Chapter 12
530words
Ethan emerged from the darkness, his face carefully controlled. But I could see the tension, the way his hands trembled.
"You came," he said.
"You knew I would."
"Do you remember the silver chains?" I asked quietly.
His breath caught. "I remember everything."
"The blood moon? The way I died?"
"Stop." His voice cracked. "Please."
I smiled coldly. "So you do remember killing me."
Ethan's composure shattered. "Every night. Every single night, I relive that moment."
"Yet here you are. Alive."
"You're here too." He stepped closer, desperate. "You remember. Which means—"
"We're both reborn," I said simply. "Both cursed with this second chance."
His eyes widened. "You know what we are."
"I know you're guilty."
The words hit him like a blow.
I watched him break apart. The proud Alpha reduced to nothing.
"Sienna," he whispered, dropping to his knees. "Please. Give me a chance to make this right."
I looked down at him. "You want to make it right?"
Hope flickered in his eyes. "Yes. Anything."
"Then understand this," I said coldly. "There is no making it right. No redemption."
The hope died.
"I remember everything. Every moment of pain. The satisfaction in your eyes when you killed me."
"No, that's not—"
"Don't lie."
His composure cracked. "I was wrong! If I could take it back—"
"But you can't." I stepped back. "Do you want to know what really happened that night?"
He froze. "What?"
"The night you found me with Cassandra's belongings. You thought I was cursing her."
Ethan's face went pale.
"I was trying to save her life, Ethan. The stolen magic was killing her from the inside. I spent months researching ways to break the artificial bonds safely."
"No," he whispered. "That's not..."
"I knew the dark magic would consume her. So I gathered her possessions, trying to perform a cleansing ritual. To free Fenrir without destroying her."
The truth hit him like lightning.
"You found me surrounded by ritual circles, blood traces, her items. It looked like necromancy."
"But it was salvation," I continued, watching his world crumble. "I was the only one trying to save the woman you loved."
Something shifted in his expression. The pleading faded, replaced by something colder.
"So what now?" he asked, slowly getting to his feet. "You destroy me piece by piece? Use my little half-brother to steal my birthright?"
There was the real Ethan. When truth failed, he turned to threats.
"I don't need to destroy you," I said with a smile. "You already destroyed yourself."
"Is that what you think?"
"That's what I know. I've seen it all before."
I turned to walk away, then paused.
"Oh, and Ethan? Tomorrow, when you wake up and this feels like a bad dream? Remember this moment. Remember that I know exactly what you are."
"And what am I?"
I looked back at him one final time.
"A dead man walking."
The moonlight caught his face as understanding dawned. Not the truth of our past—that would come later.
But the truth of his future.
He was about to lose everything.
And I was going to enjoy every moment of it.
