Chapter 4
Rylan’s POV
The scent hits me like a physical blow. Vanilla and lavender, but wrong somehow.
Richer. Deeper. Ancient. My steps falter mid stride, my body freezing in the corridor as my nostrils flare, drinking it in.
My wolf surges forward with such violence that I stagger against the wall, claws erupting from my fingertips.
MINE.
The thought is not mine. It is his. Primal and absolute. My wolf’s certainty crashes through me like thunder.
“Impossible,” I whisper, but my body knows differently. Every cell vibrates with recognition.
MATE. OURS. FINALLY.
“She cannot be,” I argue, even as my pulse hammers. “Elise was our mate. Our only…”
The scent grows stronger, and suddenly I am not in the corridor anymore. I am in a moonlit clearing, Selena’s blood slick on my hands, her body cooling against my chest. Her last breath ghosting across my skin. The rage that followed. The feral descent. The hunt for those responsible.
My own death, days later, welcoming the blade that would end my torment.
I slide down the wall, my knees hitting the floor as memories cascade through me. Not from this life, but from before. From another time when I was Rylan, when she was Selena, when we were…
“Gods,” I gasp, clutching my chest where pain blooms. “We were mates. She died in my arms.”
My wolf howls inside me, the sound reverberating through my skull. PROTECT HER THIS TIME.
The truth settles into my bones with crushing clarity. Second chance mates. Reincarnated souls. The rarest of all wolf blessings. A chance to right what was wronged.
I push myself up, my legs shaking. Her scent pulls me forward like a physical tether. Around the corner, voices rise in confrontation. I quicken my pace, following the sound until I see them. Two pack enforcers, Marcus and Damon, have Selena cornered against the wall.
“You do not belong here anymore,” Marcus sneers, leaning into her space. “Useless human. Wolfless nobody.”
“Alpha Roland only let you stay out of pity,” Damon adds, his meaty hand braced on the wall beside her head. “Do not forget how weak you are.”
I start forward, fury building in my chest, but freeze when Selena’s expression changes. Something dangerous flashes in her eyes. Something I have never seen before.
“Move,” she says, her voice soft but edged with steel.
They laugh. “Or what, little human? You will…”
What happens next defies explanation. Selena’s hand shoots out, gripping Marcus’s wrist. A twist, a pivot, and suddenly he is on his knees, his arm bent at an unnatural angle.
Damon lunges, but she is already moving.
Fluid, precise, terrifying. Her elbow connects with his sternum.
Her knee finds his groin. Her palm strikes upward under his chin with enough force to lift him off his feet.
Both men crumple to the floor, gasping. The entire exchange takes less than five seconds.
Selena stands over them, not even breathing hard. “I said move.” She steps over their bodies and continues down the hall, her stride confident and controlled.
My wolf paces restlessly inside me. DIFFERENT. STRONGER. MINE.
I press against the wall, out of sight, watching her retreating form. This is not the same woman who died in my arms. This is not the same Selena who accepted Ronan’s rejection with quiet dignity.
Her scent lingers, vanilla and lavender, stronger than it should be. Only mates and immediate family are meant to recognize a scent like this. Something fundamental has changed in her, just as it has in me.
*****
I retreat to my quarters and pace the length of the room like a caged wolf. Her scent still hangs in the air, vanilla and lavender, and every nerve in me tightens with need I can’t quiet.
Each time I pause, I see her in the shadows. The gentle Selena I failed to protect and the fierce woman she’s become, both images colliding until my head aches.
I drop to my knees beside the bed, heart hammering, and slam my fist into the mattress. “Enough.”
My wolf snarls back, flooding my mind with her body beneath mine, her breath hot against my throat, the way she would look at me if I claimed her. Desire claws through me, sharp and demanding.
I drag in a breath, trying to steady myself. It only makes it worse. “Stop,” I grit out, forcing myself to my feet. My palm crashes against the wall, plaster cracking beneath the impact. “I said stop.”
My chest heaves as grief tears through me, and Elise’s soft smile blindsides me. The way she used to look at me like I was her entire world.
And now there’s Selena. Alive. Defiant. Pulling at something deeper than anything I’ve known.
How am I supposed to mourn one mate while another stands here, flesh and blood, stirring something ancient in my veins?
My wolf’s voice cuts through the chaos, cold and immediate. ELIMINATE THE THREAT.
I squeeze my eyes shut, images of my father and little brother rising. My voice lowers, rough with memory. “They’re still my family. The same boy who used to sit on my shoulders and laugh.”
The weight of it settles heavy.
My wolf surges forward, merciless. THEY WERE YOUR FAMILY WHEN THEY MANIPULATED US IN OUR GRIEF… WHEN THEY GAVE YOUR POSITION TO HIM… WHEN THEY STRIPPED YOU DOWN TO AN ENFORCER… AND WHEN WE ALL DIED.
The air leaves my lungs, silence pressing in, thick and suffocating.
HOW MANY LIVES WILL YOU SACRIFICE FOR THEM?
I drag a hand down my face, breath uneven. “I won’t lose her again.”
THEN CLAIM HER.
I still. Control is the only thing holding me together. “No. Not like this. I need clarity. Control.”
My wolf growls low, possessive. SHE’S OURS.
“Not yet.” My voice drops, quieter now, but steady. “She has to let the mate bond form first. With my brother. The one that got her killed… and then break it.”
Silence stretches, unresolved.
Then warmth brushes the doorframe, familiar and alive. The scent of vanilla and lavender floods the room, sharper now, undeniable.
My head snaps up, every muscle going taut. She stands on the other side of that door. I can feel her power reaching out, tentative but unmistakable, testing the space between us.
She knows I’m here.
And she’s listening.