Chapter 3 The Tables Turn

Amelia's POV

For the first time in my life, I felt at peace. There was pain from the rejection, a scar I silently carried, but it was no longer that wound that threatened to destroy me. Kade-my second-chance mate, my powerful Alpha-had seen me, truly seen me, and accepted me without hesitation.

I sat at the window in the grand Alpha estate, out to the expansive forests of the Nightshade pack. The bond that Kade and I shared was nothing like I had ever dreamed of. It was warm, consuming, and filled with a kind of love I never believed I was worthy of.

But peace was short-lived. My past had a way of crawling back, no matter how much I ran.

"Kade," I whispered, feeling his presence before he even entered. The strong arms enclosed around me from the back; soft lips brushed against my temple.

"Yes, my Luna?" he replied in a low, sweet tone.

I smiled faintly at the title. It still felt surreal to hear it, to know that someone like him had chosen me. "Something feels... off," I admitted.

His hold tightened slightly. "I've sensed it too," he confessed. "There's unrest in the Silver Moon pack. My informants have brought troubling news."

I stiffened. "What news?"

Kade's voice was hesitant, as if not wanting to upset me, yet knowing better than to keep secrets. "Ethan is dying."

The words were a gut punch, and I spun back around. "What?"

"It's an illness," he said. "A rare and lethal one. No healer has been able to find a cure.

I should have felt nothing. After everything Ethan had done to me, after the rejection and banishment, I should've been glad to hear he was in such pain. Yet, instead, a foreign ache stirred within my chest-a remnant of the bond that once tied us together.

"That's not all," Kade continued, his expression darkening. "The Moon Goddess revealed there's only one way to save him: you."

My heart stopped. "Me?"

Kade nodded grimly. "Your gift, Amelia. Your healing ability. It's the only thing that can cure him. But there's a condition."

I could hardly breathe. "What condition?"

"He must make you his Luna."

The room fell silent, the weight of his words pressing down on me like a suffocating blanket.

"Luna?" I echoed, my voice trembling.

"Yes," Kade confirmed. "Without accepting you as his mate and Luna, your power won't work on him. The Goddess has made that clear."

I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow. "And what happens if I refuse?"

"He dies," Kade said simply.

Memories of Ethan, of his cruelty, swarmed my mind. The way he had looked at me with disdain, the way he had publicly humiliated me, and the way he had cast me aside for Lucy. These ideas returned and swirled within my brain until the very thought of returning to that pack-to those people-made my stomach roil.

They exiled me," I whispered. "They made it clear that I was nothing to them. Why would I go back now?"

"You won't," Kade said firmly. "Not unless you choose to. But let me be clear, Amelia-I will not let you leave me for him or anyone else.

His possessiveness should have scared me, but it didn't. It felt like a shield, a promise that he would always fight for me.

"I don't want to go back," I said, meeting his gaze. "Not to that manipulative, cruel pack. They don't deserve my help.

Kade framed my face between his hands, his eyes ablaze with resolute steel. "Then don't. Ethan made a choice when he denied you, and now he has to deal with the repercussions."

In the days to come, the desperation of the Silver Moon pack began to unfold. Messengers arrived every day, begging for an audience with Kade.

"Alpha Kade," one of them said, bowing low. "Please, we beg you. Ethan's condition is getting worse. We don't know how much more time he has."

Kade stood tall and imposing, his arms crossed over his chest. "And what does that have to do with me?"

The messenger was ill at ease. "The healer said that only Amelia's power can save him. If she doesn't come back to the pack, he will die."

Kade's eyes darkened, and his wolf, Ash, growled audibly in warning. "You expect her to return to the pack that banished her? To the mate who rejected her? You have some nerve."

The messenger paled. "Please, Alpha. We'll do whatever it takes. Ethan's family-"

"His family?" I interrupted, stepping forward. "The same family that treated me like garbage? That stood by and watched as he threw me out? You think I'd help them now?"

The messenger looked at me with pleading eyes. "Please, Luna. Without you, Ethan will die."

I hesitated, and my mind was a racing cloud. Part of me wanted to turn my back on them the same way they did me; let Ethan suffer the same way I have. But another part of me-a part that had never stopped believing in justice-questioned if this was my chance to get the advantage.

Amelia," Kade whispered gently, his hand on my shoulder. "You don't owe them anything. Whatever you want to do, I'll support you."

I looked up into his eyes, and my heart swelled with gratitude towards him. He was my rock, my refuge, and I knew I could count on him to stand by me through it all.