Elaina gasped, stumbling backward as the foreign voice faded from her throat. The glow in her eyes vanished, leaving behind raw confusion and a quiet, aching fear. Lucien caught her before she collapsed again, cradling her like something precious—and fragile.
She looked up at him with wide, tear-brimmed eyes. "I heard her. Me. But not… me now. A past me. She was warning me."
Lucien's jaw clenched. "The seal is breaking faster than I expected. He's triggering your past life's magic."
"Why does it feel like I've lived a hundred lifetimes... and they all end with blood?" she whispered.
Lucien helped her to the couch, fingers brushing the back of her neck as he checked for signs of energy spikes. His hand paused.
"Elaina… this wasn't here before."
"What?"
He pulled her hair aside gently to reveal a strange, crescent-shaped mark glowing faintly beneath her skin—an ancient sigil lost to most werewolf packs. A mark only royal bloodlines carried.
"You were a queen once," he said. "And not just mine. You ruled both the moon and the night. This mark... it's your forgotten title returning."
Her hand trembled as she touched the mark. "Then why does it feel like a curse?"
---
Elsewhere – Valen's Hunt Begins
Valen stood atop a cliff, the wind whipping through his silver-lined cloak. In the valley below, a temple—long-abandoned—called to him.
"She remembers now," he said. "And if she finds that temple before I do, she'll learn everything."
The traitor beside him frowned. "Should I send the rogues?"
"No. I'll go myself. I want her to see me the moment she remembers it all."
His lips twisted into a cruel smile.
"I want to be the first thing she regrets."
---
Back in the Mansion – A Touch of Lightness
Kade burst into the room holding what looked like a broken crystal ball.
"Okay, so I tried to make a scrying orb to track Valen—"
Lucien raised a brow. "You broke a sacred moonstone orb?"
"I call it… an accidental magical innovation," Kade said, grinning. "Might've also summoned a very confused forest spirit, but she seemed chill."
Elaina couldn't help the short laugh that escaped her lips. "You're the reason we'll all die one day, you know that?"
"Glad to be appreciated," Kade winked, tossing her a moonberry candy. "Eat this. Stabilizes blood-linked magic. Also helps with headaches. And heartbreak."
Lucien sighed. "Kade, you're a walking liability."
"Still cute though," Kade replied.
---
Final Scene – A New Threat Rises
That night, Elaina couldn't sleep. The mark on her neck pulsed with heat every time the moonlight touched her skin.
She stepped out onto the balcony, wrapping a shawl around her. The forest stretched below, quiet… too quiet.
A howl shattered the silence.
Not wolf.
Something worse.
She turned slowly—and across the clearing, cloaked in shadow, stood a creature. Not Valen. Not fully human.
Its eyes burned like ash and memory.
And Elaina's blood ran cold.
Because she knew it.
From before.
From the day she died.
---
Elaina's breath caught in her throat as the creature stepped forward, each movement echoing with bone-deep familiarity. The wind carried its scent—charred wood, rusted iron, and something ancient.
Something hers.
The mark on her neck burned, searing against her skin.
"Elaina," it rasped, voice distorted like wind passing through broken glass. "You left me in the fire."
She stumbled backward. "Who—what—are you?"
The creature cocked its head, almost… mournfully.
"I was the one you promised eternity."
Before she could scream, Lucien appeared beside her in a blur of shadows, growling low in his chest. "Get behind me."
The creature grinned. "Ah, the new pet."
Lucien's eyes darkened. "You're not just a ghost, are you?"
"No," it hissed, stepping into the moonlight.
Elaina gasped. Half its face was beautiful—soft features, silver eyes like hers. The other half was burned beyond recognition. A twisted reflection of herself.
It was her.
Or who she used to be.
---
Inside the Mansion – Chaos Brews
They brought the creature inside, locking it in the basement ward circle. Kade stood guard, fidgeting with a silver dagger and a bowl of popcorn.
"I'm just saying," he muttered to no one in particular, "when your own past starts knocking on your door, maybe it's time for a spa weekend or a personality cleanse."
Elaina ignored him, focused on the entity within the circle. "What are you?"
"I'm the piece you left behind," it answered, voice now calmer. "When you chose light… you burned the dark out of you. But darkness doesn't just disappear, Elaina. It waits."
Lucien's fingers tightened around her wrist. "You don't have to listen to it."
But Elaina stepped forward. "I think I do."
---
Flashback: A Forbidden Ritual
She remembered the temple. The blood on her hands. The two lovers she betrayed—Lucien, and another whose name she no longer dared speak.
In that memory, she screamed under a blood moon. Power surged through her, shattering the stars above.
To save one love… she destroyed another.
---
Back in the Present – The Choice
"I'm remembering," Elaina whispered. "And I'm scared."
Lucien tilted her chin up. "Then let me carry some of the weight."
She closed her eyes, forehead against his. "If I become something unrecognizable…"
"I'll find you again. Every time."
From the circle, her darker half smiled.
"You always did have a flair for drama," it said. "How romantic. How foolish."
Elaina turned to it.
"I will face you. I'll face what I was. But you don't get to control me anymore."
The mark on her neck glowed again—and for the first time, the creature hissed and stepped back.
Her power was awakening.
And this time… it would belong to her, not to fate.
---