Your mate’s amnesia wasn’t an accident.

The rogue’s words echoed in my head, twisting into something sharp and unbearable. I couldn’t erase them, no matter how much I wanted to. My steps were unsteady as I walked through the dark forest, gripping the edges of my coat with trembling fingers.

He said someone erased me from Noah’s life.

I should have ignored him. I should have walked away. But I couldn’t. Not when my mate, my husband, the man who once swore to love me until his last breath, looked at me like I was nothing.

Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to silence the pounding in my chest. Doubt clawed at the back of my mind. What if the rogue was lying? What if this was all some twisted trick?

But deep down, I knew.

Noah remembered everything—his pack, his warriors, his childhood. And yet, the one person he had forgotten was the one who loved him more than anyone else.

Then a memory haunts me.

"I will always choose you, Audrey. My pumpkin."

The memory came without warning. He always called me Pumpkin. God I missed the moment.

I could still feel the heat of the bonfire that night, smell the pine and smoke in the air. Noah had cupped my face, his golden eyes filled with something unshakable. His love for me had been so certain.

"I don’t care what fate says. You are my mate. My Luna. My everything."

I squeezed my eyes shut, blocking out the pain. It felt like another lifetime, like a dream I had forced myself to believe in.

But that dream was gone. And I was standing in the ruins of what we once had.

I pressed a hand against my chest, breathing through the ache.

Love doesn’t just disappear overnight. And that love was killing me.

I exhaled shakily, my mind made up. I had to see him.

Even if it destroyed me, I had to see him one last time.

The packhouse loomed ahead, dark and silent. It felt strange walking into a place that was once my home, knowing I was no longer welcome here.

No guards. No locked doors. No one to stop me.

Because I was nothing now.

I moved carefully, my heart pounding in my ears as I reached Noah’s room. My fingers trembled as I curled them around the handle.

I didn’t know what I was expecting.

But it wasn’t this.

The door was cracked open just enough for me to see inside. And my entire world shattered all over again.

Noah was awake, his bare back turned to me as he sat at the edge of the bed. And in his arms was Caroline.

My breath hitched.

She was curled up against him, her hands resting against his chest like she belonged there. His head dipped down as he whispered something in her ear, his voice low, intimate.

The way his fingers traced her skin. The way his lips brushed her temple.

It was the way he used to touch me. The way he used to love me.

My wolf let out a broken whimper, and before I could stop myself, a snarl tore from my throat.

Noah stiffened. He turned his head slowly, his golden eyes locking onto mine.

For one desperate second, I prayed for something—recognition, confusion, anything.

But there was nothing. His gaze was cold, his expression unreadable. Like I was nothing but an intruder.

"What the hell are you doing here?" His voice was sharp. Unfamiliar.

I swallowed back the sob rising in my throat.

Caroline smirked, stretching against him like she knew exactly what she was doing. Like she wanted me to see this.

"Didn’t they tell you?" Her voice was sweet, dripping with false sympathy. "You’re no longer welcome here."

My body felt like it was caving in on itself.

My hands trembled at my sides. I wanted to scream. To demand answers. To tell him this wasn’t right.

Instead, my voice came out small. Barely a whisper.

"Noah… do you feel nothing for me?"

I saw the flicker of hesitation in his eyes. The slight tension in his jaw.

And then—nothing. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t waver.

"I don’t even know you."

Silence. A cruel, suffocating silence that swallowed me whole.

That was it. That was the moment I shattered completely.

I had lost my mate. Not to death. Not to fate.

But to something far worse. To a force I didn’t understand.

The bond between us had been severed, but my heart refused to let go. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt before—sharp, hollow, endless.

My wolf howled inside me, writhing in agony, but Noah didn’t move.

He just sat there, watching me. Like I was nothing.

I took a step back. Then another. My vision blurred, my chest tightening.

Caroline leaned into him, a victorious gleam in her eyes.

I turned and ran.

The night air hit me like ice as I stumbled blindly into the forest.

I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t care.

My home was gone. My mate was gone. My pack had abandoned me.

For the first time, I had nothing.

But as I ran through the darkness, one thought refused to leave my mind.

What if Noah was never meant to forget me?

What if someone erased me?

And if so… why?

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.

I had imagined this moment a thousand times before. The day I would tell Noah that we were having a baby. I had planned to surprise him in our room, maybe after a long day of training. He would have pulled me into his arms, kissed me like I was his entire world, and then laughed in pure joy when I told him we were going to be parents.

But that moment would never come.

Instead, I stood at the entrance of the Sinclair Pack’s great hall, my heart pounding against my ribs as I stared at the scene before me. The grand ceremony, the hundreds of guests, the golden light spilling from the chandeliers, it was everything Noah and I had once dreamed of for our own wedding. But now, he was standing at the altar with another woman.

Caroline.

My fingers clenched around the small envelope in my hands. The proof. The only thing that could force them to let me stay.

A hush fell over the crowd as they noticed me. Murmurs rippled through the hall, growing louder as people recognized my face. Some in shock. Some in disgust. To them, I was an intruder, a ghost that should have stayed buried.

Caroline turned first. The moment her eyes landed on me, they widened in surprise, then narrowed into pure fury.

Noah… his reaction was worse.

His gaze was blank. Cold. Like I was nothing more than a stranger.

"Audrey?" someone whispered.

Caroline stepped forward, lifting her chin high. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice sharp enough to slice through the silence. "Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough?"

I forced a smirk, even though my hands trembled. "Relax, I’m not here to ruin your wedding." I held up the envelope. "I came to deliver some great news."

The tension in the room deepened. Caroline’s eyes flicked to the envelope in my hands, suspicion creeping onto her face.

Slowly, I opened it and pulled out the ultrasound photo. The black-and-white image of my twins stared back at me, small but unmistakably alive. I turned the photo toward the crowd, letting them all see.

"I’m pregnant," I announced, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. "With Noah’s twins."

Gasps erupted across the room. The elders at the front turned to each other, whispering in shock. A few pack members exchanged stunned glances, while others simply stared at me as if I had lost my mind.

Noah’s expression didn’t change. He remained still, unreadable.

Caroline, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to rip me apart. "You’re lying," she spat, her voice shaking. "You’re desperate. This is pathetic."

I took a step forward, meeting her glare head-on. "Lying?" I let out a small laugh, shaking the ultrasound in front of her. "This is proof, Caroline. I would have told Noah sooner, but someone made sure he forgot me."

Noah’s body tensed. His brows furrowed slightly, but he still didn’t say a word.

"The accident," one of the elders muttered. "She’s saying the accident erased her from his memories."

Caroline let out a harsh laugh. "Do you hear how insane that sounds? If Noah forgot her, maybe it was for a reason."

I turned to Noah, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Noah, do you really not remember me at all?"

Silence.

He didn’t answer. Didn’t even blink.

My fingers tightened around the ultrasound. "Before your accident, you loved me. You were going to be a father. This should have been the happiest moment of our lives." My voice wavered, but I forced myself to stay strong. "You promised me forever."

Noah finally spoke. "I don’t remember making that promise."

The words cut deeper than any blade.

I sucked in a sharp breath. I knew this would happen, I had prepared for it—but hearing him say it, with that empty look in his eyes, nearly shattered me.

Caroline stepped beside him, looping her arm through his. "Enough of this nonsense. This is our wedding day, and we don’t need some delusional ex trying to ruin it."

I smiled bitterly. "Oh, don’t worry, Caroline. I’m not here to take him back." I turned to the elders, knowing exactly what to say. "I’m here because the Sinclair Pack needs an heir."

Caroline stiffened.

The elders exchanged glances. "She’s right," one of them murmured.

"The Alpha must have an heir," another agreed.

Caroline’s fingers dug into Noah’s arm. "You can’t be serious—"

I tilted my head, feigning curiosity. "But that’s a problem, isn’t it? You can’t give him one."

A deadly silence fell over the room. Caroline’s face drained of color.

Everyone knew. Everyone knew she was infertile.

For a moment, she couldn’t speak, her lips parting in shock. Then, just as quickly, her fury returned. "You little—"

"Enough," one of the elders interrupted. He turned to Noah, his expression firm. "Like it or not, these children are yours. Audrey is carrying your bloodline. This isn’t something we can ignore."

Caroline let out a strangled noise. "You’re saying she can stay?"

Noah finally met my gaze, his golden eyes dark with something I couldn’t decipher. Then, slowly, he exhaled and turned to the elders.

"She can stay," he said.

For a second, my heart leapt. But then, he finished.

"But only until she gives birth." His voice was as cold as ice. "After that, she leaves."

The room spun. I stared at him, waiting for him to take it back. To realize how cruel he was being. But he didn’t.

He meant it. The final knife in my chest.

I forced myself to nod, refusing to let my pain show. "Fine."