Chapter 3

Cold fury flared inside her, ugly and jagged. Matt? Matthew? Disgusting bond-traitor Matthew who had thrown her away and jumped into her sister's bed, steal away her daughter, and help turn everyone she loved against her because she had been stupid enough to believe that true love could triumph? That Matthew from the life before?

"Tell the gentleman I'm not accepting any more company tonight. He should leave immediately."

David blinked. The aged man knew nothing, and he had always been so firmly entrenched in propriety and manners, so she couldn't blame him for his surprise at her callous response. "...Should I arrange for him to see you tomorrow, then?" he asked, hesitant.

"Nope. I can't imagine there's anything he needs to discuss with me that he can't handle with his fiancee. Annalise's room is just around the corner. And since my father's around, I'm sure he can help, too."

"But Miss Elizabeth. You should meet your sister's future husband at least once when he's come all this way for your wedding. It would be bad manners to ignore him like this."

"I already met him before when I was a child. I've seen more than enough."

"Elizabeth!"

"What? Did I say something wrong? He's not my brother-in-law yet, I'll wait until after his and Anna's wedding to treat him like one. What does he even want from me?"

"Please, Elizabeth. I'm sure he's only meaning to greet you. Matthew and the entourage from the Catii family only just arrived a little while ago, so they don't even know about your - your accident. Maybe I could inform him you're not feeling well...?"

"You can do that. And tell him I don't intend to ever see him again."

"Elizabeth! What has gotten into you!"

Indeed, what had gotten into her? Sense, finally. She had been given a second chance by the Moon Goddess herself. Oh, sure, deep in her consciousness, she was well aware this all just a desperate delusion because none of this could possibly be real, but even if that were the case, she would happily live in it. If this was the closest thing she would ever have of redemption, happiness, maybe even create a whole world in this imaginary life where she could give her future daughter the life she deserved...

"David, I'm sorry," she sighed. "The truth is, my head's pounding and I still feel sick. I don't know why I'm not healing properly, I should have recovered by now...but I feel like I'm dying, really. I just want to rest."

Sweet David. She had never been close to the old man before he passed away, but he had always been a loyal attendant to her father and protective beyond measure of the children of the house. He squared his shoulders and clasped his wizened hands before himself. "Not to worry. You should have said so! I'll send him away immediately."

* * *

Matt hadn't intended to press his ear to the bedroom door and eavesdrop like a pathetic trespasser, but the instant the servant had disappeared into the room, he had rushed forward and mashed himself against the wood. But these damned doors were so thick he could hardly catch but every other syllable, and none of it made sense. But on the other side was Beth for sure. Her voice - he could never forget it. Ever. He had waited so long to hear it again, ever since he had awoken and realized-

As soon as he heard footsteps on the floorboards, he threw himself back down the hallway, putting as much distance between the door and himself as possible. Seconds later, the attendant reappeared and closed the door behind himself before Matt could sneak a glimpse past it. "I apologize, Mr. Matthew," the elderly man announced. "Elizabeth is feeling under the weather and needs rest. I could have someone escort you to your room if you'd like? I believe it's been prepared for you already along with a meal. You must need some rest yourself with your travel here being delayed so much thanks to the storm."

"It'll just be a moment, if you don't mind," said Matt. "A hello, and well-wishes for...her upcoming wedding."

"Ah. Well, I receive it in her stead gratefully. I'll relay the congratulations when she's awake -"

"Personally," he insisted. "Please. I wouldn't feel right if I left it like this."

He was pushing it. He knew he was. Standing outside the room of a young woman meant to become his sister-in-law in a matter of days - hours, even, and brutishly insisting on seeing her even when he had already been turned away. But he couldn't let this pass him by. He had waited so long, and he still couldn't believe...

"Mr. Matthew," the attendant said, more forcefully now and with a noticeable burr in his voice. "To be honest, Elizabeth is feeling so unwell that she even said she'll never see you again, with no provocation at all. I hope you can sympathize with her, especially in her current state of mind. A great deal of stress, Mr. Matthew." The elderly man gave him a pointed look. "So at least until she's feeling better, I think it would be better if you see to the guest accommodations we've made for you. So you can let us know if there's anything missing. And you can feel free to deliver your greetings to the lady tomorrow, sir."

That was right. Even attendants could speak to Matt like this, with reproachful stares and wagging tongues. He was only Matthew of the lowly Catii family, the weakest of the centralized, land-owning packs. This was all long before...

He shoved away the intrusive musings and nodded, accepting defeat. Or at least putting on a pretense of it, anyway. Instead of returning to his room or his entourage, he rounded the corner and waited there out of sight. Beth had to come out sooner or later. And when she did, he would grab her, look her in the eyes, see her face, hear her voice. There was so much she needed to know. So much she needed to hear from him. He couldn't rest until she did.

Not this time.

The last thing she had ever said to him still rang in his ears, shadows of the life before. It had been decades since then, when he had watched her waste away in that bed too large for her starved, sick frame. She hadn't been able to speak toward the end, not one word...except to push him away one last time, damning him forever. "Leave me alone," she had breathed, half-wheezing as her lungs gave out. And that was it. She had faded, growing cold in his arms as he begged her to stay, to come back, to let him make things right again.

"Leave me alone," she had said. And to this day, he had never forgotten the frigid knife of her rejection twist again in his gut, once and for all.

Oh, Moon Goddess. No one would ever believe Matt if he dared to speak the truth, that he was reliving his life and retracing his every step decades prior. No one would ever believe Matt if he told them that he had lived and died once already, that decades after he had lost Beth that night, he had gone on to struggle in vain and build a pointless empire built on the foundations of his betrayal - his betrayal of her, his fated mate, the woman he had stupidly not only let go but thrown away from himself. And then he had died miserably on the battlefield, bleeding and broken and cursing his own stupidity until his last breath.

Beth had been so good to him. She hadn't just helped him rule the pack. She had grown into a fierce warrior, always protecting and fighting for him, for their daughter. But instead of being grateful for his partner who always remained at his side, he had let his envy and panic poison him. The humiliating gossip, the head-shaking, the clucking of everyone who wondered why someone like talented, beautiful Elizabeth of the Rokley family would ever throw her whole future away to elope with a weak man like Matthew Catii...Especially when they compared him to the man she was supposed to marry, Warren of the Heether family...Warren Heether who came from the second most powerful werewolf family, Warren Heather who was stronger, richer, more charismatic...A man worthy of Elizabeth Rokley. It was only a matter of time before she left her husband for a better man, they had all said.

Matt had let it twist him, scar him. Or maybe he had always been that weak and ugly inside underneath the pristine exterior he always showed to the world. Either way, he had still done the unthinkable. The unforgivable.

And when he had lain there on the battlefield, bleeding and dying and damned, his final regret was that he had thrown away his fated mate.

The Moon Goddess must have taken pity on him. Why else would he have been transported thirty years back to when he was still eighteen, back when he had still been engaged to Beth's younger sister Annalise, before he had ruined everything? This was his second chance. Moon Goddess knew he didn't deserve it, but it was his anyway. And he would make things right this time. Beth - Beth would be his and no one else's, and he could pretend he had never betrayed her, pretend he had never killed her in the end. It would all go away, and she would belong to him.

So why was she pushing him away now? He didn't understand. Back then, Beth had been the one to come find him, appearing at his door in the middle of the night without warning to announce that she wouldn't let him marry her sister. And they had locked eyes...realized they were each other's fated mates.

That was supposed to be his second chance. So why had she pushed him away tonight? He didn't understand. He had come all the way to her room, eager to recreate the experience, make it right - and yet now he was hiding around the corner like a thief, waiting for her to appear.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. What was going on?

But before he could unravel the mystery, the rattling of a doorknob launched him out of his pondering. Finally! She was coming out of her room! His heart slammed into his ribcage as he scrambled around, seeing her shadow on the opposite wall, and at last his hand wrapped around a slender wrist. Oh, Beth. Beth! She was here, finally, after decades of waiting, and he was never letting her go-

"Let me go!" she screamed, and if not for his desperation, the pure rage in her voice would have had him letting go and staggering back. But he refused, even when she tried to hurl his hand away with a savage twist. Because she was his mate, she was his only, she belonged to him. He grabbed her shoulder with his other hand and pulled her close, ignoring the punch to his throat and narrowly, the next one to his chin. She shouldn't fight him. She couldn't, not really. They were fated to each other forever, she was just confused, that was all.

"We can run away together," he said in a rush. "The way you want. That's your plan, isn't it? We'll get away from all this and -"

"Are you crazy? Get off of me! Now!"

"Beth, please, just look at me-"

"Let her go."

Matt froze. Not because he was afraid of the dark, resonant voice behind him - he was too enraptured by Beth for that - but because he felt her shiver at the words.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" A young man stepped out of the shadows, approaching them with long, slow strides. "I said, let her go."

That voice. It was so familiar, as if she were hearing the echo of a memory in the dark. But who was it walking toward them in the shadowed hallway, the young man whose harsh, grating voice made the hairs on the back of her neck rise? She even forgot to continue fighting Matt's grip on her wrist, and they stared together in silence as the silhouette framed in darkness came into the dim light.

"I told you to let her go," he growled. "You have no business with my sister-in-law. Get out of here." His dark eyes fell upon their - unwillingly - joined hands, and they narrowed to dangerous slits. "Now."

Sister-in-law? Could it be....? No way, it couldn't.