Chapter 10 10
Denary's POV
Last night, while we were returning to Bloodmoon Pack from the southern grounds, few of my men decided to go fetch drinking water at the river’s edge. The ground there was sloppy and uneven, so we waited on higher ground. I remember standing there, arms behind my back, staring at the moonlit path home… until my men returned with hurried steps and wide eyes.
My eyes fell on a man carrying someone unconscious and when I asked who it was…
“She looks exactly like the lady in the portrait, Alpha.” One of them said breathlessly. “The one who shot you the arrow.”
I had walked to them, slowly, cautiously, because surely they were mistaken. But when I knelt and looked at her face hidden behind filth, bruises, and wet hair, it was her. The very woman who had made me retreat for the first time in my life. The woman who, by all logic, should be celebrated like a war heroine in ShadowMoon Pack.
And yet… she had been found floating ashore, with a stab wound in the chest, a bleeding skull and bruised wrists.
Nothing about it made sense. She should have been placed on a pedestal, honored, worshipped even. Instead she had been nearly assassinated. Why? By whom? And for what purpose?
Well… that hardly mattered now.
She was here.
And I intended to make her pay for daring to humiliate Alpha Denary Williams in front of his own men. She would pay for every last drop of blood I lost. But first… first I needed her to explain the absurd question she had just asked me.
Forcing out a smile, I spoke calmly, “Do you really not remember me? Or…”
“No.” She interrupted quickly, shaking her head. “I… I honestly don’t know who you are.”
Her voice trembled as though the very sight of me frightened her and I narrowed my eyes.
She had been found with a fatal head injury, so it was entirely possible she had amnesia… but what if she did not? What if she was planted deliberately? They already knew the route I would take from the southern grounds back home. What if she was pretending to forget, so she could infiltrate my pack and finish what she started?
But since I needed clarity, I stood up, walked to the door, opened it, and commanded coldly.
“Fetch Uriel immediately and tell her that she is or confirm whether this woman truly has amnesia.”
The guard bowed and hurried away while I returned to my seat opposite her. She stared at me with wide, terrified eyes, inching backward as though attempting to dissolve into the wall itself. We remained in silence for nearly twenty minutes before a knock finally sounded.
The door opened and Uriel stepped in.
“Check her.” I said, gesturing toward the trembling girl on the bed.
Uriel obeyed immediately, moving to Amelia and beginning her examination. The girl winced each time Uriel pressed her fingers into a bruise, or touched the side of her head, or tested her eyes. More than ten minutes passed before Uriel finally stood and addressed me.
“Alpha Denary.” She said softly. “This lady actually has amnesia.”
My jaw tightened, because I wasn't expecting that.
An amnesiac enemy dropped at my doorstep? A woman Killian once intended to marry? A woman whom Killian needed to reclaim?
The Moon Goddess truly had a twisted sense of humor. But I had a sharper mind because I immediately thought of how she could be used as leverage. I did not yet know how I would use her, or how exactly she would help me drag Killian to ruin, but her presence alone gave me an advantage. And if she ever regained her memory, I would kill her myself.
Smiling, I rose and approached her slowly. Her eyes widened even more, but before she could shrink back again, I sat beside her and pulled her into my arms.
She tried struggling, but I simply stroked her hair gently, patting her head. “I am grateful you are safe.” I murmured, letting my voice soften slightly. “Do not ever scare me like that again.”
She pushed herself out of my embrace, breathing hard. “What… what is going on?”
I took her bandaged hands, both wrapped thickly in linen from her broken fingers, into mine and sighed as though heartbroken.
“There was a rogue attack and you insisted on fighting by my side.” I said smoothly. “But you were injured and now… you have forgotten everything, including me.”
Her brows drew together in pure confusion. “I don’t understand… Who are you?”
I lifted her chin between my fingers, tilting her face toward mine. “I am Alpha Denary Williams.” I said slowly. “Your mate.”
She stared at me, helpless, overwhelmed, and lost because she had forgotten her own identity, so of course she would struggle to believe anything I said. Which meant that trust would take time, and acceptance even longer.
But I had patience.
I would show her affection, until she believed every word from my lips and until she believed she belonged to me. I was about to continue speaking, to begin shaping the lie she would grow to cling to, when suddenly, she leaned forward and hugged me.
For a moment, something in my chest but I shut it down instantly. But when I pulled back, that innocent look in her eyes lingered and I cleared my throat sharply then turned to Uriel.
“Treat her hands.” I ordered.
Then I stood and walked toward the door. And as I stepped out, I muttered under my breath. “Two out of three.”
I had secured my assailant, I now had leverage over Killian but the final task to find out who betrayed me, still remained. Jasper had suggested it, that someone had tipped Killian off about my movements, and though I dismissed it at the time, I was not a fool. My strategic plans were airtight so an outsider shouldn't have known where I was unless someone betrayed me.
And there was only one person I suspected, one person I prayed I was wrong about. But if I was right, then I would destroy him without mercy.