The Alpha’s Forgotten Mate

Chapter One

Tiara’s POV

The smell of rain always makes me uneasy.

It’s strange, really. Rain should smell clean, fresh, renewing, but to me, it carries the weight of endings. The faint iron scent that lingers in the air before a storm makes my chest tighten. Like something important is about to be washed away again.

The healer says it’s just part of the trauma. That memories can get tangled with the senses, that fear sometimes hides itself in smells or sounds. But deep down, I know it’s something else. Every time rain falls, something in me remembers what my mind cannot.

I press my forehead against the cool glass of the infirmary window and watch the drizzle soak into the dark soil of the courtyard. Wolves move in and out of sight, training even through the weather. I can hear their shouts, grunts, growls, commands, and my pulse thrums faster, like my body recognizes the rhythm of combat even though my head doesn’t.

I’ve been here for thirty-one days.

Thirty-one days since I woke up in this bed with no memories, no name, no idea who I was.

They told me my name is Tiara Vale. They said I was found unconscious near the edge of the southern border after a rogue ambush. The healer, Maren, said I was lucky. That most wolves caught in rogue crossfire don’t make it.

But I don’t feel lucky.

Lucky people don’t wake up surrounded by strangers who flinch when they see them. Lucky people don’t hear their own name and feel… nothing.

“Still awake?”

Maren’s soft voice pulls me out of my thoughts. She’s kind, gentle eyes, graying hair tied in a braid, always smelling faintly of lavender. She sets a tray beside me: tea, a small bowl of soup. “You didn’t eat much at lunch.”

I offer a small smile. “I wasn’t very hungry.”

“You need to keep your strength up, child.”

I nod but don’t pick up the spoon. My eyes drift back to the window.

“Rain again,” she says, following my gaze. “Storm season’s come early.”

“Does it always rain here?”

“In this pack? Yes. Storms are our constant companions.”

Her tone is wistful, but I catch a flicker of tension when she says this pack. It makes me wonder again, how long had I been here before the attack? Was this truly my home?

Before I can ask, the door opens.

The scent hits me before the sound does.

Pine and frost. Something sharp and wild. It slides into my lungs, and for a heartbeat, the world tilts.

Then I feel it,

The pull.

Deep in my stomach, in my bones, in a place beyond reason.

The man who steps in fills the doorway with his presence. Alpha Maxie.

I don’t need Maren to tell me who he is. I feel it. The air bends around him. The wolves outside stop sparring. Even the rain seems to pause.

He’s tall, broad shoulders wrapped in a black jacket, damp from the storm. His hair, dark as midnight, is pushed back, but a few strands cling to his forehead. His eyes… Goddess, his eyes. Silver-gray, intense, like the moon reflected in a lake right before it freezes over.

“Alpha,” Maren says, dipping her head.

He nods curtly, his eyes already fixed on me. “Healer. Leave us.”

Maren hesitates, glancing between us, then gives me a look that almost feels like warning. She leaves quietly, closing the door behind her.

The silence that follows is heavy.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” he says finally, voice deep and gravelly.

“I’m not,” I whisper, though I am sitting up.