TWISTED FATES BOOK 1: THE FIRST TWIST by Jacklyn Rogers (read after TXT) 📕

like the bond that we had was even there anymore. The vindictiveness that personified our quarrel was unlike any other I had encountered before. Words like "hate" and "wish I never met you" were just a few of the malevolent reciprocities that managed to make their appearances. The vile assertions made on both our parts had materialized without as much as a hint of resignation from either of us. Granted, he was quite intoxicated, a condition that had become more frequent at home than not; but that still didn't dismiss that I knew deep down there was power in what had been spoken. My own sense of affection and pull towards him were quickly diminishing and being replaced with regret and emptiness. Something was undeniably wrong with us.

Up until this point, when it came to matters concerning Devon and myself, I had always confided in my one remaining BFF, Dasha. She is a beautiful and insightful witch, whom I swear has to have the patience of a saint, considering how much of my tumultuous life with Devon I have imparted upon her. She was my relationship sounding board, and counselor all rolled into one, not once ever complaining, for which I am forever indebted to her.

According to Dasha, because Devon not only broke ties with his pack and his whole Alpha thingy, he had stopped shifting, neglecting his wolf. That, compiled with the fact that he also never marked me as his mate, caused the supernatural bond between Devon's wolf and me to be nearly exhausted, barely hanging on by a very thin red thread of fate. She had told me an exceedingly rare scenario when only one or two of these factors were in place, but we were treading into dangerous territory people with all three.

I guess that's why as much as I sat here on our bed looking down at the ominous blue vial, I cradled in my trembling hands; I couldn't seem to make myself cry anymore. It's not because I don't love Devon. I really do, and I know that there will always be a big part of me that will never lose that love for him, mate or not. I would treasure our time together, though brief, forever. But seeing how unhappy he is now, I feel like somehow this is all my fault. Maybe being with me is what ruined him. I now understood that I shouldn't keep clinging to a relationship that undoubtedly wasn't meant to be. I mean, pretty much what Dasha was telling me made that quite clear.

I was ruining him.

If Devon and I were supposed to be together, then fate or whatever would never have mercilessly let our relationship fall apart.

Clearly, I was never meant to be Devon's mate.

Me, a mere human, mated to an Alpha Wolf. Fairly sure the Moon Goddess made a mistake with this one

So, what's in this ominous blue vial, you ask?

What's in the box? Seven anyone ... anyone?

Just kidding

In a nutshell, it's the answer to fixing the natural order of things and righting the wrong, which was the bond created between Devon and me before it ever began.

Or so I was told.

I have resolved myself to the fact that Devon deserves much more; someone like him. Someone that he would feel comfortable marking as his mate and feeling proud to have as his pack’s Luna, which became quite apparent, I didn't cut the mustard.

After asking Dasha for help, and despite her having some severe resignations, she finally broke down and decided to offer her support. She took me to see an ancient and powerful witch from her coven, Madame Witch. (I call her that so that she can retain her anonymity; this is on the DL, of course). Madame Witch specialized in resolving "special" types of requests, although her fees came at higher than average costs.

My particular request came with an exceedingly high price.

Of course, it did. Facepalm here, please.

How much, one might ask?

Well, from what I understood, with all the magic mumbo jumbo garble, it could be summed up pretty easily.

After I take the potion, Devon would no longer recognize me as his mate and, I would also lose ten years of my mortal life.

Rough I know, but since no one actually knows when they're going to die anyway, I threw caution to the wind and went for it.

I mean, who knows, am I right?

My lifespan could potentially let me live up to the ripe old age of 80.  Ten years is nothing, chump change. The most crucial outcome from all this for me, in the end, is Devon's happiness. He will be able to find his true mate.  A Mate that he can feel proud to make his Luna and live the life that he deserves. I owed him that much.

Madame Witch conveyed a couple of very stringent guidelines that I needed to remember to abide by. Otherwise, according to her, any negligence on my part could potentially cause some kind of timeline disruption resulting in a butterfly effect of a disastrous outcome.

Witches are sooooo overdramatic.

I would retain all of my memories up until the intersection of mine and Devon's timelines; I assume so that I don't make the same choices. It kinda defeats the whole purpose of all this, I suppose. Once modification of our fates has occurred, everything around us would proceed as usual, if you can call it that.

And lest we not forget ...

NO MATTER WHAT... I could not try and change anyone else's outcome other than what pertained to Devon and myself. Trying to change someone else’s destiny was the biggest no-no—apparently something about damning myself for pissing off fate yadda yadda.

You get the picture.

Although she did say that the time in which our fates connected would not be a long venture, so there "technically" didn't appear to be any risk of me screwing the proverbial pooch with whatever I was going to do. Basically, this was more of a