024: YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

ARYA

Daxton knew exactly how to get under my skin, and I hated him for it. I'd just informed him of my plan to torture him to death, yet, there he was, smiling at me like a puppy awaiting his treat.

"Do you really not value your life?" I asked him, and he shrugged.

"I've lived for too long. Life has simply lost its meaning." His voice held undertones of melancholy even though he tried to hide it under a guise of nonchalance.

I squinted at him, curious. Just how old was he? I still couldn't believe that he'd gotten me to hug him. For a moment, he'd looked so broken and lost, I had felt his pain like it were mine. I only regretted it after my arms were wrapped around him.

The breeze whipped his hair against his face, and he brushed the strands away from his face, only for them to dip over his eyes once more.

"I've been searching for the moonstone for decades. It's unlikely that you would find the other half of it by merely reading that book," he suddenly said to me.

I tightened my grip on the book in my hand, watching him rise to his feet with a grunt. His gaze met mine, roaming over my face for a few seconds. Then he smiled, that gut-wrenching smile that made my insides bleed.

I swallowed, my gaze dropping to his full lips longer than necessary. Unease curled in my guts. What the hell was wrong with me?

"I truly hope that you succeed in your quest, Arya. But I won't make things any easier for you," he said and retreated into the house.

Biting my lower lip, I sucked in a sharp breath, my brows deeply furrowed.

I stayed in the garden for a while, mulling over Daxton's words. Eventually, I decided to retreat to my room, settle down and read the book. I believed I would be more comfortable that way. The moment I rose to my feet to leave, Maya wheeled herself out into the garden, a bewildered expression on her face.

"Alpha Daxton has a visitor," she said, and I raised a brow, puzzled.

"And?"

"He looks pissed. He looks like he might actually fight him," she told me, and I clenched my jaw, annoyed. Alpha Daxton was mine to kill. And if he fought with his visitor while he was in such a poor state, things were bound to go south.

So, I hurried back into the house and headed towards the study.

To my surprise, there were a few people hovering around the passageway. A tall, dark-haired man stood a few feet away from Alpha Daxton, pointing accusing fingers at him. Maya was right. He looked pissed.

"I heard that you committed a couple of new murders. You still haven't changed," he spat, but my master said nothing. Mason stood by his side, his muscles rigid as though he was awaiting his Alpha's next order.

"Lucien, did you really pay me a visit just to accuse me?" Alpha Daxton's voice sounded lifeless, empty.

"I'm just here to remind you that I'm also searching for the moonstone. It won't be long now. I will end you," Lucien said, and my master scoffed.

"You have lived just as long as I have. We were friends at one point. I really didn't want to believe that...even you would turn against me."

Lucien faltered, his fists clenched hard.

"I don't just believe what others say... but I saw it that night. I realized that you're a monster," he hissed, and hurt flashed in my master's face.

Slowly, he turned away from him. "Mason escort my guest out of my property," he said to his beta. Then he disappeared into his study.

I must've imagined it. But for a second, Lucien's gaze turned sad before it hardened again. Refusing to let Mason touch him, he stormed down the hallway.

...

That night, I tossed and turned on my bed, unable to sleep. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened between Lucien and Daxton. I was deeply troubled, so much that I failed to look into the book I'd brought with me.

By the next morning, I got dressed and grabbed the book off my nightstand.

I opened the door, nearly jumping out of my skin at the sight of the tall, grey eyed figure standing by my door. Soren.

You've got to be kidding me.

"What do you want?" I snapped, and he simply stared at me with a blank look on his face.

"Keeping an eye on you."

I glared at him, anger sizzling in my chest. "I do not need your babysitting services."

"You're in no place to choose." He droned, and I groaned, pivoting on my heels to march towards the library. Once we were there, I sat down on a seat, and he settled down on a chair a few feet away, his gaze pinned on me.

"What?" I scowled. "Are you really just going to stare at me all day?"

He ignored my question, and I gripped my hair in frustration, placing the book on the table. Muttering under my breath in irritation, I flipped over the pages until I found info on the moonstone. According to the book, it was a round stone which contained power whose main source was the undying moon goddess.

Apparently, it had the power to heal and destroy. It made sense that it was the only thing that could end Alpha Daxton's miserable life.

I looked up to see if Soren was still staring at me, but to my surprise, his eyes were closed. Just like Alpha Daxton and his brother, he looked like he belonged on the front page of an elite magazine. It was insane.

If he was truly asleep, I couldn't tell because his spine was rigidly straight.

Deciding not to bother him, I continued reading. My eyelids soon felt heavy, and I drifted off to sleep...

*****

"Priestess?"

The voice echoed like a ripple across still water, and as I turned, I saw her...me. No... not me. She looked like me and sounded like me... but she wasn't. My twin sister?

She smiled, slipping an arm around my shoulder like we'd always been close. "I heard you've been engaged to the master of the Shadow Pack. I heard he's really handsome."

I looked down, fidgeting with my fingers. That wasn't my reaction. That wasn't how I'd respond.

Her smile faded, her blue eyes losing their shine.

"What's wrong? Are you still caught up on your feelings for the tribrid alpha? You must know that the elders won't allow it," my sister said.

Her words struck something deep inside me. I felt the ache—her ache. The grief wasn't mine, and yet it tangled with my own confusion.

Tears welled up in my eyes, my heart aching. I missed his beautiful face, his touch, the sound of his voice...

No, these emotions couldn't be mine. But why do I feel them so strongly?

"Anessa?" I looked up, startled by my sister's voice. She eyed me with surprise on her face. "Is that...is that tears on your face?"

Wide-eyed, I turned away from her, angrily wiping at my face while my cheeks burned with embarrassment. Hera would never understand. She would never understand the pain of missing someone so much that it hurt.

"...Wake up, Arya!" I gasped and jolted upright, the last of Anessa's lingering sorrow dissolving like mist in my chest. My eyes blinked into focus and landed on Diana. She was standing over me, her arms crossed over her chest. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her brows creased into a frown. I blinked at her, surprised.

She had been avoiding me for so long. How was she here?

"You've got nerve, sleeping like that in the daytime," she said, her voice laced with irritation.

I barely heard her. My thoughts were still tangled in the fading dream.

The girl who looked like me...

Who felt like me...

Anessa...

And then the truth hit me. I'd just seen her memory. But how? Am I really her reincarnation? But why now?

Diana turned to walk away from me, and I lowered my gaze, noticing the folded piece of paper on the book I'd been reading. Was it another message from the people who'd sold me? Who could've put it there?

No, wait...

Diana was the only one in the library with me. Soren was nowhere to be seen.

"Wait," I called out, and she halted, letting out a huff of annoyance. Slowly, she turned around to look at me.

"What now?"

I rose to my feet and stopped in front of her, my eyes boring into hers. "It was you, wasn't it? You're the one who left the poison in my room." I said, and she stiffened, swallowing hard.

She turned around to leave, but I unsheathed the blade from my waistband in one fluid motion, pressing it to her throat before she could take a second step.

"Don't move." I droned, pressing the blade closer to her skin.