The Moon's Legacy

Rebirth

Willow POV

My first conscious thought was that death should have been less…physical.

I felt the smooth glide of sheets against my skin as I shifted. The bed beneath me was pure comfort, especially compared to the hard cot I’d spent the last seven years sleeping on. A faint, relaxing lavender scent teased my nose as I stretched. My limbs felt rested and strong. But that was wrong.

I opened my eyes. White canopy curtains. Polished wood beams. The faint crack in the ceiling plaster above the chandelier. I was in my bedroom.

The bedroom in my father’s house.

I sat up slowly. I remembered dying. The exhaustion of it. The broken gladiator I was trying to fix. The seven years of hell that led to bleeding out in a dirty room filled with pain and despair.

I looked around for something, anything, to help shed some light on my current situation. My cell phone sat on the nightstand, a silver box that promised an answer. I grabbed for it and pressed the screen awake. The date was there in bold letters. February 15, 2019.

Just five days before my mating ceremony with Keith.

I stood and walked over to the large mirror on my closet door. The girl staring back at me was unmarked. Unscarred. Unbroken. There was light in her eyes—not the hollow exhaustion I had learned to wear like armor.

My hand drifted to my stomach. Flat. Whole. Alive. A phantom ache pulsed there anyway, memory echoing through flesh that had not yet suffered. A reminder that I had died. And I had been sent back.

‘Ivy.’

She surged forward, strong enough to steal my breath. ‘I remember.’

‘What did the Moon Goddess do?’

She paused. When she finally answered, her voice was hard. ‘She did not return us for mercy.’

‘Then we won’t waste the opportunity she’s given us.’

Pounding at the door pulled my focus away from the memories, away from what this chance meant for me and Ivy. My stepmother’s voice carried through the door. “Get moving, Willow! Your father wants you in his study in five minutes. And make sure to look presentable. I don’t need you embarrassing the Alpha family yet again.”

In the last seven years that had been my personal torture chamber, I’d forgotten just how much Luna Eliza hated me. It all came crashing back at her words. Despite being the oldest child of Alpha Ellis Blackwood, softness and luxury were things I rarely experienced in this place. Even so, it was a day in the park compared to what I’d face if I didn’t find a way to escape. And I would escape.

I dressed quickly, finding the most appropriate outfit I could. The shirt was worn in places and the denim of my jeans so faded it was almost white, but they were the best I had. My half-sibling’s hand-me-downs never came to me in good condition.

Clothes are something I would need to figure out. Without a vehicle. I was going to be limited to what I could carry in a pack that could be carried easily no matter what form I ran in. Money, food, and maybe some light medical supplies would be my main priority. I started making a mental list as I headed to answer Father’s summons.

Less than a week. It was a brief window, but maybe that was a blessing. If I remembered correctly, the next five days would be a whirlwind of activity as Luna Eliza worked with Alpha Keith to finalize our bonding ceremony. I could take advantage of that chaos.

I knocked on the door of the Alpha office. “Enter.”

Stepping inside, my father’s scent rolled over me like a steam engine. What should have been comforting—the hints of fresh-cut grass lingering just under pine—was tainted by cigar smoke and whiskey.

“Good, you’re here. Sit,” he pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “You’re eighteen now, and it’s time you did some good for this pack. As such, you’ll be mating with Alpha Keith from Crimson Moon in five days. You’re securing us an alliance that should bring us millions, so I want no complaints. You’ll do your duty and you’ll shut up about it.” He stared me down.

Keeping silent, I simply nodded my head. I couldn't afford to let him think anything was wrong. I lowered my eyes, tried to keep my breathing steady, acting out the submission I had learned so well before I died. He took a moment, as if searching for any hint of rebellion, before he snorted. “Hmph. Maybe you can be taught. Go now. Luna Eliza is waiting. She said you need new clothes if you’re going to be mated off, so she’ll take care of that. You’re not to spend too much. Just the necessities.” He turned back to the paperwork on his desk, waving me off.

“Come, girl. Let’s deal with this…issue.” My stepmother looked like she was sucking on a lemon, but she led the way to one of the ballrooms in the pack house with her back straight. “I’ve had the retailer bring options directly here. No need to traipse about in public,” she sneered as she pointed to the open doors. “Go on in. They have their instructions.”

After two hours of being measured, fitted, and generally treated as a living doll, a rack full of clothes stood on one side of my bedroom. Fine. These will be better options than the threadbare pieces currently hanging in my closet. At least I wouldn’t look like a beggar when I ran.

Now that I was blissfully alone again, I sat on the bed with a sigh. ‘Ivy, we’re getting out of here. That’s the first step. I need to get an idea of the patrol schedule. Can you get us past the patrols if I find a gap?’

‘Of course. We’ll need to mask my fur. Ideally, we find a gap near the pond. The mud there would be perfect.’

‘Okay. I can do that. Where should we go? It’s not like I found my fated mate in the last life, or even made any genuine connections.’

‘The human territory, to start, where we can hide until we get our bearings. We have a mate out there somewhere. We’ll find him when the time is right.’

The next forty-eight hours passed in calculated silence. I snuck around the pack house like the ghost I should have been. I gathered my important documents under the guise of preparing to leave with my mate. I stashed money that I slipped out of various places—the head omega's petty cash, the hiding spot in Luna Eliza's office, even the safe in my father's library. I even managed to get a glimpse at the patrol schedules sitting on the beta's desk, though that one almost cost me when he returned from training early.

Just as I was slipping back into my room after a foray in the pack kitchens for food supplies, I heard my father's booming laugh down the hall. His steps echoed as he headed to greet whoever had just come in. I dropped the bag I was holding out of sight behind my door as I listened. I couldn't remember clearly who might be coming.

His baritone voice rumbled, breaking as whoever he was talking to responded to him. The second voice was quieter, but I could still tell it was male. Two sets of footsteps now flowed down the corridor. As they came closer, dread curdled in my gut. Ivy bristled in my mind even as I realized I recognized that voice.

Keith was here early.