Page 7 of The Possessive Alpha’s Reborn Luna

The door slammed open, crashing against the wall.

"Alice! Why the hell are you still in bed?" A shrill voice cut through the air. Mother stood in the doorway, three maids behind her. She wore deep purple, hair pinned without a strand out of place, makeup perfect and cold. Right now, she was glaring at me with a furrowed brow.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" She stormed in, voice rising. "You know how important today is? And you're lying here in a daze? You want the whole family to look like fools because of you?"

My eyes went wide. I couldn't speak.

That face. That voice...

"Look at yourself!" Mother reached the bed, staring down at me with accusation burning in her eyes. "Get up and get ready! Now!"

I stared at her, mind reeling. Was this some dying memory? But why did it feel so real?

"What are you waiting for?" She turned to the maids. "Get in here! Dress her! Move! We're running out of time! Stop dragging your feet!"

The three maids rushed forward. They didn't care that I hadn't processed what was happening. One yanked off my covers. The other two grabbed my arms and hauled me out of bed.

"Wait, wait." I tried to resist.

No one listened. They started stripping off my nightgown, cold fingers pulling at the fabric with no gentleness, nails scraping my skin and leaving stinging red marks.

"Ah—"

One maid yanked the corset tight. Too tight. I gasped.

Pain.

Real pain.

Not a hallucination.

"Alice!" Mother's voice cut through again. "Wake up! Today is your one shot at something better in this life! If you screw up at this wedding, if you embarrass this family—"

She stepped close and grabbed my chin, fingers digging in hard enough to hurt. "You know what happens."

No love in her eyes. Just cold calculation and threats. To her, I was a tool. Something to trade for family advancement.

"I... I hear you." The words came automatically.

"Good." She released me and turned away. "Make her presentable! Don't let that ugly face of hers scare His Majesty!"

The door shut. The maids kept working. White wedding dress. Elaborate updo. Thick foundation.

I stood there, letting them move me like a doll, one thought circling my mind: This was real. The touch was real. The pain was real. Mother was real.

I... I'd been reborn. I was back on the day I married Cedric.

Three days ago at the pack's mating ceremony, the Moon Goddess had played a cosmic joke. She'd bound me—the ugly omega everyone despised—to the most powerful man in the kingdom. King Cedric.

I thought it was the beginning of happiness.

I'd loved him since I was seven.

I got lost in the forest that day. Wild beasts chased me. He saved me. Carried my injured body back to the pack.

From that day, I dreamed of becoming his queen. But my face bore a massive birthmark. Everyone said I was cursed. So I buried that longing deep. When the line of fate wrapped around Cedric and me, I nearly went mad with joy. I thought destiny had finally smiled on me.

But it wasn't the start of happiness. It was the beginning of my nightmare.