Reborn for him

Chapter 20:The Truth Buried In His Blood

The name on the paper seemed to burn through my eyes.

Damien's father.

For several seconds, I forgot how to breathe.

Alexander stood beside me in Elara's cottage, holding the faded note between his fingers. His expression was unreadable, but the golden glow beginning to gather in his eyes betrayed the anger stirring beneath his calm exterior.

His wolf was awakening.

I reached for his hand.

"Alexander."

He didn't look at me.

"All these years," he murmured, "I believed that incident was my fault alone."

Elara lowered her gaze. "You were a frightened boy struggling to control a power you barely understood. Someone took advantage of that."

Alexander stared at the note again.

"My father died believing the pack was safe. If Damien's father was involved, then someone had been working against my family long before I became Alpha."

"And they may still be working against you," I said.

His fingers tightened around mine.

I knew that look. It was the same expression he had worn in my previous life whenever he blamed himself for something beyond his control. He would bury his pain beneath responsibility, convincing himself that he had to carry every burden alone.

Not this time.

I stepped in front of him.

"Look at me."

His gaze slowly lifted to mine.

"You were seventeen. If someone deliberately interfered with your treatment and arranged a confrontation, you were a victim too. That doesn't erase what happened, but it means you shouldn't spend the rest of your life punishing yourself for something someone may have engineered."

His golden eyes flickered.

"What if I had killed someone?"

"But you didn't. You learned from that incident, and you've spent years making sure it never happens again."

I squeezed his hand.

"You cannot change the past by suffering forever, Alexander. You can only decide what you do with the truth now."

For a moment, the tension in his shoulders eased.

Then Elara spoke.

"There is more you need to understand about the ceremony."

We turned toward her.

"The bond between an Alpha and his chosen mate can strengthen their connection, but it does not make the mate responsible for controlling his wolf. Some old traditions have been twisted to suggest otherwise."

I listened carefully.

"Your bond may help you understand each other," she continued, looking at Alexander. "Your mate may offer comfort when your wolf struggles, but you must learn to govern yourself. Love is not a cure for every wound, and your mate is not responsible for keeping you safe from yourself."

Alexander lowered his eyes.

I was grateful for her words. I wanted to stand beside him, but I didn't want either of us to believe that my safety had to be sacrificed to prove my devotion.

"That is what I want him to understand," I said quietly.

Alexander looked at me.

"I understand."

"Then promise me something. If the ceremony becomes dangerous, we will make decisions based on what is safe for both of us, not what we think we owe each other."

He was silent for a moment.

Then he nodded.

"I promise."

It was not a grand declaration of eternal devotion. It was something better: a promise that left room for honesty, choice, and trust.

Before we left the cottage, Elara gave Alexander copies of the old medical records. She agreed to keep the originals until Marcus could arrange secure protection for them.

Two guards remained near her home, and Alexander promised that no one would force her to return to Blackthorn.

As we approached the vehicle, Elara caught my hand.

"Emma, be careful. The people involved in this conspiracy have been patient. They have waited years for an opportunity to use Alexander's bloodline."

"Why now?"

Her expression grew troubled.

"Because something has changed. Perhaps they believe his power is approaching its full strength. Perhaps they have discovered something about the bond he intends to form with you."

She glanced toward Alexander.

"Whatever their reason, they will not stop simply because you refuse to be frightened."

I thought of the threats, the photographs, and the warning that had appeared beneath my door.

"They will have to do more than frighten me," I replied.

Elara gave my hand one final squeeze.

"Then make certain that courage never prevents you from recognizing danger."

I carried those words with me as we left.

The ride back to Blackthorn Estate was quiet.

Alexander sat beside me, studying the documents Elara had given him. Every few minutes, his jaw tightened as he encountered another detail from the night of the training accident.

Finally, he closed the folder.

"Someone changed the mixture I was given before training," he said. "Someone arranged for me to be pushed beyond my limits. And someone made certain Elara disappeared before she could expose the truth."

"Do you think Damien knows all of it?"

"I don't know. He may have inherited his father's plans without understanding how they began. Or he may have spent years studying them."

"Either way, he's using what happened to you against us."

Alexander looked at me.

"Against you, especially."

"Because he believes I'll become afraid of you."

"Because he knows how much I care about you."

The admission made my heart ache.

He looked away.

"If he can convince you that my wolf is dangerous, he can undermine your confidence in me. If you withdraw from the ceremony, he may use that moment to provoke me in front of the pack."

"But my decision would still be mine."

"Always."

I studied his face.

"Even if I decide not to proceed?"

"Even then."

"Good. Because I want to be marked by you, Alexander. I want that bond because I love you, not because someone has convinced me that I must save you."

His expression softened.

"And I want you to choose me because you are certain, not because you fear what will happen if you don't."

I leaned my head against his shoulder.

For a few minutes, neither of us spoke.

I wished I could tell him everything: that I had already watched him die once, that I remembered the terrible silence after the gunshot, and that I had awakened with the impossible gift of returning to the past.

But I still didn't know why I had been given a second chance.

I only knew that I would not waste it.

Marcus was waiting in Alexander's study when we arrived.

Documents covered the desk, arranged in careful rows. He looked up as we entered.

"Alpha, I have been investigating the payments connected to Damien's father. We found a private research organization that received money from him for three consecutive years."

"What kind of research?" Alexander asked.

"Alpha bloodlines, inheritance patterns, wolf instability, and the connection between a powerful Alpha and his mate."

I exchanged a glance with Alexander.

The subjects were too similar to the stolen archive records to be a coincidence.

"Do we know who conducted the research?" I asked.

Marcus opened another folder.

"One of the payments went to Doctor Samuel Voss, a former Blackthorn physician. He left the pack several years ago and now works in a private clinic in a neighboring territory."

Alexander's expression hardened.

"Was Voss responsible for my treatment?"

"We don't know yet. His name appears on the medical records, but that doesn't establish whether he prepared the mixture, altered it, or even knew it had been tampered with."

"Find him," Alexander ordered. "Quietly. I want to hear his account before anyone warns him that we're investigating."

Marcus nodded.

"There is another issue. Someone accessed the security office while you were away. The visitor requested the guard assignments for the northern boundary and the old greenhouse."

"Who authorized the request?"

"It was submitted under Councilor Vance's name, but the officer on duty refused to release the information without your approval. We're checking whether the signature is genuine."

I remembered Vance from the council meeting. He had supported Lord Harrington's suggestion that I reconsider the marking ceremony.

"Could Vance be working with Harrington?" I asked.

"Possibly," Marcus replied. "But we need evidence before accusing either of them."

Alexander moved toward the window.

"Then we gather it. No one confronts Harrington or Vance until we know what they are hiding."

Marcus hesitated before adding, "We also found a reference to an original transfer ledger. Edwin may know where it is."

"Edwin is still missing," Alexander said.

"Yes, Alpha. But the ledger could contain the names of everyone who funded the research."

Alexander turned back toward him.

"Find it. If Damien's father built this conspiracy, I want to know who helped him."

Marcus bowed and left to continue the investigation.

I walked toward the desk and examined the dates on the payment records.

The final payment to the research organization had been made twelve days before Alexander's training accident.

I pointed to the entry.

"Look at this."

Alexander leaned over my shoulder.

His expression changed.

"Twelve days," he murmured.

"Someone paid for the research shortly before the incident. Then the medical records were altered, and Elara was threatened into leaving."

He stared at the page.

"They were preparing for something."

"And perhaps they never stopped."

He looked at me, his eyes dark with concern.

"Emma, if they have been studying my bloodline for years, they may know things about my wolf that even I don't understand."

"Then we find out what they know."

"And if the truth is worse than we expect?"

I took his hand.

"Then we face it with our eyes open."

For a moment, he simply watched me. Then he raised my hand to his lips.

"I don't know how you manage to make me feel less alone when everything I believed about my past is falling apart."

"Because you don't have to face everything alone anymore."

He drew me gently into his arms.

I rested my cheek against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. The man who had once died protecting me was now standing before me, alive and fighting battles I had never understood in my first life.

I would protect him where I could.

But I would also let him stand on his own strength.

Neither of us needed to become the other's cage.

A sharp knock interrupted us.

Marcus entered, his expression grim.

"Alpha, our patrol has found Edwin."

Alexander released me.

"Where?"

"Near the eastern road. He was discovered unconscious beside his vehicle and has been taken to the infirmary. He's alive, but he hasn't regained consciousness."

"Was there anything on him?"

Marcus produced a sealed envelope.

"This was in his coat. It is addressed to Damien."

Alexander took it and opened it carefully.

Inside was a handwritten letter.

Damien,

I have done what you asked. I gave them access to the records and helped conceal the old medical report. But I will not participate in the ceremony sabotage.

Your father's plan was wrong. Repeating it will destroy more lives.

If anything happens to me, find the original transfer ledger. The truth about the bloodline research is recorded there.

I will not carry this guilt any longer.

—Edwin.

I read the letter twice.

Edwin had admitted to helping conceal the records, but his words also suggested that he had finally become afraid of what Damien intended to do.

"Is this genuine?" I asked.

"We're checking," Marcus replied. "We cannot assume Edwin wrote it simply because it was found in his coat."

Alexander nodded.

"Secure the infirmary. No one speaks to Edwin without authorization. Search for the original ledger, and double the guards around the estate."

Marcus turned to leave.

Before he reached the door, another guard appeared.

"Alpha, a package was delivered to the main gate."

Alexander's expression darkened.

"Bring it here."

The guard handed him a small black envelope.

My name was written across the front in neat, unfamiliar handwriting.

Alexander opened it.

Inside was a photograph of us standing outside Elara's cottage. I was holding his hand, and he was looking down at me.

Someone had followed us.

On the back of the photograph were the words:

Five days until the new moon.

You have uncovered the past. Now prepare to witness it.

Beneath the message was one final sentence.

Ask Doctor Voss what was mixed into the Alpha's blood—and why your name appeared in his father's research before you ever met him.

The room seemed to tilt around me.

My name.

In research connected to Alexander's bloodline.

Before I had ever met him.

I stared at the photograph, struggling to understand what it meant.

Alexander took the message from my hand and read it again.

His expression became colder with every word.

"Someone is trying to make us believe you were part of their plan from the beginning," he said.

"But why would they research me before we met?"

"We don't know."

I looked at him, remembering the strange blue light that had surrounded me when I died in my previous life. I remembered waking two years in the past, carrying memories no one else possessed.

Could the conspiracy somehow be connected to my second chance?

The thought frightened me more than I wanted to admit.

Alexander noticed my silence.

"Emma, whatever this means, I won't let anyone use you as an experiment or a weapon."

I wanted to tell him that I had already been used by fate itself.

Instead, I took his hand.

"Then we find Doctor Voss before Damien reaches him."

Alexander nodded.

"Marcus will arrange it."

Outside, the evening bells began to ring across the estate.

Five days remained until the new moon.

Five days until Damien's plan reached its most dangerous stage.

And somewhere beyond Blackthorn, a former physician might hold the answer to why Alexander's wolf had been manipulated—and why my name had appeared in the same research.

I looked once more at the message.

For the first time since my rebirth, I wondered whether the second chance I had been given was not simply an opportunity to save Alexander.

Perhaps someone had expected me to return.

And perhaps the people who had planned his suffering were now waiting to discover what I would do differently.

If my name had been written into their research before our paths crossed, then my rebirth might not have been an accident at all.