Chapter 2: Once Dead

Mikalya’s P.O.V

I watched as Rhys’s face drained of color, his usual composure faltering in an instant. My confirmation had struck him hard, like a blow he wasn’t prepared to take.

“How is that even possible?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes darted from the entrance of the tent to mine, desperate for answers. “You told me he died ages ago, Mikalya. That he was gone.”

“I did,” I admitted, my voice trembling as I tried to steady myself. “Because that’s what I believed. That’s what everyone believed.” I hesitated, the weight of the truth crashing over me again as if I was hearing it for the first time.

“But…I don’t know how to explain this or even make sense of it all. He’s alive, Rhys. And that man—” I gestured vaguely, my throat tightening as his name slipped from my lips, “—that man is Abhay.”

Rhys shook his head, his brows furrowing as though trying to make sense of an impossible puzzle.

“Abhay?” he repeated, his tone laced with disbelief. “The same Abhay you said fell into the Jharna? That Abhay?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice breaking slightly. I swallowed hard, my memories of that day rushing back in vivid flashes.

“The last time I saw him, he fell. I was there, fighting off another Alpha, when Abhay distracted him, took him down with him. I thought—” I paused, closing my eyes briefly to push back the tears threatening to spill.

“I thought I lost him forever. But now, I see him. Right in front of me. And, Rhys... I don’t know what to do.”

Rhys stepped closer, his hand finding mine. His touch was grounding, a silent reassurance that I wasn’t alone in this.

“You don’t have to do anything alone, Mikalya. Whatever this is, whatever he’s here for, I’m right here next to you. You don’t have to face him alone.”

I looked up at him, my heart aching at the sincerity in his eyes. But I knew the truth—this wasn’t something Rhys could fight for me. This was my battle, my confrontation, my past clawing its way into my present.

“No,” I said, shaking my head gently. “I have to. You don’t understand, Rhys. He doesn’t know about you, about us, about any of this.” I took a deep breath, gathering the strength I wasn’t sure I had.

“I need to face him. Alone.”

Rhys’s jaw tightened, and for a moment, he looked like he might argue. His hand gripped mine a little harder, a silent plea for me to reconsider.

“Mikalya, this could be dangerous. You don’t know what he wants, or why he’s here now, after all these years.”

“I know,” I said softly, pulling my hand away gently. “But I need to find out. And I need to do it on my own.”

Reluctantly, Rhys nodded, though I could see the conflict in his eyes. “Fine,” he muttered, his voice tinged with frustration. “But I’ll be right outside. If anything happens, if you need me, I’ll come in. Just... don’t shut me out, Mikalya.”

“I won’t,” I promised, though I wasn’t entirely sure I believed it myself. As Rhys stepped out of the tent, his silhouette lingering at the edge of the canvas for a moment, I turned toward the entrance. My heart was pounding, a chaotic rhythm of fear and determination. 

Abhay was here. After all these years, he was here. And no matter how much I wanted to run, I knew there was no escaping this confrontation.

The silence pressed in, and I chewed the inside of my cheek, willing time to move faster. Then, suddenly, the flap of the tent shifted, and he entered. Abhay. My heart leapt to my throat, and for a moment, I could hardly breathe.

He looked… different. Stronger. More polished, somehow, like time had sculpted him into a version of himself I couldn’t quite place. He should’ve been older—forty, maybe more—but he looked almost exactly as I remembered, if not more striking. Yet his wolf—its scent was unmistakable. How had I not noticed it before? How had he hidden it all this time?

“Abhay,” I said, my voice cracking under the weight of his name. I wanted to run to him, to touch him, to demand answers, but my feet stayed rooted to the ground.

He didn’t speak at first, just closed the space between us with measured, deliberate steps. His eyes, those same piercing eyes, studied me like I was a puzzle he was only now beginning to piece together.

“Mikalya,” he murmured, his voice deeper, rougher than I remembered, but still his. He reached out, his fingers brushing my face. I flinched instinctively, the reflex sharper than I’d meant it to be. His touch stilled, but he didn’t pull away.

“I didn’t even remember,” he said softly, his words more to himself than to me. “Not until… just now. When I saw you. It was like someone opened a door, and everything came rushing back.”

I stared at him, struggling to reconcile the man in front of me with the one I used to know. “You didn’t remember?” My voice came out in a whisper, thick with disbelief. “How… How is that possible? Abhay, you’re—”

“A beta,” he finished for me, his lips twisting into something between a smile and a grimace.

“Yeah. I guess I’ve always been one. But I didn’t know—not really. Not until this pack found me.”

My mind reeled. “But you hid it,” I said, my words tumbling out before I could stop them. “All this time, you—how could you hide something like that?”

His gaze darkened, and he took another step closer, his presence almost suffocating in its intensity.

“I didn’t hide it, Mikalya. It was hidden from me. By me. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like waking up from a dream you didn’t know you were in. Seeing your face was the spark that woke me up.”

I swallowed hard, my throat dry as I tried to make sense of it all. “You’re saying… you didn’t know? That you’ve been living all these years… as a wolf? Without any recollection that you were human before?”

He nodded, his jaw tightening. “I didn’t even know what I was missing. But now…” He stepped even closer, his hand still on my face, his thumb brushing lightly against my cheek.

“Now I remember everything.”

My chest tightened, and I tried to hold his gaze, but it felt like too much. “And what does that mean for us, Abhay? For me?”

He let out a breath, his fingers trailing down to my chin, tilting my face upward. “I don’t know, not really. All I can tell is that I’m here now.”

The weight of his words hit me like a tidal wave, but I wasn’t sure if it was comfort or chaos they brought with them. All I knew was that the Abhay I thought I’d lost was back—stronger, sharper, and more powerful than I ever could have imagined. And I wasn’t sure if that terrified me or gave me hope.

The air between us felt charged, almost suffocating with everything left unsaid over the years. His eyes, deep and earnest, searched mine, and I felt my defenses slipping.

“Mikalya," he breathed, his voice soft but carrying the weight of a thousand emotions, "I’ve missed you so much. You have no idea. It’s like... there’s been this hole in my heart ever since I woke up. I’ve tried to fill it with other things, with people, with distractions, but nothing worked. It’s always been you."

I swallowed hard, my throat tightening as I tried to hold myself together. "Abhay, I..." I started, but the words caught in my throat. What could I say? That I missed him too? That I thought about him every night? That no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was the one who truly understood me?

"I didn’t realize what I had been missing all this time until I saw you," he continued, leaning forward slightly, his face inches from mine. "I don’t know how to even begin to describe what’s going through my mind right now." His voice cracked on the last word, and my chest ached in response.

"Abhay," I whispered, feeling my own resolve crumble. "I didn’t know what to say...what to even think..."

"I can’t either," he asked, his gaze locking onto mine. "How could I have forgotten this…forgotten you, Mikalya? When every moment with you felt like it was meant to be my forever?" His words hit me like a tidal wave, crashing through the walls I had built around my heart.

I felt my eyes well up, but I didn’t look away. "I missed you too," I admitted, my voice trembling. "I missed us. But I didn’t think we could ever—"

"Don’t say that," he interrupted, his voice firm yet pleading. "Don’t go back to those memories. I’m here now. I’m alive and I’m right here, Mink. My firangi…" His hand reached out, gently brushing against mine, and I felt a spark, like electricity coursing through my veins.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. The intensity of his words, his presence, it was overwhelming. And when he leaned in, his face so close to mine, I felt my breath hitch.

“Can I?" he asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper, giving me one last chance to pull away.

I didn’t. I couldn’t. I nodded, just slightly, and that was all he needed.

His lips met mine, and suddenly, everything else faded away. The years of pain, the nights of longing, the regrets—they all melted in the heat of that kiss. It was like coming home, like finding the missing piece of a puzzle I didn’t know I had been holding onto for so long.