Chapter 5 CHAPTER 5

Ophelia’s POV

"Maybe," I said quietly. "But everyone deserves a chance to prove otherwise."

"That's very noble of you, but—"

"Jovie." I turned to face her. "Do you trust me?"

She blinked. "Of course, Miss."

"Then trust that I know what I'm doing."

I didn't, obviously. I had no idea what I was doing. But I couldn't exactly explain that I was a dead girl from another world trying to prevent a timeline apocalypse.

"Now," I said, forcing a smile. "I believe we were here to shop. And I'm hungry. Let's find some food."

Jovie still looked concerned but nodded. "As you wish, Miss Ophelia."

As we walked back into the market proper, Hex spoke up in my mind. "So, that was your first fate node encounter. How do you feel?"

"Terrified."

"Good. That means you're taking this seriously." He paused. "But you did well. You changed the outcome—instead of being publicly humiliated and possibly beaten, Ryan was defended and released. That's a positive shift."

"Will it be enough?"

"I don't know. But it's a start."

I bought a meat skewer from a vendor, trying to calm my nerves with food. The meat was actually really good—way better than anything I'd get from a food truck back home.

"Hey, Hex?"

"Yeah?"

"Why was Ryan here? In the marketplace, I mean. He shouldn't have been abandoned yet, right?"

"No, he shouldn't. According to the original timeline, that doesn't happen for another year."

"So something's already wrong."

"Very wrong. The dark wolf shadow must be accelerating events somehow."

I took another bite of my meat skewer, thinking. "What if we can't fix this? What if the timeline is too broken?"

"Then we're all screwed," Hex said cheerfully. "But hey, no pressure!"

"You're not helping."

"I'm being realistic. This is a dangerous mission, Ophelia. But you knew that going in."

"Okay, so let me get this straight," I said, examining a leather bracelet at one of the market stalls. "The timeline is breaking, Ryan is here a year too early, and the dark shadow thing is already messing with his soul?"

"Correct," Hex confirmed in my head.

"And I'm supposed to fix all of this by... what, exactly? Being nice to him?"

"Basically."

"That's the dumbest plan I've ever heard."

"Hey, I don't make the rules. I just enforce them."

I put the bracelet back and moved to the next stall, which had these gorgeous hand-carved wooden boxes. "Speaking of rules, how exactly does all this work? Like, what are we allowed to do?"

"Oh, now you're asking the important questions." Hex sounded pleased. "Let me educate you about the cosmic hierarchy."

"This sounds like it's gonna be complicated."

"It is. Pay attention."

I picked up one of the wooden boxes, pretending to examine it while Hex explained.

"So, at the very top, you've got the Guardians. Capital G. They're older than Moon Goddess, older than basically everything except the universe itself."

"Older than Moon Goddess? I thought she was, like, the ultimate deity here."

"She is—for this world. But the Guardians oversee all worlds, all timelines, all realities. Think of them as the ultimate referees of existence."

I set down the box and moved to a jewelry stall, Jovie and the warriors trailing behind me. "What do they do, exactly?"

"They maintain cosmic balance. Make sure the laws of cause and effect are followed. Prevent timeline collapse. That sort of thing."

"So they're like... universe police?"

"Exactly! And like any good police force, they have very strict rules and zero tolerance for violations."

I picked up a silver necklace, testing its weight. "What kind of violations?"

"Direct timeline manipulation. Killing without cosmic authorization. Trying to change major fate events through force instead of natural influence. Basically, anything that violates the natural laws of causality."

"And what happens if you break these rules?"

Hex's voice turned serious. "Judgment Strike."

"That sounds ominous."

"It is. The Guardians don't mess around, Ophelia. If they detect a serious violation, they send down a strike—this silver lightning that just... obliterates you. Body, soul, everything. You get erased from existence."

I froze, the necklace dangling from my fingers. "Wait, seriously?"

"Completely seriously. I knew another Fate Weaver once—tried to take a shortcut on his mission. Figured he'd just kill the person causing the timeline disruption and call it a day."

"What happened?"

"The Guardians hit him with a Judgment Strike. The silver lightning came down from nowhere, and he just... ceased to exist. Well, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Rumor is his consciousness got trapped in a time loop, experiencing his worst moment over and over for eternity. The Guardians don't just kill violators—they make examples of them."

I carefully set down the necklace, my hands suddenly shaking. "That's... that's horrifying."

"Yeah. So when I say we have to follow the rules, I'm not kidding. No shortcuts, no direct interference, no trying to outsmart the system."

"But we're literally here to change the timeline. Isn't that interference?"

"Authorized interference," Hex corrected. "Moon Goddess got permission from the Guardians to send a Fate Weaver. But we still have to work within the natural laws. We can't just teleport around fixing things or killing people or forcing events to happen differently."

"So what can we do?"

"We influence. We guide. We create opportunities for change through natural interactions. Like what you did with Ryan today—that was perfect. You didn't force anything, you just changed how people perceived the situation."

I moved to the next stall, which sold herbs and medicines. The vendor smiled at me hopefully, but I was too distracted to really look at his products.

"What about you?" I asked Hex. "You manifested to save me from future Ryan. Isn't that breaking the rules?"

"Emergency protocols. I'm allowed to protect you from immediate death threats, but it costs me a ton of energy and I can only do it sparingly. If I did it too often, the Guardians would notice and get suspicious."

"So basically, I'm on my own most of the time."

"Welcome to the job!"

"You're enjoying this way too much."

"I find your suffering amusing."

I rolled my eyes and bought some lavender soap from the vendor, mostly because he looked hopeful and I felt bad.

"Miss Ophelia," Jovie said, coming up beside me. "Are you sure you want to buy all this? The warriors are starting to look overloaded."

I glanced back at the two warriors. Their arms were literally full of packages—leather goods, silver jewelry, carved boxes, herbs, a fur cloak I'd impulse-bought, and various other things I'd acquired while talking to Hex.

"Oh my god," I said. "Did I really buy all that?"

"You've been shopping for over an hour, Miss."

"I have a problem."

"You have a shopping addiction," Hex agreed.

"Okay, fine." I turned to the warriors. "You guys can head back to Ironcliff Pack. Drop all that stuff off at my room."

They looked relieved. "Yes, Miss Ophelia."

"Jovie and I will finish up here and head back soon."

The warriors bowed slightly and headed off, laden with my shopping haul. I watched them go, feeling slightly guilty.

"You know you can't take any of that back to your world, right?" Hex pointed out.

"I know. But I'm technically an Alpha's daughter right now, so I might as well enjoy the perks while I can."

"Fair point."

I bought another meat skewer—my third one—and took a big bite. "Okay, so back to the cosmic rules thing. What happens if I die during this mission?"

"Interesting question." Hex sounded thoughtful. "If you die in Aravorn, your soul gets ejected from this world. Moon Goddess can give you a new body, a new identity, and send you back in."

"So it's like respawning in a video game?"

"Kind of, except it's not consequence-free. Each death creates ripples in the timeline. Plus, there's the penalty."

My chewing slowed. "Penalty?"

"Yeah. If you fail the mission—whether through death or giving up—there are consequences."

"What kind of consequences?"

"That depends on Moon Goddess's mood and how badly you failed. Could be anything from a temporary punishment to something more... permanent."

"Define permanent."

"Well, one Fate Weaver who gave up too easily ended up experiencing a hundred different tragic lifetimes until she learned her lesson."

I nearly choked on my meat. "A HUNDRED tragic lifetimes?!"

"Yeah. Born, lived through trauma, died, repeat. Over and over until she developed enough empathy and determination to actually complete a mission."

"That's insane!"

"That's divine justice. The gods take this stuff seriously, Ophelia. You're not just here to save Ryan—you're here to prove you deserve the second chance at life Moon Goddess is offering."

I swallowed my food, suddenly feeling sick. "So if I fail..."

"You might end up experiencing multiple lives filled with suffering until you learn whatever lesson Moon Goddess thinks you need to learn. Or she might find a different, equally creative punishment. She's very inventive."

"Great," I muttered. "No pressure at all."

"Look at it this way—you've already died once. Everything else is just bonus time."

"That's a terrible way to look at it."

"But it's true!"

I finished my meat skewer in silence, processing everything Hex had told me.

"So basically," I said finally, "I need to save Ryan without breaking any cosmic laws, avoid getting killed, and succeed on my first try or risk a hundred lifetimes of torture."

"That's the gist of it, yeah."

I sighed and bought a honey cake from another vendor. "At least the food is good here."

"Focus on the positives. That's healthy."

We wandered through the market for another twenty minutes. I tried to relax and enjoy the medieval atmosphere, but my mind kept circling back to Ryan. Those cold green eyes. The way he'd looked at me like I was something unpredictable and possibly dangerous.

Jovie came up beside me again, looking concerned. "Miss Ophelia, it's getting late. We should head back before your father worries."

"My father." I tested the word. According to my fake memories, I had a whole family here—a father who was the Alpha of Ironcliff Pack, various pack members I'd known since childhood.

It was weird, having memories of a life I'd never actually lived.

"Yeah, okay," I said. "Let's head back."

As we started walking toward the edge of the marketplace, Hex spoke up again. "Hey, Ophelia?"

"What?"

"You did good today. I know it's scary and overwhelming, but you're handling it well."

"Thanks, Hex."

"Don't let it go to your head. You still have a shopping addiction."

"And you're still annoying."

"It's part of my charm."

Despite everything, I found myself smiling.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Twenty minutes later, I was running through the streets like my life depended on it.

Because it kind of did.

"FASTER!" Hex screamed in my head. "RYAN'S IN SERIOUS DANGER!"

"I'M RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN!" I shouted back, not caring that I looked insane yelling at nothing.

"There are rogues! At least five of them!"

"WHAT?!"

"They cornered him in an alley! If you don't get there soon, he's dead!"

My legs were burning, my lungs screaming for air, but I pushed harder. Somewhere in the maze of medieval streets, I'd lost Jovie.

"Hex, where's Jovie?!"

"She went the wrong way! Took a left instead of a right!"

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Do I sound like I'm kidding? Now MOVE!"

Great. Just great. So now I was going to face five dangerous rogues with zero backup and zero werewolf powers.

This was fine. Totally fine.

"Can you go get her?" I gasped, my side cramping.

"NO! I need to guide you to Ryan! Just keep running straight!"

"This is a terrible plan!"

"It's the only plan! NOW TURN LEFT! The alley on your left!"

I skidded on the cobblestones, nearly falling, and dove into a narrow alley.