NeroI’ve been thinking about how to approach Morana about Osiris’s investigations. Not only do I not know how it’s going to be, I also have no idea if she’s even aware of the fact that Osiris was looking into her wolf.To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to find what I did on his laptop. I thought he was looking into Camellia’s memory erasure, so why was he so caught up in Morana’s wolf? Are the two connected? I can’t ponder this any longer than I have because there’s a knock on my office door and I know it’s Morana. She walks in with an extremely nervous look on her face and the anxiety in her scent doesn’t set me at ease, either.“You wanted to see me, Nero?” she asks as she approaches my desk and I nod and get to my feet, gesturing to the sofas. “Sit down, there’s something we need to talk about,” I say as I sit down on one of the two-seater sofas and she lowers herself next to me. “It’s about your wolf—”“Did Camellia tell you about my dreams?” she shrieks. “She promised she wouldn
Morana/“Morana, we need to head back—”//“No! They’ll kill me now that they know it was me!”/ I exclaim, running as far as my paws can take me. /“I did this! I somehow…this thing made me hurt Camellia!”/It’s all coming back to me now. This thing inside of me gained followers and had Camellia taken away after nearly killing Aeron and Me. It planned for me to be hurt in the process so no one would pin the blame on me.What the hell! I hurt Osiris as well and nearly hurt Aeron, too. I have to run away before—/“They’re your family, Morana. They won’t hurt you, they’ll try to help,”/ my wolf, Scythe, nearly growls. /“Trust me for once and not what this demon is making you believe!”/~“Do you really think they won’t kill you when you go back? Poor, naive little sister. You took Camellia’s memories and had her shipped to a different country while she was pregnant. Nero will never—”~/“Don’t believe its words, Morana! It’s trying to weaken your resolve so it can take over, you need to stay
NeroThe door to my office opens and I brace myself for what I’m about to see. The mind link has been quiet with me unable to contact Morana or check on her at all. Either she blocked us out, or the Meraloth did.Orion walks in with a grave expression on his face, and behind him follows Morana with glistening eyes. I’m about to say something, when Camellia leaps to her feet and rushes toward Morana. I watch my sister flinch, but then Camellia wraps her arms around her and Morana bursts into tears. “I’m so sorry, Camellia! I did this to you, I’m so sorry!”“Shh, I don’t blame you, Morana,” Camellia says in a soft tone, rubbing her back. “Whatever happened, it wasn’t you and it wasn’t your fault.”I’m not getting any manipulation from Morana’s scent, and no sign of the Meraloth’s presence at all so I know she’s back to being herself for now. But how long can that last? How safe are we from this?“Morana, you need to tell us everything you know,” I say as soon as they break off their em
NeroWalking out of my office, I head straight for the living room where I know Camellia and Morana are busy settling down with a movie. They both look up when they see me walking in, and Camellia aims the remote at the TV.“What’s wrong?” she asks when she sees the look on my face.“Creed Volkov’s witch is here,” I say, watching as surprise flickers across her face before I walk out of the living room. We’re either getting answers today, or a fuck load more questions.The front door is already open when I walk into the foyer, and Nova Volkova walks inside. Shorter than Camellia, blonde hair, crescent moon mark below her eye and a circular gem in the middle of her forehead. It always surprises me how different to other witches she is. For one, she’s completely bubbly.“Nero! You haven’t changed at all, I see. Still broody,” she says as she approaches me with her hand outstretched. She has a few years on me, but she could seriously pass for someone younger than me.“Being broody is a L
NeroAfter our talk in the kitchen, Camellia stays with Morana, offering her quiet support while Nova gets everything ready for tonight. I decide to go to Osiris to tell him what’s happening; I don’t want him freaking out when his memories suddenly return.His bedroom door is open, and he’s laying down on his chaise by the window when I enter. When he sees it’s me, he sits up and his eyes narrow. “Everything okay?”Walking toward him, I place one hand in my pocket and nod. “There’s new. News I think you will want to hear,” I say. “The witch is here.”His eyes widen. “Oh, is that what the commotion below is about?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. “Bad news?”“Depends on how you look at it, I suppose,” I start. “Morana can be saved, and the memories taken from you will return as soon as the Meraloth is removed. Nova is scheduling the ritual for tonight.”He raises an eyebrow. “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”I sigh. “But Camellia’s memories can’t be retrieved. It’s been too long and if
OsirisEverything has come back, but instead of feeling like ‘the old Osiris’ I feel empty. I remember everything, how I ended up losing my memories and everything before that. Wasn’t I always happy and upbeat? Always looking for the bright side and all that shit? Shouldn’t I feel happy, or relieved? Why do I still feel dead inside?I look down at my scarred hands, the different negative emotions drifting through me. My brothers are going to be so disappointed that I’m not the same Osiris as before; I hope they don’t blame themselves for this.There’s a knock on my bedroom door and when I look up, I see Orion. There’s a question written on his face, one I can’t bring myself to answer.“Are you okay?” he ends up asking instead of the one I know he wants to.“I’m fine,” I say with a shrug. “Tired and overwhelmed, I guess.”Orion frowns, and I know he’s picked up on my mood. “Are your … I mean, can you remember anything?”I fucking hate how our relationship has become like this. We use
CamelliaI won’t ever be the same again, and somehow, I’m okay with that. When I first heard that I won’t ever have my memories returned to me, I thought that was it. I’ll never be the old Camellia everyone is used to and Nero won’t love me the same as before.But I was wrong. Nero loves me regardless, and I finally admitted that I love him as well. Osiris has been avoiding me, and that was before he asked to leave the pack house for a while. Nero says it’s because he needs to find himself again, and I can’t fault him for that. Everyone says he changed, but I understand more than they think.He lost his old life, grieved for it and then suddenly got it back. There’s no way he’d be the same again. I don’t know what made me think I’d ever be the same Camellia if I ever got my memories back. It’s late and Nero isn’t home yet. I know he and Orion had some pack business to take care of, so I’m not too worried. Nereo is tucked in, Aeron has decided to stay with a friend on his college cam
NeroI sit in my office, staring at the map of our territory laid out on the desk. My mind is racing, trying to piece together everything we’ve learned. The Summer’s Edge Pack.The thought that their Luna brainwashed our mother before she died makes my blood boil. She’s the reason our mother wasn’t the woman we remembered during Morana’s pregnancy. She’s the reason Morana was cursed with that Meraloth.Orion walks in, his expression as dark as mine. He knows what I’m thinking, and he’s already on board. This can only end with death, and it sure as fuck won’t be ours.“We need to take them down,” he says, his voice cold and resolute. “They’ve taken too much from us, Nero.”I nod, clenching my fists. “I’m not letting this fucking slide. They’re responsible for everything—the memory loss, the curse on Morana, even the shit we’ve gone through with the pack. We need to end this.”Orion steps closer, leaning over the map. “The Summer’s Edge pack is small, but they’re well-defended. The Lun