Another Chance

Lyra POV

Shouts and dramatic gasps erupted throughout the sprawling banquet hall as the heavy bouquet violently exploded into a shower of torn white petals against Varn's perfectly sculpted face. He stumbled backward in absolute shock, his hands flying up defensively as if I had just struck him with a silver blade rather than a bundle of delicate roses. The perfectly curated, manipulative smile he wore just a second ago was completely gone, replaced by genuine, unadulterated confusion.

"Lyra! What on earth are you doing?" Vesper's frantic voice yelled out over the stunned murmurs of the elite crowd.

I snapped my head toward the sound and found her rushing frantically toward me, her elegant gown sweeping across the polished floor. But as I looked at my so-called best friend, the grand ballroom and the hundreds of staring guests instantly melted away. All I could see was the evil, demonic smile she wore right after she forced the lethal, burning poison down my throat. The phantom taste of that bitter, fiery liquid suddenly coated the back of my tongue.

Pure, paralyzing terror seized my heart in a vice grip. I stumbled backward, instinctively throwing my arms out to keep Vesper away from me. I couldn't let her touch me. I couldn't let her near me.

Without another word, I turned on my heel and ran. I shoved past the bewildered guests, ignoring their shocked whispers and reaching hands. I fled the banquet hall, my lungs burning as I burst through the heavy double doors and out into the cool night air. I didn't stop to look back. I just kept running through the familiar pack lands, my breathing ragged, my high heels clicking erratically against the pavement until I reached the absolute safety of my parents' house.

I slammed the heavy oak door shut behind me, leaning against it as my chest heaved. The house was completely quiet, utterly untouched by the dramatic chaos I had just left behind. I pushed myself off the door and stumbled into the living room. The TV was playing a local news broadcast, casting a faint, flickering light across the dark room.

I stared at the bright screen, trying to fully understand the impossible reality displayed before my eyes. The news anchor was droning on about border patrols, but my gaze was locked entirely on the bottom right corner of the screen. The date. The date displayed was the exact day Varn had proposed to me. The very scene I had just violently run away from wasn't a hallucination or a flashback. The Moon Goddess had somehow answered my dying prayers. I was actually living my life over again.

"Lyra?"

My mother's soft, familiar voice called out my name, pulling me sharply from the spinning vortex of my thoughts. I whipped my head around and saw her and my father entering the living room. Their faces were deeply etched with obvious concern, their eyes scanning my disheveled appearance and erratic behavior.

Seeing them standing there—alive, breathing, whole, and completely unaware of the brutal slaughter they had suffered in my previous life—shattered whatever fragile composure I had left. I desperately held back the flood of tears burning my eyes and rushed forward. I crashed into them, crushing my mother and father into a tight, desperate hug. I buried my face into my father's sturdy shoulder, inhaling his familiar scent, silently thanking the Goddess that his warm, beating heart was pressed right against mine.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" my mother asked with deep concern, gently rubbing her hand up and down my back. "Why did you run away like that?"

"Is this really happening?" I asked shakily, my voice muffled against them. The overwhelming relief of seeing them well was making it impossible to think straight.

"Of course, it's really happening," my mother said sweetly, pulling back slightly to look into my eyes. "You are getting married."

Those gentle words hit me like a physical blow. The crushing reality of my situation violently set in. I was back at the exact starting point of my demise, and I knew I had to protect this timeline and my family at absolutely all costs. Varn was not my husband yet. He was not the Alpha King.

I pulled back from their embrace entirely, planting my feet firmly on the ground. "I am not marrying Varn," I stated firmly.

"What do you mean?" my mother asked, her brow furrowing in profound confusion. "You agreed to his proposal just now."

I frantically searched for a plausible excuse, knowing I couldn't possibly tell them the truth about my gruesome past life. "How was I supposed to say no?" I said, making up a quick excuse and letting my voice waver just enough to sound overwhelmed. "In front of everyone? I just couldn't reject him in front of that massive crowd. I couldn't embarrass him like that. But I don't want to marry him. I won't do it."

"Lyra," my mother began, a reprimand forming on her lips, but my father didn't hesitate for a single second. He immediately stepped forward and interrupted her.

"Okay," he said simply.

I looked at him in pure shock. I could tell by his expression that the situation made him slightly uncomfortable, but his resolve was clear. "Okay?" I asked.

He nodded firmly. "It is entirely your choice who you marry."

His unconditional trust and immediate, unwavering support almost broke me all over again. A fresh wave of tears threatened to spill from my eyes. This was the very trust I had once foolishly squandered by blindly believing Varn and Vesper's manipulative lies. I had led this incredible man to his slaughter. Never again.

"It's not too late to call the wedding off, is it?" I asked hopefully, desperate for a clean break. "You haven't sent out the invitations yet?"

My mother's guilty expression instantly confirmed my absolute worst fear. "We have," she said softly. "Varn's family was just so incredibly excited. They didn’t want to waste any time at all, and we were all absolutely sure you would say yes."

My heart sank like a heavy stone. The invitations had already been sent out to the entire realm. Alpha laws and pack morals were notoriously strict regarding public engagements. Canceling an Alpha wedding of this massive magnitude right now wouldn't just be a minor social scandal. It would forcefully push my father into a deeply humiliating public apology before the entire wolf realm, along with a massive financial penalty paid to Varn's family that would single-handedly cripple our pack's economy.

I couldn't let my father bear that immense shame or lose his respected standing. I couldn't bankrupt the pack just to escape my engagement. I realized instantly that I needed a strategic plan. I had to find a cunning way to make the inevitable cancellation entirely Varn's fault.

Forcing a bright, fake smile onto my face, I lied directly to my parents. "Don't call it off," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "I am just being silly. I panicked. I just need a little time to get used to everything."

My mother exhaled a loud sigh of relief. "Of course, sweetheart. It's just nerves," she said with a warm smile.

Moments later, the heavy front door burst open, violently interrupting our private moment. Varn and his parents rushed frantically into the living room. Shortly behind them, an entirely uninvited Vesper slipped through the doorway, her calculating eyes darting around the room.

Varn walked directly toward me, feigning deep worry and concern. He immediately grabbed my arms, his fingers digging slightly into my skin. "Lyra, what happened?" he asked, his voice dripping with fake sympathy.

Suppressing the intense, rising disgust churning in my gut, I forced myself not to shove him away. The feel of his hands on my body made my skin crawl with revulsion. Luckily, Vesper stepped further into the room, loudly demanding to know what happened at the proposal. I used her sudden arrival as the perfect excuse to carefully pull away from his suffocating grip.

I urgently needed to know if their romantic betrayal had already begun in this timeline. I needed to know exactly what I was up against.

Walking deliberately past Vesper, I turned back and threw my arms around Varn in a fake, affectionately tight hug. "I'm sorry," I murmured softly against his shoulder.

I quickly turned my head over his shoulder just in time to watch Vesper's reaction. I caught a distinct, sharp flash of fear crossing Vesper's face as she stared at our embrace. Instantly, Varn shifted his weight and cast a secret, reassuring smile directly toward her over my shoulder.

My heart dropped straight into my stomach. It was completely true. They weren't just friends in this timeline—they already had a secret romantic relationship developing right behind my back.

I pulled back from the embrace, dropping my arms, and plastered a vulnerable expression on my face. "I am so sorry," I claimed, playing the part of the innocent, naive girl. "I was just incredibly overwhelmed by the crowd." I stepped back in and lightly hugged him again, purely to maintain my clueless cover.

Varn's father, Alpha Thorne, severely scoffed at my behavior. He looked down at me with utter disdain. "You still have such a childish personality," he insulted me openly in front of my own parents. "Maybe it would be best if Varn started working to immediately assist your father with the Alpha duties, since you are clearly not mature enough to handle them yourself."

"Father," Varn offered a weak, half-hearted warning. He looked annoyed, but I knew the truth. He was merely protecting his own innocent, supportive facade. He didn't actually care about defending my honor.

I glanced at my father and saw him visibly suppressing his boiling anger purely out of politeness to a visiting Alpha. He clenched his jaw tightly, his fists balling at his sides.

I stepped back from Varn's embrace entirely. I shook off the act of the naive, frightened girl. I stood incredibly tall, squaring my shoulders, and met his father's condescending gaze dead-on. I refused to let these arrogant parasites undermine my birthright right at the starting line.

I smiled sharply, letting my newfound, unshakeable determination shine through my eyes.

"There is absolutely no need for Varn to take over anything," I stated in a loud, commanding voice. I held the arrogant Alpha's stare without blinking. "I will be the future Alpha of this pack."