Chapter 1

The nurse showed me a photo of me and Ethan and explained that he was my husband. She also told me I'd collapsed at the scene where he and his mistress were together.

I took the photo and slid it under my pillow.

The memory loss made the man in the picture a complete stranger.

I didn't want to see him. I even turned down the nurse's offer to contact Ethan.

"I'd like to check myself out. Can I do that now?"

"Ma'am, you just took a bond-breaking potion. Parts of your memory are missing right now. I really think you should stay."

"Your husband is upstairs. Are you sure you don't want to talk to him?"

The potion has to be taken twice. The nurse had probably never seen a Luna try to walk away from her Alpha before. She instinctively wanted me to reconsider.

I shook my head and started packing my clothes.

The man I love is Samuel. I need to see him right now. After we received the Moon Goddess's blessing, we were supposed to get married.

When she saw I wasn't changing my mind, the nurse started venting about the husband in the photo.

"Word is your husband waited until you were asleep, then snuck out to go see his mistress."

"Good thing you woke up in time. Otherwise, sweetheart, you'd still have no clue."

"I just can't figure out what happened before you passed out. It must've been bad enough to make you drink the potion."

I didn't say anything. I opened the mind-link. Nothing on the other end. Not a single reply.

How could a man like this be my fated mate?

My Samuel never needed me to call for him. He'd be at my side before I even had to ask.

A man who ignores how I feel like this. How could I have ever agreed to marry him?

Had I woken up inside some twisted fairy tale?

When she saw I still didn't believe any of it, the nurse quietly wheeled me to the door of Barbara's room.

Through the crack, I saw the same tall, broad figure from the photo. Except there was a woman leaning into his arms.

"Lydia ran out and pulled that whole playing-dead act, and now that she got caught, she suddenly decides to faint. She's out of control."

Every word out of his mouth was a blade. Nothing but disgust for me.

Barbara, on the other hand, pressed her hand over his mouth. So natural. So familiar.

"Ethan, it's me being here that's upsetting Lydia. It's my fault. You can't take it out on her."

Her long pink nails tapped against Ethan's chest one by one. Gentle, but also something else entirely.

"Lydia, is she still..."

She suddenly held it in, swallowing the rest.

Ethan gave her a helpless smile, his eyes full of exhaustion and impatience.

"She's fine. The doctor said her vitals are normal."

"I promised you a happy birthday, and she wrecked it again."

"I'm sorry, Barbara. I'll make it up to you."

The nurse said this man really was my husband.

He cheated. He spent the first half of the night in my bed and the second half at another woman's apartment for her birthday.

He couldn't stand seeing the other woman unhappy.

Didn't even check on his wife before running off to take care of someone else.

How could I have ever loved a man like this?

It was all because of that Wishing Willow.

I wasn't in the mood to watch these two put on their show. I needed to find Samuel immediately. I couldn't wait another second.

The Wishing Willow's power was finally gone. This body, finally free, was going back to where it belonged.

Before I could grab my suitcase and make it to the elevator, a pair of large hands pinned me in place.

Ethan walked in and kicked the suitcase over first.

"Barbara's waiting for your apology. You playing dumb?"

"Or did your manners disappear along with all the jealous psycho episodes, Lydia?"

Ethan's eyes were full of anger and disappointment.

He still thought I was the same Lydia. The one the Wishing Willow controlled. The one who loved so hard she lost herself. The one whose possessiveness drove her mad.

But even so, he'd walked into this room without asking a single question about my condition.

Just as I thought. Once you've got someone, you stop caring, right?

Or maybe he was just so sure I'd never leave him. That no matter how he treated me, he'd never have to feel bad about it.

"Here, your favorite moonberries. Have some, then I'll take you to apologize to Barbara."

The half-empty box of moonberries in his hand had clearly been picked through. The ones left were small and shriveled.

Obviously Barbara's leftovers.

I still didn't say a word. But I took the box from his hand and dropped it straight into the trash.

From the moment the Wishing Willow's power took hold, I'd been trapped inside this body.

Like another soul had taken over. Falling madly in love with Ethan.

Skipping school for him. Getting into fights. Even rejecting my fated mate, Samuel.

Everyone cursed me. Said I'd betrayed the Moon Goddess. Said I deserved to die.

But I loved him anyway. Threw myself into it like fire.

Until the fifth year. My possessiveness, my jealousy, my constant need for reassurance pushed Ethan away.

He's the one who wished for blind, obsessive love. And he's the one who hated it once he got it.

Maybe he was so used to my outbursts by now that throwing away the berries barely registered.

He just opened the wolf spirit link again.

"Go on. Feel it for yourself. See if I did anything with Barbara besides talk."

"Or maybe you already know we're clean, and you just get off on tormenting her."

I still didn't speak.

The memories were gone. Whatever he was going on about, I didn't care.

My indifference finally set him off. Ethan started tearing the room apart.

Didn't even take ten minutes. The whole room was destroyed.

Standing in the wreckage, Ethan looked up, face blank.

"Happy now?"

"Good. Then sit tight. I've got a pile of pack business to deal with. I don't have time for this."

The door closed. I stopped the nurse before she could rush over and tell him the truth.

I turned around, walked into the bathroom, and locked the door.

Because I'd just gotten a text from Samuel.

"Lydia, I'm giving this one last shot. Three o'clock, the usual spot."

"I hope this is the last time you stand me up."

I stared at the message. At this man I'd hurt so deeply, who still hadn't blocked me.

I leaned against the bathroom wall, trying to figure out where I could clean up and get the sweat off my skin.

I had to be clean before I went to see him.

My love had already suffered enough.

That's when the door handle started turning. Someone had a key.