THE PATH HAS BEEN LAID

Kaliyah's POV

Fogs of memories swirled in my mind as I slipped in and out of consciousness. These memories, I knew they weren't mine at all; they were the memories of the body I was currently in. They forced themselves into my being, imprinting someone else's experiences into my core until I didn't know who I was anymore.

The fragments of memories continued to sink in, and as the final fragment merged with me, a cold sensation overcame me. It was the memory of how the original owner of this body died, but that wasn't what made me shiver in horror. It was a pair of cold purple eyes that stared down at me, and his lips stretched in a devious smirk. Asterion.

In the memory, he had killed her in the exact same fashion as he killed me—a claw to the heart. A sick feeling of déjà vu consumed me, and I felt myself screaming out in terror. This was way too coincidental.

“Ughh.” Finally, I opened my eyes and blinked against the warm light that flooded my vision.

“Lady Kaliyah!” I heard a kind voice call out that name. That name again. It seems I was stuck with being called that name, and honestly, I still haven't come to terms with my situation, but I needed to act the part.

I blinked my eyes to see a group of ladies staring back at me with looks of concern. From my new memories, I identified these people as the healers. They quickly swarmed around me, and their hands glowed with magic as they worked to ease my fatigue. The glow of their magic felt a bit tingly on my skin.

“Lady Kaliyah, how do you feel?” One of them, whom I remembered as Nancy, asked me.

“I’m fine.” I managed to croak out an answer as I tried to focus on the present.

“May the Moon Goddess be praised, it's a miracle!” Nancy heaved a sigh of relief.

The mention of the Moon Goddess's name made me remember the prayers I sent her way when Asterion pierced my heart. It seemed my prayers were answered.

“Yes, may she be praised,” I mumbled in gratitude. Who would have thought that the prayer I said to her in desperation would actually be answered, and in the most poetic of ways, seeing how the former Kaliyah was killed by Asterion too.

“You’re safe now, Lady Kaliyah. Rest now, and we'll take care of you,” the healer smiled softly.

I nodded again, but my heart was far from at ease. I mean, could you really blame me? I had just come back from the dead, in the body of another woman who was also killed by the same man that killed me. Of course, I would freak out. The insanity of it all.

I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down, but my peace flew out the window when the door to my room burst open.

I opened my eyes and saw two men entering the room. The healers bowed their heads in respect and addressed the older of the two men as Alpha.

My newly acquired memories identified him as Alpha Torino, the leader of the Vordak pack. The younger man standing beside him with fiery red eyes locked onto mine was his son, Kovu.

I began to feel a pull towards him, exactly the same sensation that washed over me when I first crawled out of that coffin. The mate bond.

My situation was funny to me. Here I was, reborn into the body of a member of the Vordak pack, who were sworn enemies to my previous pack, the Eldrath pack, yet I was feeling the pull of the mate bond towards this man, Kovu, who stood glaring at me from the corner as if he wanted nothing more than to rip me apart.

“Kaliyah, how are you feeling?” Alpha Torino asked with an expression of concern. “Praise the Moon Goddess, you've returned to us. Our best warrior brought back from the brink.”

“I... I'm better, Alpha, thank you.” I managed to smile at him.

“The Moon Goddess has truly blessed us. To have you back at a time like this… we couldn't have asked for more.”

The old Alpha continued yapping, but I barely listened to what he was saying. My gaze was fixed on Kovu, who returned my gaze with a cold look in his eyes. It was as if he hated every breath I took, and I wondered what on earth I ever did to him.

The mate bond was supposed to be sacred, a connection forged by the Moon Goddess herself. Not like the fake one Asterion forged between us, but even so, it seemed like Kovu didn't even want to have anything to do with me.

“Kovu, isn't this a blessing? Kaliyah, our strongest warrior, has returned to us. This war can still be won!” Alpha Torino's voice broke through my thoughts as he addressed his son.

“Yes… it is a blessing indeed,” he replied sarcastically with a clenched jaw.

“Uh… thank you, Alpha. I’ll do my best to serve the pack as I always have,” I said softly, praying they would leave so I could have some alone time.

“As you should. Healers, take good care of her, please,” Alpha Torino addressed the healers, who all nodded in agreement.

Alpha Torino and Kovu walked out of the room, but Kovu just couldn't help but cast one final hateful glance at me before leaving the room.

The healers instructed me to rest as well before I was finally alone in the room—me and my thoughts.

I sighed heavily and sank back into the bed while suppressing a slight chuckle. The irony of my situation was almost laughable if it wasn't so twisted, to be honest.

I'd been resurrected in a body that suffered the same fate as mine—killed by Asterion, and this same body happened to be the best warrior of our sworn enemies, the Lycans. To top it all off, my so-called second chance mate loathed me. Could the Moon Goddess be any more poetic in her sense of humor?

My mind wandered back to what Alpha Torino had said: “Our pack's strongest warrior.”

The statement sounded unbelievable to me, but when I recalled the memories of the woman whose body I now inhabited, I was shocked to my core. Her strength, her accomplishments, the battles she fought, the enemies she had defeated, and the respect she commanded as the Vordak pack’s most formidable warrior. It was truly incredible, and now, I was claiming all these for myself. I felt like a freaking imposter.

But, with this, came an opportunity. I remembered my vow to kill Asterion and Tiffany, my prayer to the Moon Goddess to make me reborn in a stronger body, and now, my prayers were answered. All that was left was to get to Asterion and exact revenge.

For myself and for this body's previous owner.

Seraphina was dead now and buried. I would embrace this new identity and work towards my vengeance.