Reborn

Antonio, Amelia’s father, walked into her room. Morning had arrived, and it was time for his daughter to take her medicine. Amelia was his only child with his late wife, and even though he was raising her alone, he wanted to give her everything she needed.

He glanced at his sleeping daughter. Her brow was furrowed and she kept whimpering, clearly trapped in a bad dream. Antonio wondered if she was dreaming again about Emely’s disappearance, or if she was feeling that familiar pain from her illness.

“Amelia, sweetheart, wake up, it’s morning,” Antonio said as he approached her bed and touched her forehead. She’d had a fever for a week, which was why she couldn’t join Solana and Olivia’s vacation trip.

Antonio frowned when Amelia suddenly bolted upright as if jolted out of a nightmare. She was drenched in sweat and gasping for air. Tears streamed down her face as she frantically felt her stomach.

“My baby! My baby!” Amelia searched for any sign of blood on her thighs and touched her head, remembering how it had struck each step of the stairs. Her whole body shook as she checked her womb.

Her entire body felt cold while her sweat ran icy. She could still feel the pain of falling, her body crashing against the steep staircase, the stiffness of her jaw and limbs making her unable to move. Most of all, she could still feel the rage and terror of being killed by her stepmother and stepsister, along with Lucas’s betrayal.

“Amelia, what’s happening? Sweetheart, calm down,” Antonio said as he rushed to her, holding her tightly. He was confused by her behavior. He didn’t know if she’d had a nightmare or seen something that scared her.

Antonio could smell the fear on her. She was trembling nonstop, sweating from panic.

“Amelia! I’m here. What’s wrong?” he insisted, trying to get her attention, wanting to soothe her.

“D-Dad?” Amelia asked, confused.

“Dad? Why are you here?” she asked again as she looked around, realizing it was no longer night, she wasn’t in a hospital, and the mother-daughter duo who betrayed and killed her weren’t standing before her.

She grabbed her father’s shirt and hugged him tightly. “Dad, they killed me. Lucas betrayed me. And our baby… our baby is gone.” Amelia sobbed uncontrollably into her father’s arms, while Antonio could only hold her and try to comfort her despite having no idea what she meant.

The only explanation Antonio could think of was that she had an extremely vivid dream.

“Calm down, sweetheart. It was just a dream. I’m right here. Nothing bad will happen to you.” Antonio rubbed her back and handed her a glass of water.

“Drink this. I’ll get your medicine downstairs. Just a moment,” he said, giving her the water.

Antonio walked out to get her medicine, while Amelia remained on the bed, clutching the glass with shaking hands, unable to believe what was happening.

“A dream? There’s no way that was just a dream,” she whispered, staring at her reflection in the water. She noticed her healthy, rosy cheeks. She quickly stood up and faced the mirror, seeing that her body and face had returned to their former beauty, far from the frail, skeletal form she had before death.

“How is this happening?” she wondered, knowing everything that happened had been real. She had died. She had fallen down the stairs. She had lost her baby. Her head had struck the floor.

So why didn’t she have a single scratch now? Why could she move her body without pain? Why was there no wound on her head?

She grabbed her phone to call Lucas, but when she turned it on, she froze at the date on the screen.

“February 20… 2023?” Amelia blinked in disbelief. Was time messing with her? Was she losing her mind? Or had something impossible happened to her?

She wasn’t sure what to believe, but one thing was clear.

She had been sent back to the past to correct the decisions that ruined her future.

She remembered her stepmother’s final words.

“My advice to you in your next life: don’t trust people too easily. Don’t be too kind. Use your head so you won’t end up miserable like this.”

It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her. Her blood boiled with rage as she remembered all their lies and cruelty.

Amelia clenched her phone so tightly it nearly bent.

“If this is a second chance from Moon Goddess Selene, I swear I won’t waste it. I’ll get revenge for everything they did to me.” She stared into the mirror, watching her eyes slowly shift into a bright green.

“Amelia? Sweetheart, I can’t find your medicine—” Antonio stopped when he saw her calmly standing beside the bed.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked. Amelia nodded and forced a smile, hiding every emotion boiling inside her. Who would even believe her if she said she came back from the future to take revenge?

This was her second life in this world.

“I’m okay now, Dad. Sorry if I scared you. It was just a nightmare,” she lied, even though she knew it wasn’t a dream.

She tried to steady herself even though she wanted to break down and tell him everything. She wanted to tell him what Solana and Olivia had done, that she’d lost her child, that Lucas had betrayed her. But she kept it all inside, remembering her stepmother’s warning: trust no one but yourself.

“You really scared me. I’ve never seen you like that. Was the princess’s dream that terrible?” Antonio opened his arms, and Amelia hugged him again, clinging to the father she had longed for in her previous life.

“Yes. I dreamed I had a baby… and then lost it. I felt the pain so clearly, Dad. The pain of a mother losing her child,” she answered, struggling to hold back tears.

Antonio stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. “I’m right here, sweetheart. Maybe it’s just stress. Too bad you couldn’t join Solana and Olivia on their trip. You could’ve relaxed.”

If only he knew she’d rather lock herself in a room forever than spend a second with those two.

“Alright, take your medicine. I just don’t know where Solana put your stock this time,” Antonio said. Amelia stepped away from the hug.

“It’s in the cabinet above the kitchen sink,” she replied, and they both headed downstairs. But as they reached the stairs, fear seized her. She couldn’t bring herself to step down.

“Amelia?” Antonio asked, concerned when she didn’t move.

“Come here, I’ll help you,” he said, holding out his hand. She took it and pushed through the trauma slowly.

With her father, at least for now, she felt safe.

“Here it is. I was looking everywhere again. Solana really puts things anywhere,” Antonio said as he handed her a tablet. Amelia immediately noticed the difference in color.

She was sure now that the very first year Solana and Olivia lived with them, they had already been poisoning her, switching her medicine whenever possible. Her medicine had always been white. The ones Solana gave her before were yellow.

“Dad, my medicine only has one color, right? What is this for?” Amelia asked before taking it. She needed to stay vigilant if she wanted to avoid repeating her tragic future.

“Suppressant medicine, sweetheart. It’s supposed to be white. You have to take it to keep your Lycan side under control. You can’t handle your power yet,” Antonio explained, trying to hide the truth about her illness.

“If you release your Lycan strength, you could lose control. You could even die if you can’t handle the power. Until I find a cure, you need to keep taking the suppressant.”

“Are you feeling anything unusual?” he asked, worried.

Aside from weakening her, the medicine often caused fever and fatigue.

“It feels the same,” she replied shortly before taking it.

“I’ll be leaving next week. The new Alpha ordered me to track down some rogues that crossed the border. While I’m on the mission, I’ll look for more information about your condition,” Antonio said, smiling. Amelia smiled back and ate the breakfast he had prepared.

Ding dong.

Both of them looked toward the door. Antonio stood and headed outside to let the visitor in.

“Go ahead and eat,” he told her. A moment later, he returned, and Amelia’s heart stopped when she saw Lucas walking behind him.

“Quite an early visitor for you, Amelia,” Antonio joked, expecting his daughter to greet her boyfriend with a smile. But Amelia’s once-gentle face twisted with anger and disgust the moment she saw Lucas.

Her chest tightened painfully. The man she had loved her whole life, the man she trusted entirely, had betrayed her and chosen her stepsister.

The memory of that phone call, Lucas and Olivia whispering sweet words to each other while Amelia’s body lay broken and unmoving, hit her like a blade.

“Amelia? Did I interrupt your breakfast?” Lucas asked, confused. He didn’t expect that glare. Amelia always greeted him with a kiss and a hug.

“No, it’s fine. I just woke up in a bad mood,” she said, forcing herself to hide every trace of hatred.

She needed to learn to mask her emotions in front of those who betrayed her if she wanted her revenge to work.

“I hope this gift brightens your morning,” Lucas whispered as he handed her a bouquet of flowers he clearly plucked from the pack house garden on the way.

“Ahem. I’ll leave you two here,” Antonio said, trusting his daughter with their Alpha.

“For my beautiful girlfriend, my whole life,” Lucas said, kissing her hand.

Amelia’s stomach twisted with disgust.