Chapter 11 A stranger from the past
Sera's Pov
The air felt thinner the moment he said my old name.
Selene.
It rippled through the forest like it carried power of its own. My chest tightened, every instinct in me recoiling, yet something deep, something shifted in recognition.
Caden stepped forward, pulling me slightly behind him, his body tense, voice low. “You don’t come near her.”
The stranger didn’t flinch. His eyes stayed on me, dark and unreadable. “You don’t get to decide that, Alpha.”
The way he said Caden’s title wasn’t respectful, was dismissive, almost bored.
I swallowed. “Who are you?”
His gaze softened, but not kindly. “Someone who knew you before you knew yourself.”
A chill swept down my spine.
Caden growled, but the stranger continued, calm as still water.
“You don’t remember me now,” he said, “but you will.”
He took one step closer, just one but it felt like the world tilted.
Caden snapped, “Don’t touch her.”
“Touch her?” The man’s lips curled faintly. “I don’t need to. Her soul remembers me even if her mind doesn’t.”
My pulse stuttered.
“Stop,” I forced out, my voice sharper than I expected. “Who are you, and what do you mean by ‘what’s mine’?”
He looked at me like the question amused him. “It’s simpler than you think.” His eyes narrowed just slightly. “You and I were bound long before this wolf of yours ever existed.”
Caden moved, too fast for me to see, but he didn’t attack.
He just stepped fully in front of me, blocking the stranger from view.
“Enough,” Caden said. “Say her name again and—”
“And what?” the man asked quietly. “You’ll threaten me? Intimidate me? Stop pretending you stand on equal ground. You don’t.”
Caden stiffened.
The stranger’s gaze flicked to our joined hands.
Then back up to Caden’s eyes.
“You think a single night erases destiny?”
Heat shot into my cheeks, anger sparking in my chest. “My life isn’t destiny,” I snapped. “It’s mine.”
His eyes warmed, but with something dangerous. “Then why do you look at me like your soul recognizes me?”
I froze, because he was right. Something in me did react to him, a strange hollow echo in my chest, like a whisper I couldn’t make out.
Caden felt the shift. His grip tightened protectively.
“Don’t let him get into your head,” he said softly, eyes still locked on the stranger.
“I don’t have to,” the stranger murmured. “Selene’s heart remembers what her mind forgot.”
“Stop calling me that,” I breathed.
He tilted his head. “But that’s who you are.”
“No,” I whispered. “My name is Sera.”
For the first time, something flickered across his face. Not anger. Not amusement. Something like disappointment or loss.
He exhaled slowly, gaze drifting to the lake behind us like he was searching for patience.
“Selene.” His voice softened, dangerously so. “You are standing next to the wrong Alpha.”
Caden’s entire body tensed, but he didn’t speak. Not yet, not too soon.
The stranger looked between us, studying.
Then his voice dropped to a quiet, final promise.
“I’ll return when you’re ready to remember.”
He turned slowly, but halfway into the shadows, he paused.
Without looking back, he said,
“And when that day comes…”
His voice echoed low and certain.
“…you won’t choose him.”
The words sliced clean through the silence.
Caden inhaled sharply beside me, his hand still locked around mine, but trembling. Not because of the stranger, but because he was too afraid to lose me, again.
The stranger disappeared into the trees, leaving nothing but cold air and the faint echo of my forgotten name.
Selene.
“Sera… don’t listen to him.” Caden whispered my real name, my chosen name, like he was afraid of losing it. I didn't answer.
Because for one terrible, confusing heartbeat.
I wasn’t sure if I already listened to this stranger, and immediately my head ached and I staggered backwards. Caden reached for my hand to protect me from falling. And immediately the stranger's name rung in my head.
Damien Blackthorne.