Chapter 6: The Loop
1437 Words
Echo's POV
The pregnancy test slipped from my fingers.
It bounced once against the bathroom counter.
Twice.
Then landed face up.
Two pink lines.
For a second, I couldn't breathe.
My heart stopped.
The room disappeared.
The air vanished from my lungs.
No.
No.
The white plastic stick stared back at me.
Two pink lines.
The exact same two pink lines.
The exact same bathroom.
The exact same morning.
The exact same moment.
My knees buckled.
I hit the floor hard.
Pain shot through my legs.
Real pain.
Real floor.
Real tiles.
Real life.
A violent tremor raced through my body.
I knew this moment.
I knew this day.
l knew this bathroom.
The cracked tile beside the bathtub.
The faded blue towel hanging on the door.
The tiny chip in the mirror Grandma always promised to replace.
I knew all of it.
I knew what came next.
Because I had already lived it.
And I had already died.
The memory slammed into me so suddenly I doubled over.
Rain.
Blood.
Screaming.
The smell of wet earth.
Vivienne's smile.
The knife.
The unbearable pain.
My hand over my stomach.
Trying to protect my baby.
The feeling of my baby's heartbeat, beating faintly beneath my hand.
Trying to save him.
A broken sound escaped my throat.
"No..."
My hands flew to my stomach.
Fear crippled me.
A sob climbed into my throat.
My baby was alive.
Tears instantly flooded my eyes.
My hands covered my mouth.
The sound that escaped wasn't laughter.
Wasn't crying.
Wasn't relief.
It was all three.
"My baby."
The words shattered inside me.
My baby.
Alive.
My baby.
Alive.
My hands pressed against my stomach.
Protective.
Desperate.
Terrified.
Alive.
Still alive.
For now.
Flat.
Small.
Untouched.
Seven weeks.
Alive.
Yesterday
or whatever yesterday had been
I almost lost my baby.
I remembered it.
I remembered every second.
The heartbeat.
The fear.
The silence when my heartbeat disappeared.
The darkness that followed.
I remembered dying.
I remembered losing everything.
Yet somehow
I was here.
Alive.
Again.
My hand trembled as I reached for my phone.
The screen lit immediately.
June 14.
6:12 AM.
The exact same date.
The exact same time.
The same morning I discovered I was pregnant.
The same morning everything began.
The same morning fate destroyed my life.
My stomach twisted.
"No."
I opened the calendar.
June 14.
Again.
I checked my messages.
Nothing.
Exactly like before.
Not one warning.
Not one difference.
The knock came three seconds later.
Exactly three.
Not two.
Not four.
Three.
"Echo!"
Grandma's voice.
My blood ran cold.
"You've been in there twenty minutes!"
Terror slammed into me.
Because I knew what came next.
I knew every word.
Every movement.
Every second.
I had lived this.
I had died after living this.
"Coming!"
The reply escaped automatically.
My own voice startled me.
Another knock.
Louder.
"You're going to be late for school!"
The exact same sentence.
The exact same tone.
The exact same timing .
My breathing became ragged.
No.
This wasn't possible.
People didn't come back from the dead.
Time didn't rewind.
Reality didn't work like that.
Except
I remembered.
I remembered it perfectly.
The realization brought something even worse.
If I was back
Then everything else was back too.
This wasn't a dream.
This wasn't grief.
This wasn't trauma.
Something impossible had happened.
Time had gone backwards.
And somehow
I had come with it.
---
The rest of the morning unfolded exactly as I remembered.
The rushed breakfast.
The walk to Blackthorn Academy.
Every second.
Every conversation.
Every detail.
The same.
The same.
The same.
It was enough to make me feel insane.
Students laughed in the hallways.
Teachers shouted instructions.
Warriors trained on the fields.
Nobody knew.
Nobody remembered.
I watched them all with growing horror.
Because I knew what happened to this world.
I knew what waited ahead.
The rejection.
The prophecy.
The Council.
The death order.
Vivienne.
The betrayal.
My murder.
The attempt on my baby's life
And nobody else remembered any of it.
Only me.
The knowledge felt like a stone inside my chest.
Heavy.
Lonely.
Terrifying.
Then I saw him.
Kieran.
Standing near the training field.
Alive.
My breath caught.
The last time I'd seen him
he'd been kneeling in the rain.
Covered in my blood.
Screaming my name.
Too late.
A little too late.
Now he looked exactly like he had before.
Strong.
Confident.
Beautiful.
Alive.
My vision blurred instantly.
Before I realized what I was doing, I was running.
Students jumped out of my way.
Someone shouted.
I ignored them.
"Kieran!"
His head snapped up.
Golden eyes finding mine immediately.
Concern replaced his smile.
"Echo?"
I collided with him.
Hard.
My arms wrapped around his waist.
My face buried against his chest.
For a second he froze.
Then his arms closed around me automatically.
Protective.
Safe.
Warm.
Alive.
A sob escaped me.
His heart hammered beneath my ear.
Strong.
Steady.
Living.
Not broken.
Not grieving.
Alive.
"Echo?"
His hands found my shoulders.
"What happened?"
I couldn't answer.
How was I supposed to explain?
You watched me die.
And now we're here again.
His thumb brushed away a tear.
Confusion darkened his face.
"You scared me."
I laughed.
A broken sound.
If only he knew.
"I missed you."
The words slipped out.
His eyebrows lifted.
"I saw you yesterday."
Another laugh escaped.
Painful this time.
"No."
My voice cracked.
"You didn't."
---
The siren screamed.
Every student froze.
My blood turned to ice.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The emergency summons.
Exactly the same.
"No..."
Kieran's phone vibrated.
Exactly on cue.
I watched the color leave his face.
Exactly like before.
Every detail identical.
This wasn't coincidence.
This wasn't chance.
Time had truly reset.
I already knew what the message said.
I already knew where he was going.
I already knew what the Council would tell him.
I already knew they would order him to reject me.
The knowledge made my stomach churn.
Because this time
I knew what was coming.
And I couldn't pretend otherwise.
"Kieran."
He grabbed my hand.
The exact same gesture.
The exact same grip.
"Stay away from the Council building."
The same words.
Word for word.
My pulse pounded.
I remembered this.
I remembered promising.
I remembered obeying.
I remembered dying anyway.
"Promise me."
His eyes searched mine.
Concern.
Fear.
Love.
The same Kieran.
The same boy.
The same future Alpha.
The father of my child.
The only other person who knew the truth about the baby.
And he didn't even remember it.
The thought hurt.
More than I expected.
"I promise."
The lie tasted bitter.
His shoulders relaxed.
Then he turned.
Walking away.
Toward the Council.
Toward fate.
Toward the future that destroyed us.
I watched him go.
And for the first time—
I didn't feel helpless.
Terrified?
Yes.
Heartbroken?
Absolutely.
But helpless?
No.
Because this time I knew.
I knew what the Council planned.
I knew what Vivienne would do.
I knew where the danger was coming from.
And knowledge was power.
The first timeline had killed me because I was blind.
This time I wasn't.
This time I had seen the monster.
This time I knew its name.
Vivienne Crowe.
A chill ran down my spine.
Because if I remembered everything—
then somewhere ahead—
she was waiting.
Still smiling.
Still plotting.
Still preparing to destroy my future.
And she had no idea I remembered.
The thought stopped me cold.
No idea.
She thought she had won.
She thought I was dead.
She thought her secrets were buried with me.
A slow realization settled into my chest.
For the first time since waking up—
I felt something besides fear.
Hope.
Tiny.
Fragile.
Dangerous.
Hope.
Maybe this wasn't punishment.
Maybe it was a chance.
A second chance.
A chance to save my child.
A chance to save Kieran.
A chance to stop everything.
I looked down at my stomach.
Nobody knew.
Not the Council.
Not Vivienne.
Not the Pack.
Not even Grandma.
Only me.
And eventually Kieran.
That secret had gotten me killed before.
This time—
it might save us.
My hand rested protectively over the life growing inside me.
The secret heir.
The child the Council would eventually hunt.
The child fate seemed determined to erase.
Not this time.
Not again.
I lifted my head.
The Council tower loomed in the distance.
Dark.
Ancient.
Waiting.
The place where the nightmare truly began.
My pulse steadied.
The fear remained.
But something stronger was growing beside it.
Determination.
The first timeline belonged to fate.
The second belonged to me.
And this time—
I wasn't going down without a fight.
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