Chaptert1 The Second Chance

Aliya POV

A bucket of ice-cold water crashed over my head, forcing me back to consciousness.

I gasped, my lungs burning as I tried to breathe through the shock. Where am I?

Blinking away the water and disorientation, I found myself bound tightly to a metal chair, the ropes cutting into my wrists until they bled.

This is a prison! How could I be in prison?! Just a moment ago, I was lying in bed, falling asleep in my Alpha's arms.

The cell around me was dimly lit, but I could clearly make out the faces of those who stood before me. My husband stared down with cold, unfeeling eyes.

"Marcus, thank God! You're here to rescue me, right? Who locked me up in here?"

"Finally awake, traitor?" Marcus's voice sliced through the air, sharp as a blade and just as merciless. Beside him, my best friend Sarah watched with a smirk playing at the corners of her perfect lips.

Behind them crowded members of our pack, their faces contorted with disgust and rage. Their voices rose in a cacophony of hatred.

"Shameless whore!" "She betrayed our pack for another Alpha!"

I shook my head frantically, water droplets flying from my hair.

I don't understand what they are talking about at all, betrayal, cheating.

"No! I didn't betray anyone! I would never."

"Silence!" Marcus roared, his eyes flashing dangerously. The crowd immediately quieted, their obedience to him making my stomach turn. "I've heard enough of your lies."

Marcus pulled several photographs from his jacket and threw them viciously at my face. The photos scattered on the ground, but I could clearly see their contents. It was me, naked, lying in another man's arms. That man was Nikolai Volkov, Alpha of the Northern Pack.

"Still want to deny it?" Marcus sneered. "The evidence is right here, Aliya Rowanwood. You betrayed me, betrayed our pack, and threw yourself into the enemy's embrace."

I broke down completely, desperately pleading with Marcus: "Marcus, please believe me! I never did any of these things. Someone set me up!"

My voice trembled with desperation, tears blurring my vision. But Marcus's expression was cold as iron, completely unwilling to listen to my explanations. He wouldn't even look at me.

"Enough!" he said with disgust, waving his hand to cut me off. "Your pathetic excuses are meaningless."

I looked up desperately, wanting to defend myself once more, when I accidentally caught sight of a familiar figure in the crowd. Sarah was standing behind Marcus, watching me with a sinister and triumphant expression. The corners of her mouth curved upward slightly, her satisfied look like someone admiring their own masterpiece.

In that moment, the truth struck me like lightning. It was Sarah! My most trusted best friend had framed me!

"Marcus, please," I begged, hating the weakness in my voice but desperate to make him understand. "Just untie me. We can talk about this. There's been a mistake."

He looked at me as one might regard something scraped from the bottom of a shoe.

"Aliya Rowanwood," he began formally, his voice echoing against the stone walls, "you stand accused of high treason against the Stonecreek pack and the Werewolf Union. You have conspired with rival packs, shared confidential information, and," his lip curled in disgust, "dishonored your position as my mate by seeking comfort in the arms of another Alpha."

My heart pounded violently against my ribs. None of this was true.

"The punishment for such betrayal," Marcus continued, "is death."

The crowd erupted in cheers, their howls of approval bouncing off the walls. Sarah's smile widened, her hand slipping possessively into Marcus's.

"No!" I screamed. "I'm innocent! Marcus, please"

But my pleas were drowned by the sound of the cell door crashing open. The mob surged toward us, brandishing improvised weapons. The first blow caught me across the temple, sending stars exploding behind my eyes. The second broke something in my chest.

They're all members of the Pack, the ones who used to bow respectfully to me and call me Luna Queen.

They only gradually stopped beating me when I was barely able to speak, on the verge of death.

Blood filled my mouth as I fought to remain conscious. Through swelling eyes, I watched the crowd slowly disperse, leaving only Marcus and Sarah standing over my broken body.

I collapsed on the ground and asked with difficulty, "What happened to my family?"

Marcus remained silent, but Sarah looked down at me with contempt. "Your treason implicated them. The entire Rowanwood family was banished from the pack," she said coldly. "Your mother died on the way out during the banishment. It seems the shock of losing her daughter was too much for her."

My heart nearly stopped beating. "No... you can't do this..."

Sarah ran a hand over her stomach, which I now noticed curved gently outward. "I was worried I'd start showing before we could get rid of you."

"The pup is growing quickly," Marcus replied, tenderly placing his hand over hers on her belly. "As strong as its mother."

They were together. Sarah was pregnant with his child.

Marcus, you betrayed me by being with my best friend! It was you who falsely accused me! I glared fiercely at both of them, wishing I could tear them apart!

"I'm sorry it took so long to eliminate her," he murmured, pulling Sarah close. "But I needed her family's political connections to secure the Union Chairman position. You understand, don't you, my fated mate?"

"Of course," Sarah cooed. "We've known we were true mates since your first shift at eighteen. It's just taken time to position ourselves correctly."

True mates.

What we had was nothing but a political transaction, while he and my best friend shared the rarest connection our kind could experience.

My vision darkened at the edges as they kissed passionately, my breath grew weaker and weaker.

In the darkness, I silently vowed, "Moon Goddess, if I could have one more chance, I will change everything. I will make them both pay the price they deserve! I will destroy everything they love, just as they destroyed me."

I closed my eyes, surrendering to the darkness.

And then, impossibly, I opened them again.

Bright lights. Music. Laughter. The scent of roses and champagne.

I blinked in confusion. I was standing in a lavishly decorated ballroom, wearing a stunning white gown. Around me, guests in formal attire raised crystal glasses in celebration.

I have been reborn!

I've truly been given a chance to start over!

Marcus stood before me, three years younger, his face lit with a triumphant smile as he cupped my face in his hands. We were at our wedding ceremony, the night that had sealed my fate.

"To my beautiful mate," he announced to the crowd, his eyes never leaving mine as he leaned down to kiss me.

The memory of my own blood filling my mouth, of Sarah's hand on her pregnant belly, of their betrayal flashed vividly through my mind.

Before his lips could touch mine, my hand moved of its own accord.

"Smack!"

The sharp crack of my palm against his cheek silenced the entire room.