Chapter 3 Second Chance At Life

FIONA/CIARA

I absorbed the Moon Goddess’s words slowly while trying to fully understand the weight behind them. One hundred and fifty days—that was all the time I had left to survive in this second life, and within that time, I somehow had to find a mate willing to mark a wolfless girl like me.

“And there is one more rule,” the Moon Goddess continued calmly.

My chest tightened immediately. “What rule?”

“You cannot tell anyone the truth about who you are. You cannot speak about your previous life or this arrangement between us. The moment you reveal it to anyone, you will die instantly.”

The small hope growing inside me almost disappeared after hearing that.

“That’s impossible,” I whispered weakly. “How am I supposed to live like that?”

“Nothing is impossible if you truly wish to survive.”

I fell silent as the memories of Bale and Shania burying me alive surfaced in my mind.

Hatred twisted violently inside my chest.

I couldn’t die yet. Not before making them pay for what they did to me.

“I’ll do it,” I finally said quietly.

The Moon Goddess’s voice echoed around me once more.

“You understand the conditions?”

“One hundred and fifty days,” I repeated slowly. “I need to find my true mate and receive their mark.”

“And?”

“I can’t tell anyone the truth.”

Silence filled the endless white space briefly before the Moon Goddess spoke again.

“Close your eyes, child.”

I obeyed immediately.

The white light around me suddenly became brighter even through my eyelids, and moments later, I felt something pulling at me like invisible hands dragging my soul somewhere far away from that place.

“One hundred and fifty days,” the Moon Goddess whispered softly. “Use them wisely.”

In no time, I was falling endlessly through darkness without an end.

I gasped loudly the moment my eyes flew open. I slowly looked upward and found myself staring at a smooth white ceiling that looked far too expensive for someone like me.

I blinked repeatedly, trying to understand what was happening.

I was really alive.

I grabbed the sheets beneath me tightly as I breathed heavily. That was when I finally realized that I was lying inside a massive bed covered in silk sheets soft enough to feel so unreal against my skin.

Then another realization hit me immediately afterward.

I was naked.

My breathing stopped briefly. Before I could process anything properly, movement beside me suddenly caught my attention.

A man lay asleep next to me, also naked.

I screamed instantly.

The man jerked awake immediately before his grey eyes locked directly onto me. “What’s wrong?”

I scrambled backward across the bed until my back slammed hard against the headboard. “Who are you?”

He stared at me in complete confusion. “What?”

“Who are you?” I repeated loudly while panic slowly started rising inside my chest.

His brows pulled together immediately. “Ciara, what are you talking about?”

My stomach dropped.

Ciara?

That wasn’t my name.

I quickly looked down at my hands and my breathing became uneven instantly.

They fingers weren't mine, the skin tone was different, and a wedding ring sat on my finger.

I slowly looked back toward the man again and found him staring at me with growing concern.

Then I heard myself ask quietly, “What’s my name?”

He blinked. “What?”

“Tell me my name,” I shot at him.

“Ciara,” he answered slowly. “Your name is Ciara. Are you okay?”

I panicked instantly as I threw off the sheets and stumbled out of the bed, rushing towards the room's exit without even thinking properly. I pushed open the nearest door and found a blue dress laying on the bed.

I grabbed the dress and pulled it over my body quickly with trembling hands.

“Mummy?”

I froze instantly, then I slowly turned around.

Two children stood at the doorway staring at me with wide worried eyes.

A little boy and a girl. Both looked around six years old.

“Mummy, what’s wrong?” the little girl asked softly.

My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

The man suddenly appeared behind them wearing only a pair of pants while concern slowly filled his expression.

“Ciara, you’re scaring the children.”

I barely heard him because my eyes had already locked onto the mirror hanging nearby.

I slowly walked toward it while the children moved aside quietly, and the moment I finally looked into the mirror, my entire world shattered again.

The woman staring back at me wasn’t me. My hand slowly touched my cheek while the reflection copied the movement perfectly.

“No,” I whispered shakily. “No no no…”

“Dad,” the little boy asked quietly behind me. “What’s wrong with Mummy?”

The man stepped closer carefully. “Ciara, look at me.”

I slowly turned toward him.

He placed a hand on my shoulder. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

I opened my mouth automatically, then froze.

The Moon Goddess’s warning echoed loudly inside my head.

Fear immediately crawled down my spine.

“I…” My throat tightened painfully. “I don’t remember.”

Confusion filled his face instantly. “What?”

“I don’t remember anything,” I whispered again.

His expression changed immediately afterward. The confusion disappeared and worry replaced it completely.

“Nothing at all?”

I slowly shook my head.

“I don’t know where I am,” I admitted quietly. “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know…”

My voice broke before I could finish speaking.

The man immediately reached toward me instinctively, but I stepped backward before he could touch me.

“Don’t.”

He stopped immediately before slowly raising both hands.

“Okay,” he said calmly. “It’s okay.”

Nothing about this felt okay.

“How can this be okay?” I asked shakily. “I don’t even know who I am.”

“Your name is Ciara,” he explained gently. “I’m Lucien. I’m your husband.”

The word husband made my stomach twist immediately.

Lucien motioned quietly toward the children beside him.

“And those are our children. Richard and Rita.”

A husband and two kids, Just how did I get here?

“I need to sit down,” I whispered weakly.

Lucien carefully guided me toward a nearby chair before I collapsed into it while the children continued staring at me nervously.

“I’m calling the doctor,” Lucien said before quickly leaving the room.

I sat there silently afterward with my head in my hands while trying desperately to understand what had happened.

The Moon Goddess truly sent me into another person’s body.

How was I supposed to survive this without anybody finding out the truth?

Suddenly, a phone buzzed nearby.

I slowly looked up toward the table beside me where a phone screen lit up brightly.

A message preview appeared across the screen.

SHANIA: I’M GETTING MARRIED TO BALE SOON. I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO SEE HIM, SISTER.

The text knocked air out of my lungs, and my eyes widened instantly.

Shania?

Bale?

Sister?

Which meant…

“We’re going to the hospital.”

Lucien’s voice interrupted my thoughts as he walked back into the room.

“I already called our doctor. He’ll meet us there.”

I slowly looked up at him.

At this stranger who believed I was his wife.

Then I forced myself to nod quietly. “Okay.”