THIS TIME I CHOOSE ME

Chapter Two- COUNT DOWN

I was back.

And this time, I remembered everything.

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at my hands.

They were clean.

No blood.

No wounds.

No trembling fingers trying to hold on to life.

I slowly touched my chest.

My heart was beating.

Steady. Warm. Alive.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

The last thing I remembered was the forest.

The cold ground beneath me.

The taste of blood in my mouth.

Aren's face.

Lyra's face.

And the moon hanging above me as I made the vow that had changed everything.

I looked toward the mirror across the room.

The girl staring back at me looked exactly as I remembered myself before everything went wrong.

Eighteen.

Young.

Alive.

I stepped closer.

My fingers touched my face.

"This is real," I whispered.

The Moon Goddess had actually answered me.

I had been given another life.

Another chance.

But there was one thing I needed to understand.

The mate bond.

I closed my eyes.

In my first life, my eighteenth birthday had been the day everything changed.

It was the day of the coming-of-age ceremony.

The day the Moon Goddess was supposed to reveal and connect me to my mate.

Aren.

But right now, that bond wasn't there.

I couldn't feel him.

There was no pull in my chest.

No warmth.

Nothing.

That meant I still had time.

Seven days.

Seven days before my eighteenth birthday.

Seven days before the ceremony.

Seven days before fate could put Aren in front of me and bind us together again.

I opened my eyes.

"No."

The word came out quietly.

I wouldn't let it happen.

I had already lived that life once.

I knew exactly where it ended.

My death.

Their betrayal.

And a promise made beneath the moon.

I wasn't going to walk blindly into the same ending.

A knock suddenly came at my door.

Before I could answer, it opened.

"Alora?"

My mother's voice.

My heart immediately tightened.

She stepped into the room, looking at me with concern.

"You've been quiet this morning. Are you alright?"

I stared at her.

My mother.

She was alive too.

In my first life, I had lost so much. But somehow, I had been given the chance to see her again.

I didn't think.

I crossed the room and hugged her.

She froze.

"Alora?"

I held her tighter.

I could feel her confusion.

"I'm fine," I whispered.

She gently rubbed my back.

"You don't look fine."

I pulled away and forced a small smile.

"I'm just tired."

She studied my face for a few seconds before sighing.

"Your birthday is only a week away. You should be excited."

My stomach twisted.

Excited.

If only she knew what that birthday had cost me the first time.

Before I could answer, a voice came from the hallway.

"Mother?"

Lyra.

My body stiffened.

She walked into the room, looking as innocent as she had before.

My younger sister.

The girl I had once loved more than anyone.

The girl who had eventually taken the person I loved.

The girl who had stood on the other side while my life was destroyed.

For a second, I couldn't look at her.

"Alora?"

Lyra tilted her head.

"Are you okay?"

I forced myself to meet her eyes.

"Yes."

She smiled.

"You've been acting strange since you woke up."

My mother looked between us.

"Leave your sister alone, Lyra."

Lyra shrugged.

"I was only asking."

She walked away.

I watched her disappear down the hallway.

My mother touched my shoulder.

"Don't worry about her."

I looked at her.

"Why?"

She hesitated.

"Your father has been talking about the ceremony all morning. You know how he is."

I didn't need to ask what she meant.

My father had never hidden the fact that he preferred Lyra.

He praised her more.

Trusted her more.

Defended her more.

Even when I did something right, it somehow wasn't enough.

With Lyra, everything was different.

She could make a mistake and he would find a reason to excuse it.

I could do everything perfectly and still somehow disappoint him.

I remembered that feeling.

And now, knowing what would eventually happen, it hurt even more.

My mother squeezed my hand.

"Don't let him ruin your birthday."

I looked at her.

She was the only one in this house who had ever made me feel like I belonged here.

"I won't," I promised.

But I wasn't thinking about my father.

I was thinking about Aren.

And the ceremony.

Later that afternoon, I went into the old study.

If there was one thing I had learned from my first life, it was that knowing the truth was more powerful than simply hoping things would change.

I searched through books about the Moon Goddess.

Then pack traditions.

Then the coming-of-age ceremony.

I needed to know if there was a way to prevent a mate bond from forming.

Book after book gave me the same answers.

The mate bond was sacred.

The Moon Goddess chose mates.

The bond was not something wolves were supposed to question.

But I kept searching.

There had to be something.

I pulled another old book from the shelf and opened it.

Nothing.

Another.

Nothing.

I was beginning to lose patience when I found a section about ancient mate bonds.

I read through it carefully.

Most of it was useless.

Until one sentence caught my attention.

The bond may remain dormant until the Moon Goddess calls it forth.

I stared at the words.

Dormant.

Exactly as I thought.

The bond hadn't formed yet.

That meant the future wasn't completely fixed.

Maybe.

I closed the book and leaned back in the chair.

Seven days.

I had seven days to find a way to change everything.

Seven days to make sure Aren and I never became what we had been before.

Seven days to make sure Lyra never became the reason I died.

I reached beneath my shirt and pulled out the small pendant around my neck.

I had worn it in my first life too.

The silver surface caught the light from the window.

For some reason, looking at it made me think of the moon.

And my vow.

I remembered the words I had spoken before I died.

I will come back.

I had.

Now I needed to make sure my second life wasn't wasted.

I tightened my fingers around the pendant.

"I won't become your mate."

My voice was barely above a whisper.

But I meant every word.

If fate wanted me to find Aren again, then fate was going to have to fight me for it.

Seven days.

Seven days before the ceremony.

Seven days before the life I had already lived tried to begin a second time.

I looked out at the mountains beyond the window.

This time, I would be ready.

Let the countdown begin.