The forest was dead silent except for the sound of my uneven breaths. My body ached, my legs sore from walking for what felt like hours, but I couldn’t stop. I had nowhere else to go.
The rogue—Hendery, as he called himself—led me deeper into the woods, his steps light, barely making a sound. He moved with the ease of someone who knew every inch of this land. I, on the other hand, stumbled over roots and uneven ground, my body sluggish from exhaustion.
I wrapped my arms around my stomach, feeling the faint warmth there. The reminder of my baby, of Noah, twisted my heart into something raw and broken. He didn’t know. He would never know. The father of my child had no memory of me, and worse—he had looked at me like I was a stranger.
A cold wind swept through the trees, making me shiver. I finally found my voice, though it was hoarse.
"Where are you taking me?"
Hendery didn't stop walking, but his voice was low when he answered. "Somewhere safe. Somewhere they can’t find you."
They. Caroline. The Sinclair Pack. The mate who no longer remembered me.
The pain of it was still fresh, a deep wound that refused to close. I had spent weeks begging Noah to remember, waiting for his warm gaze to soften when he looked at me, praying that he would wake up and realize who I was. But none of it had happened. Instead, I had been cast aside like I was nothing.
The moment I saw him holding Caroline in his arms, I knew I had lost. I bit my lip to keep the emotions at bay, but it was getting harder to hold back.
After what felt like an eternity, we reached a small clearing where a wooden cabin sat hidden between towering trees. It looked abandoned, but when Hendery pushed open the door, I realized it wasn’t.
Hendery motioned for me to sit near the fire, and I didn’t argue. My body was ice-cold, and for a moment, I just focused on the warmth licking at my skin.
"You need to hear the truth," he said. Hendery sat across from me, his dark eyes serious. "Someone erased his memories."
The room seemed to shrink around me. I shook my head. "That’s not possible. The healer said—"
"The healer lied." Hendery’s voice was sharp. "Or maybe they don’t even know the full extent of it. Either way, Noah’s condition wasn’t caused by his injury. It was caused by black magic."
Black magic.
The words sent a chill through my spine. Magic like that was rare—dangerous. It came with a price.
I swallowed hard. "Who?" My voice cracked, but I forced myself to ask. "Who would do this to him?"
Hendery didn’t answer immediately. His eyes studied me, as if weighing whether or not I could handle the truth.
I already knew.
The moment he spoke her name, it only confirmed what my gut had been screaming all along.
"Caroline."
Of course. Of course, it was her.
She had always wanted Noah back. She had always looked at me like I had stolen something from her. And now, she had taken everything from me.
"She erased me from his life," I whispered.
Hendery nodded. "And she replaced herself in the space where you used to be."
A hollow ache settled in my chest. It made sense. Noah remembered her. He looked at her like she was his entire world. And me? He had only seen a stranger.
I felt sick.
I pressed my hands against my stomach again, grounding myself. I wasn’t just fighting for myself anymore. I was fighting for my baby.
"How?" My voice was barely above a breath. "How do I fix this?"
Hendery hesitated. "Black magic isn’t easy to undo. And the deeper the spell, the more dangerous it is to break."
"I don’t care." The words left my lips before I could think. My wolf stirred inside me, weak but determined. "I have to get him back."
Hendery sighed, rubbing his temples. "You don’t understand. If we try to force Noah’s memories back, it could break him."
I blinked. "Break him?"
"The mind isn’t meant to be tampered with like this," he said. "If we go against the magic, he could lose everything. Not just his memories of you, but all of his memories. His identity. Who he is."
A sharp pain stabbed through my chest. If I tried to make him remember, I might lose him forever.
My hands trembled. The weight of that possibility crushed me.
But could I just leave him like this? Living in a lie? Loving the woman who had destroyed him?
I closed my eyes, exhaling shakily. "There has to be a way."
Hendery was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, "There is."
I snapped my eyes open. "Tell me."
His expression darkened. "You have to get close to him again. You have to make him feel something for you. Only then can we weaken the spell. Only then can we bring him back."
My chest tightened. The thought of facing Noah again—of watching him love someone else while I fought to break through to him—felt unbearable.
But what choice did I have?
I looked down at my stomach. I had no choice.
Noah had the right to know he was going to be a father. And I had the right to fight for the love that had been stolen from me.
Taking a deep breath, I lifted my head and met Hendery’s gaze.
"Then I’ll do it."
Hendery watched me for a long moment before nodding. "Then be ready," he warned. "Because once we start this, there’s no turning back."
I wasn’t turning back. I had already lost Noah once.
I wasn’t going to lose him again.
