Chapter 2

Dylan finally got home when dawn was about to break.

I hadn't lit the lamps. I was curled up on the animal hide couch, my gaze fixed on the door.

He pushed the door open and came in. He raised his hand to light the night crystal lamp, and when he saw that I hadn't slept, he was clearly startled. He began walking slowly toward me.

"You know," he simply said.

He swallowed, his voice sounding tight as he tried to hide how flustered he was.

I nodded.

We had been with each other for five years, and we were too familiar with each other.

His sudden promise, his messy clothing, and the wrong steps he had taken had all alerted me to the fact that he was hiding something.

I had always been perky, and I never sat silently in a corner late at night.

Dylan knew that it wasn't normal for me to be like that.

He sighed and sat down beside me. He took out a long, thin crystal tube from the pouch that he carried around with him. It contained a blue potion, and he placed it gently in front of me.

"She's in a lot of pain. She's lying in the observation area at the clinic, and she's hooked up to all kinds of equipment."

He looked at me and said in a voice so calm that it was almost impassive, "I promised her father and my mother that I would look after her."

My chest felt as if I had been plunged into an icy lake. My breath caught in my throat, and my fingertips turned numb. "So you've decided to spend her last days with her?"

He nodded. "Yes."

The silence around us was so thick that it felt as though all the sounds had been turned off.

After a while, Dylan moved his hand hesitantly to touch the crystal tube.

"What is this?" I asked as I stared into his eyes, my voice sounding scratchy and dry.

He averted his gaze from mine and said in a low voice, "Melody, she's counting down the days to her death, and she just wants me to keep her company. I knew you wouldn't agree, so…"

His voice was becoming softer and softer, but every word seemed to pierce my heart like a knife made of ice. "I hope you'll still bond with me after I've walked the last leg of her journey of life with her. Therefore you… you just need to forget me temporarily. When I get back, everything will be the same as it always was."

I finally understood. This was his newly developed "Memory Lock Potion". It could temporarily cut off our link with our wolves and block our memories.

"You want to wipe out all traces of me from your mind," I said flatly.

I stared at him in a daze. I could feel my wolf trembling like I was.

My mate was going to devote himself to keeping another she-wolf company.

"No, Melody! It's only for 21 days." Dylan tried to explain himself softly, as if he were trying to coax a pup. "When she's gone, I'll come back. We'll have the bonding ceremony, just like we planned. We're true mates. Our wolves get on so well. They're inseparable."

I sat there woodenly, feeling my eyes sting. It had been five years.

I laughed sardonically. "You've only just developed this potion. You haven't even tested it yet. What if something goes wrong? What if I forget you forever, and not just for 21 days? What if it hurts my wolf?"

Dylan's finger froze, but he only remained silent for a moment before pulling out the stopper of the tube firmly. There was a soft sound, and the potion glowed a faint blue.

"There's nothing wrong with my potion. I'm the best Neuro Healer in Southia."

He held the tube near my lips. "After 21 days, I'll come back and marry you, and we'll become the happiest couple."

I turned my head away. "Why should I? I'm not a recycling center. Why do I have to accept a werewolf who cheated?"

"That's slander! I haven't betrayed you!"

Dylan was suddenly agitated, and his eyes reddened. "She's about to die. She doesn't have much time left, and she deserves my company!"

The mate that I had loved deeply for five years was now desperately defending another she-wolf before me.

He took a deep breath and got up abruptly. He pressed my shoulders down.

I was about to resist, but he pinched my chin harshly.

The ice-cold crystal tube was stuffed into my mouth by force, and the bitter liquid slid down my throat.

I struggled desperately and choked violently on it. The potion had accidentally entered my windpipe, and I could barely breathe.

However, Dylan did not stop. Instead, he held me down even more forcefully. I aimed a vicious kick at him and hit his abdomen.

Dylan grunted, and his arms loosened. I wanted to vomit the potion out at once, but he suddenly grabbed my hair and yanked me back. He held my face in an iron grip and poured the rest of the potion in by force.

My tongue was cut open by the tube, and the taste of blood mingled with the bitterness. It hurt so much that tears streamed down my cheeks.

The tears clouded my vision, and I could no longer see the expression on his face clearly.

When the potion had almost finished, he finally let go of me.

I tried desperately to dig into my throat with my nails, but bile rose up and I could not throw up. I could only gag hoarsely, and I felt as if I was being torn apart.

I cradled my head in my hands and trembled. My head felt as if it were being torn open by sharp claws, and my consciousness was being devoured inch by inch.

My wolf trembled with me.

Darkness was falling over me, and I slumped onto the floor. I could only vaguely hear his voice. It rang out in my mind as if from a distance.

"Melody, I truly love you, but Jocelyn is about to die. I have to keep her company, so… please… forget me. Forget… Dylan."

His voice seemed to be getting further and further away, and it was growing more faint. I fell onto the sofa, and the only word that resounded in my mind was Dylan.

Who was that?