"The diamonds or pearls?" I ask, confused now at Fenris's choice of description. That man said that these were pearls.

"They are sparkling, so I thought they are diamonds. Let me look at them closely," asks Fenris and I raise my palm higher for my brother to see them closely.

Fenris looks at them, and then at me. "Where did you get these from?" he asks while looking at me.

"I was in the cavern, beside the wall," I try to remember the man. "There was this man, I saw. He was ancient. He said he was friends with our grandpa."

"What?" Fenris's eyes widen as he takes in my words. "How is that possible? Who can manage to stay alive for so long?" he wonders out loud but even I know that he's not speaking to me. He's busy thinking and connecting the dots. But I am not sure if there are any dots left to connect.

I am exhausted.

"Who can this person be?"

While Fenris tries to think out loud, I slowly recall the words the man spoke. "The Queen of Wolves gave you the same advice, didn't she?"

Queen of Wolves?

Sierra knows him.

"I want to meet Sierra. Now."

Fenris jerks up in his seat when I speak the words a little too loudly. I look at him expectantly however, he doesn't look me in the eyes. I frown at him, not really knowing what's going on.

"Sierra's not here," says Fenris while looking down at his hands. He then looks up at me, closes his eyes once and then opens them to look at me with black eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I don't know."

"What do you not know?"

Fenris just shrugs and then looks around before getting up from beside me.

"Fenris..."

"You seem to be fine. I will speak to you later. Take care," Fenris speaks monotonously and then walks out of my room without answering my question.

What was that?

And where's Sierra?

Before I can dive deep into my thoughts, the door to my room flies open, startling me. And I forget all about the pearls in my fist.

Dominic!

I sit up straighter in my bed as awareness shoots through my spine. A rock settles in my stomach as my throat clogs up with emotions.

Dominic stands at the threshold of the room as he stares at me. His face is straight, but his eyes speak volumes. He stands there for a full minute, his eyes roaming over me, from head to toe. His eyes linger on my hands and then on my face.

And then all those memories wash over me. Me trapped in the dungeon, then me being held by mom and then me being born. And then before that, something ancient.

Me speaking to my mom but I am not myself. I am someone else–

"You look lovely," he whispers, breaking my thoughts and I focus on Dominic once again. Now, he is walking closer and closer, taking tentative steps toward me as if he's unsure of my reaction. He sits on the edge of my bed, tentatively at first and then settles on it, when I don't react to his closeness.

"Are you feeling fine?" He asks while staring into my eyes, but I break our eye contact, his intense stare making me aware of my own body. Moving my gaze to his hands, I find that he has entwined his fingers, tightly.

"Why are you holding your hands so tightly?" I ask, pointing at his fingers and looking at him. He then looks at his hands and shrugs.

"Because I want to hold you tightly, but it might scare you," he replies calmly, shocking the crap out of me.

Since when did I start cursing?

Shaking my head to clear my mind, I stare at him and his reddish black eyes. And then as if my body has it's own mind, I move the blanket away and get on my knees. Dominic stares at me in shock as I walk the short distance on my knees and reach him.

"What are you doing?" he sounds and feels nervous as he leans back a bit making me move further toward him.

"Letting you hold me," I reply and put my arms around him. The next step is unknown to me but I don't get a chance to dwell on it as Dominic decides to relieve me from this stress of initiating contact.

"Oh, dear Lord!"

Dominic's claim of holding me tightly holds true as he crushes me to his chest while burying his head in my neck and hair, sniffing my scent deeply. The sound of him sniffing me has butterflies flying inside my stomach, making me shiver. I hold tightly onto Dominic allowing my body to lean into him and satisfy my body's need to be close to him.

And it feels wonderful.

"I never hugged you before but I am sure that I have been missing having you in my arms like this," he whispers in my ear and I lay my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes and letting his words wash over me.

He missed me in his arms. But he has never held me. How can he miss me in his arms when he has never held me?

And then as if a light bulb glows, my mind focuses on that thread of memory.

Me holding Dominic as he loves me through the night. The memory of me sleeping in his arms, of him drinking my blood and then something else.

The monster.

The man who drank my blood and sucked me dry. He was familiar. He killed me. And then Dominic came home. He held me when I died.

I died in my earlier life when I was a young maiden to be wed to Dominic. To this Dominic. To the then Prince Dominic.

Dominic is unaware of the thoughts and memories that are running through my mind as he continues to rock my body a bit while laying soft kisses all over my cheeks and neck.

But through all these memories, the face of that monster reveals itself in my memory, making me jerk out of Dominic's arms. He is startled but immediately accommodates to my needs.

However, fear oozes out of my pores and I am sure they are clear to him.

"You are not scared of me. But you are scared," he whispers, frowning while looking at me. As if wanting to test his words, he touches me. Rubbing my hands with both of his, he tries to take the fear away, but it doesn't help me at all.

"He... the monster... He killed me. Wul... Wulfric killed me."

Dominic tries to understand my words, but I am stammering, and my hands are shivering as I recall that night when I was Charlotte. In my previous life.

Fuck! This is crazy!

Small memories, small events have triggered my memory but only Dominic's words have helped me register the truth.

"No, no! Nikita, you killed Wulfric. He's dead."

I am shaking my head even before Dominic finishes his words. He's thinking in the present.

"No, no, no!" I scream, scared about myself. How is this possible? I am reborn?

"Shh," Dominic pulls me closer, burying my head against his chest. His hard body trying to anchor me, but I am way past sanity. I am hysterical and I know it and I feel lost.

"He killed me. You... you, Dominic, couldn't save me," I scream in his chest, scratching his back in fear, reliving the pain that Wulfric put me through in both my lives. "He hit m... me and drank my b... blood, Dominic."

"No. Nikita, you are alive. You are fine. You must be hallucinating," whispers Dominic, holding my shoulders tightly.

It makes me pause to think. Hallucinating?

It is possible? And then I go back and remember every damn thing that happened to me when I was living as Charlotte. How I was a single child, sheltered from birth. How I was destined to be wed to a Count or a Prince. And Dominic was that Prince. How foolishly I had fallen for Dominic's supernatural charm!

How he bedded me and then asked for my hand in marriage. He was supposed to introduce me to his parents that night. He was going to pick me up but before he could arrive, Wulfric arrived and then... no!

"No!! I am not hallucinating," I scream, making Dominic cringe slightly but he doesn't let his shock show for more than a second.

"Okay."

"No, not okay. Something is wrong with me. Wulfric killed me before. He killed me when he sucked my blood. How am I alive?" I am screaming and screaming when Dominic shakes his head, looking helpless to my cries.

That's when I realize that I am crying. Never did I cry in front of anyone, except Kestrel! No!

And once again, Wulfric made me lose my control! The dead fucking son of bitch!

"Shh, Nikita. It's alright. Everything is fine. Wulfric is dead!"

"Nooooo!"

He is not supposed to be dead. I am supposed to be dead. He killed me. Dominic saw me dying.

Then how am I alive?

"Nikita!" Dominic's command makes me pause my hysterical thoughts and for once I focus on him. Looking deep into his eyes, I let myself be submerged in his spell. I know he's controlling my mind, but I am so forgone in my fear that I can just give him the reins of my mind to get away from this pain.

"Let me see, what are you talking about?" says Dominic, while caressing my cheeks with both his hands after pulling me in his lap.

I settle down quite comfortably as far as first times go. I lean into him, making him take all my weight. This just feels too comfortable to think about the reality of the situation.

"Are you not telling me something?" I ignore his question while ducking my head.

"Charlotte!" I whisper, watching his eyes widen and then narrow at me.

"You know about her." He makes it a statement and I know that he doesn't want to speak about her, about me.

"She was me. Me is her. I am her," I whisper and watch as he widens his eyes a bit.

"What? You are my Nikita. My past is done and locked. I may have been unsuccessful in killing her murderer, but I do think that it was meant to be. It just proves that I am not a perfectionist."

"What perfectionist?" I am confused now. Or maybe I am just jumbling my thoughts.

"Nikita. You are confusing me," he says while caressing my head and dropping small kisses on my forehead, as if trying to unravel the thoughts that are through my mind. I can't really speak out my thoughts. It's very difficult to speak it out, to say that I am the reincarnation of Charlotte. That I was reborn for Dominic.

"WHAT?"

Oh, dear Lord!

Looks like I don't need to tell these things to Dominic anymore.

"Yes, you don't need to speak it out, I heard your thoughts. You almost projected them to me, they are so loud," he exclaims, while clutching me to his chest, almost choking me.

"You are Charlotte? That's almost impossible. You are my Nikita! You are you. That's not fair," he says, and I completely understand his emotions. He doesn't want me to think that he loves me because I am a reincarnation. But he doesn't know that I knew about his minute emotions even before he was aware of this reincarnation thing.

"I am her. Maybe I was reborn because our story was incomplete? My soul is the same and I do feel you inside me, even when we haven't..." I let my words drift off when Dominic's eyes widen as if he understood my meaning behind it.

"You do?" wonder fills his voice as his eyes reflect with confusion and something close to awe.

I nod a little, feeling shy suddenly. Ducking, I let my hair cover my face when Dominic starts recalling that night. His thoughts are projected as if he wants me to confirm if that's what I know.

And yes, it's exactly what I know but though Dominic's thoughts, I can identify one more thing.

Through the entire process of their, our lovemaking, Dominic appears to be hesitant, as if hiding something from his partner.

What is it?

"Yes, I was afraid. I... You were a human in the past. And you didn't know about my true nature. About me being a vampire. So, I lured you into trusting me and that's how you came to me, spent the night with me. I almost took you without your consent."

"No!" How can that be? "I loved you, you were my Prince," I whisper and watch Dominic smiling down at me tenderly. He leans down and kisses me softly on the lips. I let his emotions of love and tenderness wash over me. His love surrounds me and cocoons me in safety.

"I know but you didn't know my true nature. You didn't know that I almost hypnotized you in believing me." By the time he finishes his statement, I can see his eyes have welled up. Guilt consumes him as he ducks his head and rests them on my chest, his body shuddering with his overwhelming emotions.

I hold him or at least try to accommodate his body in my arms. 

~~~~~

It has been a long wait, I know. 

I am extremely sorry for this delay. But I would like to let all of you know that I got married in 2 months ago. Settling down with the new changes and beginning of the new chapter in my life made me kind of sideline my hobby for some time. 

I have been dying to get back on track with this book. Hopefully, now that I have updated this chapter, I will be on track soon. I need your votes and reviews as a motivation. 

Hoping for the same. :)🤞

Thank you all for your patience. 💖 Please do vote and post your reviews in the comments section.