Chapter 120
Ugh….
The next morning, I awoke with another pounding headache, the kind that made the light feel like needles against my skull. My body ached, but not from anything physical–it was the ache of something deeper. Something missing.
I blinked against the haze, and slowly, the world came into focus.
Frans–no, Francesco–was there, sitting quietly on the couch beside my bed. His elbows rested on his knees, fingers woven tightly together as he leaned forward, watching me with eyes too intense to belong to a stranger.
“Ellaine…?”
His voice was soft, like a cautious hope he was afraid to voice aloud.
I stared at him for a long moment, the name hanging in the air like a fragile thread I couldn’t quite reach.
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“Who…?” I asked, blinking again. But even as the question left my lips, a strange pressure bloomed behind my eyes, like something was trying to
resurface.
Then it hit me in a wave. My name. My real name.
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Ellaine…
The memories were like broken fragments–unreachable, scattered–but the name… it wasn’t foreign. It was familiar in the way a childhood lullaby might be, soft and echoing from a place I couldn’t fully touch.
I shook my head slowly, and gave him a small, apologetic smile. “Sorry… I almost forgot again.”
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He didn’t flinch. No frustration crossed his face. Instead, he exhaled, as though he’d been holding his breath the whole time, and leaned closer.
With both of his large, warm hands, he gently cradled mine.
“Never say sorry,” he said, voice steady, but threaded with emotion. “Not to me.”
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The warmth of his touch seeped into my skin. My heart thudded harder in my chest, reacting before my mind could catch up. I didn’t know this man–not in the way I should–but my heart…
My heart acted like it had been waiting for him all along.
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I looked down at our joined hands, then back at his face. The faint shadows under his eyes, the tension in his jaw, the soft creases on his forehead–they told a story I couldn’t remember, but one he’d lived every day.
I swallowed hard. “Why do you look at me like that?” I whispered.
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His fingers curled around mine, protectively. “Because I’ve waited so long to see you again. And even if you forget me a hundred more times, I’ll wait a
hundred more.”
Tears welled in my eyes, uninvited. I didn’t even understand why I wanted to cry. But something in me ached for him this man who knew me better than I knew myself.
“I don’t understand anything,” I admitted in a choked voice. “I feel like my brain is a fog. I wake up and it’s like… pieces are missing.”
Francesco nodded, his gaze never leaving mine. “It’s okay. You don’t need to understand everything yet. Just stay. Breathe. Be here. That’s enough.”
I closed my eyes, his words wrapping around me like a blanket. Safe. Steady. Home.
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Chapter 120
But somewhere in the back of my mind… something stirred.
“Did you remember what you told me last night?” he asked gently.
I blinked slowly, my brows pulling together as I searched the recesses of my aching mind. But it was blank, like a mist swallowing up everything before the morning light. I shook my head.
A flicker of disappointment crossed his face, but it was gone in an instant, replaced with a warm, understanding smile.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, brushing his thumb across the back of my hand. “Let me do the remembering for both of us.”
My chest tightened.
There was something about the way he said it–so soft, so heartbreakingly patient–that made tears sting the back of my eyes again. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t even sad. Just… steady. Steady in a way I didn’t know I needed until now.
He took a deep breath, gaze growing serious. “But we need to go back to the kingdom. Fast. Are you okay with that?”
I looked at him, at the way he held my hands like they were the most precious thing in the world. At the way his voice carried no pressure, only urgency wrapped in care.
I didn’t know everything. But I felt it.
His aura wrapped around me like the warmth of a fireplace in the dead of winter. His presence, even without words, screamed devotion. Love. A kind of love that didn’t demand anything from me, not even my memory–just my safety.
And I trusted him. Completely.
“I’m okay,” I said softly, my voice barely a whisper. “As long as it’s with you.”
His shoulders relaxed at my words. Relief washed over his expression, followed by something deeper. Something like awe. Like he couldn’t believe I was here, with him, choosing him–even with all my pieces scattered.
Francesco leaned forward, pressing his forehead gently to mine. His breath was warm, and his voice barely a murmur between us.
“Thank you for trusting me. I’ll get you home. I promise.”
Home.
The word echoed in my chest.
I didn’t know where home was anymore. But if he was there… then maybe that was enough.
It took half a day for everyone to prepare.
Weapons were discreetly packed. Essential supplies gathered. Lira moved between rooms with quiet efficiency despite her fading strength, while Marlow gave commands with his usual calm authority. The air buzzed with tension, like everyone knew that time was running out–but no one dared say it aloud
in front of me.
I sat near the window with a thick blanket wrapped around my shoulders, watching the sunlight creep across the wooden floor. Francesco hadn’t left my side. Every time I felt the fog of confusion threatening to take over, his voice–low and grounding–brought me back.
I should feel afraid. Disoriented. But strangely, I didn’t.
Instead, I felt like I was on the edge of remembering something important. Something that mattered more than anything,
That feeling only deepened when Renna–no, Marra–and Darius, now known as Elias, sat across from me.
“We were waiting for the right time to tell you,” Renna said, her voice gentle, almost motherly. “But… you already knew, before.”
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Chapter 120
I blinked, frowning a little. “I… did?”
Darius nodded, his gaze kind but heavy with guilt. “You even helped us remember ourselves.”
Renna reached out, her fingers brushing mine with the same tenderness she’d used so many mornings before when bringing me tea. “You saved us more than once, Ellaine. But the magic takes… pieces, sometimes. It’s okay if you don’t remember. We’ll carry it for now.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just nodded slowly, heart fluttering again at the sound of my real name on their lips.
Francesco sat beside me, his hand resting protectively on my knee. “They’ll be coming with us,” he said, speaking to me but also addressing the room. “They lost their wolves escaping the council. They’re no longer safe here.”
I turned to Marlow, who entered the room just in time, nodding in agreement. “It’s best they return to the kingdom,” he said. “They’ll be protected there. Reconnected to the werewolf circle, even without their wolves.”
Renna and Darius exchanged a look–relief and uncertainty all at once. Even after everything, their faces were etched with the weight of survival. I suddenly realized how many lives had been destroyed. How many threads tied to me were frayed or burning.
And I had forgotten them all.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“You don’t need to be,” Darius said firmly. “What matters is that you’re alive. That we’re going back together.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.
Not long after, the door creaked open and Marlow stepped inside with Audrey close behind him. The air shifted the moment they entered–brisk, efficient, ready.
“All is set,” Marlow announced. “The horses are saddled. Supplies packed. We can leave at any time.”,
Audrey, her arms crossed and expression firm, added, “Beta Alfonso already sent a team of warriors. We’ll meet them halfway through the journey, just before we cross into neutral lands.”
Francesco nodded once, his jaw tight as he stood from the couch. “Good. We won’t slow down.”
I watched him exchange a look with Marlow. No words were needed,between the two men. The air was thick with silent understanding–this wasn’t just a journey. It was a strategic retreat. And possibly… a beginning of sophething greater.
“Marlow is only bringing six men with him,” Audrey said with a glance my way. “But the Alpha insisted on doubling that. At least twelve will ride behind us. Four will circle us from the flanks.”
I looked at Francesco then, surprised. “That many?”
“We can’t take chances,” he said, meeting my gaze. “Not with you.”
The sincerity in his voice made my throat tighten.
He wasn’t just talking about protecting me from danger.
He was speaking as if losing me would be the end of him.
Renna–no, Marra–came up beside me and began fastening my travel cloak gently over my shoulders. “We’ll be close,” she said softly. “No matter what.”
Lira stepped forward too, slower than usual, Her hands clasped around a leather pouch filled with her dwindling supply of herbs. Her skin looked pale, and even the glow in her eyes seemed dimmer. “The journey will be hard,” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. “But the magic is changing. The kingdom… it will awaken more than just memories.”
That sent a chill down my spine.
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Chapter 126
Frame extended a hand
- e. “Are you ready
Thevated My mind was still foggy. Names and memories danced just outside my grasp, unreachable. But when I placed my ha togparted just a little. Enough for my heart to speak louder than my doubt.
inadded. “Let’s go home.
AD
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