Chapter 2

Lucia's POV

“Lucy,” someone called my name in a sing-song voice.

A door slammed against the wall. I jumped to my feet, holding up my gun.

Daniel stood, watching me with wide eyes.

Wait a minute. Daniel?

My memories rushed back in so quickly that my head spun.

Reese. Kathy. The explosions and…my death.

I died, my organs bursting from the effects of the LP-124 pill.

My hands flew to my face. There was no blood. Not even the slightest pain in my body.

“Lucia?”

“Daniel!” I exclaimed and pulled him into a hug.

My eyes prickled with tears as the image of bunker 1 imploding and capsizing filled my mind.

My baby brother. I thought I would never see him again.

“Lucy, what's going on?” Daniel asked but he hugged me anyway.

His hands were warm, too real to be a dream. I leaned back and cupped his cheeks.

“You're alive,” I whispered.

Daniel frowned. “I am?”

I stumbled backwards, my mind reeling as I tried to figure out what was going on. My gaze darted around the room, finally fixing on the calendar hanging above my mirror.

February of the thirteenth year of the uprising.

Thirteenth year?

That was five years ago.

“Reese.” I turned to my brother. “Do you know Reese?”

“Who's Reese?” Daniel held me. “Are you alright, Lucy?”

A broken laugh slipped from my lips.

This did not make sense. It did not.

But somehow, I was five years younger, standing in my bedroom in South Central City, looking at my very alive brother.

My city had not been bombed. The humans were not dead. And I hadn't met that bastard yet.

Hold on. February 1st.

Wasn’t this the day I met Reese for the first time?

***

Daniel peeked over my shoulder at the concoction that I was brewing. “What are these for?”

“A new compound. Lycanthropy suppressants.”

His eyes widened. “Is that what I think it means?”

I hummed.

“I thought…the lab said it was still in the works!”

The first version of the compound should have been made three years from now in my personal laboratory in Reese’s basement. By the time I died, five smoke pellets were enough to decapacitate dozens of wolves in minutes.

“Yes, they are. But these are in vapour so they do not last too long like the liquid. Maybe twenty minutes.”

Once I had more time to work, I could make some that lasted far longer.

The door of the lab opened and the head of my bodyguards, Peter, entered the room.

“Lucia, the meeting starts in five.”

“So what? We still have time.”

“It’s a twenty-minute drive. We do not want them to think we are rude.”

I gave Peter a stink-eye. He had always been a stickler for rules to a fault.

“It’s twenty minutes. They can wait,” I spat.

In my last life, they made us wait for an entire hour and still had the audacity to bring that insult of a contract to me. Because I was exhausted from all the fighting, I signed it anyway.

Not this time.

The meeting was to be held at the town hall in neutral territory.

By the time we arrived, we met their trucks parked outside, the wolves milling about restlessly in the yard. When we got out of the car, the wolves turned their glares on us.

“One hour. One fucking hour. How dare you make us wait that long?!”

I knew that screech anywhere.

I walked to the front of the town hall, stretching my hand for a handshake. “You must be Katherine Welsley.”

The arrogant look on her face vanished. “How do you know who I am?”

My eyes scanned her from top to bottom, stopping at her exposed cleavage and booty shorts. “Your reputation as a slut precedes you.”

“Fucking hell,” Peter swore as the entire yard went deadly quiet.

Katherine’s eyes blazed with fury. “Excuse me?”

“I mean, we are all the way in the south and we have heard about your sexual escapades. It is nice to see that in this period of peace, some still have the heart for certain liberties.”

My head was knocked back from the force of her slap.

“Fuck,” I said, spitting out the blood in my mouth, crushing the small ball in my hand. “That wolf strength is no joke.”

Her eyes glowed amber and then, nothing. Her breath shook as she looked down at her body.

“What did you do to me?” she whispered harshly.

“Does your wolf feel a little absent?” I taunted her as the vapour of the suppressants spread further, enveloping the entire yard.

“You bitch! What did you–”

“Enough!”

At the sound of Reese’s voice, my hands clenched into fists but I kept my polite smile on my face.

“Lucia Everton, you are a far cry from what I have been told,” Reese said as he stepped out of his truck.

“As an Alpha, I would hope that you would be less inclined to listen to rumours.”

“Alpha?” he said. “I have never heard a human refer to me as such. You seem to know a lot about our world.”

Being a Luna would do that to a person.

I shrugged. “A bit of research here and there. It is difficult to fight a war against a species that you know nothing about.”

“This damn war. It makes me so exhausted, you know?”

That stupid smile of his had charmed me blind in my last life.

“Bullshit.”

Reese’s smile vanished. “Could you repeat that?”

Daniel grabbed my sleeve and tugged on it. “Lucy…”

I signalled Peter to take Daniel into the car. When I was sure my brother was safe, I turned to face the wolves surrounding me on every side.

“Bull. Shit.”

Half of them lost it instantly, snarling at me. A second passed, two and nothing happened.

I looked around. “Is there a problem?”

“You witch, what did you do?” Kathy cried and then turned to Reese. “I have no idea what she did but–”

Reese raised a hand in the air, ceasing the complaints of his people.

“Anti-lycanthropy,” he said slowly.

I smirked. “Surprised?”

His lips tugged upwards, his amber eyes shining with glee. “Impressed.”

“Good. Now, how about you toss that bullshit contract you brought along and we sit down and talk?”