Chapter 101: The Alpha’s Forgotten Mate
STEPHEN
The room was quiet almost too quiet.
The only sound came from the soft rhythm of her breathing, steady and deep, as she lay motionless on the bed.
Selena.
I sat beside her, watching the subtle rise and fall of her chest beneath the sheets. Her face was so peaceful, so heartbreakingly calm that it almost made me forget everything except for the swollen curve of her stomach, a silent reminder that something much bigger had changed.
She was pregnant.
With my child.
My throat tightened, and I blinked slowly, trying to process the reality that had been dumped on me like a cold bucket of water. I was going to be a father. A father. The very word sounded foreign on my tongue, like it belonged to someone else’s story some other man who had been prepared, who had seen this coming.
Not me.
Not like this.
I dragged a hand through my hair, frustration simmering beneath my skin. How had we gotten here? How had the woman I fought so hard to protect ended up in this bed, her memories wiped clean like someone had pressed delete on everything we ever shared?
And that letter the one she supposedly wrote that night.
I’d memorized every word. At first, it had felt like a dagger straight to the chest, slicing through every illusion I had about us. But now… now I wasn’t so sure. The handwriting looked like hers, but there was something off. Something hollow in the words. As if someone had tried to mimic her essence but failed to catch the fire behind her thoughts.
None of it made sense.
I shifted in my seat, leaning forward to brush a strand of hair from her face. Her skin was warm. Soft. Still so achingly familiar. But the distance between us had never felt greater. I was a stranger to her now.
She didn’t remember me.
Didn’t remember us.
A sick twist of pain coiled in my gut, and my hand dropped to my lap. I couldn’t keep sitting here doing nothing while the woman I loved slipped further away from everything we’d built. I needed to do something. Anything.
Then, like a flicker of light in a pitch-black tunnel, an idea struck. Her mother.
Maybe if she saw her mom, something inside would click. A memory. A feeling. A thread she could hold onto.
You’re probably wondering about her mother.
No, I didn’t kill her.
I couldn’t.
Despite everything I’ve done despite the things people whisper behind my back there are some lines I refuse to cross. I never had a mother’s love growing up, but I would never take that from Selena. Not her. Not after everything.
Her mother’s alive. Hidden.
Kept deep within the eastern wing of the palace far beyond the reach of anyone who might seek her harm. She’s watched day and night, guarded by some of my most loyal men. It wasn’t out of cruelty. It was out of protection.
But maybe… maybe it’s time to let her out. Just long enough to see if she can reach Selena when I can’t.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear the door open didn’t feel the shift in the air until a hand came down lightly on my shoulder.
I turned sharply, eyes narrowing then froze.
My father.
Of course.
How did he always know exactly where to find me?
He stepped into the room, tall and quiet, with the weight of centuries in his bones. His eyes softened as they landed on Selena. Without a word, he crossed to her side, gently smoothing her hair back the way he used to when I was young and sick in bed.