Vengeance Reborn

Chapter 1 ~ Revelation

Leona’s POV

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The alarm clock blares directly into my ears.

I jolt awake with a scream and go flying out of bed.

THUD!

“Ow!”

My body crashes onto the floor hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.

For several seconds, I just lie there.

Then I groan, roll onto my side, and c***k my back into place.

“What the hell...?”

Sweat pours down my forehead. My heart pounds violently against my ribs, each frantic beat echoing inside my skull.

I wipe my face with a trembling hand.

Where am I?

My eyes dart around the room.

Nothing makes sense.

The bed.

The dresser.

The familiar blue-and-silver curtains.

The pictures lining the walls.

My vanity.

My desk.

Everything feels familiar, but my mind refuses to understand what I'm seeing.

Then—

Concrete.

Freezing beneath my broken body.

Blood.

So much blood.

Its metallic scent clogging my nose and throat.

Pain.

Hands.

Screaming.

Begging.

My babies—

“No!”

A scream tears from my throat.

I scramble backward until my spine slams against the bed.

“No! No, no, no!”

My hands fly over my body.

My arms.

My chest.

My stomach.

My legs.

Where are the wounds?

Where is the blood?

Where—

Footsteps thunder through the hallway.

Not footsteps.

A damn stampede.

The bedroom door flies open so violently that it crashes against the wall.

My father charges inside first.

Alpha Sebastian Knight.

His long black hair is already combed back into his usual low ponytail, though a few strands have escaped around his carmel-brown face. His golden eyes blaze as he searches the room, his well-trimmed beard and mustache doing nothing to hide the murderous expression twisting his features. Tight muscles bulge beneath his training clothes, stretched across his broad shoulders and powerful arms as he moves with lethal purpose.

My mother rushes in directly behind him.

Luna Sophia Knight.

Wrapped in her soft blue robe with her glowing coco-brown skin, her long auburn hair falls down her back in perfect tight curls, because apparently even being ripped out of bed by your screaming daughter isn't enough to make my mother look anything less than flawless.

Her ocean-blue eyes immediately find mine.

Dad always says he could drown in Mom's eyes.

That they're like a siren's call to a sailor at sea.

As a child, I used to roll my eyes whenever he said it.

Right now, seeing those beautiful eyes filled with fear nearly breaks me.

Uncle Liam storms into the room next.

Liam Windsor isn't technically my uncle, but I've called him that since I was a pup.

His medium-length brown hair is tied into a messy ponytail, and his translucent gray eyes sweep over every corner of my bedroom while his nose twitches, searching for an unfamiliar scent. His muscular frame is barely concealed beneath a black tank top and black joggers, with black-and-white Jordans shoved hastily onto his feet.

Charles Benson—better known throughout the realm as General Benson—follows him.

And immediately drops to the floor.

He checks underneath my bed before crawling around to examine every possible hiding place.

His short, spiky black hair is a complete disaster from sleep. His stoic green eyes are sharp despite the five-o'clock shadow darkening his jaw, and his muscular body strains against the camouflage shorts and shirt he'd apparently thrown on before charging here.

“Clear,” Uncle Liam finally announces.

“Nothing,” Charles confirms.

They're looking for an attacker.

They think someone hurt me.

Before I can say anything, Dad crosses the room.

“Leona.”

His arms wrap around me.

I freeze.

Then his familiar scent hits me.

Home.

Safety.

Dad.

My fingers fist into his shirt.

And I break.

“Daddy...”

He pulls me tightly against his chest.

“I've got you, little one.”

I cling to him desperately, waiting for the pain to return.

For someone to drag me away.

For the cold concrete to appear beneath me again.

For—

Nothing happens.

Dad rubs slow circles across my back like I'm still a little pup waking from a nightmare.

Mom kneels beside us and gently brushes my damp curls away from my face.

“Shhh,” she whispers. “You're safe, sweetheart. We're right here.”

Safe.

The word feels foreign.

Uncle Liam and Charles continue searching until they're completely satisfied that no threat exists.

Only then does the tension in the room begin to ease.

“We'll give you some privacy,” Uncle Liam says quietly.

Dad nods.

“Thank you.”

Charles gives me one last concerned glance before following Liam into the hallway.

They both have families to return to and morning training to prepare for before breakfast.

The door closes.

We're alone.

Dad lifts me effortlessly from the floor and places me on the edge of my bed.

Then he crouches in front of me.

Mom sits beside me and continues rubbing my back.

“Are you all right now, Leona?” Dad asks.

I open my mouth.

Nothing comes out.

My throat feels like sandpaper.

Mom notices immediately.

“Here.”

She reaches toward the side table and pours cold water from a pitcher I hadn't even noticed.

I grab the glass with both hands and gulp it greedily.

“Slow down, sweetheart,” Mom warns gently. “You'll make yourself sick. Small, slow sips. We're not going anywhere. We'll be here until you're whole again.”

Whole again.

My chest aches.

I nod and force myself to slow down.

When the glass is empty, I hand it back.

“Thank you.”

“Always.”

Dad watches me carefully.

“I think I'm all right,” I finally whisper. “But... I'm confused.”

“What are you confused about, little one?”

Little one.

The same endearment he's used since I was small enough to fit completely inside Mom's arms.

Something inside me softens.

I look around.

Really look.

And suddenly I realize exactly where I am.

My old bedroom.

Not my bedroom from after I became Luna.

My bedroom in the old royal wing.

The room I lived in when my parents still ruled.

But—

How?

My gaze lands on the calendar hanging above the alarm clock.

I stare.

Blink.

Then stare again.

Monday, February 5, 2018.

My heart stops.

No.

I look toward the alarm clock.

6:15 A.M.

No.

That's impossible.

My mind short-circuits.

February 5, 2018?

That's...

That's eight years ago!

But... the last thing I remember is—

August 12, 2026.

The Blue Eclipse.

The warehouse.

Dying.

My hand moves unconsciously toward my stomach.

For one horrifying second, I can still feel it.

The pain.

The emptiness.

My children.

I never got to meet them.

Never held them.

Never counted their tiny fingers and toes.

Never kissed their chubby little cheeks.

Never heard them laugh.

They died with me.

A tear rolls down my cheek.

Then another.

Mom and Dad exchange a worried look.

They can sense my emotions through our family bond, but they can't understand the chaos raging inside my mind.

And then the final memories return.

Not just how I died.

Why.

Who betrayed me.

Who hurt me.

Who stood by.

Who let it happen.

Something inside me snaps.

Grief becomes rage.

My breathing changes.

A growl vibrates through my chest.

My vision sharpens.

Dad's expression changes instantly.

“Leona?”

My eyes burn.

Blue floods them as my irises turn bloodred.

My fangs descend.

Inside me, two furious beasts slam against the walls of my consciousness.

Tempest.

Snow.

My wolf snarls.

My bear roars.

Both want out.

Both want blood.

Both remember.

“LEONA!”

Dad rises.

Power explodes through the room.

His palm presses firmly against my forehead.

“Stand down, Leona! Calm your beasts! You are safe and loved. No harm will come to you!”

His aura crashes over me like a tidal wave.

Tempest stops fighting.

Snow's roar fades.

My breathing slows.

I stare into my father's golden eyes.

Safe.

Loved.

Home.

Slowly, my fangs retract.

My eyes return to normal—the strange white surrounding my golden-hazel irises.

I inhale shakily.

Then exhale.

Dad removes his hand.

Without saying anything, he retrieves the chair from my desk and places it directly in front of me.

He sits.

Takes both my hands.

And squeezes.

A silent promise.

You're safe.

You're secure.

You're loved.

I look toward Mom.

She smiles through her worry and nods.

The same promise.

So I tell them.

Everything.

The future.

My mating.

My marriage.

The pregnancy.

The Blue Eclipse.

The warehouse.

The betrayal.

The pain.

The blood.

My screams.

My babies.

My death.

Every horrible detail.

Even the smells that somehow still linger inside my nose.

Neither interrupts me.

When I finally finish, my voice is barely more than a whisper.

Silence fills the bedroom.

Dad's face has become unreadable.

The terrifyingly stoic expression of a ruler already calculating a thousand possibilities.

Mom isn't able to hide her emotions nearly as well.

Tears stream down her cheeks.

Then she pulls me into her arms.

Dad joins us.

For several minutes, the three of us simply hold one another.

No titles.

No judgment.

Just a father, mother, and daughter.

Eventually Dad reaches for the tissue box.

He gives several tissues to Mom and me before taking one for himself.

Then he blows his nose so loudly that Mom and I stare at him.

A giggle escapes me.

Mom follows.

Dad gives us an offended look.

“What?”

That only makes us laugh harder.

For the first time since waking, something inside my chest loosens.

Dad rarely shows strong emotions outside the privacy of our family wing.

He can't.

As leader, Alpha Sebastian Knight cannot allow his enemies to mistake emotion for weakness.

There are always those waiting for an opportunity to challenge his authority.

The room eventually becomes quiet again.

Mom and Dad exchange a long look.

Their eyes glaze over.

Mindlinking.

I wait.

Mom gives the smallest nod.

Dad does the same.

Then they look at me.

“There is something we intended to tell you on your eighteenth birthday in July,” Dad says slowly. “But it appears the Moon Goddess has other plans.”

My brows furrow.

“The Moon Goddess?”

Mom stands.

“Wash and dress for the day, sweetheart. Then come to your father's office.”

“But morning training—”

“You will not be attending morning training today,” she says.

That gets my attention.

Missing training isn't something my parents allow without a very good reason.

“This is important,” Mom adds.

I look between them.

Whatever they're hiding is serious.

“All right.”

Dad kisses my forehead.

“We'll see you downstairs, little one.”

They leave.

The door closes.

And my mind immediately begins racing.

The Moon Goddess.

My eighteenth birthday.

The Blue Eclipse.

My death.

Or was it a dream?

No.

I know what a dream feels like.

That wasn't one.

It was too real.

I can still smell my own blood.

Still feel my babies dying inside me.

Still remember taking my final breath.

So how am I here?

And what could my parents possibly know?

I don't waste time.

I use the bathroom, shower, brush my teeth, and rinse my mouth before tackling my hair.

My curly auburn hair with blue highlights goes into a messy bun. I dress in a jean skort, a tropical-blue floral blouse, and Timberlands.

A little mascara.

Pink lip gloss.

Done.

When I look into the mirror, I almost recognize myself.

Almost.

The seventeen-year-old girl staring back at me looks untouched.

But behind her golden-hazel eyes lives a woman who remembers dying at twenty-five.

“Everything's going to be okay,” I whisper.

I don't know whether I'm reassuring myself or making a promise.

I leave my room, lock the door, and head downstairs.

Our home is technically a six-story mansion, but from the outside it resembles a massive castle.

Inside?

Warm.

Comfortable.

Home.

I grew up here as a Knight in the Realm of Salem, surrounded by lush forests, a beautiful ocean, endless mountains, and skies that seem to stretch forever.

The nearest human settlement is roughly four miles away.

Most humans know nothing about us.

Those who do are usually mated into the supernatural world—something so rare it's almost unheard of.

But mates are chosen by the Moon Goddess.

And the Moon Goddess has never cared much for what anyone considers normal.

She is the mother of us all, although other deities rule alongside her—her own divine siblings.

Our supernatural bloodlines trace back to them.

Which is why beings like me exist.

A Tribid.

My father, Alpha Sebastian, is a bear-vampire hybrid.

My mother, Luna Sophia, is a wolf-vampire hybrid.

And somehow their blood created me.

Vampire.

Wolf.

Bear.

I inherited a vampire's speed, strength, senses, and bloodlust.

But I can also shift.

My wolf is Tempest—a magnificent white wolf with silver highlights and brilliant blue eyes.

My bear is Snow—equally white, equally silver, and equally blue-eyed.

Both carry the same strange marking.

The Moon Goddess's symbol: a crescent moon.

They both bear it on the left side of their fur and in the middle of their forehead.

I've wondered about those markings for years.

I've just never thought to ask why they're there.

Considering today's conversation apparently involves the Moon Goddess herself, I should probably remember to ask.

I descend through the mansion.