Chapter 5 The Wolf in Silk

They say hindsight is twenty-twenty.

But when you're reborn, hindsight becomes a weapon.

And tonight, as I walked into the glittering ballroom where my fate had once been sealed, I carried that weapon like a blade hidden beneath silk.

The chandeliers dripped with light like liquid gold. The string quartet played something soft and romantic, and the marble floor shimmered with mirrored reflections of luxury. The air smelled of champagne, roses, and the faint arrogance of wealth. Women glittered in diamonds, men in tailored tuxedos, their laughter echoing like glass chimes.

Once upon a time, I had walked into this very room believing I was on the cusp of happiness.

Richard had smiled at me across this ballroom dazzling, dangerous and I had thought it was destiny.

Now, I knew better.

My gaze swept over the guests: familiar faces, old money, new ambition. The same sharks in finer suits. But I wasn't looking for them.

I was searching though I told myself I wasn't.

Searching for him.

And then I saw him.

Adrian Blackwood.

He stood near the far end of the room, half-shadowed by marble columns. He wasn't laughing with the others, nor was he surrounded by fawning women like Richard always was. Instead, he stood perfectly still, as though he existed apart from the chaos, the still eye in a storm of pretense.

Tall. Composed. Remote.

But his eyes... they watched everything.

The years had never dimmed him not in my first life, and not now. His quiet presence had always unsettled me, not because it frightened me, but because it saw too much. Tonight, though, that same stillness pulled me like gravity.

In my first life, I had ignored that pull. I had chosen the wrong wolf.

This time, I would not.

---

"Mrs. Dalton!"

A shrill voice broke through my thoughts. I turned to find one of the society wives Henrietta, all lace and perfume waving in my direction. I forced a polite smile, exchanged pleasantries that meant nothing. Every laugh, every flutter of my lashes was part of a mask I'd learned to wear well.

But my mind remained elsewhere.

On him.

Every time Adrian's gaze brushed over me, my pulse stuttered, my breath caught. I shouldn't have noticed but I did.

And then, as though he'd felt my stare, he moved.

Adrian crossed the ballroom with long, unhurried strides, parting the crowd without effort. People instinctively made space for him. His presence wasn't loud it commanded. There was something about him that whispered danger and safety in the same breath.

By the time he reached me, my knees felt less than steady beneath layers of silk.

"Elena," he said. My name rolled off his tongue like something sacred. His voice was deep, smooth, with a faint rasp that hinted at things unspoken. "You look... different tonight."

"Adrian." I forced a calm smile, though my pulse thrummed. "I didn't think I'd see you here."

"I don't often attend these events," he said, eyes lingering on me. "But some things are worth the disruption."

My heart stumbled. He wasn't hiding it whatever it was he felt. Or maybe he was simply too honest for the games we all played.

Before I could speak, he extended a hand. "Dance with me."

The request shouldn't have felt like a challenge. But it did.

In my first life, Richard had been the first man to ask me to dance here. I had said yes, thinking it was the start of a fairytale.

Tonight, Adrian was the one offering his hand.

And I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

"Yes," I whispered, slipping my hand into his.

---

The Dance

His palm was warm and steady, his touch grounding. As he led me to the center of the floor, the noise around us dulled, the light blurring into gold and shadow. The waltz began again slow, deliberate and I found myself drawn closer than I should have been.

When he pulled me into his arms, the world fell away.

He moved with quiet certainty, guiding me effortlessly, every step perfectly timed. The air between us pulsed, electric. His hand at my back burned through the silk of my gown.

I dared to look up.

The sight nearly undid me.

His face was all hard lines softened by candlelight, his jaw strong, his lips pressed tight as though he were restraining something words, emotion, or both. His eyes, dark as midnight, carried that same intensity that once made me avoid him.

"You've changed," he murmured.

I blinked. "Changed?"

"The Elena I knew," he said slowly, his gaze fixed on me, "always looked like she was waiting for someone to save her." His lips curved faintly, though the emotion in his eyes was anything but light. "But tonight... you look like you finally know you don't need saving."

Something twisted painfully in my chest.

He was right. I wasn't the same. I had been naïve once, chasing love that destroyed me.

Now I carried fire in my bones and ice in my veins.

"I suppose dying will do that to you," I almost said.

Instead, I smiled lightly. "Or maybe I've just grown up."

A flicker of amusement crossed his eyes, but it didn't reach the storm behind them. "Grown up," he repeated quietly, as though the words held more weight than I intended.

We moved together in perfect rhythm, bodies brushing, breath mingling. I could feel the heat of him steady, solid and the dangerous comfort it offered. This wasn't strategy anymore. It was something else. Something far more perilous.

"Tell me something, Elena." His voice dipped lower, almost lost in the swell of violins. "Why him?"

My heart stopped.

He didn't say Richard's name, but he didn't need to.

"Because I was foolish," I whispered. The truth came out bitter, sharp. "Because I believed him."

Adrian's jaw tightened, his hold on me subtle but protective. "And are you still foolish?"

"No," I breathed. The word felt like a vow. "Not anymore."

The music slowed. We turned, the crowd fading from my awareness. His gaze never left mine dark, steady, unreadable. There was something in it that both terrified and comforted me.

When he leaned closer, his breath brushed my ear.

"I should warn you," he said softly. "Richard is not a man to lose gracefully. Stay away from him."

A shiver chased down my spine.

In my first life, Adrian had stayed silent, distant, always watching from the shadows while Richard destroyed me piece by piece. I'd wondered why. I'd wondered if he even cared.

But now, in this life he was stepping forward. Warning me.

Protecting me.

I swallowed hard. "You think I can't handle him?"

His eyes flashed with something fierce. "I think you shouldn't have to."

For a moment, the world tilted past and present colliding. I could almost hear my heartbeat in the silence between us. And then

A flicker of movement caught my eye.

Richard.

He stood near the edge of the ballroom, watching us. His smile was charming, perfect, poisonous. The same smile that had lured me to my death once before. I could almost taste the poison in the air again.

The chandelier's light fractured across the room, casting him in shards of gold and shadow. His gaze locked with mine.

And he raised his glass mocking, possessive.

I froze.

"Elena." Adrian's voice cut through the haze. Firm. Grounding. "Listen to me."

I tore my gaze away, forcing breath back into my lungs. "What is it?"

His hand tightened around mine. His voice was a low current beneath the music.

"If I asked you to stay away from him," he said quietly, "would you listen to me this time?"

The words hit me like a shockwave.

This time.

My blood ran cold.

He couldn't have known.

No one could.

Not unless

The music swelled, drowning my thoughts, but his eyes held me still dark, searching, as though he were looking through the layers of time itself.

I tried to speak, but my voice faltered.

Because somehow, impossibly... he knew.

---

The waltz ended with a soft, haunting note.

Applause rippled through the ballroom, but I barely heard it. Adrian stepped back, bowing slightly, his expression unreadable. Richard's stare burned into my back like a brand.

And me?

I stood between two wolves one wrapped in silk, the other cloaked in shadows.

And for the first time since my rebirth, I realized the past wasn't as buried as I thought.

Because if Adrian Blackwood truly remembered me...

Then my second chance was no longer just mine.

It was his too.

And that changed everything.