CHAPTER 3 : THE FIRST CHANGE

The message on the mirror disappeared before I could touch it.

I stood completely still.

YOU CAME BACK TOO SOON.

The words had been there.

I knew they had.

But now the mirror showed only my reflection.

My pale face.

My silver-gray eyes.

The small crescent birthmark near my collarbone.

Nothing else.

I reached toward the glass.

My fingertips touched the cold surface.

“Who remembers?”

My wolf remained silent.

That frightened me more than the message.

She had spoken twice since I woke up.

Both times, she had known things I didn't.

Find the door beneath the moon.

They remember too.

I needed answers.

And I needed them before anyone realized I was no longer the Aurelia they had known.

I looked at the clock.

There were still several hours before Darian was supposed to arrive.

In my first life, I had spent that afternoon waiting for him.

This time, I was going to make sure we never had the same conversation.

I left my bedroom and walked toward my father's study.

The hallway was quiet.

My father's study had always been off-limits when I was younger. He claimed there were important documents inside, and I had never questioned him.

That had been one of my biggest mistakes.

After his death, I had learned that he kept a second set of records hidden behind a false panel.

Records about Silvercrest Academy.

Records about the symbol.

Records about people who had been investigating the same secret for years.

If I wanted to save him, I needed to find those records before he died.

I reached the study door.

Locked.

I pulled a small key from beneath a vase on the nearby table.

In my first life, I had discovered that key only after my father's death.

This time, I already knew where it was.

The lock clicked.

I stepped inside.

The familiar scent of old books and cedar filled the room.

My father's desk stood near the window.

Everything looked exactly as I remembered.

I closed the door behind me.

Then I began searching.

Drawers.

Cabinets.

Bookshelves.

Nothing.

I knew there was a hidden compartment.

I just couldn't remember where.

I closed my eyes.

Think.

In my first life, my father had once argued with me about entering this room.

He had been furious.

At the time, I thought he was angry because I had disturbed his papers.

Now I wondered what he had been afraid I would find.

I walked toward the large bookshelf.

There were hundreds of books.

History.

Pack law.

Ancient wolf mythology.

Council records.

I ran my fingers along the shelves.

Then I noticed something strange.

One book was slightly farther forward than the others.

I pulled it.

Nothing happened.

I pushed it back.

A soft click came from inside the wall.

I froze.

I looked down.

A narrow section of the bookshelf had shifted.

Behind it was a small locked cabinet.

My pulse quickened.

I tried the key I had taken from the desk.

It didn't fit.

Another key.

Nothing.

I tried forcing the lock.

Nothing.

Then the silver mark near my collarbone suddenly warmed.

I pulled my hand away.

The glow beneath my skin became brighter.

“No.”

The cabinet clicked.

The lock opened by itself.

I stared at it.

My wolf whispered one word.

“Moon.”

I slowly opened the cabinet.

Inside was a stack of old documents tied together with black ribbon.

I picked them up.

The first page was covered with writing.

Silvercrest Academy.

My heart began pounding.

I turned the page.

There were maps.

Names.

Dates.

Council symbols.

And then I saw the sentence.

THE THREE HEIRS WILL OPEN THE DOOR.

I read it again.

The three heirs.

My mind immediately went to the three names I had heard whispered among powerful packs.

Kairos Drake.

Lucian Rivers.

Rowan Black.

Three Alpha heirs.

Three of the most powerful young wolves in the region.

In my first life, I had met them at Silvercrest.

But I had never understood why they were important.

Now I wondered if this was the reason.

I turned to another page.

There was a drawing of the same symbol I had seen in the Council chamber.

A crescent moon.

Three claw marks.

Underneath it was a handwritten note.

THE BLOODLINE MUST REMAIN HIDDEN.

My hands went cold.

Bloodline?

Whose bloodline?

I kept reading.

Most of the pages were filled with information about ancient packs, old treaties, and something called the Moon-Born.

I didn't understand everything.

But one sentence made my stomach twist.

WHEN THE MOON-BORN HEIR RETURNS, THE SEALED DOOR WILL AWAKEN.

I stared at the words.

Moon-Born heir.

Why did the mark on my body react to these documents?

Why had the Council member said I should have died before it awakened?

And why had someone written that I came back too soon?

A floorboard creaked behind me.

I spun around.

My father stood in the doorway.

I nearly dropped the papers.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

His eyes moved from my face to the open cabinet.

Then to the documents in my hands.

His expression hardened.

“Aurelia.”

I swallowed.

“Father…”

“What are you doing?”

I looked at the papers.

“I found these.”

“That wasn't what I asked.”

I had expected anger.

Instead, there was fear in his eyes.

Real fear.

I stepped closer.

“Why are you investigating Silvercrest?”

His jaw tightened.

“I told you to stay out of matters you don't understand.”

“I understand more than you think.”

His eyes narrowed.

“What does that mean?”

I placed the papers on the desk.

“You were investigating the academy.”

He didn't answer.

“You knew about the symbol.”

Silence.

“You knew about the Moon-Born.”

My father's face changed.

Just slightly.

But I saw it.

“You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Yes, I do.”

I took a breath.

“My father died because he discovered something connected to Silvercrest.”

His eyes widened.

I froze.

I had said too much.

“How do you know that?”

His voice was suddenly quiet.

I stared at him.

“I…”

He stepped closer.

“Aurelia, who told you?”

I couldn't answer.

Because no one had.

I remembered.

I remembered his death.

I remembered the Council.

I remembered Seraphine's words.

I remembered the symbol.

I remembered everything.

But I couldn't tell him I had lived this moment before.

Not yet.

My father looked at me for a long time.

Then he asked the question that made my blood run cold.

“Who told you I was going to die?”

I stared at him.

The room seemed to shrink around us.

“I had a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Yes.”

He didn't believe me.

Neither did I.

Before he could ask another question, a sound came from outside the study.

A soft scrape.

My father turned immediately.

His entire posture changed.

“Stay here.”

He moved toward the door.

I followed.

“No.”

He stopped.

“You said you would stay.”

“I've already made one mistake by staying silent.”

He looked at me.

“What mistake?”

I opened my mouth.

A sudden crash interrupted me.

The window shattered.

My father grabbed me and pulled me down.

A dark object flew through the broken window and landed on the carpet.

A black envelope.

My father's face went pale.

I stared at it.

There was no name on the front.

Only one symbol.

A silver crescent surrounded by three claw marks.

The same symbol.

My father moved toward it.

“Don't touch it.”

I stopped.

“Why?”

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked toward the broken window.

Whoever had thrown it was already gone.

My father picked up the envelope using a cloth.

He opened it carefully.

His eyes scanned the message inside.

Then his expression changed.

“What does it say?”

He folded the paper.

“Nothing important.”

“Father.”

“Aurelia, listen to me.”

His voice was firm.

“You are going to forget everything you saw in this room.”

“No.”

“You don't understand what you're dealing with.”

“Then explain it.”

“I can't.”

“Why?”

“Because knowing the truth will make you a target.”

I stared at him.

“I already am.”

He went completely still.

I knew it was true.

I could see it in his face.

Someone was watching our family.

Someone knew about the academy.

Someone knew about my bloodline.

And somehow, someone knew I had returned.

I stepped closer.

“Father, did you know my mother was connected to Silvercrest?”

He looked away.

That was enough.

My mother.

Another secret.

Another piece of the puzzle.

Then I heard footsteps in the hallway.

My father quickly pushed the documents back into the cabinet.

“Go to your room.”

“Who is coming?”

“Now.”

I reluctantly stepped away.

He closed the cabinet.

The footsteps grew louder.

Then stopped directly outside the study.

A knock sounded.

My father looked at me.

The color drained from his face.

“Aurelia…”

“What?”

He whispered the words.

“If they ask, you were never in this room.”

The door handle began to turn.

And suddenly, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.

My second life had already begun changing the future.

The only question was whether I had changed it soon enough.