1: HOURGLASS

 

ARABELLA

“Look at her. She looks like tires stacked on top of each other. And as if that weren't bad enough, after all these years of marriage, she still hasn't given me a single child to carry on my bloodline. She’s just big for nothing. She disgusts me, Peter.”

My husband's words drifted through the slightly open door, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

My eyes watered as they dropped to the pregnancy results in my trembling hands. I had been holding on to them all day, excitedly waiting for Adrian to return home. I had called him repeatedly, but he had rejected all nineteen calls. On the twentieth call, a woman had picked up, and his phone had eventually become unreachable afterward.

Despite that, the moment I heard he had returned to the Pack, I rushed to his office to share the good news, only to be met with this devastation.

“That's too harsh, Alpha,” Peter, his Beta, said with a mocking laugh. “You married her like that. I once heard you telling her she was beautiful.”

“Priorities change, Peter. I thought I could mold her into the woman I wanted, but I was wrong. She always blames her weight on PCOS, but that shouldn't be an excuse. She's just lazy! Too lazy to lose weight and too lazy to carry a child to term. I'm tired, Peter. I want out.”

“You know you risk losing your position if you leave her. She's the rightful heir, and you only became the Southern Alpha King because you married her.”

“Oh, stop reminding me of my misery.” Adrian sighed. “But I have a plan. I always have a plan.”

My entire body trembled as his words sank in. I couldn't breathe. My mouth felt too dry to speak, and before I could stop myself, tears burst from my eyes.

That caught his attention, and he snapped his gaze toward me.

“Oh, shit!” Adrian exclaimed, shooting out of his chair and hurrying toward me.

“Bella, I can explain. It's not what you think.”

Before I could respond, everything around me blurred.

My eyes suddenly snapped open.

White walls surrounded me, the steady beeping of machines filled my ears, and the sharp stench of antiseptic assaulted my nose.

I was in the hospital.

Those had been memories of the terrible night that led to my accident. I had been slipping in and out of consciousness ever since, and each time I drifted away, the painful memories returned.

I remembered how Adrian had tried to explain himself, insisting that I had misunderstood him. But I had heard and understood him loud and clear. He hated me. He had only remained married to me because of the position he gained through our marriage. Within the three years of our marriage, I had conceived nineteen times but, unfortunately, miscarried them all.

Our marriage had started turning sour after the very first year, and I suspected it was because of the issue of childbearing. The sweet Adrian who had been there for me and helped me through my grief when my father died had suddenly turned indifferent toward me. So I continued trying to conceive despite the doctor's warning that another pregnancy could be detrimental to my health. I had even lost my wolf, Anika, due to the excessive trauma, which had been so gut-wrenching. But I truly believed that finally conceiving and carrying a child to term would restore my marriage.

And now, this time, the pregnancy had survived five whole months, and I had been hopeful it would make it to the end.

I remembered how I had gone back to the room without telling him about the pup. I remembered how Sharon, my stepsister, came into my bedroom to find me crying helplessly. When I told her what Adrian had said, she became even angrier than I was.

She had held me in her arms afterward, reassuring me that I was beautiful and promising never to abandon me.

And when I told her that I suspected he was cheating because of the woman who had picked up his phone when I called earlier, her face went stone-cold as she rumbled, “He wouldn't dare. He’s only the Southern Alpha King because of you. Without you, he is nothing!”

Then she noticed the pregnancy results lying on the floor beside us.

“Bella! You're five months pregnant?”

I nodded, and for a brief moment, something strange flashed across her face. But it disappeared so quickly that I dismissed it.

She hugged me tightly, celebrating the news before insisting that I drink the herbal tea she had brought.

Sharon had always given me that tea to help sustain my pregnancies. Although I had stopped taking it months ago because it made me nauseous, I didn't want to disappoint her.

So I drank it.

Later that night, I woke up with excruciating pain tearing through my stomach.

Not again, I thought.

I tried calling Adrian, Sharon, and my stepmother, Martha, but none of them answered.

Terrified of losing my baby, I grabbed my car keys and drove toward the hospital myself.

The streets were dark and slippery from the rain. My vision was blurry from tears, and my stomach hurt terribly.

Then, out of nowhere, a truck appeared directly in front of me.

Before I could think or do anything, it slammed into my car, sending it tumbling off the bridge and plunging into the river below.

Then everything went black.

...

Sharp footsteps suddenly reached my ears, dragging me back to consciousness.

I tried opening my eyes, but my eyelids felt too heavy. I couldn't move or speak, and the helplessness was suffocating.

My baby!

Was my baby still alive?

I desperately hoped my pup had survived. Adrian might have been an asshole, but I loved my child with everything in me, even though I hadn't met him yet.

“Why couldn't she just die in that accident? Who the hell saved her?” My stepmother's voice reached my ears, and my throat tightened.

What?

“The truck hit her directly, Mother. I don't understand how she survived,” Sharon responded angrily. “With the baby too.”

My heart nearly stopped, but despite the horrifying revelation that my stepmother and stepsister had orchestrated my accident, a sense of relief washed over me upon hearing that my baby was fine.

“And how did she manage to keep that pregnancy for five whole months?” Martha continued. “Haven't you been giving her the tea?”

“I gave it to her every night, but I never stayed to watch her drink it. She must have stopped taking it.”

“Then you should have been more careful!”

“I know, Mother!” Sharon snapped. “But I'm tired of waiting. We handled her father, didn't we? Why is getting rid of Arabella proving so difficult? She’s already been hit by the truck. Pulling her off life support now would make it seem like a natural death, and we could finally take everything her father left. What do you think?”

The betrayal just kept mounting, and I had forgotten how to feel. How had they managed to hide behind a facade all these years? I thought my father had died of a natural heart attack, but it had been their doing all along. And now they wanted to kill me and my pup too.

Anger, hatred, and the burning desire to destroy them surged through my chest in heavy waves, and I promised myself I would make every one of them pay. If I survived this, they would regret their entire existence. That much, I promised.

I tried to open my eyes to confront them, but my eyelids were still too heavy.

“Hmm, you're right. I might as well pull off the oxygen mask and disconnect the EKG to get it over with.”

My head spun as betrayal and dread washed over me in suffocating waves.

With every ounce of strength left in me, I forced my eyes open, and this time, I succeeded.

Standing beside my hospital bed were my stepmother and stepsister. I knew my stepmother didn't give a fuck about me, but I thought my stepsister loved and cared about me. I thought I would always have her even if I had no one else, but it had all been a facade.

I had completely fooled myself.

I tried moving, but only my index finger responded. My body felt paralyzed and completely useless.

A weak whimper escaped my lips, prompting their heads to snap toward me immediately.

For a moment, shock flashed across their faces before it turned to anger.

“How long have you been listening?” Martha demanded, marching toward my bed.

I desperately tried to speak, to scream at them and ask why they had done this to me and my father, but no words came out. I was far too weak to talk. All I could do was blink repeatedly.

“I guess she’s eager for us to finish what we started,” Sharon murmured, a sinister smile curling on her lips.

“And that’s exactly what will happen.”

My eyes widened as Martha walked toward me, her heels clicking against the marble floor, and the next thing I knew, she yanked the oxygen mask off my face.

I gasped desperately.

My chest tightened, and I struggled to draw air into my damaged lungs. I tried opening my mouth to beg for my life, but I couldn't even form a word.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Adrian walked in.

For a moment, hope surged through me.

He would save me!

Even after everything he had said about me, he wouldn't stand by and watch me die.

But that hope shattered when he simply stood at the foot of my bed, cold indifference etched permanently across his face as he stared at me without making any attempt to help.

Sharon walked over to him, wrapped both hands around his arm, and rested her head on his shoulder.

He didn't move.

He didn't push her away.

Instead, he watched me struggle for my life.

And that was when the horrifying truth finally dawned on me.

They had all been in this together.

My father had welcomed Martha and Sharon into our family, trusted them, and treated Sharon like his own daughter, but they had repaid his kindness by destroying our lives.

And Adrian, the man I had loved with everything in me, had joined them in killing me and our unborn pup. I should never have trusted him. If I ever got a second chance, I would make better choices and ensure that every single one of them paid for what they had done to me. But second chances were nothing more than a myth, and I supposed this was how my story would painfully and regrettably end.

The machines around me beeped frantically as I continued gasping for air.

And the last faces I saw were those of the people I had trusted most, watching silently as my vision darkened and life slowly slipped away from me and my unborn child. 

…

His lips were soft, plump, and tasted so sweet against mine. My entire body was on fire, and the ache between my legs intensified with anticipation. Goodness, I couldn't wait to feel him inside me. I couldn't wait for him to fill me completely while he thrust into me, making me forget my very existence.

Wait!

What?

All my memories came rushing back at once, causing a sharp headache to explode inside my skull. I immediately pressed my hands against his chest and pushed him away, squeezing my eyes shut as I struggled against the throbbing pain in my head.

Did I get reborn on my wedding night? I questioned through my confusion.

The Moon Goddess really had a dark sense of humor, bringing me back to the very moment when my doom had begun.

As I climbed off the bed with nothing but rage and disgust raging through my entire being, something on my forearm suddenly caught my attention.

I froze.

There, etched into my skin, was a strange tattoo shaped like an hourglass. The lower half was completely empty, while the upper half was heavily shaded.

I stared at it, my brows furrowing.

What the hell did it mean?