Chapter One: The Morning She Returned
1215 Words
Selene Ravaryn woke choking on her own scream.
Her body jerked upright violently as air tore into her lungs. For one horrifying moment, she could still feel the execution blade slicing through her neck. The phantom pain burned so vividly that she clawed at her throat in panic, expecting warm blood to spill across her fingers.
There was nothing.
No wound.
No blood.
Only smooth skin trembling beneath shaking hands.
Her breathing became uneven.
The room around her slowly came into focus through blurred vision and lingering terror. Golden morning sunlight streamed through towering silk curtains, casting soft light across polished marble floors and silver furniture she knew too well.
Selene froze.
No.
Her eyes darted toward the far side of the chamber.
And there it was.
The wedding gown.
A silver dress embroidered with moon-thread crystals hung beside the wardrobe like a ghost from another life. It shimmered beneath the sunlight exactly as she remembered.
The sight made her stomach twist violently.
She stumbled out of bed so quickly her legs nearly gave out beneath her. Bare feet hit the cold floor as she staggered backward, staring wildly around the room.
This chamber belonged to the royal palace.
The bridal chamber.
Five years ago.
Before the betrayals.
Before Orion died.
Before Lucien stood silently while she was executed before the entire kingdom.
A strangled sound escaped her throat.
“This isn’t possible…”
Selene rushed toward the silver mirror near the window.
Her reflection stared back at her.
Young.
Untouched.
No scar across her shoulder from the southern war.
No exhaustion beneath her silver eyes.
No grief carved into her face.
Her long pale hair flowed untouched down her back like moonlight, and her skin still carried warmth instead of the deathly coldness she remembered from prison.
She looked alive.
Not broken.
Tears suddenly burned her eyes.
Her knees weakened.
“I died…”
The memory slammed into her mercilessly.
The crowd screaming for her death.
The execution blade.
Lucien’s silence.
Orion’s tiny lifeless body.
Selene gripped the edge of the mirror hard enough for cracks to splinter across the glass.
A knock sounded at the door.
“My lady?”
Selene’s body went rigid instantly.
That voice.
Impossible.
The door opened slightly before she could respond.
A young woman stepped inside carrying a silver tray of tea and fresh flowers.
Mira.
Alive.
Warm.
Breathing.
Selene stared at her as though seeing a ghost.
Mira blinked in confusion. “My lady?”
Selene’s chest tightened painfully.
In her previous life, Mira had died protecting her.
Selene still remembered the snow falling across the execution yard behind the prison cells. She remembered Mira kneeling in chains, beaten nearly beyond recognition because she refused to betray her queen.
They had executed her at dawn.
Selene remembered screaming until her throat bled.
And now—
Now Mira stood before her completely unharmed.
The tray shook slightly in the maid’s hands. “Did something happen?”
Before Mira could react, Selene crossed the room rapidly and grabbed her shoulders.
The maid gasped.
“You’re alive,” Selene whispered.
Mira looked terrified. “M-My lady…”
Selene stared into her eyes desperately, almost unable to believe what she was seeing.
Alive.
She truly returned.
Not a dream.
Not madness.
The scent of tea, the warmth of sunlight, the softness of the room—everything felt painfully real.
Selene slowly released Mira and stepped backward.
Her heart pounded violently.
If this truly was the past…
Then Orion was still alive.
The thought nearly shattered her.
Her son.
Her precious little boy with silver eyes and dark curls like Lucien’s.
She remembered holding him during thunderstorms because loud noises frightened him. She remembered his tiny hands tugging at her sleeves whenever he wanted stories before bed.
And then she remembered his funeral.
The tiny coffin.
The white flowers.
Lucien standing in silence while Selene screamed in grief.
Her vision blurred instantly.
No.
Not again.
Never again.
Mira watched her carefully now, concern replacing fear. “You seem unwell, my lady. Should I call the royal physician?”
Selene forced herself to breathe slowly.
“No.”
Her voice sounded colder than she intended.
Mira hesitated.
“The ceremony begins before sunset,” she said carefully. “The royal family has already arrived.”
The wedding.
A bitter emptiness spread through Selene’s chest.
In her first life, this had been the happiest day of her existence.
She remembered waking before sunrise because excitement kept her from sleeping. She remembered imagining Lucien waiting for her at the altar.
Back then, she truly believed he would love her someday.
How foolish.
How painfully naïve.
Lucien Valeblood had never chosen her because he loved her.
She was useful.
Strategic.
The daughter of a powerful bloodline capable of strengthening the throne.
That was all.
Even when she nearly died giving birth to his child, Lucien chose war meetings over sitting beside her bedside.
And still she loved him.
Gods.
She hated the woman she used to be.
Selene turned toward the palace windows slowly.
The Alpha Kingdom stretched beyond the cliffs in magnificent silver towers and distant mountain ranges. Morning fog drifted through the lower districts while banners carrying the royal wolf insignia moved with the wind.
Once, this kingdom meant everything to her.
Now it looked like a prison.
Mira spoke carefully behind her. “Everyone is saying today will become the beginning of a glorious future.”
Selene almost laughed.
If only they knew.
This kingdom would drown in blood before the future ended.
Noble families would betray each other.
War would consume the borders.
The royal court would rot from corruption.
And beneath it all, hidden in shadows older than the kingdom itself, something ancient would awaken beneath the Blood Moon.
Selene knew because she had already lived through the beginning of the end.
A dangerous silence settled over the room.
Then Mira frowned suddenly.
“My lady…”
Selene glanced toward her.
The maid looked unsettled.
“Your eyes,” Mira whispered softly. “They feel different today.”
Different.
Yes.
The woman standing here now was not the same naïve bride from before.
That version of Selene died beneath the executioner’s blade.
What returned was something else entirely.
Something colder.
Something willing to destroy anyone standing between her and revenge.
Selene approached the cracked mirror once more.
Her reflection stared back at her calmly.
Beautiful.
Young.
And filled with rage hidden beneath pale skin and silver eyes.
She touched the fractured glass lightly.
Then slowly—
She smiled.
Not gently.
Not sweetly.
But like someone preparing for war.
“Prepare the dress,” she said quietly.
Mira blinked in confusion. “My lady?”
Selene’s gaze darkened.
“If fate insists on repeating this wedding…”
Her voice became terrifyingly calm.
“Then this time, I’ll be the one deciding how the story ends.”
Thunder rumbled faintly beyond the mountains.
Far away in the frozen northern territories, a man known throughout the continent as the Wolf of Black Frost suddenly lifted his head from his throne.
Kael Dravenmoor narrowed his silver eyes toward the southern skies.
For the first time in years, his wolf stirred restlessly beneath his skin.
As though somewhere in the world—
Something ancient had awakened.
- Writer
