Alliance

Aldric's POV 

The memory of the Bloodmoon dungeon lingered in my head. The agonizing snap of the mate bond that had barely ignited, the fragile weight of Diana’s lifeless body in my arms. I could still feel the plunge of the silver blade through my back, shielding a tiny breathing pup whose desperate cosmic magic had shattered the sky right as we died.

“Chronos Raven,”The name echoed in my soul,

but I wasn't in the dungeon, I was sitting in the back row of the Silver Crest grand cathedral, draped in my heavy furs, suffocating under the deceitful sweet stench of wedding lilies.

When I woke up this morning on my bed, I thought I had finally lost my mind. The timeline had reset. The universe had thrown me backward to the exact date of Alpha Zack’s mating ceremony. 

Is she alive? The last time I checked Diana was dead. What if I am the only one that made it back? What if Diana didn't make it back to this timeline? I spent the entire journey here in a frantic state of self awareness, checking my body for the stab wound that stole my life and thinking about Diana. My wolf paced my mind, ready to tear the world apart to prevent the tragedy we had already lived through.

I had come here to stop it. I had come to rip Diana away from Zack before she could ever step foot in his territory. I didn't care if it started a war… but did she really make it back like me?

The cathedral doors groaned open, and my breath hitched. Diana walked in draped in heavy white silk, looking radiant, flawless, and completely untouched by the horrors of the future. 

Seeing her heart beat beneath the pristine white fabric hit me like a physical blow. The agony in my chest was so enormous I had to grip the edge of the wooden pew to stop myself from shifting.

“She’s alive! She’s actually alive!” My wolf whimpered, desperate to run to her, to bury his face in her neck and scent her. But I forced him down and forced myself to stay. 

In this timeline, she didn't know me. In our past life, she had stubbornly denied me for months. To her, I was just Alpha Aldric, the ruthless, cold rival of the man she was walking toward.

I watched her pass the front pews. I watched Zack standing at the altar, his arrogant, smug smirk twisting my stomach into knots of pure hatred.

I braced my boots against the floor, my muscles coiling. ‘Just three more steps, and I'll jump the pews. I'll take her by force if I have to,’ I thought.

Then, Diana stopped dead in her tracks. The silence that fell over the cathedral was loud. I watched from the back as Zack extended his hand, his mouth moving in a hushed, irritated smirk.

Diana didn't move toward him. Instead, she loosened her hand around the bouquet of the white roses she was holding. My heart stalled as it shattered on the floor. My wolf went completely silent in my chest, his ears pinning back in absolute shock.

“What is she doing?”

Before anyone could react, Diana turned her back completely on the altar. She didn't look afraid. She lifted her chin, her eyes flashing with a determination that I had never seen on her in my past life. She began walking down the aisle, away from Zack. Her eyes were locked directly on me.

As she drew closer, an electric spark flared deep within my soul. The fragile, golden thread of our second-chance mate bond roared to life, snapping into place with a fierce, possessive hum that shook me to my very core.

She stopped right in front of me. Up close, I could see it, the dazed, broken girl was gone, and standing before me was a queen returned from the dead, her gaze holding a beautiful lethal fire.

"Alpha Aldric," she called boldly, "I find myself in need of an Alpha who knows how to protect a true partner, and how to keep his enemies at bay. Are you interested in a merger?"

Gasp rippled through the congregation, but the noise faded in my head as I thought… “She remembers…” I hummed to myself. The realization hit home. She wasn't just backing out, she knew. She knew what they had done to her… and what else did she remember?

From the altar, Zack roared, "Diana! Guards, seize her! She has lost her mind!"

I didn't give his guards the chance to even take a step. In a single motion, I was out of the pew. I stepped into the aisle, shielding her from the entire room. 

Looking down at her, a triumphant smirk spread across my face. 

"A merger with the beautiful Lady Diana?" I murmured, my voice rumbling with the full weight of my Alpha authority. I reached down my hand. I wanted to slide it firmly around her waist and pull her against my chest. But she took my hand in an handshake.

I looked past her, my eyes flasing red as I locked gazes with a purple-faced Zack.