Chapter 6: The Enemy of my Enemy
923 Words
I didn't sleep.
Not for a single second.
The mysterious voice echoed through my mind over and over again.
Find the truth before the next full moon.
The next full moon.
Three weeks.
That was all the time I had.
Three weeks to stop whatever catastrophe was coming.
Three weeks to save Martha.
Three weeks to uncover the truth behind my execution.
Three weeks to figure out why the Moon Goddess had sent us back.
If she had sent us back.
For all I knew, something much darker was at work.
The first rays of sunlight filtered through my curtains.
I was still sitting beside the window.
Thinking.
Planning.
Preparing.
This life would not be wasted.
Not again.
A knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Lady Aria?"
Martha.
Immediately, my expression softened.
"Come in."
The door opened.
Martha entered carrying a tray of breakfast.
Her familiar smile made my chest ache.
Alive.
She was alive.
And she would stay that way.
No matter what it cost me.
"You look terrible."
I laughed.
"Good morning to you too."
She set the tray down.
"You didn't sleep."
It wasn't a question.
I sighed.
"No."
Martha sat beside me.
Concern filled her eyes.
"What happened last night?"
Everything.
Absolutely everything.
But I couldn't tell her that.
Not yet.
Instead, I forced a smile.
"I was thinking."
"About the Alpha?"
My smile vanished.
Martha immediately noticed.
"Ah."
She folded her arms.
"So it is about the Alpha."
I groaned.
"Please don't start."
A grin appeared on her face.
"The entire pack is talking about it."
Wonderful.
Exactly what I needed.
Gossip.
"What are they saying?"
"That the future Alpha couldn't stop staring at you."
I nearly choked on my tea.
Martha laughed.
"Oh, they're definitely saying that."
I buried my face in my hands.
This was a disaster.
A complete disaster.
Because if the pack was talking about it...
Vanessa would hear about it too.
And if Vanessa remembered the previous timeline...
She would already see me as a threat.
A dangerous one.
The thought sent a chill down my spine.
In my previous life, Vanessa had destroyed me slowly.
Carefully.
Patiently.
This time she would move faster.
Because this time she knew what I could become.
And that made her dangerous.
Very dangerous.
A sudden howl echoed through the pack grounds.
Martha immediately stood.
"What was that?"
My stomach dropped.
I knew that howl.
An emergency signal.
A messenger wolf.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Without hesitation, I rushed toward the window.
Below, wolves were gathering.
Warriors.
Scouts.
Pack officials.
Panic spread rapidly.
My blood ran cold.
No.
Not already.
The northern border attack wasn't supposed to happen yet.
It couldn't.
Could it?
Martha looked equally confused.
"I'm going to find out what's happening."
I nodded.
But I was already moving.
Seconds later, I was racing through the hallways.
The pack house buzzed with tension.
Fear.
Urgency.
Confusion.
When I reached the main hall, dozens of wolves had already gathered.
At the center stood Alpha Kael.
My steps faltered.
For a brief moment, our eyes met.
The bond stirred immediately.
Annoying.
Dangerous.
Unwanted.
Kael looked exhausted.
As if he hadn't slept either.
Good.
Let him suffer.
Then I noticed the scout kneeling before him.
Covered in blood.
My heart stopped.
Blood.
Too much blood.
"No..."
The scout struggled to speak.
"The northern border..."
My pulse pounded.
No.
No.
No.
"The attack has begun."
The hall erupted into chaos.
Gasps.
Shouts.
Panic.
Exactly as before.
Except this time it was happening weeks earlier.
The timeline had changed.
Completely.
The realization terrified me.
If events were shifting this dramatically...
Then everything I knew could become useless.
The future was no longer predictable.
Which meant everyone was in danger.
Including me.
Including Martha.
Including Kael.
A strange silence suddenly fell over the room.
I looked up.
And realized everyone was staring at me.
Including Kael.
My stomach tightened.
Because I knew exactly why.
Yesterday.
I had predicted the attack.
Before anyone else knew.
Kael's gaze locked onto mine.
Sharp.
Suspicious.
Knowing.
The room suddenly felt too small.
Too crowded.
Too dangerous.
The scout continued speaking.
"They weren't ordinary rogues."
Every wolf in the hall stiffened.
"What do you mean?" one elder asked.
The scout swallowed hard.
Fear flashed across his face.
Real fear.
The kind warriors carried home from battlefields.
"There were hundreds of them."
A murmur spread through the room.
Hundreds?
That had never happened before.
The scout's next words silenced everyone.
"And they were being led."
My blood ran cold.
Led?
Rogues didn't follow leaders.
Not usually.
Not in numbers like that.
Something was terribly wrong.
Then the scout whispered the words that made every wolf freeze.
"There was a woman."
Silence.
Complete silence.
A woman?
The scout nodded.
"She controlled them."
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Unless...
My mind immediately went to one person.
Vanessa.
But that didn't make sense.
Not yet.
Or did it?
A terrible feeling settled in my stomach.
The feeling that we were missing something important.
Something huge.
Kael's voice cut through the silence.
"What did she look like?"
The scout hesitated.
Then answered.
"Silver eyes."
My breath caught.
The room spun.
Silver eyes.
Not blue.
Not green.
Silver.
Exactly like mine.
Suddenly every wolf in the room turned toward me.
My heart stopped.
No.
No.
No.
The scout pointed directly at me.
"She looked like her."
The hall exploded into chaos.
And standing across the room, Alpha Kael looked absolutely horrified.
Because for the second time in two days...
History was trying to frame me.
- Writer
