All Chapters of The Alpha's Betrayal: My Second Chance To Defy Fate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

DARRAGH'S POVl jerked awake, the leather of my desk chair creaking beneath me. The study swam into focus—embers glowing weakly in the grate, casting long, writhing shadows across the oak-paneled walls. My mouth tasted of stale coffee and something metallic. When had I fallen asleep and why was I in my father's study? The whole scene looked weird. Glossy like. Unreal.A sharp knock cut through the silence."Alpha Darragh." Eamon's voice, measured but tight. The slight quiver in it made my spine straighten. "We found her."Oh. This was a memory. Moments before my murder. It only seemed to be clearer than usual.My body moved before my mind caught up, sending papers scattering to the floor. "Let her in."The hinges groaned as the door swung open.Riona Maychild glided in, her presence filling the room like smoke. Her simple black dress clung to her frame, practical yet elegant. Her silver-streaked hair was twisted into the same severe knot I'd seen in those yellowed photographs—the ones

CIARA'S POVDarragh walked up to me like he hadn’t expected to see me there, pleasantly surprised but guarded all the same. I noticed the exact moment his expression shifted—softness tightening into something more serious, like worry.“What are you doing here?” he asked.I raised the bottle of wine a little and smiled. “I brought this. For Luna Brigid. Just to say thank you.”He didn’t smile back.I rolled my eyes. “It’s vain, I know. You shouldn’t worry about it.”“Oh,” he said, but it wasn’t lighthearted. It was quiet. Like something was bothering him and he didn’t know how to say it.To keep from fidgeting under his stare, I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “What about you? What brings you here?”He looked over his shoulder, back at the house. “Kind of the same thing. Although this is more of a meet-up. For Alpha Ronan and his cousin.”He didn’t need to say her name.My gaze had already found her.Saraphina Maychild stood not too far away, arms crossed, her face tight with ir

CIARA'S POVI knew my way around Silvercrest.I knew it the way a body knows old scars that itch before rain, the way a hunter remembers where prey hides. I hadn't walked these halls in this lifetime, not since the bond marked me again, but my flesh remembered. My bones whispered directions my mind hadn't yet learned.The estate guided me upward, to him. To the weak link.He stood at the ledge, cigarette smoke coiling around him like a familiar spirit. Ewan's shoulders hunched slightly against the wind, his silhouette sharp against the dusk sky. He didn't hear me approach. Perfect.I watched him. Studied how his fingers trembled slightly when he brought the cigarette to his lips. How his eyes followed the horizon with such longing—as if freedom lay just beyond his reach. As if he were a prisoner here.I had once mistaken this for independence. That small distance he kept from everyone, the way his gaze would slide away when conversations turned personal. How wrong I'd been.It wasn't

CIARA'S POVBrigid’s phone buzzed on the table. She glanced at it once, then looked away. It buzzed again. This time she picked it up, sighed, and cut the call.I stood. “Well… it was nice of you to have us.”She raised an eyebrow. “So soon?”I gave her the kind of smile I knew would annoy her—the soft, perfect kind. “I have a lot on my plate now that I’ve been introduced to society. A lot of allies to meet. A lot of parties to be at.”Her eyes flicked to the wine bottle still sitting untouched on the side table. “Maybe we’ll meet at one of those,” she said.“Hopefully,” I replied.Darragh stood and adjusted his jacket. “I’ll lead her out.”Brigid nodded and started walking the other way. “I’ll go check on your cousin and my son,” she said. “Make them wrap things up.”“Thank you,” Darragh said.We walked in silence for a while, moving down the long hallway. Silvercrest’s walls were too polished. Too quiet. I’d always found them suffocating.“You look quite proud of yourself,” Darragh

CIARA'S POVI didn't mean to ask. I really didn't.I had been the one to say not now. Not yet. But as we walked back toward where my car was parked, something inside me refused to stay still. The silence between us was thick, like it had its own pulse. I turned to him before I could stop myself."When did you come back?" I asked, my voice too soft to sound casual.He looked up slightly, like the question caught him off guard. The afternoon sunlight caught in his eyes, turning them to amber. "A day before my second ball," he said. "Probably the same day you returned."I stopped walking. My breath caught in my throat. The afternoon air suddenly felt electric between us."That's why the future changed," I murmured.Darragh nodded, his gaze never leaving mine. "You were always my mate," he said. "Even in the past timeline."My heart thudded so hard I almost didn't hear the rest. There was something in the way he said it. Reverent, like a confession he'd been holding too long.I blinked at