Chapter 11

Seraphina’s POV

 Tears were still pouring down her cheeks. I did not know this woman.

I had been trained to handle any surprise, but right now, my assassin instincts were completely frozen. 

"Evelyn?" the woman whispered, her voice shaking when she saw my blank expression. Her smile began to fade.

 "Please do not look at me like that. Do you really not know who I am?"

I knew I had to act fast. If I panicked or said the wrong name, my entire cover would be blown right here in the hallway. 

I let out a soft, shaky breath and forced a look of deep sadness and frustration onto my face. I looked down at my hands.

"I am so sorry," I said, my voice cracking slightly. I let a real drop of sweat fall down my neck from the pure stress. 

"I... I do not remember you. I cannot remember anything."

The woman gasped, her hands dropping from my shoulders. She looked completely heartbroken.

"Oh, my poor Evelyn," she cried, covering her mouth again.

 "The guards told me the forest had messed up your head and that you lost your memories, but I did not want to believe it. I hoped that seeing my face would bring something back."

She took my hand, wrapping her warm fingers around mine.

"My name is Amanda," she said softly, looking directly into my eyes. "I am your childhood best friend. We grew up together in the Northern River Pack before you came here to marry Soren. We used to share everything, Evelyn. We were like sisters."

*Amanda.*

The name echoed in my mind, but it triggered absolutely nothing. A sudden flash of anger hit my chest. 

Why did I not have this memory? Orion’s sorcerer had used ancient, dark magic to pull the memories out of Evelyn’s dead brain and place them into mine. I was supposed to have her whole life inside my head.

But then, a cold realization hit me. The sorcerer could only extract what was still fresh or deeply tied to her emotional trauma in this palace. 

Evelyn had been away from her childhood home for years. In her final months, her mind was entirely filled with the pain of Soren’s neglect and the cruelty of the servants. 

The magic must have missed her happy childhood memories because her brain was too full of darkness when she died.

"Amanda," I repeated the name slowly, trying to sound like I was struggling to remember. 

"I am so sorry, Amanda. My mind is just... a dark fog."

"Do not apologize to me," Amanda said quickly, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. 

She gave me a small, brave smile. 

"We will make new memories. I am just so happy you are alive."

I looked at her travel bag on the floor.

 "You came a very long way."

"The moment I heard the news, I packed my things and left," Amanda explained, pulling me gently toward my bedroom door.

 "I live in the Silver Crest Pack now. I married the Beta of that pack last year. I was sitting in the pack house when some traveling merchants arrived from the Obsidian Claw Pack. They were discussing in the market, saying that Luna Evelyn had miraculously returned from the dead. But they were also saying you were completely different now. They said you were fierce and scary."

Amanda laughed softly, opening my bedroom door and pulling me inside. 

"I knew I had to see it for myself. The Evelyn I knew would never scare anyone. But seeing you stand up straight in the hallway just now... I can see the change in you."

I closed the heavy oak door behind us. The room was warm, and the mountain of expensive gifts Soren had bought me was still sitting on the sofas.

 Amanda looked at the dresses and jewelry boxes, her eyebrows raising in surprise, but she did not say anything about them.

"Let us sit down and talk," I suggested, wanting to control the conversation before she asked me something I could not answer.

I walked over to the small table, picked up the bottle of dark red wine, and poured two glasses. 

I handed one to Amanda, and we sat down opposite each other on the soft velvet chairs.

Amanda took a sip of the wine, her eyes never leaving my face.

 "Tell me what happened to you, Evelyn. Where have you been for three years? The whole world thought you were dead."

I took a deep breath. I had practiced this story a hundred times with Orion. I knew exactly how to say it to make people feel sorry for me.

"I was captured by Rogue wolves," I said, keeping my voice low and dark. I stared into my wine glass, pretending to be traumatized. 

"They dragged me deep into the Rogue Kingdom. For three years, I lived in total darkness. They locked me in a cold cell beneath the ground. They did not give me enough food, and anytime I tried to speak or cry, they tortured me severely."

I let my voice shake perfectly. 

"They wanted to break me. They used silver chains on my skin, and they beat me until I forgot my own name. That is why my mind is so damaged now, Amanda. The pain was too much for my brain to handle, so it locked all my old memories away to protect me."

Amanda’s eyes flooded with tears all over again. She set her wine glass down with a loud clatter and reached across the table, grabbing both of my hands. She was crying so hard her shoulders were shaking.

"Those monsters!" Amanda sobbed, her voice full of pure rage and pity. 

"How could they do that to someone as sweet and innocent as you? You never harmed a single soul in your life!"

I looked at her crying face, feeling a strange twist in my chest. This woman genuinely cared about Evelyn.

"It is okay now, Amanda," I said softly, squeezing her hands back. My voice was firm and strong. 

"I am fine now. The Rogues did not break me. I survived, and I am back. They cannot hurt me anymore."

Amanda wiped her face, looking at me with a mixture of shock and awe.

 "You really are different, Evelyn. The old you would still be shaking under the bed. You have become so strong."

Before I could answer, the bedroom door suddenly opened without a knock.

I turned my head sharply, my assassin reflexes making my muscles tense. 

Soren stepped into the room. He looked at Amanda, and then he looked at me. His body went completely stiff.