Chapter 3: New Beginning

Aria's POV 

I stood in front of my closet, staring at the clothes.

Everything here was soft and delicate fabrics. Dresses meant to look elegant and unthreatening.

I hated all of it.

I pushed past the silk blouses and found what I was looking for in the back. Clothes I had forgotten I owned. Black leather pants. A dark green fitted top and combat boots.

It was a perfect clothe for a warrior.

I changed quickly and braided my hair tight. When I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized myself.

Good.

I grabbed my bag and headed for the door, then stopped.

Father.

My breath paused..

The only good thing about being sent back two years is that I got to see him again.

I changed direction, walking down the hallway toward his chambers.  I stopped outside his door, my hand was shaking as I reached for the handle.

In my first life, I had lost him six months before my death. He had just given up. Stopped eating. Stopped fighting. Let himself fade away.

I had thought it was because he missed Mom too much.

Now I knew better.

I pushed open the door.

And there, in the bed, lay my father.

Former Alpha Richard Winters.

Once the strongest wolf in Crystal Touch Pack. A warrior and a leader.

Now just a shell.

He lay perfectly still, eyes closed and his breathing was shallow. Tubes and wires connected him to machines that kept him alive.

Paralyzed.

The doctors said it was the shock that did it. When Mom died in that car accident five years ago, pregnant with the baby brother I'd prayed for, after so many years of hoping for a second child, something inside Dad just broke.

The car had spun out on a rainy night. She'd died instantly, they said. Her and the baby.

Dad had collapsed at her funeral.

Never walked again. Never spoke again.

Just existed. A living ghost.

Marcus had taken over as Alpha after that. Dad had no choice but to step down.

I walked to his bedside slowly.

"Dad?" My voice cracked.

His eyes opened.

Pale blue, like mine. But empty. So distant.

He stared at the ceiling, not seeing me.

"It's me. Aria." I sat on the edge of his bed, taking his limp hand. It was cold. "I know you can't talk. Can't move. But... I need you to know something."

His eyes shifted slightly. Toward my voice.

Did he understand? Could he hear me?

"It's so good to see you again," I whispered, tears started spilling down my cheeks.

My hand moved to my stomach without thinking. Flat now. Empty.

But I remembered.

The baby. My baby. Growing inside me for eight weeks before Lucy poisoned us both.

Mom had died pregnant.

I had died pregnant.

The same fate. Mother and daughter. Both killed with our unborn children still inside us.

The realization hit me like a physical blow.

"Mom died carrying a baby," I whispered, my voice breaking. "And I…I died the same way, Dad. Pregnant. Poisoned. Murdered."

My father's eyes focused suddenly. It was sharp and aware.

He was listening.

"They killed my baby, Dad. Marcus and Lucy. They killed your grandchild." The words tasted like poison. "Just like someone killed Mom and your son."

Wait.

My breath caught.

Mom's accident. They had said it was an accident.

But what if it wasn't?

What if someone had…

No. I couldn't think about that now. Not yet.

I squeezed Dad's hand harder. "I'm not going to end up like her. Or like you. Broken. Destroyed and paralyzed by grief."

His eyes stayed locked on mine.

"I'm going to survive, Dad. I'm going to complete this mission the Moon Goddess gave me. My voice turned hard and cold "And I'm going to make Marcus and Lucy pay for what they did. To me. To our baby. To everything."

A single tear rolled down my father's cheek.

He understood. He knew.

"I won't let them win," I swore. "I won't let them take everything from me the way they took everything from you. I'm going to stay alive. I'm going to fight. And I'm going to destroy them both."

My father's fingers twitched in my hand.

Just barely. But definitely.

He was trying to respond. Trying to tell me something.

I leaned closer. "I know, Dad. I know you're still in there. And I promise, when I come back, I'll find a way to bring you back too."

I kissed his forehead. "Rest now. I'll make everything right. For you. For Mom. For my baby."

I stood, wiping my tears.

The grief threatened to drown me. Mom. Dad. My baby. All lost.

But I wouldn't let it break me.

I was not my father. I would not collapse under the weight of loss.

I was not my mother. I would not die helpless and unaware.

I was Aria Winters. The girl who wouldn't stay dead.

And I would survive this. No matter what it took.

"I love you, Dad," I whispered.

His eyes followed me as I walked to the door.

One last look back.

He blinked. Once and feliberate.

A goodbye.

I left before I broke down completely.

The drive to Nightfall Pack territory took four hours.

Four hours of winding mountain roads, dense forests, and increasingly hostile terrain.

Four hours to think about everything I had lost.

My mother. Dead with my baby brother inside her.

My child. Dead with poison in its tiny, forming body.

My father. Alive but not living.

Marcus had taken everything from me.

Lucy had helped him do it.

And they thought they had won.

My hands tightened on the steering wheel until my knuckles turned red.

They had no idea what was coming for them.

But first, Kieran Steele. The Blood Alpha. The dying man I had to save.

My phone's GPS guided me deeper into the mountains. The roads got narrower and rougher.

Signs started appearing:

*NIGHTFALL PACK TERRITORY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY*

*TRESPASSERS WILL BE ELIMINATED*

*TURN BACK NOW*

I kept driving.

The forest grew darker, the trees were closer together. Even in daylight, it felt like twilight here.

My wolf stirred nervously.

This place felt wrong and dangerous.

Like death lived here.

Finally, the GPS announced: "You have arrived at your destination."

I stopped the car and got out.