Chapter 3 You must not remember anything

Chapter Three

Tiara’s POV

“I need you to pack a bag.”

I froze, halfway down the hallway. Maxie’s voice came from behind me, sharp, low, the kind of tone that made wolves stop breathing. I turned slowly to find him standing at the end of the corridor, his hands clasped behind his back, eyes dark as storm clouds.

“What?” I blinked, unsure I’d heard right.

His gaze didn’t soften. “You’re leaving the packhouse.”

The words hit like cold water. “Leaving? Why? Did I, did I do something wrong?”

He took a slow step toward me, every movement measured. “The Lycan King will arrive by sundown. I can’t risk… complications.”

“Complications?” I repeated, the word catching on my tongue.

His eyes flickered with something, regret? Guilt? I couldn’t tell. “You don’t understand how dangerous this visit is. Lycans don’t tolerate weakness, and they don’t forgive secrets. I can’t have you here when he arrives.”

I swallowed hard. “But I’m not a threat.”

“Everyone’s a threat to a king,” he said quietly.

The air between us tightened. I wanted to ask why he sounded afraid. I wanted to demand to know what I was being protected from. But I couldn’t move. His voice, his scent, the weight of his presence, they all tangled around me like chains I didn’t know how to break.

Finally, I managed, “Where will I go?”

His jaw clenched. “There’s a cabin on the north ridge. Leo will take you.”

“And if I don’t want to go?” I whispered.

For a moment, the Alpha mask cracked. His eyes darkened, the faint gold shimmer of his wolf bleeding through. “Then I’ll have to make you.”

It wasn’t a threat. It was a plea.

I turned away before he could see the tremor in my hands. “Fine,” I said softly. “But you don’t have to act like I’m the one who’s dangerous.”

His reply was a whisper, so low I almost didn’t catch it.

“You have no idea how dangerous you are.”

By the time the sun began to set, the packhouse felt… different.

Tense. Watching. Waiting.

Warriors lined the gates in full uniform, their wolves pacing restlessly behind their eyes. The scent of silver polish and oiled leather hung thick in the air. Somewhere down the hall, I could hear the servants whispering about the arrival, how the Lycan King hadn’t left the northern territories in years, how his presence meant blood and judgment.

And still, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Maxie said.

You have no idea how dangerous you are.

I didn’t feel dangerous. I felt lost. I felt like I was walking through someone else’s life wearing the wrong skin.

I stood near my small window, staring at the forest line where the horizon burned gold. My pulse was uneven, my thoughts racing.

That’s when it started again, the headache.

It began as a pulse behind my eyes, then bloomed into fire.

Flashes.

The smell of smoke.

The sound of a voice, his voice, whispering my name in the dark.

A hand reaching for mine.

A kiss under the same moon that now hung over the packhouse roof.

I gasped and stumbled back from the window.

“Tiara!”

I didn’t even hear Leo come in until he was right beside me, grabbing my arm before I hit the floor. His eyes were wide, alarmed. “Hey, easy! What’s wrong?”

“I, I don’t know,” I stammered, clutching my head. “It’s like I’m seeing things that don’t belong to me.”

Leo’s jaw tightened. “Did you tell the Alpha?”

I shook my head. “He has enough to worry about.”

He hesitated, then sighed. “You shouldn’t hide things from him. Not when he, ”

He stopped himself.

“When he what?” I pressed.

“Nothing,” he said quickly, helping me to the bed. “Stay here. I’ll get you water.”

But when he left, I didn’t lie down.

I walked to the mirror across the room and stared at my reflection. My eyes looked different tonight, too bright, glowing faintly under the candlelight. My wolf stirred again inside me, whispering words I couldn’t understand.

“Who am I?” I breathed.

And this time, I swore I heard an answer in my own voice, layered, echoing like someone else was speaking through me.

You were his.

I staggered back, heart pounding. “What, what does that mean?”

But there was no answer, just the wind rattling the windowpanes.

The first howls of the escort reached the compound at dusk.

The Lycan King had arrived.

Everyone gathered outside to greet him, everyone but me. From the narrow slit of my window, I could see torches moving through the trees like rivers of fire. A dozen black SUVs rolled into the courtyard, engines growling like beasts.

And then he stepped out.

King Cameron.

Tall, broad, radiating power that bent the air itself. His eyes burned gold, pure Lycan blood. Every wolf bowed low as he passed, but Maxie didn’t move. They stood face to face in silence, Alpha and King, two predators measuring each other.

Even from here, I could feel the energy between them, heavy, ancient.

And then, as if sensing me through the walls, Maxie’s head turned. His gaze found my window.

Found me.

For one heartbeat, everything else disappeared.

My chest constricted. The bond, whatever it was, flared inside me like a live flame. My wolf surged forward, clawing at the surface, desperate to reach him. I stumbled back, gasping, grabbing the edge of the desk for balance.

Something inside me broke open.

I saw his face, not Maxie now, but Maxie from before.

Younger. Smiling. Covered in blood.

Whispering, I’ll find you, no matter where you go.

The vision shattered, leaving me trembling on the floor, breathless and terrified.

What was happening to me?

The door burst open. Maxie stormed in, his scent flooding the room like smoke and rain. His eyes glowed gold, wild, feral.

“Tiara,” he said hoarsely, “what did you see?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know! It was like a memory but, ”

He crossed the room in two strides, gripping my shoulders. “Tell me.”

His touch burned, not painfully, but deeply. Like his hands had known me long before this moment.

“I saw you,” I whispered. “You were covered in blood. You said you’d find me.”

He went still.

The silence stretched so long I thought he’d stopped breathing.

Then, quietly, he said, “You weren’t supposed to remember.”

My heart stopped. “What do you mean remember?”

He looked at me like a man drowning, torn between truth and fear. “Because if you remember everything, Tiara… the King will kill us both.”