Bennet POV:

I stood on the top floor of the Starlight Tower, a glass of champagne in my hand, the low hum of conversation a meaningless buzz in my ears. Alphas from every major Pack milled about, their Lunas and daughters preening at their sides. Prince Caspian Dotson himself had just clapped me on the shoulder, congratulating me on my speech about trade routes.

I smiled, nodded, said all the right things.

But my eyes kept flicking to the grand entrance.

My insides were a knot of raw, impatient nerves.

I was back. By some miracle of the Goddess, I was back. I had died not long after her, my own soul unable to bear the severing of our bond, my last breath a curse on my own name. I had woken up here, seven years in the past, with the crushing weight of my regret as my only companion.

And today was the day.

The Spring Equinox Festival. The day I first met her.

I remembered it perfectly. She had been wearing a pale green dress that made her eyes shine like emeralds. When our host introduced us, the world had narrowed to just her. The scent of vanilla and wildflowers, the jolt of electricity when our hands brushed, the immediate, soul-deep certainty that she was mine.

I had been captivated. But I was a Carlisle. I was an Alpha on the rise, surrounded by enemies. I had treated her like a political asset, a 'suitable' Luna. I had crushed the beautiful, vibrant thing between us with the cold weight of my ambition.

It was the single greatest mistake of a life filled with them.

This time would be different. This time, I would cherish her from the very first moment. I would protect her. I would earn the love I had once taken for granted.

Silas, my most trusted warrior, materialized at my elbow. His expression was impassive, but I knew him too well. Something was wrong.

"Alpha," he murmured, his voice low. "The Hess family has arrived. But... Miss Evangeline is not with them."

The delicate stem of the champagne flute threatened to snap between my fingers. I forced my hand to relax, my voice to remain level."The reason?"

"They say she is feeling unwell, Alpha."

Unwell? My brow tightened. No. That wasn't right. I remembered this day with perfect, painful clarity. She had been the picture of health, vibrant and full of life.

A cold dread, sharp and unfamiliar, slithered into my gut. Something was wrong. Something had already deviated from the path I knew.

I scanned the room, the faces of the pretty, simpering debutantes blurring into a meaningless tapestry. The entire glittering affair felt hollow, pointless. Without her, it was just an empty room.

My mind raced. Why would she reject the bond in our last life? I had always assumed it was Leo. The shock of seeing Chanel's child, my callous decision... it had been the final, unforgivable straw.

But that hadn't happened yet. I hadn't done anything yet. So why was she already off-script?

A wild, terrifying thought struck me. A thought so impossible I dismissed it almost as soon as it formed.

Could she... also remember?

No. It was absurd. The Goddess would not be so merciful to us. Not after how I had failed. It had to be a coincidence. A simple, random ripple in the river of time.

I would not be deterred. If I missed her today, I would find another way. I would go to the Hess estate tomorrow. I would create a reason.

First, I had to deal with the vipers in this very room. The men who had smiled to my face in our last life while plotting my family's downfall. My priority had to be securing my position, eliminating the threats that had distracted me, that had allowed me to neglect what was most important.

I forced a cool, detached smile to my lips as an old ally approached. I would deal with politics first.

And then, I would find my Evangeline.

Evangeline POV:

I sat on the swing in my family's garden, my face tilted up to the warm sun. A gentle breeze stirred the leaves in the trees, carrying the scent of roses. I closed my eyes, just breathing. In and out. Feeling the simple, profound peace of being alive and whole.

Iris, who was just a cheerful, round-faced girl of fourteen in this timeline, brought me a tall glass of lemonade.

"You're missing everything, my lady!" she chirped, setting the tray down. "I heard the young Alpha Carlisle gave a speech that had everyone mesmerized!"

I just smiled. "I'm sure he did."

I knew exactly what I was missing. I was missing the moment my fate was sealed. The moment I was introduced to the handsome, brooding Alpha and felt the jolt of the Fated Mate bond. The moment I mistook a curse for a blessing.

The memory was a bitter pill. That dizzying sense of completion, the feeling that I had found my other half. What a lie it had all been. The bond had brought me nothing but a gilded cage, a slow-withering death of the soul.

This time, there would be no bond. No fated mate.

Only freedom.

As evening fell, I sat at the small writing desk in my room. I pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and a pen. For the first time, my future was a blank page, and I was the one holding the pen.

I would study. I would learn about Pack management, about finance, about everything they never bothered to teach the Lunas-in-waiting. I would find a purpose that was my own, not an extension of someone else's. I would build a life so full and rich that no man, Alpha or otherwise, could ever be its center.

Outside my window, the first stars began to appear in the twilight sky.

I knew, with a certainty that settled deep in my bones, that my life had just begun.