"Are you sure we should do this?" Arabella wondered. "Two meals today?"

I snorted a laugh, shrugging. "It's just dinner."

Arabella pursed her lips, her brown eyes narrowing. I grinned, picking up my fork and gesturing at her to copy. I decided that after visiting various stores over an entire seven hour trip, more food was needed.

"So, tell me more about school." I pestered after she gave in and ate. "Do you get to pick subjects?"

"It's a mixed pack school. I think there's barely fifteen kids each year." She began. "So no, I don't get to pick all my subjects. I think we all have to attend wolf subjects."

"Oh, yeah? Like politics and history?"

"I think so," she nodded. "There's an enormous library, too."

I grinned. "Of course, that is what you pick up on."

She grins back, laughing bashfully. "It has everything there. Even some of the oldest books in history."

My interest peaked. "Human books?"

"Yes! Human books!" She giggled, her excitement growing. "Come with me one day."

"That would actually be great. I've wondered where all the human books went."

"They're apparently locked away. You can only view them in the library itself and if you want to check them out, they have trackers on them." She explained. "Like here, where you can't take them out of pack lands."

I grimaced. "Let me guess, thieves?"

Her lips pursed. "I would guess so. Human texts must go for good money."

"I haven't visited Asra's library, you know. I get so caught up in everything." I muttered.

"It's amazing, but not as good as the school's." Arabella sighed.

I laughed. "You sure love books, don't you?"

"I want to be a writer so bad, Ailia." She frowned.

This was news to me.

Leaning forward, I captured her attention. "You do?"

"Yeah, I do. Well, I mean, I'm pretty sure I do. I love books, and I love stories and thinking about it all..." she trailed. "I have dreams and I think about their entire plots."

"Does the school have creative writing?" I wondered. "If you want to try it, Bella, you should."

I noticed the way her eyes softened at her nickname. Dad used to always call her Bella, or Belle, because of her love of literature, much like the old fairy tale he used to read us.

"Do you... remember Dad?"

I blinked, taken aback. "Of course, I do."

"I mean, like, remember, remember him?" She paused, glancing down at her plate. "I think of him sometimes, but I can never picture him."

My jaw tightened, and I swallowed nervously. I didn't want to tell her anything just yet, not wanting to crash any hopes. It was the same reason I kept it bottled inside of me, not getting ahead of myself with all these revelations.

"Maybe it's just because you were so young," I suggested. "You were five."

"I was four," Arabella shook her head.

I paused, my forehead creasing. "No, you were five. Dad died just after your..."

My words drifted as my mind hit yet another roadblock. Arabella's birthday is in the May, three months after mine. I was nine, and she was five, right?

"I was four," she frowned. "It was spring. I remember all the flowers coming out of their sleep, and the way the dark nights turned brighter every day. The wolf hunt was around that time. That's why he got killed."

"No-no, he was murdered. They killed him and his friends in the forest. Torn to shreds."

Her frown deepened. "No, the wolves killed him during the hunt... He wandered too far..."

We both stared at each other, each stuck in their own stories of the past. As I gazed at my sister, I realised she was dead set on what she knew. She believed this as much as I did, and it only made my heart race in my chest. The dead weight of dread settled in my stomach, and I cleared my throat to glare down at my plate.

Just what exactly did this witch do to our memories?

***

After a long, boring day of shopping with my sister, I was looking forward to climbing into bed. Teenagers were super picky with clothes and aesthetics. It partly felt like Arabella was trying to be someone she was not. These preppy pastel-coloured clothes were not what I expected. However, I didn't want to intervene.

Falsely smiling despite my confusion, I picked up on most of her themes and together we gathered about eight outfits worthy of high school. I reminded myself that she had never had a life before. Maybe this was just her way of finally discovering herself. It was freedom, and for a teenage girl, that was everything.

Entering the bedroom, I kicked off my shoes in the entryway and shut the door. I groaned softly, pressing my forehead into the wood, taking a calming breath.

Damn, my feet hurt.

Spinning around, a startled scream escaped me at the sight of a damn human sized bump on the bed.

"Fucking hell," I breathed, and they snickered. "How did you get in here? It's locked!"

Mya sat up from her position on my bed and grinned at me. "Your mate told me to get you. Did you take the stairs? Why did I beat you?"

I avoided her eyes, dropping my bag on the dressing table. "Maybe."

Mya snorted a laugh at my hatred for the elevator. "Why?"

"It makes noises," I muttered.

"Well, duh, it is an electrical box."

I scowled at her, crossing my arms. "Why are you here?"

"I told you already." She rolled her eyes. "He wants you in his office."

"Uh-huh. He couldn't just mind-link me with that?" I wondered.

She grinned, shrugging. "He could've."

I hummed, eyeing her sceptically. Mya was up to something.

"So, you thought you'd let me climb trillions of stairs to drag me down them again?" I wondered. "These facts aren't adding up, Mya."

Her nose twitched, and my lips curled into a smile at her nervous habit. "I like to see you suffer."

"So do I. Like when I beat your arse in a fight." I grinned. "What do you want? Stop avoiding my questions, Asra would've mind-linked me, not sent you."

She pursed her lips before dropping back onto my bed with a groan. "Fine, I just wanted to get away for a minute."

"So you broke into your alpha's room?"

She sucked on her teeth as I came to sit beside her. "I did, didn't I?"

I laughed. "That's surely a felony. Do you enjoy imprisonment?"

Mya scowled, shoving me from the bed until I fell to the floor with a loud laugh.

"Stop it!" She shrieked.

"Well, you broke into my room." I teased, pulling myself back up onto the bed. "What's going on?"

"Ever since you beat me, they've been mocking me."

"They?"

"The other warriors."

"So, you are insulted? Want to beat me in the comfort of my room and behead me as a trophy? What is it?" I probed.

Her lips twitched slightly. "Yes, that's exactly why I came here. To behead you and then deal with a feral alpha wolf who will surely gut me, family or not."

We laughed, my hands curling through her braids. They were so solid. How did she not get brain aches all the time?

Mya sighed, her chest rising and falling dramatically. "I originally came here after dinner to take it out on you, but you weren't here, and my annoyance fizzled away."

"But you still stayed here? For... over an hour?" I wondered, eying the clock.

"Yes,"

"Right."

She huffed, pushing herself up onto her elbows. "I want, no, I need answers, Ailia."

I cocked my head, confused. "Answers?"

"How you beat me. You are a human. I am a trained warrior."

Unease settled in my stomach, and I felt my hands tingle with nerves.

"Okay... I just... did?"

"That's not an answer and you know it." She scoffed. "You moved so elegantly, and swiftly, that it threw me off guard. The first time I blamed it on being distracted, but then last week and the sparring circle... It is more than a coincidence. Humans don't move like that."

"I have muted wolf blood, you know that." I shrugged. "Maybe it's stronger now that I am fully your luna."

Mya scowled, those dark eyes scanning my face. Her nostrils flared, eyes dropping to my chest.

"Then why is your heart racing?"

"I'm not lying, Mya. I have wolf blood in me. It is obvious."

"But you present human."

"So?"

"You have been trained."

"I haven't though!" I shook my head. "I honestly have no memory of being trained! Nothing!"

"Not even a glimpse? Your father? Uncle? A man in the village?" She probed, and I shook my head every time. "A woman? A person outside of the village?"

Still shaking my head no, my mind lagged as a sudden rearing moment twinged in my mind. I frowned, trying to follow that strange thread in my head, only to see a brief memory of something I couldn't place. I concentrated, pulling the little image I had in my mind as hard as I could.

Trees.

Sweat.

Blood.

Shadowy face.

Brisk winter air.

It was gone as quickly as it came, and I scowled.

"I knew it. There was something!"

"No, no... I... I remember learning moves myself, but nobody was with me..."

"You don't seem so sure about that." Mya mused. "I think somebody taught you, and just hit your head that much you forgot. Some PTSD or something. Trauma can wipe memories. Did that arsehole ever threaten you to not defend yourself?"

"Darius?"

She snarled, baring her teeth at me. "Yes, that one."

I blinked, surprised by her anger toward my ex-fiance. "He wouldn't let me do things, but I never defended myself against him."

"Why not? Someone obviously trained you to fight and defend!"

"I wasn't though! I couldn't have been!" I shook my head, adamant. "I would remember that."

"Would you though?" She cocked her head.

Would I?

Was I?

I sighed, eying the clock. It's been a long day, and I wanted to bathe and relax.

"I'd like to settle down now, if that's okay."

Mya's shoulders dropped, but she nodded. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Pester me, you mean?"

She smirked, rising from my bed and moving toward the door. I followed her path, holding the handle in my palm as she stepped through.

"Hey, isn't your period due? Why are you so chirpy?" Mya wondered, stopping in the doorway. "Usually, you are grouchy by now. Would've eaten my head for interrupting your privacy."

"I'm on medication. No periods for me." I grinned, shrugging, unaffected.

"He really let you?" Her eyes widened. "I'm impressed his wolf didn't put his pup in you already."

"Goodbye, Mya!" I laughed, slamming the door in her face.

Damn wolves. They're obsessed with blood.

I sighed and pressed myself against the wood again.

I need a shower.

The bed's messy state caught my eye, and I scowled at the crease in the sheets. I picked up the blanket and shook it out before laying it across the sheets again. The smell of fresh cotton washed over, and I internally thanked the maids for washing our sheets every two days.

I could collapse on that after my bath and it would be bliss. Grinning, I immediately headed towards the bathroom. After switching the shower on, I stripped off my clothes and moved towards the sink. Brushing my teeth quickly, I hummed softly to myself before rinsing my mouth and bending down.

I groaned softly when I found the cupboard was free of any towels, but a soft creak of wood had my ears perk up.

"Asra? Is that you?"

No answer.

Was he tricking me?

Sly devil.

Leaving the bathroom, I called my mate's name. Looking around, I found the room still empty. The bed still made, the doors still shut. The mate bond was dull in my chest, and my body lacked the humming intensity of his presence.

I must've been hearing things.

Shrugging, I sauntered naked across the room and grabbed a few towels to restock the under-sink cupboard. Clicking the en-suite door shut behind me, I placed the towels on the wash basket before stepping into the harsh current of the shower.

Gosh, I loved it when it ripped the skin off my back.

Washing my body and hair clear of any grime, I switched off the shower and wrapped a towel around my hair. Drying my body, I grimaced at the stickiness before moisturising my limbs and face. Gotta take care of this pale mess in the summer, otherwise I'll turn into lobster. Not the tasty kind, either. An old, stinky lobster that was returned to the kitchen.

Snorting a laugh, I entered the bedroom and grabbed some lightweight pyjamas from my drawers. Throwing them onto my bed, my eyes caught a glimmer of something on my pillow and I froze, turning my attention toward the object.

Well, that wasn't there before.

It lay on my pillow, lush and full of life despite its deep red petals. It still had its thorns, and two leaves on either side of the stem flourished with life. Dread pooled in my stomach, unable to look away from the taunting rose. It was mocking me, full of life and memories of a past I left behind.

It was green and full of life, sap still leaking from its stem. I shivered when a gentle breeze caressed my bare shoulders, and my stomach churned with nausea.

I raised my gaze, searching for the draft that froze me to the bone. I swallowed harshly, locking my eyes onto the now wide-open bedroom window. A single noise escaped me, and that was a broken shout for my mate.

Someone had broken into our room and left the only reminder of Evermore that I hated.

Roses.

*******
It's bout to go down