Mellona
Silas Blackwood, the Alpha of a rival pack, raided our camp on the night I was meant to seal my bond with my fated mate.
He'd decided that if he couldn't have me, he'd rather destroy me.
In that brutal, bloody fight, he was badly wounded, and I lost my memory.
Bleeding badly, he pulled me into his arms and filled my head with lies, insisting that I was his mate.
For the next five years, Silas kept me hidden in his pack and at his side as his mate, treating me like his greatest treasure.
Then, at the pack's full-moon banquet, a young woman appeared.
She had the same brazen confidence I once had, and she looked unnervingly like my former self.
In front of the entire pack, she released a rich mahogany scent mingled with Silas's, then stroked the slight swell of her belly in open challenge.
"The Alpha and I have spent more than one night together.
"He even gave me the necklace that's been handed down for generations. And..."
Her smile widened, brazen and triumphant.
"I'm carrying his pup. Four months along.
"So you lose. As punishment, Silas is mine for the next six months. He promised he'd stay with me until the pup is born."
Everyone in the hall kept their heads down, barely daring to breathe.
Only Silas looked up, his clouded gaze moving between us.
I didn't care to hear his excuses.
I picked up my champagne and took a calm sip.
"Sure. He's all yours."
Silas's face went rigid.
He had no idea my wolf had awakened. Every memory had returned.
Long before Silas, I had already met my true fated mate: Elias Ward, the Alpha King who ruled the Northern Kingdom.
He was incredibly powerful, obsessive to the core, and he never let a wrong go unpunished.
And I was exactly the same.
Goodbye, Silas. Forever.