Sera stared at the phone like it had grown fangs.
Selene.
The name rolled around in her mind, both foreign and achingly familiar. Her breathing quickened as her heart thumped hard against her ribs, like it was trying to claw its way out.
She knelt and picked up the phone with trembling fingers, reading the message again.
You're not crazy. You're remembering. Don't fight it, Selene.
Her thumb hovered over the screen, heart screaming for answers. She typed back with shaky hands.
Who are you?
The text sent. Three dots blinked.
Then nothing.
Gone.
Her knees gave out and she sat on the floor, staring at the dark screen. Salem meowed softly from across the room, nudging her hand with his head. She stroked his fur absentmindedly, her mind spinning.
"Selene," she whispered.
It didn't feel wrong. It didn't feel not hers.
It felt like the echo of something she'd buried long ago.
---
By the time she dragged herself into bed, the rain had begun. Thunder rumbled distantly, matching the churn in her chest. She didn't bother turning off the lamp. Her thoughts wouldn't let her sleep anyway.
She pressed her palms into her eyes, trying to make sense of it all. The dreams. The wolf. The stranger with golden eyes. And now this… this name.
Selene.
Where had she heard it before?
Her memory offered nothing. Just more fog, more silence, more fragments she couldn't piece together.
Eventually, she drifted into a restless sleep.
---
The forest was alive with whispers.
Leaves rustled without wind. Shadows moved without shape. And the moon—huge and full—hung low in the sky, bleeding silver light across the treetops.
Sera—no, Selene—stood barefoot on soft moss, her white gown fluttering like smoke.
She knew this place.
She'd lived in this place.
She walked, and the forest parted for her. Not out of fear—but recognition.
Then he appeared.
Tall. Proud. Power radiating from every inch of him. His golden eyes glowed like fire, cutting through the shadows. The same eyes she'd seen in the clinic. In her dream. In her soul.
"You came back," he said.
"I never meant to leave."
He stepped closer, cupping her face. "You were taken from me."
"I don't remember…"
"But you will," he whispered. "The bond never broke."
He pressed his forehead to hers. Her heart sang in his presence.
Then—
A growl.
A slash of claws.
Blood on leaves.
A scream—
---
Sera jolted awake, drenched in sweat, sheets twisted around her like vines. Her heart was racing. Her throat dry. The dream had felt too real—not like imagination, but memory. She could still smell the forest, still feel his warmth on her skin.
She glanced at the clock.
4:03 AM.
Too early for answers. Too late to pretend nothing was wrong.
She dragged herself to the shower, letting the scalding water wash over her, but it did nothing to soothe the ache rising in her chest.
She was changing. Inside. And part of her was terrified.
---
By the time morning arrived, the storm had passed, but the tension hadn't. The air in Halewood felt charged, like something was coming.
Sera walked to work in a fog. Her body moved on autopilot while her mind spiraled. Every shadow on the street made her flinch. Every rustle in the trees pulled her gaze.
Was it him again? Watching?
She both hoped and dreaded the idea.
At the clinic, things were quiet. Too quiet.
Helena hadn't returned yet. The front desk was empty. The walls seemed to hum with silence.
Sera unlocked the front door, flipped the sign to "OPEN," and sat at the counter, unable to focus on the schedule in front of her.
Then the bell rang.
She looked up—and her stomach dropped.
It was him.
The man from yesterday.
Same golden eyes. Same steady gaze.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
Two others stood behind him—a woman with snow-white hair pulled into a braid and sharp, piercing eyes, and a broad, imposing man with a scar running from his cheek to his jaw.
They looked like they didn't belong in this town. Like they belonged to something older. Wilder.
"Miss Lane," he said with a polite nod.
"You're back," she whispered.
He smiled faintly. "I said I would be."
"Why?" Her voice was sharper than intended. "Who are you really?"
He stepped forward, slowly, as if not to startle her.
"My name is Lucien Wolfe. And whether you believe me or not, I'm here to protect you."
Sera stared.
"Protect me from what?"
The woman behind him spoke this time, her voice laced with a strange accent. "From yourself. And from those who want to make sure you never remember who you are."
Sera's heart skipped. "And who am I?"
Lucien stepped closer, gaze soft but steady.
"You are Selene of the Nightborn bloodline. Alpha-blooded. The last daughter of House Silvermoon. My intended mate."
She laughed. It was sharp, bitter. "That's ridiculous."
"No," the woman said, stepping forward. "What's ridiculous is how long it's taken to find you. You died in another life. You were cursed, reborn, scattered across time like ash in the wind. And yet here you are. Living as a human. Playing pretend."
"I'm not pretending!" Sera snapped. "I don't know who you think I am, but I was born here. I live here. I'm not—"
"Then explain the dreams," Lucien said gently. "Explain why you weren't afraid of the wolf. Why you recognized me. Why your touch sparked the bond."
Sera's mouth opened, but no words came.
He was right.
She couldn't explain it.
Lucien stepped close enough to brush a knuckle against her cheek.
"Because deep down, your soul remembers me. The way mine has never stopped remembering you."
She didn't pull away.
And that scared her more than anything.
---
They sat in the back room, away from curious eyes.
Lucien didn't pressure her. He simply watched her, with that calm, quiet patience that made her feel like the world could burn down around her and he'd still be waiting.
The white-haired woman introduced herself as Maera, a seer of their kind.
The scarred man was Cael, Lucien's second-in-command.
And all of them claimed one impossible truth: that Sera was Selene, a reincarnated Alpha heir from a long-forgotten bloodline. One who'd been betrayed and killed by her own pack, cursed to forget who she was, and sent to live among humans for safety.
"I don't feel like an Alpha," Sera whispered.
"You've been asleep a long time," Maera said gently. "But the wolf inside you is waking. And soon, so will everything else."
"What happens when I… remember?"
Lucien's gaze darkened. "You'll be hunted. Again."
Sera swallowed. "By who?"
"The pack that betrayed you. And others who fear what you represent."
Cael's voice rumbled low. "If the curse breaks completely, your true bloodline could return to power. That's not something everyone wants."
Sera stood up abruptly, pacing. "This is too much. I'm not… I'm not ready for this."
Lucien rose as well, placing a steady hand on her shoulder.
"You don't have to be ready," he said. "You just have to trust me."
"I don't know if I can."
"But your soul does."
---
When they left, Sera locked the clinic door behind them and leaned against it, dizzy with everything she'd heard. Her body trembled with confusion, denial… and a strange, rising hunger.
Not for food.
But for truth.
Later that night, the dreams returned—this time, clearer.
She saw herself—Selene—standing in a circle of wolves, silver flames dancing at her fingertips. She saw Lucien kneeling before her, wounded, bleeding, swearing fealty. She saw betrayal—someone close—someone who wore a crown of ash and spoke her name like a curse.
She woke gasping.
She remembered the taste of blood.
She remembered the scream of her wolf.
She remembered dying.
And this time, she didn't feel like Sera Lane.
She felt like Selene.
---
The next day, she didn't go to the clinic.
Instead, she went to Crest Hill.
The road was old and winding, lined with trees so thick they seemed to breathe. She walked with purpose, her feet knowing the path even if her mind didn't.
When she reached the cabin, Lucien was waiting.
He stepped onto the porch, as if he'd known she'd come.
"I remember," she said.
His golden eyes glowed.
"Then it's begun," he said softly. "You're waking up."
Sera—Selene—nodded.
"But I want answers. All of them."
"You'll have them," he promised. "But once you hear th
em, there's no going back."
She met his gaze without flinching.
"I don't think there was ever a way back."
He smiled—and this time, it wasn't full of mystery or pain.
It was reverence.
Like he was finally seeing the woman he'd searched for across lifetimes.