Chapter 3

Instead of dropping my parents off first, Nolan drove us all to his house.

“You insisted on moving in before. Now that Megan and I are having our ceremony, it's time you packed up and left.”

My parents watched me anxiously. They were probably afraid being somewhere familiar would bring my memory back.

I simply unbuckled my seat belt and said, “Okay.”

They relaxed. Only Megan spoke up.

“She doesn't have to move out. There's plenty of room.”

Nolan shook his head.

“Absolutely not. What would people think if your sister lived here?”

“You don't have to make yourself uncomfortable just to spare her feelings.”

Without a word, I walked to the front door and raised my hand to enter the code.

Megan caught up with me, watching me suspiciously.

“Alison, I was worried you wouldn't remember where to go. But you found it just fine.”

I quickly pulled my hand away from the keypad.

“Habit, I guess. I got to the door and reached for it without thinking.”

“Do you remember the code?”

I shook my head.

Megan stepped forward and entered 0410.

As she typed, she casually explained.

“April tenth. The day Nolan and I first met. Easy to remember, right?”

I went still.

Nolan's phone passcode. The code to his house.

Even his social media username ended in 0410.

I'd gone through the birthdays of everyone we knew.

I'd never been able to work out what those numbers meant.

Once, curiosity had gotten the better of me, and I'd asked him.

“It's the code my family used when I was a kid. I'm used to it, so I never changed it.”

I'd believed him.

He'd once come straight back from a border patrol, still injured, and traveled through the night just to spend my birthday with me.

Even when he accidentally broke my mug and bought an identical replacement, he'd insisted on telling me.

Why would a man like that lie about a passcode?

It had never occurred to me that it was the day he'd met Megan.

Nolan came up behind us.

“Don't give out the door code. It's not safe.”

Megan stuck out her tongue and caught his sleeve.

“But it's Alison. She's not a stranger.”

“You're too trusting, Megan. You need to be more careful.”

Mom noticed my expression and hurried to open the door, ushering me inside.

“Get your things so we can go home. The healer said you need rest.”

After packing, I stepped out of the main bedroom and heard the four of them talking quietly in the living room.

Megan sounded uneasy.

“What if Alison's pretending she's lost her memory?”

“She's acting strange, but she doesn't seem to have forgotten everything.”

“Impossible,” Nolan said at once.

“If she remembered, she'd be making a huge scene. She'd never be this quiet.”

“Besides, I went and asked the healer. She really has lost her memory.”

Megan still wasn't reassured.

“But what if she remembers one day and realizes we lied to her?”

Nolan took her hand.

“Your grandfather arranged that match because he wants an alliance with an Alpha.”

“Once we hold a public ceremony, he'll have his alliance. He won't need to send you to another pack.”

He paused, then let go of her hand.

“And we’ll only be mates in name. We won’t mark each other.”

“If Alison gets her memory back one day, she'll understand. I'll have a bonding ceremony with her then.”

I tightened my grip on the suitcase handle.

So that was it.

A while ago, Megan's birth family had come to take her back and marry her off to the Alpha of a neighboring pack.

There were rumors he'd abused a previous mate.

I'd offered to go with Megan and ask the elders of both packs to release her from the arrangement.

She'd cried and said she was too scared to face them.

Nolan told me to stop pushing her and took over.

When I asked about it later, he said he'd found a solution.

Apparently, this was it.

A bonding ceremony that was supposedly just for show.

Was he so used to playing the devoted mate that he'd started believing his own act?

I went back into the bedroom and messaged Stacy, the head healer of the Silver Moon Pack in the north.

“Is that healer position still open? I'd like to take it.”

She called almost immediately.

“Of course. But I heard about the wolfsbane poison. Don't you need a few more days to recover?”

“I've been discharged. I can bring the rest of my medicine.”

“All right. I'll arrange your travel and have somewhere ready for you to stay.”

By the time I came out again, the others had finished talking.

Mom looked surprised to see just one suitcase.

“That's all?”

I nodded.

“Some things looked like matching sets for a couple. I assumed they weren't mine.”

Nolan hesitated, but said nothing.

As we were leaving, Megan took my hand.

“You'll come to our ceremony in three days, won't you?”

Before I could answer, a message from Stacy appeared on my phone.