Chapter 128
ELENA
I sat cross–legged on the edge of Alden’s bed, carefully peeling the corner of a sticker he’d just plattered onto my jeans. He’d decided I looked “too serious” and was now decorating me with sparkly stars and cartoon wolves.
“I think you need one right here,” he said, grinning as he stuck a bright blue sticker in the middle of my forehead.
I laughed despite myself. “Oh, do 17”
He nodded solemnly. “That’s where your magie is. You just forgot.”
I kissed the top of his messy curls and pulled him into my lap. I’d do anything to protect that innocent optimism in his voice–even if it meant pretending everything was okay.
But it wasn’t.
When Logan knocked softly on the doorframe, I looked up, already sensing what he wanted before be opened his mouth.
“You’ve been avoiding your treatments,” he said gently, stepping inside.
I shifted Aiden to my hip and stood. Goddess, he was getting big. “He needed me, Logan. Everything else could wait.”
“I know,” he said, his voice calm, as usual. “But if you don’t keep working through it, your past’s just going to stay tangled. You’ve made so much progress, Elena. You can’t stop now.”
I looked away, biting the inside of my cheek. Part of me wanted to argue. Another part–maybe the wiser part- knew he was right.
“I’ll go,” I said after a long pause.
By the time I reached the small office where Dr. Emmerich did his sessions, my stomach was already twisting. The couch was the same soft gray as before, the walls lined with abstract watercolors meant to calm people. They didn’t. Not me.
I didn’t see Logan, but I caught his scent in the hallway, Faint and lingering, like he’d just been here.
Dr. Emmerich smiled when I walked in. “Elena. I’m glad you came.”
Isure I am,” I muttered, sitting down anyway.
“Not:
He clicked on his recorder and slid into the armchair across from me. “Before we start, I want to try something new today,” he said. “Sometimes, when memories are blocked, it’s not just about the past. Present trauma can make it harder to access the truth.”
“Present trauma?” I asked slowly.
He nodded. “You’ve been through a lot. Especially with your fated mate. Maybe it’s time we explored some of that, see if your current emotional state is interfering with your memory recovery.”
A cold knot formed in my stomach. “I thought this was about remembering who I was not reliving who I became.”
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“It’s all connected,” he said, already dimming the lights. “Trust me.”
+25 BONUS.
Idn’t want to. But I closed my eyes anyway, breathing in ke he taught me, grounding myself in the rhythm of “my own heart.
The images came fast and hard.
Derek coming up on me that first day we met, snarling at the rogues he saw before him.
Derek struggling with the fact that I was his mate.
Derek carrying Cassandra out of the venue on what was supposed to be our wedding day.
Derek accusing me of betrayal.
Derek standing in the wreckage of my love, arms crossed Ile I was nothing more than a burden.
Each moment cracked open like a fault line inside me, and the doctor just kept pushing. His voice was calm, but the questions were sharp.
“How did that make you feel?”
“Would you say you trusted him?”
“Did he ever make you feel safe?”
By the time I left the office, I felt like I’d been hollowed out and stitched back together wrong.
When I returned to the Moonstone estate, I wasn’t ready for what waited inside.
Derek sat on the floor beside Aiden’s bed, patiently listening as our son babbled about moon phases and werewolf history like it was the most important thing in the world.
Derek’s hair was tousled. He was wearing that navy sweater! always liked–the one that made his eyes look impossibly gold.
He looked up when he saw me. His face brightened. “Hey.”
Aiden lit up like a sparkler. “Mom! Dad says he might take me running with him on the next full moon–on his back, like an actual wolf! Isn’t that so cool?”
‘Dad,‘ was a word I was still getting used to Aiden saying. I forced a smile. “That sounds… exciting.”
Chapter 129
