TWICE MARKED

THE NIGHT I DIED I was running for my life. Branches tore at my skin, roots caught my feet, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. My heart pounded so loud I could hear it over the crashing sounds of footsteps behind me. Warriors. His warriors. They were going to kill me. "Find her! "Don’t let her escape!" Alpha Darius roared. The man who was supposed to love me. The man who marked me. The father of the child growing in my stomach. And now? He wanted me dead. Us dead. Tears blurred my vision as I pushed forward, my lungs burning, my legs weak. I clutched my stomach, whispering to the pup inside me, "Hold on, little one. Please hold on." I should’ve seen it. The late nights, the fake smiles, the whispers behind closed doors. I was nothing but a pawn in his game for power. He used me to strengthen his bloodline. And now that I knew his secret, he planned to kill the Alpha King and take his place. I became a threat. "There! She's heading to the river!" I veered right, ignoring the sharp pain slicing through my side. My wolf, weak from my pregnancy, couldn’t shift to help me. I was alone. Vulnerable. I reached the cliff’s edge, the moon hanging high above me, full and cold. Below, the dark river roared. I could jump. Maybe I would survive. Maybe I wouldn’t. But if I stayed, they would tear me apart. A deep growl sounded behind me. Warriors surrounded me, blocking every path except the one that ended in a deadly fall. "Amy, don’t make this harder than it has to be," Darius’s voice slithered from behind the guards, his tall frame stepping forward. His eyes, once soft for me, were now hard as stone. "You know too much." "I loved you! I carried your child!" His lips curled in a cruel smile. "That was never part of the plan." My chest cracked. My knees buckled but I held my ground. "The Moon Goddess will not forgive you for this." "The Moon Goddess?" He laughed. "She doesn’t care about you." I stepped back until the wind kissed my heels. "Maybe not. But I care about me. I care about this life." "It ends tonight." "No, it doesn’t." I turned my eyes to the sky, my tears falling freely. "Please," I whispered to the Moon Goddess, "If you can hear me, give me another chance". I don’t want to die like this. I don’t want my pup to die. I…" Pain exploded in my chest. I gasped. My fingers came away bloody. An arrow. One of them had shot me. "Amy!" My body tipped backward. The wind swallowed my scream as I plunged into the river below. --- Darkness. Cold. Silence. Then… a heartbeat. Not mine. A tiny heartbeat. My pup’s heartbeat. The last thing I remembered. ------ I shot up in bed, my breaths sharp and ragged. I clutched my chest, searching for the wound. There was none. The window was open, and a gentle breeze kissed my face. I knew this room. My old room. Before I was mated to Darius. Before the betrayal. Before everything. "Amy! Hurry, you’re late for training!" That voice. Layla. My best friend who died protecting me. She was alive? I scrambled to my feet and stumbled to the mirror. A younger version of me stared back. Wide green eyes, soft round face, no mark on my neck. My body was slim, no sign of pregnancy. My hands trembled as I touched my cheeks. "I’m… I’m back?" My heart raced. The Moon Goddess answered me. She sent me back. I had a second chance. A chance to change everything. "Amy!" Layla banged on the door. "Coming!" I shouted, quickly tying my hair back. I had to think. In this timeline, I was weeks away from meeting Darius. He would be patrolling near the border soon. If I avoided that patrol, maybe… just maybe I could escape him. I wouldn’t make the same mistakes. This time, I would choose my path. ----- Layla greeted me with a big grin as we walked to the training grounds. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Bad dream?" "Something like that," I said, hugging her tightly. She laughed but patted my back awkwardly. "Okay, drama queen. Let’s go. The Beta’s going to chew us alive if we’re late." I smiled, a real smile, just for her. Layla was here. I wouldn’t let her die this time. --- That evening, as the sun dipped low, I slipped away from the pack house, my heart pounding. I knew tonight’s patrol route. I knew where Darius would be. I would not go there. I would not meet him. I took the opposite path, one that led me toward the edge of our borders, toward the rogue lands. "You’re going the wrong way, pup." I jumped, spinning around to face a tall, broad-shouldered man leaning against a tree. His dark hair fell into his stormy grey eyes. A scar cut across his jaw, but it didn’t take away from his rough, dangerous beauty. "Who are you?" I asked, stepping back cautiously. "I'm Luca. And you…" His eyes narrowed, sniffing the air. "You’re from the Silverclaw Pack. Shouldn’t you be tucked safely behind your borders?" I swallowed. "I just needed air." "Out here? "Where rogues like me roam?" His lips twitched as he found me amusing. "Do you know what your alpha would do if he caught you talking to a rogue?" I lifted my chin. "I don’t care." His smile faded a little. "Brave words, little pup." A growl echoed behind us. Darius’s warriors. "Amy! The Alpha is looking for you! You’re not supposed to be here!" Fear stabbed my chest. I couldn’t let them take me. If they dragged me to Darius, I would be trapped in the same cycle again. "Do you trust me?" Luca asked suddenly. "What?" "Do you trust me? Yes or no?" "I don’t even know you!" "Good. That makes two of us." He grabbed my hand and yanked me into the woods, sprinting fast, faster than I could keep up. My legs burned, but I followed. "You don’t have to help me!" I shouted. "You looked like you needed saving." "I’m not some damsel…." "You will be if you stop running." Branches whipped past us. The warriors’ footsteps grew distant. After a long chase, Luca finally stopped in a hidden cave by the river, panting but grinning. "Why did you help me?" I asked. "You remind me of someone I once knew. Someone who didn’t get a second chance." Something in his eyes told me he understood more than he let on. "Stay here. I’ll check if they’re gone." He stepped out of the cave, and I felt a strange pull in my chest. I didn’t know him, but…. I felt like I could trust him. "Luca!" I called. But instead of him, I heard another voice. Cold. Familiar. "There you are." I spun around. Darius. He was here. He found me. His warriors blocked the c ave entrance. "This time, little mate," he sneered, "you won’t get away." Panic rose in my throat. Where was Luca? Where was my chance to escape? Was I too late?