Over the next couple of days, Christopher stayed indoor, not allowing anyone to come close.
Then on the third day, surprisingly, he came out to eat with them and seemingly had his full memory back but was unable to remember anything about Millicent, who felt he was acting strangely.
'Oh, Sylvester, my dear brother', he said. ' when I came back from the borders, I doubt I introduced this good friend of mine, Wendy, whom I brought with me?'
'Yes, you did', he said. 'Are you feeling okay?' he asked anxiously.
'Never better!' Alpha Christopher replied. 'I'm sorry, I could not come home for your engagement to Cathania, there was a lot to do at the border but I trust it all went well?' he asked, hitting his brother playfully on the shoulder.
Sylvester looked at Millicent with a question in his eyes. Millicent shrugged, looking pointedly in Wendy's direction and feeling hurt that Christopher seemed to be ignoring her, though she had taken the pains to look very beautiful for him.
'Oh, good!' Alpha Sylvester said, to keep the conversation going.
'I trust you. Where is she now?' Alpha Christopher asked.
'She's travelled!' he said.
'Wendy, Alpha Sylvester is my twin!' Christopher continued and Millicent started thinking that Christopher may have gone mad.
'No, he isn't mad. His memory has gone back to the time before he met you!' her wolf, Milly said sadly.
'Why that time, why not after?' she screamed in her head frustrated. She had been missing Christopher since he got a second chance at life. At night, she desired him to come to her, place his arms around her, mate with her, taking her to great heights of pleasure. She desired him more now that she was pregnant than ever before. And it was killing her that he seemed not to recognize her nor acknowledge her.
'Christopher, what is going on? Can't you recognize your mate, anymore?' she asked him through mind link but he did not act as though he heard her. It was almost as though their link was blocked and this was not the first time she was failing to communicate with Christopher through mind link. It was one of the suggestions Mum Cara had given her.
Christopher looked around. 'And who are these beautiful damsels?' he asked, looking first at Millicent and then at Samantha.'This one looks familiar though', he said pointing at Millicent, and her heart swelled. He will remember,she thought, smiling.
'They are friends of the family', Sylvester said, making a note to send for the doctor to examine him. He signaled Daniel who came and bent down to hear what Alpha Sylvester had to say. Then nodding, he left briskly.
'Don't tell me, you invited them because you could not wait till Cathania came home from her trip to have a female?' Alpha Christopher joked.
'It's nothing like that!' Sylvester said.
'I am not some random female, invited for an Alpha's pleasure and neither am I anyone's plaything', Millicent said, getting fed up with all this. 'I am your mate!'
Christopher looked at her shocked, and laughed. When no one joined in, he stopped and looked at her and then at his brother. 'She's joking, right, Sylvester?'
Sylvester shook his head. 'I'm afraid not!' he said. 'I thought you recognized her just now!'
Christopher looked puzzled, holding on to his head. 'Are you seriously serious?' he asked looking thoughtfully at Millicent.
'I am seriously serious!' Alpha Sylvester replied smiling because the term, 'seriously serious' reminded him of their teenage years. That was the term they used to show that there was no element of joke in what they were saying.
'But it can't be, can't you see she's pregnant?' Christopher asked, looking at Millicent's protruding stomach.
'That's true!' Sylvester said as his eyes followed Christopher's and regret flashed through his eyes settled on her stomach and as he thought that the baby in Millicent's womb would have been his if he had not allowed fate to play a bad trick on him. He looked at her but found her looking at Christopher with a mixture of love and hurt. He's had to suppress his feelings for Millicent since Christopher was revived. He had been sure Millicent was finally going to be his but Wendy arrived to put a stop to that. Her interruption of their marriage ritual had been both a blessing and a misfortune, because he got his brother back but lost his love!And the way she seemed so fixated on and obsessed with Christopher, pained him, he could do nothing about it but to pretend he no longer had feelings for Millicent. 'But that doesn't stop her from being your mate!' he concluded.
The look Sylvester gave Millicent was not lost on Samantha who looked away with mixed feelings. 'He still has feelings for her!' she thought sadly. 'But she does not feel the same way about him and the person she loves does not remember her!' Then Samantha laughed mockingly at herself in her head, 'And nobody notices me these days, most of all, the man I have fallen in love with! He's so obsessed with my friend, he does not see my pain!' Samantha thought in anguish.
'Well', Christopher said. 'Being my mate is all well, though I would have felt it if she were indeed my mate, wouldn't I? But shouldn't you be mating with the father of your pup, Millicent?' he asked, looking her straight in the eye.
Everyone was quiet. You could hear a pin drop. All eyes on Millicent, as they waited for her answer in baited breath.
'You would think that, wouldn't you?' Millicent spoke after a while, smiling at him wistfully.
Her response surprised everyone. They expected her to say more but when she didn't , they released their breath and click, click went the spoons on the plates as they resumed eating. Millicent changed the topic abruptly. 'Alpha Sylvester', she called and Sylvester looked at her expectantly and Samantha bit her lip. 'What have you decided about the Moonlight Pack? You seem to be silent about their fate or are you keeping me in the dark, for obvious reasons of course?'
'What about the Moonlight Pack?' Alpha Christopher asked and Wendy frowned at Millicent, wondering, 'what trick does she have up her sleeve now?'
'The pack is now under The Moon Ville Pack . We conquered them afterall' Alpha Sylvester said, looking at Christopher as though in response to his query and then at Millicent. 'I sent word to them not to try rebelling and I put a warrior in charge because my Beta refused to leave my side for now!'
'And Blake's wife and children?' she asked. 'What fate have you prepared for them?'
'They have been stripped of their position and are to live as commoners', he said. Seeing Millicent shake her head disapprovingly, he added, 'They should be grateful, I am wiser now and did not wipe them all off the face of the earth!'
'I'll advise that Blake's wife and children be restored to their position', Millicent said, looking imploringly at Sylvester. 'And when his son comes of age, be made to succeed his father as Alpha of the pack'.
'How can you be this magnanimous?' Alpha Sylvester asked. 'I can't afford to be that lenient. They have to be taught a lesson as a deterrent to others. Blake caused my parents' deaths for goodness sake and invariably yours!'
'I am aware of that', Millicent said, looking very thoughtful. 'But I have learnt from my mistakes. The wife and children may not be aware of Blake's deviousness. I am not saying we should be firm friends with them but we can ease tension and their suffering by not punishing the children for the sins of their father'.
'You mean like I did with you?' Alpha Sylvester said with regret, his heart in his eyes. 'I regret every moment of that time. I am wiser now', he said and heaved a heavy sigh. 'I shall do as you have said, if that is your wish!'
'It is!' Millicent said.
'Smitten!' Wendy murmured mockingly, under her breath, staring at Sylvester. And Christopher looked at both Millicent and Sylvester thoughtfully.
