Semua Bab I Refused To Be His Stand-In After Rebirth, Alpha Went Crazy: Bab 11 - Bab 20

Three years went by.I'd settled into Cassandra's pack and earned her trust.The pack was launching a major medical project that needed serious funding. Cassandra had been negotiating with potential sponsor packs.As head healer, I assumed I had nothing to do with the deal. Then I was told I was the one going.Something didn't sit right. But I went into the meeting room with the proposal in hand.I opened the door and saw a face I had locked away for years.Three years had been enough to push him from man to Alpha at the top of his game. He looked, finally, like the version of himself I'd known in my last life.the one who had run a pack with absolute control.Adrian's eyes lowered to me. His voice was quiet. "It's been a long time, Selene."For a second, I lost my balance. I had spent twenty years with him in my last life. I knew every expression he was capable of. But the look in his eyes right now.I had never, in either life, seen him look at me like that.That look had only ever bee

The party ended. I was about to call a cab when Adrian's car pulled up in front of me.He got out and held the passenger door open. "Get in. I'll drive you."I stepped back, keeping space between us."Thanks, Alpha. I'll get my own ride."His outstretched hand froze in the air, then dropped."Selene. You weren't like this before."He kept dragging me back to a time I was trying to forget.I didn't remember being particularly close to him before."If there's nothing else, Alpha, please go. I'd rather keep things professional. People might get the wrong idea.""Selene."The way he said it stopped me. I turned. His voice dropped, low and serious. "Will you give me a chance to court you?"In the moonlight, his face was raw and earnest, and it overlapped, for a second, with a face from my last life. I lost my footing.When I came back to myself, I stepped back. Several times.How could I forget what he had done to me last time? The Moon Goddess had given me a second chance for exactly this

I stopped paying attention to the headlines. Adrian and Vanessa being together was, frankly, a relief.He'd stop bothering me. I could focus on what mattered.Sure enough, days went by without him showing up. The tabloids had plenty of fresh material on the two of them, though.I had just finished a surgery when a coworker came over with a chart."There's a patient in critical condition. None of the healers can crack it. You're the head healer.I'd like you to take a look."I opened the file. Vanessa's photo was on the first page.My hand jerked. I almost dropped it."Honestly, she's basically gone. I just heard her mother outside saying the only thing that could save her is finding the patient's sister and offering her up.""Who's that cruel? Both her daughters. And she'd swap one for the other."The coworker kept going. I couldn't hear her anymore.Vanessa was here. In my hospital. How had they tracked me down?They couldn't find out I was in this building. They would absolutely sacri

I ran through the trees until I saw lights flickering in the distance, just before nightfall.I let out a long breath and dropped to the ground, completely spent.My mother knew where I lived. My mother knew where I worked. What was I supposed to do now?Then I thought of someone. I opened a mind-link and gave her the bare bones.Half an hour later, a black sedan pulled up in front of me. Cassandra rolled down the window. "Don't panic. Get in. We'll figure this out."I had barely settled into the passenger seat when my phone started lighting up. Adrian. Message after message.Adrian: [Selene. I'm sorry. I never wanted you hurt.]Adrian: [I thought they only wanted to see you.]Adrian: [I've already warned them. They won't bother you again.]Adrian: [Please answer.]I could feel the panic in every line.I didn't reply. I blocked him.Even if every word he said was true, I was done with him.Every wound I had carried in this life and the last had come from him.Better to walk away than w

Deep in the woods, in the witch's house, Vanessa was running out of time.The witch came over to examine her and shook her head. "Your condition has worsened, and that potion forced a mate bond on top of it. If we don't get the sacrifice here soon, you have less than a month."That was when Vanessa actually started to panic. She lurched up and grabbed the witch by the collar. "You gave me that potion. Why is it making me worse?"The witch looked at her, unfazed. "You came to me wanting a fake-mark potion. I gave it to you. You didn't ask about side effects."That night in the forest, Adrian had held on to just enough of himself to refuse to mark her.Vanessa had no other play. She drank the potion and forged a mark of her own, becoming his fake mate.Now she was furious and frantic. She rounded on her mother. "He won't even talk to me anymore. What do I do? I'm not ready to die! Think of something."Her mother held her hand. "Sweetheart, calm down. Selene has guards on her constantly.