𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝;
"Elizabeth, wake up!" A cold, soft hand brushed against me, pulling me from the void. I gasped, a scream escaping as the sharp ache of death burned through me. My eyes snapped open, and I found myself in my wolf form, standing before the Moon Goddess, Selena.
"Moon Goddess?" I croaked, my voice trembling with disbelief. Tears blurred my vision, anger simmering beneath them. She hadn't saved me. She'd let me fall.
"Welcome home, Elizabeth," she said softly, her serene smile like a dagger to my chest. "Come, let us go."
I shook my head, tears streaking down my face, carrying the weight of hatred and despair. "No! I don't want to die yet!" My voice cracked, rising with raw emotion. "I had dreams! I didn't want to waste away as a housewife, stuck at home all day!"
Her smile never wavered, but its calmness only deepened the ache in my heart. "If you didn't want to die, Elizabeth," she said, her voice gentle yet firm, "you shouldn't have made those mistakes."
"Mistakes?" I snarled, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. "I made a mistake by trusting someone I thought was my savior?"
The Moon Goddess regarded me with calm indifference, her expression unshaken. "Well, unfortunately, he wasn't," she replied, her tone almost dismissive.
A bitter laugh escaped me, hollow and sharp. "How can you say that?" My chest heaved with the weight of my fury. "Moon Goddess, you gave me a monster as a mate!"
Her expression darkened, her eyes narrowing with quiet authority. "He is not your mate, child. Can't you see that? A true mate would never treat you like that." She extended her hand toward me, her voice soft but unyielding. "Come now, your time is over. Let's go."
"No!" I screamed, stepping back, defiance burning in my chest. "I'm not ready to give up! I want a second chance. Please… let me go back."
Her expression didn't falter, but her voice grew colder, tinged with finality. "There is no such thing as a second chance, daughter. Your time is up."
"No!" I cried, desperation clawing at my heart. "I won't accept that! Moon Goddess, please. You can't let them get away with it. All of them—the judges, his parents, Hazel, and, most of all, Gabriel!"
The Moon Goddess sighed, her serene face faltering just slightly. Her hand dropped to her side, and for the first time, I thought I saw something other than detachment in her eyes—hesitation, perhaps even pity.
"You speak of justice," she said, her voice measured, "but justice has its time, Elizabeth. And yours has passed. What would you do with another chance? Seek vengeance? Right your wrongs? Would you not make the same mistakes again?"
I stepped closer, my wolf form trembling with the intensity of my plea. "I would fight. I would make it right. You've seen my pain, my struggle. I was trapped, betrayed by everyone I trusted. I deserve the chance to undo what was done to me. Please…" My voice softened, breaking. "I just want a chance to live the life I was meant to live, not the one they stole from me."
The Moon Goddess tilted her head, her gaze piercing. "And what of the balance? If I send you back, there will be consequences. Lives shifted. Destinies altered. Are you ready to bear that weight? To carry the burden of what your return may bring?"
"Yes," I said without hesitation, my voice firm despite the tremor in my chest. "I'll bear it all. Whatever the cost, I'll pay it. But please, don't let them win. Don't let them destroy everything I was meant to be."
She stared at me in silence for what felt like an eternity. Her eyes seemed to see through me, peeling back every layer of my soul, weighing my every word. The air around us grew heavy, charged with power and possibility.
"Very well," she said at last, her voice quiet but resolute. "You will have your second chance. But know this, Elizabeth: this is no gift. It is a test. You will carry the scars of your past, the weight of your choices, and the knowledge of what lies ahead. And if you fail… there will be no third chance. Do you understand?"
My heart raced as hope surged through me. "I understand," I whispered. "Thank you."
The Moon Goddess nodded, and with a wave of her hand, the world around me began to shift. Light and shadow danced, the ground beneath me dissolving into nothingness.
"One last thing," she said, her voice echoing in the void. "Your second chance will not come freely. You must earn it. The path ahead will be harder than anything you've faced before. But if you truly want justice, if you truly wish to rise above, then perhaps you will find your way."
And then, with a blinding flash, I was falling—falling back into the world, into the chaos, into my second chance.
••••
"Alpha! Alpha Elizabeth!" A voice echoed through the haze, faint at first, but growing louder, insistent. It tugged at me, pulling me out of the suffocating darkness.
The sound came again, clearer now. "Elizabeth! Please, wake up!"
My eyes fluttered open, and I gasped, my lungs greedily pulling in air. Pain radiated through my body, but it was distant, dulled somehow. The world around me was spinning, disoriented and unreal. I blinked rapidly, trying to focus, and saw someone leaning over me—a familiar figure, their face a blur.
"Alpha Elizabeth? Are you okay?" The faces were coming clear now.
I was in an office.
The first person I saw was Gabriel.
My heart skipped a beat, and before I knew it, I screamed loudly.
I pushed the table before me, running blindly toward a place I couldn't even comprehend.
Where was I? What was going on? The Moon Goddess really had given me a second chance.
"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!!" Their voices echoed behind me, but I couldn't stop. I had to escape. Escape from them.
I ran—faster, heart pounding in my chest. Then, out of nowhere, I collided with someone.
I looked up, my breath catching in my throat.
Hazel.
"No, no… Get away from me…" My hands trembled as I backed away.
"It's me, Hazel, your other half!" Her voice was familiar, but it only made me feel more trapped.
"No!!!" I screamed, covering my ears as Gabriel's and Hazel's voices mixed in my head.
"Ahh!" The noise in my head was deafening.
And then, a pair of warm, strong hands wrapped around me. My breath hitched in my throat.
"Stay back, all of you. Now!" The voice, low and commanding, was unmistakable. An Alpha's voice. A Lycan's.
I lowered my head, instinctively surrendering to the authority in his tone.
His cloak enveloped me, and he led me somewhere. Somewhere I felt… safe.
But I wasn't safe. Not yet.
He removed the cloak, and my eyes met his.
"Easy now, Alpha Elizabeth. People might think it's true what they say about you…"
"Huh?" I barely understood, still processing everything.
"Rumors," he replied, a slight smirk in his voice. "That you've lost your mind."
I froze, as everything clicked into place.
The moment I was called a lunatic. A mad Luna.
The day my father was murdered.
"No!!... Father!!" I screamed, running away from them, faster than I ever had before.
I burst through the Pack house doors, the whispers of the Pack surrounding me. Their eyes followed me, judging.
I ran. North. To my father's chambers.
But when I burst inside, I froze.
His body was already cold. His head severed from his body.
"No!!! Father!!!" I collapsed to my knees, desperately pushing his body. It was too late. Again.
I had returned to the past—but had it all changed? Or was I doomed to repeat the nightmare?
"Alpha!" A maid rushed in, her voice trembling. "Oh my goodness…"
And then, a shadow moved in the doorway.
An assassin?
Just as the realization hit me, the door cracked open, and I couldn't help but follow the faint noise.
I saw only half of the person at first, a woman. She moved slightly, and in that instant, she glanced over.
My breath caught in my throat.
Her face was all too familiar.
Too familiar to ignore.
I knew her like I knew my own name, like I knew the scars of my past.
But it didn't make sense. She was supposed to have died a year ago. And more importantly, why would my own mother want to kill her husband, my father, the Alpha?