Chapter 36
Chapter 36
The sun filtered timidly through the tall treetops of the forest, tainted by ash and smoke from the recent ambush. In the palace training yard, the warriors repeated their movements with precision, but Abigaíl wasn’t focused on her instructions. Her gaze drifted beyond the horizon, where the land still bore the scars of the last battle.
She had reviewed the ambush with the Gamma days ago, analyzing every weak point, every maneuver. It didn’t take her long to recognize the combat tactics. The formations, the signals, the style… they didn’t belong to any wild squad.
—Dylan… —she murmured, as if the name still tasted of betrayal.
She knew the moment she saw Dylan’s men fight. He had trained them, shaped them with his strategy. But something didn’t add up. Those wolves weren’t disciplined or refined; they were wild. No matter how much they tried, in mere months they couldn’t reach a level that took others years to master.
Unlike them, her warriors were experts, trained since childhood. They only needed a few adjustments. Changes in rhythm, new counterattack signals… just enough so they would never be caught off guard again.
Even so, the unease didn’t come just from strategy.
It came from memory. From memories that didn’t entirely belong to her.
As she watched her men train, the images began to seep in. At first, they were brief flashes, but little by little her mind was filled with memories that weren’t foreign. She saw her other life. Her past life.
A different version of herself, though just as fierce.
Luciana. That was the name everyone spoke with fear and desire.
A woman with jet-black hair, powerful, seductive, relentless. Leader of one of the most feared organizations in the criminal world of her time. An empire built with blood and cunning. No one dared challenge her… until she met him. Dylan.
Her enemy. Her obsession.
At first, theirs was physical, explosive. A clandestine relationship based on fleeting encounters and burning glances. Their clans were at war, and their union was impossible. But Dylan gave it all up for her. And that’s when her torment began.
A story marked by love and hate. By domination and chaos. They destroyed each other when they were close, and died when they were apart. They searched for each other like addicts, needing to touch, fight, tear one another apart… and start again.
Luciana knew. She knew about his affairs, his infidelities. Even when she loved him, she hated him just as much. There were other men, yes, but they were always revenge. Because, despite everything, they always returned to each other. They were flames that never died.
But everything has a limit.
She remembered clearly the day he betrayed her.
He didn’t just sleep with her sister. No. He planned to take everything from her. He stabbed her in the back when she trusted him the most. Her mistake wasn’t loving him. It was trusting him with her empire, her life… and paying with her death.
Had he betrayed her face-to-face, she would’ve accepted it.
But no. He did it like a coward.
And she swore to take revenge.
In this life.
With another name.
With another face.
But with the same fury.
\---
On the other side of the palace, Kilian battled his own visions. At first, he thought they were isolated nightmares. Shadows brought on by tension, by the stress of leadership. But he could no longer ignore them.
Every time he looked at Abigaíl, a different image crossed his mind. A woman identical to her, dressed in black, with a dangerous and seductive aura. He saw her rising on a throne of skulls, giving orders, executing sentences. And then… he saw the man.
A blurry face. But familiar.
That man kissed her.
Loved her.
And stabbed her.
The images were so vivid they left him breathless. His hands trembled and his wolf growled restlessly every time Dylan appeared in the vision. It wasn’t just hatred. It was an uncontrollable desire to destroy him. To make him pay for something he didn’t fully understand… but felt in his bones.
Ian, his Beta, noticed immediately.
—Alpha… are you alright?
Kilian growled, his amber eyes glowing with restrained rage.
—No… —Laikan spoke, fierce—. I want to kill him. I’m going to enjoy his blood on my hands.
Ian stood cautiously.
—What’s going on?
Kilian sat abruptly, trying to calm his wolf. He took a deep breath and held it in.
—There’s something I haven’t told you… and I think I need to talk to someone about it.
The Beta frowned but nodded. He knew not to push.
—Tell me.
—I’ve been having… visions —Kilian said, his voice hoarse—. Not dreams. Visions. They’re real, I feel them in my skin. And they all have to do with her… with Abigaíl.
—What kind of visions?
Kilian ran his hands through his hair.
—Abigaíl... is a reborn. This is her second life.
Ian paled.
—Reincarnation?
—I didn’t want to say it out loud… but yes. Abigaíl told me one night. She’s a woman who’s come back to life with another name. And now I know that this Dylan—or Jackson, as he now calls himself—is one too.
Silence grew heavy.
—Are you saying that woman… lived before? And that he…?
—That he betrayed her. That he killed her. That in another life, he was her lover. Her enemy. And now he’s back… to finish what he started.
Ian swallowed hard.
—And what are you going to do?
—I don’t know yet —Kilian admitted—. But whatever’s between them… isn’t over.
\---
Meanwhile, in her room, Abigaíl felt a shiver run down her spine. Her visions were growing clearer each day. More intense. As if someone else were sharing her memories.
She looked in the mirror. She could no longer deny who she was.
Luciana hadn’t died.
Luciana was her.
And Dylan, that bastard, had come back too.
But this time… there would be no reconciliation.
No forgiveness.
She wasn’t the same woman who broke down for love. Not anymore. She had risen stronger. Wiser. And she was ready to face him, even if she had to destroy him.
She turned to the window, where the banners of the Northern Kingdom waved in the wind.
—This time —she whispered— you’ll pay for your betrayal with blood.
And her reflection in the glass seemed to smile back at her, as if Luciana were applauding from the other side.