Chapter 2 Reborn?

Kaelia 

Light.

I woke up— I think. 

It didn't feel like I did. 

Why was I not dead? As real as the sun and the moon, I could still feel the rough rope around my neck like it just happened. 

Why wasn't I feeling any pain or discomfort? Just rage. Anger. 

I looked down at myself. I was still dressed in the orange overalls I had worn before my death. 

How am I alive?

To top it all, I was in the royal pack house. 

The lights in the living room were dim, and the curtains were closed. Everywhere was silent. 

“What am I doing here?" I wondered as I walked around. Then I noticed, I wasn't walking—

I was floating.

‘What's going on?’ My heart began to race. 

Did the moon goddess really listen to their prayers that I got eternal condemnation? 

Isn't spending life with someone who would accuse me of killing his father not enough that I have to spend eternity in this pack house as well?

Just then, the door to the kitchen opened. 

Two maids walked out. They didn't pay me any attention.

" Hello?” I called. 

They didn't budge—they couldn't hear me. 

" Hey!” I followed them but couldn't pass through the door to go out of the pack house— like I was caged by an invisible door. 

Then, an unusual wind blew me, light and weightless, towards my room—Steven's and my room. Maybe to reminisce on my life with that betrayer. 

I tried to hold the knob and open the door, but found myself drifting through it. 

I was already inside the room.

What I saw next made me still as stone. 

Steven

And… Victoria.

Naked. Intertwined like one. Unashamed. Her head on his chest, sleeping soundly. 

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. 

This can’t be true.

My throat burned so much I felt nauseous. 

Tears trickled down my cheeks with eyes wide in disbelief.

Victoria with Steven? My husband with my little sister?!

How?

Victoria was a virgin, right?

She just clocked eighteen. 

How did I not see this? Was I hallucinating? Is this even real?

" What is this?!” I yelled, fists clenched, " What the fuck is this?!”

No matter how loud I screamed, they couldn't hear. 

No one could. 

My legs gave way, my fingers clutched my chest region as I wailed bitterly. 

Then a phone rang. It was Steven's ringtone. 

Steven stretched his hand towards the bedside stool and picked up the phone. Victoria moved, wrapping her arms around his waist so tightly. 

He answered the call. 

“Hm?" 

" She was executed a few minutes ago.” Surprisingly, I could hear the person on the other side of the call speak. 

Steven’s eyes snapped open, wider and brighter. 

“Really?" He asked, his lips threatening to stretch into a smile.

“Yes, sir." The man replied, “I've sent you a picture of her dead body." 

Steven took the phone off his ear and looked down at the screen. He couldn't hide the smile anymore. 

He turned the phone to Victoria, who had opened her eyes a while ago, and she smirked. 

My heart dropped. 

This cannot be real.

That's my little sister. The one I pampered and gave everything to. I spent my entire teenage years taking care of her, making sure she felt my love, even though we were not from the same mother. 

When she heard about the case and how I was jailed because I was a suspect, she wept bitterly. I had to beg her to stop crying and eat something.

Were all those fake?

“Sir, should I bring her body to the royal cemetery?" The man asked over the phone. 

Steven’s expression shifted into a deep frown. “Why?" He asked, “Dispose of her body into the sea. A criminal should not be buried with royals.” 

My heart shattered into pieces. 

The call ended. 

Steven turned to Victoria and kissed her forehead, “This calls for celebration." 

Victoria smiled, a smile I always wanted to see on her face, now disgusts me to my bones. She pushed herself up, letting the duvet fall off completely from her body, and climbed onto Steven. 

" How would you like us to celebrate?” She asked in a whisper as she dropped kisses all over his neck and chest. 

My hands flew to cover my mouth, tears dropped—I couldn't stop it. 

Before my eyes, I watched my half-sister and my husband make love. 

My head began to spin, my nose became painfully red and heavy, and my eyes blurred. I wanted to rip my heart out. Tear myself to pieces. 

Tear THEM to pieces!

My mind shot down memory lane. 

To the day Steven recognized I was his mate. It was one of those times I was nursing Alpha Gabriel's legs. Steven had just returned the night before from Germany. 

I was already leaving the pack house when he stopped me— his hand held my wrist, and he turned me over. 

“Mate!" He whispered with twinkling eyes. 

I couldn't believe it was real. 

Would the moon goddess favour me so much as to give me a mate from the royal lineage? 

Me? Kaelia Joshua. 

A small shewolf from the Joshua family. A nobody who lost her mother when she was a kid and now has to deal with her wicked stepmother. 

More like a Cinderella story, except that my step-sister loved me a lot—or so I thought. 

Steven wanted me almost immediately. 

And I gave in. 

I opened up to him. I gave him all of me. 

It felt so nice to be loved. 

He spoiled me—made it known to the world that I was his. Bought me jewelry and expensive outfits. 

Then, I got pregnant. We needed to rush the mating ceremony. 

Victoria was by my side all through, " You look so beautiful. Steven would be stunned," She said on the day of my mating ceremony. 

I could not stop blushing. 

We exchanged vows. 

We kissed. 

The crowd cheered. 

I thought we were in love. 

How then did it get to this? How could they do this to me?!

Anger rose from within me. No more pity. My eyes darted to the two couples on the bed. I rushed over to the bed, reached to grab Victoria's hair aggressively, but my hands slipped through. 

I couldn't hold her. 

I tried again and again, but failed at every attempt. 

I screamed. So loud my head began to ache. The world around me began to spin. 

The wind, heavy and strong, came again. This time, it was so heavy that I couldn't keep up. I tried to hold on to something, anything, but I couldn't. 

Then, everything paused and soon I began to float in slow motion. 

I was no longer in the room. 

Or the royal pack house. 

I was nowhere. It was empty. 

Void. 

Then, I heard a voice.

“Welcome to rebirth cycle five.”

I turned, but I couldn't see anyone or anything. 

Then, a voice so similar to mine,

“You never learn, do you?!” 

It sounded like I was scolding myself. Confused, I looked around but didn't find anybody there. 

“One more chance, Kaelia. Just one more. Get it right this time, or it's over!" 

" Who are you?” I screamed. 

What was I thinking? No one could hear me. 

" I am you, Kaelie. And if you don't get it right this time, we are all doomed.” 

Can you hear me? 

I wanted to ask, but what came out of my lips wasn't the question. 

" What do you mean? What do I have to do?” I asked, but no one replied as everything was already fading before my eyes. 

I woke up with a gasp. 

Sweat covered my face. I was seated on a chair, and I looked around. 

The attic.

I was at my Father's house.

How?