Rebirth of Nyla Stark: A werewolf Saga

He was beyond convinced now that she was not Nyla Stark. For starters, Nyla would never have given her own name at the station knowing it will alarm the authorities. Still, it didn't hurt to be double sure. He couldn't afford to make a mistake or a poor judgment call because he was too quick to assume he had all the facts.

His fingers pulled so tightly Irina felt her jaw bones would snap any second. "You have five seconds to tell me. What beast are you exactly? Vampire? Werewolf?" Demon? Dhampir?" He let go of her jaw so she could reply.

"H-Human." She snappily responded to stall further pain.

He clucked his tongue. How could she be human and claim to be Nyla Stark? Ridiculous.

His mind whirled. It was impossible for her to be just human. A human could not have cheated death and be reborn six times! They didn't have it in them to come upon such knowledge. Even Nyla had spent years finding a way to speed up the rebirth of impure human species like herself, despite having magic at her grasp. It was the rarest thing for a human to be a wraith, so rare Irina was the first he would be encountering assuming she was telling the truth.

"You're still lying." He growled.

"No, I'm human. You can check." Irina was exhausted. At this point, only a miracle would make them free her and grant her rebirth wish. Since that goal was history now, all she could hope for was a quick death rather than enduring immeasurable pain till her final moment.

The gatekeeper who almost got destroyed by the superior did a quick scan of Irina and nodded to the superior.

"She's telling the truth. Nothing extraordinary about her internal form. No iota of magic or witchcraft has ever tampered with this soul."

The superior's eyes flashed. He had so many questions. How did she do it? How did she come about the knowledge? What was she so desperate to find that she hadn't found in her six previous lives?

He bombarded Irina with the rapid-fire questions but she only kept mute.

"ANSWER ME OR I'LL…"

"Extinguish me? I doubt it." She coughed. Though she couldn't see his towering figure, she could sense his desperation. "You must run this place. I know you're desperate to learn the answers to all those questions. You wouldn't want another human or supernatural being beating your system again, would you? What would the executives say?"

They all but gasped in shock at how much she knew about the afterlife. The superior clenched his fist.

"You'll still extinguish me after I tell you so why should I? I'll much rather die with all my secrets than make your job any easier, unless…" Her lips curled up in a lopsided grin. "Unless you're willing to strike a deal with me. Give me what I want and I will give you all the answers you need."

"Sir, don't give into this wraith. You can't let her be reborn again." One gatekeeper pleaded.

"Yes sir, she can die with whatever she knows. Don't grant her rebirth request. She's a wraith, remember? They're devious, manipulative, cunning…."

"Deal." The superior voiced, advancing towards Irina. "If you tell me everything, and I mean everything you know that made it possible for you to be here right now for the seventh time, I'll send you back to earth."

Irina couldn't believe what she was hearing. She suppressed her smile and kept her end of the bargain knowing he couldn't go back on his word once he had said it. She went on to tell them her secrets. She could tell by their raptured silence that they were astonished at everything she was saying and wished she could see their facial expressions.

Long after she had finished, they kept mute, struggling to pick their jaws off the floor.

"Your turn." Irina said. "Give me what I want."

The superior ignored the silent pleas of his subordinates.

"Just as soon as you tell me your real name."

Irina frowned. "You'll have to tell me yours first."

"Xander."

She felt a whizz of cool air brush her face as he uttered his name.

"Irina."

He breathed deeply, stepped up to her and ran his thumb over her eyes to restore her sight. A small gasp escaped her lips as she saw him up close.

"Good bye, Irina."

She caught her breath "Good bye, Xander."

When her eyes fluttered open, she was lying in an open field, under a harsh sun. She squinted at her lean form which was tucked in a dress Irina would never want to be caught dead in because of how feminine it was.

She stood up and examined herself. She was pale skinned. Her hair color was a fiery red. Just great. She was a redhead. Very subtle, she thought sarcastically.

But something about her new body felt strange. Hard as she tried, she had no memories of the previous owner. A reborn soul was always equipped with the memories of the previous owner of their new body, from blowing out the candles on their first birthday cake to the smallest details of how they had died, so the reborn soul could seamlessly integrate into their new lives. Irina didn't understand why she was drawing a blank in her head as she tried to rifle through mental files.

Nothing, really? She didn't even know her new name, her age or where the fuck she was. Her skin felt like it was on fire and she was certain the sun had nothing to do with it. She clenched her fists and strapped down on the urge to growl in anger.

Why did she feel intensely frustrated and pissed off? Her nose picked up every damn smell, from animal dung and damp earth to that of freshly baked muffins from a store nestled far beyond the vast field. There were no humans in sight so why could she hear three distinct heartbeats edging closer? What the fuck was going on?

She followed the sound of running water and came upon an abandoned water fountain a good distance from where she woke up. She gaped at her reflection in it. Her eyes glowed amber.

"No! No!! It can't be." Her voice trembled. "I am human. I have to be human." She nervously pulled back her eyelids but the color remained a hideous yellow akin to that of a tiger. "Humans don't have such eyes! I can't be an impure!"

"Enjoy your life, Nyla Stark." She heard Xander's voice in head.

"FUCK YOU!" She cussed him, gritting her teeth. An unimaginable strength filled her muscles right before she pounded her clenched fist on the fountain. It collapsed in front of her, causing her to step back and assess her frail arms.

Xander.

The bastard cheated her. She should have been reborn as a pure human to retain her chances at rebirth in case she didn't find what she was looking for even in this life. Nothing else mattered more than finding the reason behind her multiple rebirth journeys. Xander shouldn't have taken that away from her.

She hated other species. Humans generally did and considered them inferior. They were isolated and hunted like animals in this world. Irina feathered her hands through her full head of hair and tugged tightly. How could Xander put her in the body of a fucking werewolf?