One Year To Burn

Venessa’s POV I opened my eyes, disoriented and confused. My thoughts felt sluggish, wrapped in a fog I couldn’t shake off. A faint headache pulsed behind my temples but quickly began to fade. What was happening to me? Moments ago, I must have been fine yet now, everything felt wrong. The world around me shimmered with an eerie familiarity, a haunting sense of déjà vu that made my stomach twist. The coarse sand dug into my knees as I knelt on the ground, my skin stinging beneath layers of dust, wounds, and dried blood. Surrounding me were guards, half-shifted into their beast forms, their eyes glowing with aggression and readiness to strike. Was I their enemy? I searched frantically through my mind for an answer, but there was nothing. Just confusion heavy, unnatural confusion. Something deep inside me screamed to move, and so I did. I ran. The moment my feet hit the earth, they followed snarls and growls echoing behind me. Panic clawed up my throat. Why were they chasing me? What had I done? Flickers of memory danced through my mind, fragmented and unclear, too scattered to form meaning. “Hey!” a voice shouted, followed by more growls. The guards were close, their claws thudding against the forest floor. I forced my legs to move faster, heart hammering. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I had to escape. Then crash. Two massive trees came tumbling down in front of me, blocking my path. I skidded to a stop, breathing hard, trapped. Before I could think of a way around, the guards were on me. Against all instinct, I dropped to my knees, pressing my hands behind my head in surrender. Cold silver cuffs clamped around my wrists, burning against my skin. I was dragged back to where I’d fled from back to the same circle of hostility and bloodlust. And then, she appeared. Her voice cut through the noise like a blade. She pushed through the line of guards and stopped in front of me. My heart clenched as her face came into view Luna Jalisa. Memories crashed into me all at once. FLASHBACK I was on my knees again, wrists bound tightly behind me. The world around me was muffled, as though I were underwater. The crowd’s voices were distorted, echoing somewhere far away. Then, suddenly, air rushed into my lungs, and the world snapped into focus. Their faces swam before me familiar and feral, twisted with hatred. They looked less like people and more like monsters as they screamed, “Execute her!” It was my execution day. Luna Jalisa stood among them, dressed in black, weeping dramatically as her lover held her close. Her hands rested protectively over her swollen belly as she cried for justice. The crowd hurled obscenities, demanding my death. I looked around, searching for even one merciful face but all I saw was fury and judgment. The one person who could have stopped it all was gone. Dead. And I was the one taking the blame for his murder. “Execute her! Execute her!” they roared. The executioners forced me down. My knees dug into the dirt, and I lifted my head to find Jalisa watching me cold, triumphant. She walked forward slowly, savoring my defeat. She had wanted me gone for so long. I was an inconvenience, an obstacle she needed to remove. And now, she finally had her wish. Jalisa crouched in front of me, fingers gripping my chin to lift my face. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction, a cruel smile curling her lips. “You were too stupid and naive to think you could win, Venessa,” she whispered. “Look around you. How does it feel, knowing these are your last breaths?” Then she struck me her hand cracking sharply against my cheek. She stepped back and raised her trembling finger toward me, tears streaking her face in perfect theatrical grief. “I hope you burn for what you’ve done. My child will grow up without a father because of you!” she screamed. Anger burned through my fear. If I had the chance to do it again, I wouldn’t spare her. I would make her pay—and reveal the true killer. She was no grieving Luna; she was a monster wearing sorrow as a mask. As the executioner lifted his blade, I looked up at the sky and cried out to the Goddess for mercy, for redemption, for another chance. And then everything went dark. END OF FLASHBACK The memories slammed into me, leaving my heart pounding. When my vision cleared, I was back in the present back to the moment before my first death. Luna Jalisa stood before me, her expression wavering between confusion and calculation. So, it was true. I had been sent back. Back to the very moment I’d been arrested for trespassing. The scene unfolded just as it had before, detail for detail. “Behave, Venessa. We’re on a clock,” my wolf, Nyla, warned inside my mind. Her tone was icy. We both were. There was no room for emotion anymore. My head was clear, my purpose sharper than ever. I had been granted a second chance—a year to expose Jalisa and her lover, to find the true murderer, and to rewrite the fate that had doomed me. “Look at me,” Jalisa ordered. I raised my head slowly, fighting to contain the growl building in my throat. This woman had stolen everything from me my reputation, my life, my future. If I hadn’t uncovered her affair, perhaps she would have let me live. But now, I was her enemy, and she didn’t even realize I had returned. Before I could speak, a familiar voice stopped me cold. “Don’t hurt her.” That scent. That voice. My heart stuttered in my chest. Alpha Denzel. My mate. He stepped forward, his presence commanding, his gaze sharp and unreadable. I could already feel the cruel weight of fate tightening around me I was being forced to relive every excruciating moment. “Why did you run?” he asked, his voice steady but stern. I couldn’t meet his eyes. “Are you dumb?” Jalisa spat before I could answer. A blow landed at the back of my head, sending me crashing to the ground. Pain shot through my skull, and my vision blurred. “Don’t do that again,” Denzel warned the guard, his tone cold. The man muttered an apology and stepped back. Denzel’s gaze returned to me. “Why did you run?” he asked again. I forced myself upright, keeping my head bowed. “I was afraid,” I whispered. Silence. Only the wind and my heartbeat filled the air. I fought against the intoxicating pull of my mate’s scent, locking away the ache in my chest. That bond had been my ruin once. I couldn’t let it destroy me again. “What is your name?” Denzel finally asked. “And why did you trespass?” I already knew what to say; I had lived this scene before. “My name is Venessa Gordon,” I said. “I’m a lone wolf. I was traveling with my mother when Lycans attacked us. She… she didn’t make it. I barely escaped.” A collective gasp rippled through the crowd at the word Lycans. They were everything werewolves feared faster, stronger, merciless. Nature’s cruelly perfected predators. “She’s trouble, Alpha. We should throw her out,” came the familiar, venomous voice of Beta Tyrell Henry. I clenched my fists. The traitor. Denzel shook his head. “No. We don’t abandon those who can’t defend themselves,” he said, repeating the same merciful line I’d heard before. “Beyond this border lies the Werewolf King’s kingdom,” he continued. “If you turn back, you’ll never survive. Stay here, swear your loyalty to me, obey our laws and you’ll have my protection. Otherwise…” His voice hardened. “Trespassing is punishable by death.” The decision was made for me, just like before. Only this time, I knew what I had to do. I would stay. I would survive. And I would not fail again.