5

Who was she talking about? Why was she calling me Alpha Tia Moon when I was the Luna?

How did I even get here in the first place?

"Are you okay?" The woman asked, but I ignored her as I tried to remember why I was on a hospital bed.

Risa's face flashed in my head, and I could see her holding a syringe with a purple liquid. My throat constricted. Risa had injected me to die.

"This means I didn't die," I thought to myself, averting my gaze from the woman to glance around the room.

Confusion furrowed my forehead when I realized I was in a different room. Did this mean someone had saved me just before the poison penetrated deep into my system?

Thoughts reeled in my head, and the loud pounding of my heart against my chest almost made it impossible for me to hear my thoughts.

"I have to announce you're alive," the woman said, sounding giddy as she pivoted on the balls of her feet, pulling me out of my self-induced trance.

"What?" I snapped my head in her direction, eyes widening at what she had said. "No, wait! Please, don't tell anyone."

The woman halted in her tracks and tossed a glance over her shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"If you tell the Alpha and his supposed cousin that I'm awake–" I paused to catch my breath, giving tears room in my eyes. "They will kill me," I revealed breathlessly, fear enveloping me.

Confusion creased her forehead, and she eyed me as if I was insane. She blinked rapidly, then nodded slowly.

"But you're the Alpha," she stated, and then continued with a bright smile,

"I'm not the Alpha. I am the Luna," I pointed out with frustration laced in my tone.

She pressed her lips together and then glanced around with an expression that made me believe she thought I was going nuts.

She said, "Okay, I'll be right back. I just need to call the doctor to check your vitals, okay?"

She left even before I could give her a response. Panic surged through me, and my body trembled.

What was I missing? I couldn't even recognise her. Had I lost my memory? What was going on? Perhaps the moon goddess had given me a second chance.

My stomach churned, and it sent bile rushing up my throat when a thought crossed my mind. If Risa saw me, I was certain she would end my life for good this time.

I needed to act fast. I needed to run away.

Swinging feet to the other side of the bed, my legs curled the moment they touched the cold tiles. Shivers bit down my spine, and I shuddered. I had to manage since there wasn't any sign of footwear around.

Looking to the right, an empty drip bag hung above me, and its syringe was still connected to the back of my palm. Gently, I pulled it out and rose to my feet. My vision darkened, and the ground spun, but I gripped the bed for support.

Once my vision cleared, I swiftly made it to the window and pulled it open. The air whipped me in the face, grazing my skin and delivering a soothing sensation.

I wouldn't let them kill me for the second time.

Just as I was about to jump out, a voice rooted me to a stop. "Girl, relax... Stop overreacting." The feminine voice seemed to draw the first word.

My heart skipped a beat, and I glanced over my shoulder, furtively scanning the room for where the voice had come from. I was the only one in the room, except for the bed, chair, and television.

I closed my eyes for a second. Maybe I didn't hear well. It must have been from outside.

I returned my gaze to my front and raised my leg to the window, but jerked back when I heard, "Quit playing around and step away from the window."

"Who said that?" I asked, spinning around to survey the room. It was still empty.

"I said it. Stop trying to run away. You're safe here," she assured me, and this time, I could hear her loud and clear in my head.

A frown creased my forehead. The last time I checked, I didn't have a wolf, so who was this in my head?

I rushed to lock the door with its key in a bid to buy more time to escape.

"Who are you, and why are you in my head?" I questioned, my chest heaving as I stared into nothingness.

"I am Tia Moon, Alpha of the Solaria pack," she announced, and I shook my head, trying to stop the voice. "Stop doing that."

"Does it have an effect on you?" I stopped to ask.

"Yes," she answered.

I shook my head, more intensely than the last, until I was beginning to feel a slight headache. "Get out of my head."

The sound of the doorknob being twisted made my ears twitch. "Alpha, are you in there?" Sage Ivy called, but I kept mute.

"She is, I can perceive her," I heard a man's voice from behind the door.

Tia Moon let out an annoying laughter in my head. "I lied. It doesn't affect me when you do that. It only affects you like it's doing now."

Frustration lapped over me like the waves of an ocean, and I sank my fingers into my hair, gripping tresses of them.

"And point of correction," Tia started, sounding playful. "It is our head, not yours alone."

I ceased the shaking of my head. "What do you mean by our head?" I muttered, trying to block out the incessant calls of Ivy and some men, banging on the door, pleading for it to be unlocked.

"What do you mean our head?" I inquired with knitted brows.

"Alpha!" They called from behind the door.

"I'm not the Alpha!" I screamed.

"I think the incident has messed with the Alpha’s head. We need to call the beta," I heard one of the people say, and I gritted my teeth.

"Easy there, girl," Tia said. "Look, I was assassinated, and then I struck a deal with the moon goddess."

"Keep talking," I said, eyeing the door.

"I begged for a second chance, and she agreed to grant my wish on one condition–" Tia Moon explained and paused as if to take a breath. "–that I get to pick a dead wolf whose head I would live in for the rest of my life as her wolf. I picked you, and that granted the both of us a second chance. You should be happy you came back as an Alpha and not a slave."

My lips curled upwards in disapproval, and my brows knitted into a deep frown.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," I stated, trying to tighten the bottle cap of my emotions, but it was impossible. It felt like I was going nuts. I swallowed deep breaths.

They began to hit the door, trying to break it open. I could smell their fear oozing out of their skin and their sweat, too. Their fear was stronger. They thought I was going to hurt myself. Well, they weren't wrong because jumping off this window would twist my ankle.

"As ridiculous as it sounds, it is true. Stop thinking of jumping down the window," Tia said, and then added, "You should be grateful for it."

"Hell no!" I answered and then rushed to the window.

"You have to trust me," Tia stated urgently, but I climbed the window.

"I trusted Risa and Richard, and they shattered me into pieces. They ruined my life, they killed me!" I exclaimed as the wind tossed my hair around, and adrenaline surged through my veins. "I can't let them kill me the second time."

The door burst open, and just as I attempted to jump, strong arms wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me away from the window.

"Mate!" My wolf stirred awake, and his touch sent flames all over my body.