Chapter 5 Your Womb and That Prophecy

Katherine’s POV

"Well..." I sighed, looking at his confused face. I leaned in and whispered, "Nothing. Should I tell you?"

I didn't wait for his answer. I didn't wait to see his eyes glow that fake, "kind" red.

I turned and ran.

I ran as if the silver sword were already swinging toward my neck. My heart was screaming in my ears, a loud, frantic thumping that drowned out Nikolai calling my name.

I didn't look back until I reached my bedroom.

I slammed the door and turned the lock, my hands shaking so hard I could barely move the bolt.

The sound of the lock was the only thing that made me feel safe. I leaned my back against the wood and slid down until I was sitting on the floor.

My hand flew to my throat, my fingers searching for the wound that wasn't there.

"Breathe," I gasped, my chest heaving. "Breathe, Katherine. You’re alive. You’re eighteen. He hasn't killed you yet."

But the phantom pain was still there. I could still feel the cold bite of the silver and the way the air had left my lungs in the dirt.

I stayed there in the dark, clutching my neck, waiting for my heart to slow down.

I had survived the first night. I had changed the prophecy.

But now, I was in a house full of enemies, and the only man who could protect me was the ruthless brother who didn't even know why I had chosen him.

Suddenly, the heavy door didn’t just open—it exploded.

The wood splintered as Charles, my father, threw it open with the strength of a Beta’s rage. Guards stood behind him, their faces like stone.

But I just sat on the edge of my bed and watched them enter my wreckage.

"You disgraceful, ungrateful girl!" Catalina, my mother, hissed as she marched toward me. Her eyes were wide with a mix of fury and embarrassment. "Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You didn't just reject Nikolai—you humiliated the Knight name in front of the entire King’s court!"

"I gave you everything!" Charles roared, his voice shaking the walls. "I secured your future with the next Alpha King of the Blood Moon. And you threw it away to act like a wild, brainless rogue? To offer yourself to a ruthless rogue like Alexander?"

In the corner, Sofia leaned against the wall. She looked like a concerned angel, but her eyes were dancing with joy. She was loving every second of this.

"Mother, Father, please don't be too hard on her," Sofia said,  "Maybe Katherine just doesn't understand. Maybe she’s just... overwhelmed. Though, choosing the brother who has a room covered in the blood of his lovers? That does seem a bit... insane, doesn't it?"

"She isn't insane, Sofia," Catalina snapped, turning back to me. "She’s a brat! You made us look like fools, Katherine! The King thinks we can't control our own daughter. You will go out there right now, you will find Nikolai, and you will beg for his forgiveness on your knees!"

I looked at Catalina, then at Charles. I didn't see parents. I saw the two people who had stood by and watched a silver blade take my life.

"No," I said. The word was quiet, but it cut through their shouting like a knife.

"What did you say?" Charles stepped forward, his hand raised as if to strike me.

"I said no," I repeated. I stood up slowly, my legs steady for the first time in two lives.

I walked right into my father’s personal space, forcing him to look into the eyes of the daughter he had helped kill. "I am done being the currency you use to buy favor with the King. You want a Luna in the family? You have Sofia. Give her to him."

Catalina let out a shrill, piercing scream that vibrated in the small room. "If Sofia were the one in the Prophecy, do you think we would even be looking at you?! We would love to give her to Nikolai! But the Seer named you, even though you’re nothing but a weak, wolf-less brat!"

She stepped closer, her face twisted. "The only thing you are good for is your womb and that prophecy. Don't you dare act like you have a choice."

Then my father let his Beta aura leak out, a heavy, suffocating pressure meant to make me drop to my knees.

"Choose Nikolai for the good of this family," he growled, his voice vibrating with authority. "Think, girl! If you marry the Alpha of the Feral Pack, he won’t just lead his own people. He will take over the Blood Moon, too. And do you know what happens then? Everything changes."

He grabbed my shoulders, his grip bruising. "My status will be gone! Alexander doesn't keep old loyalties. He’ll demote me to a lower rank. He’ll bring his own savage men here and replace us all! Do you want to see your own father stripped of his title? Do you want to see our family in the dirt just because you want to be 'rebellious'?"

I looked at his hands on my shoulders—the same hands that didn't reach out to save me when the silver blade fell.

I looked at my father and slowly nodded my head. For a second, his chest puffed out with pride. He thought I was finally breaking. He thought I was his submissive little girl again.

Then, my expression went cold. "I still choose Alexander."

Charles’s face turned a violent shade of red. With a roar of rage, he raised his hand high, ready to deliver a blow that would knock me to the floor.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I asked, my voice as sharp as a razor.  "It can leave a bruise."

His hand stopped mid-air. He stood there, frozen, his breath hitching. He looked at me, his eyes wide with confusion.

The Old Katherine would have curled into a ball and waited for the pain. She would have endured days of starvation as punishment and apologized for the crime of breathing.

But I wasn't that girl. I was a dead woman, and I wasn't afraid of a slap.

Sofia stepped forward from the shadows, her sweet face twisting into something ugly. "What is wrong with you?!" she shrieked. "How dare you threaten our father! Father, don't listen to her. Put her in the underground cells! Let her starve for days until she remembers her place! She’s acting like a wild rogue—treat her like one!"

I almost laughed. I knew this move. In my last life, they had locked me in that cold, damp dark for a week to break my spirit.

I turned on my heels and walked toward the door before they could even grab me.

"Fine," I said, looking back over my shoulder with a savage smirk. "Let’s go to the underground. I’ll save you the trouble of dragging me."

"Katherine, get back here!" Catalina screamed.

I ignored her and looked straight at Charles. "But remember this, Father. When Alexander and Nikolai both come looking for me tomorrow—make sure you tell them the truth."

I leaned against the doorframe, my eyes dancing with a cold fire.

"Tell them I’m in the basement. Tell them I’m starving. I wonder which one of them will burn this house down first to get me out?"