Chapter 191
ELENA
The metronome was ticking again.
+25 BONUS
That steady, deliberate rhythm that Dr. Voss insisted helped center my recall–though half the time, I wasn’t sure if it helped or just made me hyper–aware of how fast my thoughts were spinning
I sat back in the reclined chair, palms resting against the fabric–covered armrests, breathing slow and deep. The scent of chamomile and sage lingered in the air, steeped from the bowl of dried herbs smoking gently in a copper dish beside the window.
A thin curl of white smoke traced lazy circles above it–cleansing, Dr. Voss said, to open the mind’s memory pathways. Bundles of lavender and dried mugwort hung from the beams overhead, their fragrance mingling with a faint trace of sweetgrass.
A cooling stone rested in the hollow of each wrist, grounding my pulse. Dr. Voss called them memory stones–black tourmaline, said to ward off confusion and stabilize energy.
Whether or not I believed in the science behind it, there was something strangely comforting about the ritual. The quiet. The smell. The warmth of old methods that didn’t demand answers, just presence.
It was calming, in a way that felt oddly detached from the quickening pace of my heartbeat.
“You’re safe here,” Dr. Voss said gently, her voice as even as the ticking. “Just breathe. Let the memory come forward at its own pace.”
Something was coming forward.
It was soft–edged, fragile, like the first brush of color on a Polaroid photo still developing. I didn’t try to hold it too tightly. Just
let it float.
I was still a kid. A child. Maybe eleven or twelve.
We were in the woods–dappled light spilling through the trees in golden shards. Someone was with me. Another kid. Their voice echoed like it was underwater. They were crying.
I looked down.
Blood.
It stained the other child’s shirt–just a small smear on the shoulder. Not life–threatening. But it was real. And messy. And it
scared me.
My hands were moving–unbuttoning the bottom of my own shirt tearing a strip of it away with little, shaking fingers. L pressed it to their arm, wrapping it tight the way I’d seen someone do before. My dad? Mason?
The other child sniffled, nodding.
“You’re okay,” I said. “You’re okay.”
And then–gone.
The forest, the light, the blood, all slipping through my grasp like mist. I reached out for it in my mind, trying to hold on, to see the other child’s face-
But the memory evaporated.
I blinked and sat up slowly. Dr. Voss was watching me with interest his pen poised.
“Something,” I said, exhaling. “But not all the way.”
He nodded. “That’s still progress.”
Chapter 191
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“I couldn’t see who I was with,”
Try not to force it,” he said. “Your brain will give you the pieces when it’s ready.‘
”
I nodded, absently brushing my fingers across the scar in my eyebrow. It always itched when something was close–when the past was right there, waiting to be remembered.
***
The bridal shop was a pastel dream.
Everything was blush and ivory and gold, a carefully curated palette of opulence and calm. Velvet couches. Rose–scented air. A harp cover of All of Me playing softly over the speakers.
“I feel underdressed,” I whispered as we stepped inside.
Dawn smirked. “I feel under–moisturized.”
Erin, to her credit, looked like she belonged here already. Her face was glowing–not just with makeup, but from that unmistakable joy that only came with being truly in love and finally getting to celebrate it.
I wish I knew what that was like.
The attendant greeted us with warm smiles and a glass of sparkling water, and then Erin was whisked away to the fitting rooms, disappearing behind a heavy velvet curtain with three ivory gowns over one arm.
Dawn and I took seats on a blush–colored couch near the mirrored pedestal.
“She’s been buzzing all week,” I said.
“She hasn’t stopped talking about it since Mason proposed.”
I smiled softly. “They deserve this.”
“They do.”
There was a pause. I looked at Dawn sideways. “Can I ask you something weird?”
Dawn raised an eyebrow. “Always.”
I hesitated. “Do you remember ever getting hurt when we were little? Like… in the woods? Just the two of us?”
She frowned. “Hurt how?”
“Cut. Bleeding. Maybe I wrapped your arm? Your head?”
She tilted her head, thinking. “No. Not that I remember. I mean, I tripped a bunch as a kid, but I don’t think you ever had to bandage me like that. Why?”
“I had a memory today,” I said. “Or… a piece of one. It felt old. Like, young childhood. Lwas helping another kid, and I thought maybe it was you.”
Dawn shook her head. “It wasn’t me. But now I’m curious.”
“Me too,” I said softly. “Who was I with?”
Before she could answer, the curtain rustled.
And then Erin stepped out.
We both gasped.
The dress was satin–soft, fitted, with a low back and delicate straps that shimmered like dew. She looked like someone from a painting, glowing from the inside out,
Chapter 191
+25 BONUS
“Oh my goddess,” Dawn breathed.
“Right?” Erin said, blushing.
“It’s perfect,” I said, standing. “Turn around again. Slowly.”
Erin spun, grinning, arms slightly out like she was preparing to take flight.
“I didn’t think I’d like something so simple,” she said, “but I feel like me in this.”
“That’s the dress,” I said. “It’s supposed to feel like it chose you back.”
She beamed.
Just then, one of the bridal attendants entered the room carrying a platinum tray. On it sat a tall bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket, and three fluted glasses.
“Well, hello,” Dawn said. “I wish I’d come to this shop when I was trying on dresses. This is a whole new level of service!”
The attendant laughed. “Oh, I wish we could take credit. This was actually dropped off a few minutes ago. By a gentleman.”
I tilted my head. “A gentleman?”
She nodded. “Tall. Very polite. Alpha, I think.”
blinked. “Mason?”
“No,” the attendant said. “But he left this.”
She handed me a small white card.
I opened it.
Enjoy this moment. All three of you deserve it. —D
I stared at the note for a long time.
Dawn made a soft ooh sound, already leaning over my shoulder to read it. Erin peeked in too, her smile blooming.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.
Dawn grinned. “I’m not. That man—”
“I didn’t even tell him I was coming here,” I said, shaking my head.
“Please. It’s Derek King. If he wants to know where you are, he knows.”
“He’s probably got people stationed in every corner of the pack.”
“I will divorce my husband and marry him myself if you don’t go on a date with him,” Dawn said, deadpan.
Erin snorted. “We’ll double–date. I’m sure Mason won’t mind.”
I covered my face with my hand, laughing despite myself.
“He’s not…” I started. “We’re not…”
But the note in my hand said otherwise. So did the champagne. So did the slow, dangerous flutter in my chest.
I rubbed my thumb over the scar in my brow and closed the card gently.
Maybe it wasn’t a grand declaration.
But it was a beginning.
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Chapter 192
