careful not to wake him, and then stepped in front of the mirror. My skin was free from any blemish, and there was no tell-tale sign of the accident that had just happened. I could still vividly remember leaving Dr. Aris's office, excited at the prospect of being six months pregnant and buying an outfit on display for my unborn baby. I could vividly remember the look the guards had given me as I walked up the stairs, only to open the door and find my husband fucking my sister.

I remembered how I was dragged into a car and then thrown off the cliff, sinking into the water below. For someone who was severely injured and did not know how to swim well, that was definitely death. I remembered dying so vividly, but here I was, alive.

My hands went to my stomach, which remained flat. I could feel a tampon inside me because I thought I was on my period, and I could also feel those subtle cramps. None of it made any sense. My hands traveled to the dresser table where a boittle of medicine sat. I remembered that. Silas had gotten it months ago as part of some drug that was supposed to help with fertility. I walked over to it and picked it up. The bottle was still sealed and very full, like it had been when he bought it three months ago.

Confusion washed over me at the same time a realization formed. This was three months into the past—three months before I discovered that I was pregnant in my previous life. Three months before I found my husband cheating on me. It was difficult to comprehend, so I made my way downstairs, my heart racing. My life depended on this. I was still in my pajamas as I caught a couple of odd looks from the maids who had gotten up early and the guards. I rushed to my car and drove out recklessly, still in a daze, on my way to the hospital to find Dr. Aris.

Dr. Aris had just arrived and was putting on her scrubs when she agreed to see me quickly.

“Did I come to see you yesterday?” I asked her breathlessly.

She looked at me and tilted her head. “No, but you came here some months ago,” she answered.

“So we didn’t do a pregnancy scan? You didn’t tell me I was six months pregnant?” I asked breathlessly.

She squeezed her brows together, looking at me like I had gone mad. “Um, no… why?”

I could not blame her for her expression, even ti myself, I felt like I needed to be in an asylum.

“Can you do a quick pregnancy scan on me? It's really urgent,” I pleaded.

She looked at me and cocked her head. “Well, sure, I guess. Just give me a few minutes,” she said.

A few minutes seemed like forever as I waited for her, but finally, she attended to me. She applied the gel to my belly and moved the device across it. “My goodness,” she said, smiling at me.

I turned to face the monitor. “What is it?” I asked.

“You’re looking at a three-month pregnancy!” she told me with glee. “Gosh! I mean, you must Yve had a pretty vivid dream I told you you were six months pregnant.”

“Three months?” I echoed, my hand circling my belly. It didn’t make any sense. I had been in that bed before and she told me it was six months and cryptic.

“Three months!” she giggled excitedly. “You don’t seem surprised?”

“I just noticed my late period,” I lied despite the uncomfortable feeling of the tampon inside me. “I saw my period the last two months.”

“Oh dear, it’s implantation bleeding not your period.”

By the time I returned home, it had become clear to me that the Moon Goddess had given me a second chance at life. I wasn’t about to waste it again.

Silas was already at the dining table having breakfast, and my sister sat close to him, acting all casual. But knowing what had happened in the future, I could now see it clearly: the subtle, knowing looks they were exchanging. I now understood why my sister loved spending her weekends here.

My jaw clenched in anger.

“Where did you go?” Silas asked in a cold tone.

“For a morning drive,” I told him with a small smile. “I’ll, uh... take a bath and join you later.”

I should have told him about the pregnancy, but I knew now that he didn’t want it. My presence was the only thing stopping him from taking Chloe as his Luna. If I said anything now, he would find a way to get rid of me and my baby.

I could not let that happen.

I began walking up the stairs, wincing as I remembered the pain of being dragged across them.

Once I was inside the bedroom, I locked the door and leaned my back against it, sliding down until I hit the floor.

I had been called barren for several years when really, I wasn’t. And strangely enough, I was also murdered by the man currently eating eggs and bacon downstairs.

My eyes landed on that bottle of fertility pills on the dresser. Silas had been so adamant about me taking ot every morning and one time I mistakenly spilled the content, he had been extremely angry. I had always felt he was just so desperate to have a child, but knowing he killed me, I couldn’t help but be suspicious.

What the fuck had he actually been giving me?

I stood up and grabbed the bottle, shaking a few pills into my hand. I walked to the bathroom and crushed one with the base of a heavy glass perfume bottle. A bitter, chemical scent hit my nose and I lnew instantly that it was wolfsbane extract.

He hadn't been trying to help me get pregnant. He had been making sure that even if I did, no one in the pack would ever smell it until I eventually died. He had been planning to replace me with Chloe for months.

"You bastard," I whispered, feeling bitterness burn in the back of my throat.

I wasn't going to cry anymore. I had already cried enough to fill the river I died in.

I walked over to my desk and opened my laptop. Silas always joked that I wasn't built for numbers, but he was the one who was too lazy to manage the pack’s digital offshore investments. I had been doing the filing and bookkeeping for years because he thought it was servant's work. He didn't realize he had given me the keys to his entire empire.

I opened a private human bank account—one that had no connection to the Silvercrest pack—and transferred a few thousand dollars. It was small enough for him not to notice and probably think it was just pack expenses.

If I was going to leave, I wasn't going to do it as a beggar. I was going to take everything, build more wealth and makes sure to get my revenge on him.

A sudden, loud bang on the door made me jump, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest.

“Carmen? Why the hell is the door locked?” Silas’s voice snarled from the other side.

I slammed the laptop shut and shoved it into a drawer. I took a deep breath, smoothing my hair and forcing my face to look as weak and submissive as possible. I had to play the part of the imperfect, stupid Luna for just a little longer.

“Coming, Silas!” I called out, making my voice sound slightly shaky—the way it always was when he was angry.

I walked to the door and turned the handle. As the door swung open and I saw his face, I didn't see my husband anymore unlike before. All I saw a monster.

A monster I was going to ruin.

“What took you so long?” he demanded, stepping into the room and looking around suspiciously.

“I… I was just looking for my fertility vitamins,” I lied. “I think I misplaced the bottle.”

Silas huffed, his eyes landing on the dresser where the bottle sat. “It’s right there, Carmen. Goddess, you really are stupid and dumb sometimes. Take your medicine and get downstairs. Chloe wants to go shopping and I told her you’d take her.”

I nodded quickly, looking at the floor so he wouldn't see the murderous glint in my eyes. “Of course, Silas. Whatever you want.”