CHAPTER 5

The hospital smell was gone and it was replaced by the fresh scent of morning air. Then, her hands went to her stomach and expected pain but there was none. Completely, she ignored Kate as she moved around the room to check something. 

Looking around, Nadine realized she was in her old bedroom. The dresser, the soft curtains, even the chair in the corner - everything was the way it had been before she married Alpha Marcus. Then, her hands shook as she touched the bedsheets and smelled them. 

“Nadine, is there something wrong?” Kate noticed and wondered why I was smelling the bedsheets. 

“Shhhh, don’t say anything,” Nadine ordered Kate to shut up in a nice manner.  “How could this be?” she asked herself because she had died. She remembered the pain, the sorrow and everything. So, why?

Why was she back in the past?

While still being confused, Nadine stood up and her legs trembled as she walked to the mirror. Then, she checked her appearance. No dark circles under her eyes, and there was no sign of exhaustion and heartbreak. She looked younger just like her best friend!

Then, the calendar on the wall caught her eye. She strolled toward it and looked closer. It was confirmed!  She was back in the years before her wedding to Marcus! She had been given a second chance…a chance to change everything! The thought filled her with hope and fear at the same time because she knew the future. 

Marcus and Kate’s betrayal, the heartbreak, the loss of her child…and her death! 

But now that she’s back,  she could avoid it all, right?

Sitting back down on the bed, her mind was racing. She shouldn’t marry Marcus Caldwell. She shouldn’t suffer again! This time, she could make different choices to protect herself from the pain but the idea of changing her future felt like a lifeline. 

"I won’t make the same mistakes again," she whispered to herself. This time, she would protect herself, her future, and her happiness. She wouldn’t let Alpha Marcus ruin her life again! Never! 

“What mistake?” 

Nadine was startled to hear Kate’s voice again.  When she turned around, she saw Kate again. The woman was standing before her and she narrowed her eyes. “Kate, why are you still here? I mean, why are you here?”

“Because we are going to prepare for your party,” Kate replied. 

“Party? What are you talking about?” Nadine asked and Kate’s grin widened. 

"You must have forgotten because of excitement. You couldn't even stop talking about your engagement to Marcus Caldwell last night!” Kate exclaimed with glee as she recalled what happened last night. 

Nadine's heart skipped a beat. "Engagement... Marcus..." Her mind raced to make sense of Kate's words, the pieces of memory slowly falling into place.

“Nadine, are you sick?” Kate asked. 

"W-what?" 

Then, Kate moved closer, while attempting to reach for Nadine's hand, but Nadine recoiled and shook her head. "No, this can't be happening."

"Nadine, what’s wrong?" 

“I... I need you to leave,” Nadine finally managed to send Kate away. 

"Of course," Kate replied softly as she retreated towards the door. 

Alone once more, Nadine sank back against the soft pillows. The realization of what Kate had said – an engagement to Marcus Caldwell – lingered like a shadow in her thoughts. Was this some twisted reality or a trick of her own mind?

She was confused. She wanted to ask Kate but she was livid with anger at the woman. Earlier, she wanted to scratch both of Kate’s eyes after betraying her trust, and bribing the doctors to kill her on the operating table! But at this time, Kate was innocent! 

“Yes! We are reborn! This is our second life, Nadine!”

Nadine froze when she heard the voice. It sounded like hers, but something was different. Then, her eyes widened as realization hit her—it was her wolf's voice! But how? Her wolf had never awakened, not even when she was on the brink of death in her first life!

“Just call me Étienne,” the voice said again, cheerfully. “I picked a nice name for myself, right Nadine?”

Nadine blinked, while still trying to wrap her head around the situation. Étienne? It was a cute name, she had to admit. But that wasn’t what was important right now. Why now? Why had Étienne decided to awaken in this second life and not in the first, when she needed her the most?

She was flabbergasted. Why had her wolf stayed silent before, only to make herself known now?

"You should be happy the Moon Goddess took pity on you and gave you a second chance. Let’s not waste this opportunity, Nadine. Get up, and let’s kick some ass!" Étienne’s voice rang with energy. 

“Energetic, aren’t we?” Nadine teased her wolf. 

“Yes! I had enough rest,” Etienne jested and Nadine rolled her eyes. 

Actually, she was still stunned and her mind was spinning. She had no idea how to handle the fact that she had been reborn! She looked down at her hands—young, unscarred, unburdened by the pain she had carried in her previous life. She was seventeen again, and in just a few hours, she would turn eighteen.

Étienne was right. She needed to get up. This was her chance to rewrite her fate. To meet all those people again, but to face them differently this time. Nadine swallowed hard as her thoughts raced to her last eighteenth birthday. If everything happened the same way as before, then tonight... tonight she would lose her virginity to Marcus.

But this time, she wouldn’t be the same naive girl. This time, she knew what was coming, and she had the chance to change everything! 

Marcus Caldwell.

He was the future Alpha of White Pride. He has black hair and his eyes were dark green, and whenever she would stare at his eyes, she seemed to be staring at the deepest forest in the world. He has tattoos on his arms that added to his charms. Marcus looked so handsome, and every girl wanted to get his attention.

“Nadine?”

Nadine was startled upon hearing Kate’s voice again. She was so engrossed in her conversation with Ettiene that she failed to notice Kate had come back. Etienne growled at Kate’s presence, but she was able to control her wolf while facing the traitor. 

“Yes, Kate?”

“Do you think he will come tonight?” Kate asked while referring to Marcus.

For a moment, Nadine stared at Kate Fox. Previously, she was unaware of Kate’s fondness towards Marcus Caldwell. The future Alpha of White Pride was her childhood friend, and they were close since they were kids. In her past life, they were discovered to be mates on their eighteenth birthday, and on that special night, she surrendered herself to him. Everything was perfect on her eighteenth birthday, and Nadine wondered if it would still be perfect this time.

“I don’t know. Mmmm, can you get me a cup of coffee please?” Nadine asked Kate because she wanted to be alone for a moment. When the woman nodded, she sighed in relief.

However, by the time she was alone, she recalled the event when she totally surrendered herself to Alpha Marcus for the first time. She shivered while trying to dismiss the vivid memory but she couldn’t stop it from playing inside her mind!

Then, she grimaced.