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Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Words We Forgot
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2026-08-06 00:54:49No one spoke.
The recording continued to hiss softly from the digital recorder in my hand.
My own voice had stopped.
The final sentence still echoed inside the garage.
"...Ronan finally admitted he loved me."
Silence became unbearable.
Marcus looked at Ronan.
Then at me.
Then wisely decided not to say a single word.
Inspector Mara Voss cleared her throat and turned away, suddenly fascinated by the concrete wall.
Even Gabriel lowered his eyes.
Only Ronan continued looking at me.
For the first time since we'd met at the academy...
The rivalry between us disappeared completely.
"I don't remember saying it," he admitted quietly.
"I know."
His voice carried no embarrassment.
Only regret.
"I remember feeling it."
The honesty of those words struck harder than any confession could have.
I looked down at the recorder.
My thumb hovered over the replay button.
I wanted to hear it again.
To know what happened after those words.
To understand why we had willingly erased the most important conversation of our lives.
Instead, Gabriel gently stopped my hand.
"Not yet."
I looked at him sharply.
"Why?"
"Because there's more."
He pointed toward the recorder.
"The message wasn't finished."
I pressed Play again.
Static filled the garage.
Then my own voice returned.
"If you've reached this part..."
"Good."
"That means Gabriel ignored my instructions and gave you the recorder early."
Marcus couldn't help smiling.
"You actually predicted that?"
Gabriel sighed.
"He always did."
My recorded voice chuckled.
"Don't look so guilty, Gabriel."
"I would've done the same."
For a moment...
It felt as though I was standing in the room with another version of myself.
One who still possessed every missing memory.
One who knew exactly what came next.
"Ronan..."
The recording paused briefly.
"If you're listening too..."
Silence.
Then...
"I'm sorry."
Ronan's expression didn't change.
But I saw the muscles in his jaw tighten.
"You deserved better than what I asked you to do."
I frowned.
"What did I ask him?"
Gabriel answered softly.
"Keep listening."
"After you confessed..."
"I told you not to say it again."
A long silence followed on the recording.
Then my own laugh.
Tired.
Sad.
"You looked so offended."
Despite everything, the corner of Ronan's mouth lifted.
"I probably was."
"I asked you to wait."
"Not because I didn't feel the same..."
Every heartbeat in my chest seemed to stop.
"But because I wasn't Adrian yet."
The words echoed through the garage.
I wasn't Adrian yet.
Not because of memory.
Because of identity.
My recorded voice continued.
"I've spent twenty-four years pretending to be someone else."
"An Alpha."
"A perfect heir."
"A perfect chairman."
"A perfect lie."
I closed my eyes.
My father's letter.
Live as Adrian. Not as the lie I created.
Everything connected.
"If I accept your feelings while I'm still hiding..."
"Then you'll never know whether you loved me..."
Another pause.
"Or the mask I wore."
Ronan looked away.
His eyes had become suspiciously bright.
"So I asked you for one impossible promise."
Gabriel folded his arms.
"He kept it."
I listened.
"Find me again."
The recording crackled.
"After everything."
"After the lies."
"After the memories disappear."
"After we become strangers again."
"If you still choose me..."
A deep breath.
Barely audible.
"Then I'll know you're choosing Adrian."
Not the Alpha heir.
Not the Silverfang chairman.
Just...
Adrian.
The recording fell silent.
No one moved.
Finally, Ronan spoke.
"I remember one thing."
Everyone looked at him.
"Not the conversation."
He touched his chest lightly.
"The promise."
He met my eyes.
"I don't remember making it."
A faint smile appeared.
"But I remember deciding..."
He took one slow step toward me.
"...that I'd find you again."
A warmth spread through me that had nothing to do with pheromones.
Nothing to do with instinct.
It came from somewhere much deeper.
Choice.
Not fate.
Not biology.
Choice.
Marcus looked between us before raising one finger.
"I'm happy for both of you."
He pointed toward the tunnel entrance.
"But..."
Everyone turned.
The headlights of another vehicle swept across the concrete walls.
Unlike the black SUV...
This one was armored.
Its doors bore no corporate insignia.
No police markings.
Only a silver emblem painted on the side.
Three stars arranged in a straight line.
Orion's Belt.
Gabriel's expression changed instantly.
For the first time since meeting him...
He looked genuinely alarmed.
"They're here."
I frowned.
"Who?"
He took one step backward.
"The people we've all been trying not to name."
The armored vehicle stopped.
Its rear door opened slowly.
A woman stepped out wearing a dark gray overcoat.
She couldn't have been older than forty-five.
Elegant.
Composed.
Her silver hair was tied neatly behind her head.
She looked directly at me.
Then smiled with unmistakable affection.
"Hello, Adrian."
My heart lurched.
Not because I recognized her face.
Because I recognized her voice.
She was the woman who had called me from the library.
My mother.
But Gabriel whispered something that turned the entire moment upside down.
"Don't run to her."
I looked at him in disbelief.
"What?"
His face had gone completely pale.
"That's not your mother."
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