Chapter 3

The noise of my phone's ringtone woke me. I opened my eyes blearily. My head felt very heavy, as if it had been stuffed with rocks.

"Melody, what are you doing?"

It was Lira Johnson, the pack inspector sent from the Alpha King in Northia. She was also a good friend whom I'd grown up with.

"I rushed over snowy mountains overnight to get back in time to witness your bonding ceremony, but I couldn't even enter the ceremony venue!

"Also, why is Jocelyn the bride? Who is she? What are you and Dylan playing at?" Lira questioned.

I was immediately alert, and my heartbeat sped up all of a sudden. "Wh-who's bonding? What are you talking about?"

Lira was even more surprised than I was. "Isn't today the day of you and Dylan's mate bonding?"

I felt cold all over and retorted at once. "Who's Dylan? I'm single. Don't you know that?"

"You've been together with him for five years. Even your wood carving has your names engraved on it!" Lira almost laughed out of sheer anger.

I scrambled out of bed in a panic and began rummaging through the house. However, all the clothes and even the scents were all mine.

"I carved that wooden sculpture myself for fun. Didn't I tell you I wanted to practise my skills?" I asked in resignation. "Look, even my bed is a single bed."

"That's impossible!"

Lira clenched her teeth. "Don't move. I'm coming over right now."

She hung up before I could reply.

After a while, she rushed in and panted as she scolded me. "Are you mad? Why are you pretending to have lost your memories? Do you want to frighten me to death?"

However, when she finally stood in my room and saw the colorful oil painting on the wall, as well as how there was no trace of Dylan at all, she was stunned.

"That's impossible… look, I have proof." She pulled out her phone quickly and found a photo that she had taken casually.

In the image, I was wearing a velvet gown and hanging onto the arm of a male werewolf who was dressed in a black hunting robe and wore silver-rimmed glasses. I was smiling very happily.

I was startled.

I had no impression of the male werewolf at all, nor did I feel any sense of familiarity or any change in my heartbeat.

For some reason, tears slid down my cheeks almost at once.

I reached out to wipe them away, but the moment my fingers brushed the corners of my eyes, I had a flash of inspiration.

"Lira! Do I have a long-lost twin sister? She's the one who's bonding, right?" I asked.

Lira looked exasperated. "Have you and Dylan had a fight?"

I was agitated. "You still don't believe me. I really don't recognize him!"

Lira stared at me, and her expression gradually turned serious. "Have you really lost your memories? Have you bumped your head recently, or have you been poisoned? Wait! Where's your wolf?"

She grabbed my phone anxiously to try to find information about Dylan on it.

However, no matter how much she searched through it, she couldn't find anything. Not even his name was in it.

She had no choice but to call him herself.

After a moment, there was a familiar but tough male voice. "Who is it?"

"Dylan! Have you gone crazy? Melody says she doesn't know you, and you're having a bonding ceremony with another she-wolf? Melody's wolf has disappeared too!"

There was silence on the other end for a few moments, and then Dylan said coldly, "You have the wrong number."

Lira almost flung her phone away in anger. "Drop the act! Can't you tell from my voice that it's me?"

Before he could say anything, there was a weak cough on the other end and a hoarse female voice. "Who is it, Dylan?"

Dylan sounded nervous. "You have the wrong number."

After that, there was only the sound of a busy signal. He had hung up.

"No, this is way too strange," Lira muttered, running outside at once.

"Leave everything else. I'm going to find a solution to help you get back your wolf and your memories. Stay at home and wait for news from me. I'll investigate," Lira said.

She had always been quick to act. However, I sat where I was, not feeling nervous at all.

I really did not have any memories of Dylan.

I had never been interested in strangers. Right now, I was more concerned about where my wolf was and why tears kept trickling out of the corners of my eyes. Why was there a dull pain in my chest?