*Zara*
The first beams of the morning sun pierced through the window, causing to groan softly and rub my eyes. I’d been tossing and turning all night, my sleep not sound in the slightest.
I wished I could relax after everything, but my thoughts couldn’t stray from Noah. My heart lurched at the thought of him again.
He’d gone through so much to get and Lorelei out of there. He’d been so hurt when I requested my own room.
But it was sothing I needed to do.
The mory of his blank expression back at Drogomor when I found out he didn’t rember a thing about us at all burned in my mind.
I’d hoped so badly things could work out, but our mories together didn’t blossom in him, and I wasn’t sure if they ever would.
Did he even feel the sa about , or was he just following the compulsion of the moon? We needed to be sothing more than that.
We had been sothing more than that.
Now....
I sighed, groggily making my way to the bathroom and rubbing my eyes. Splashing water on my face to wake up, I eventually returned to the room to examine the clothes left for .
There was a variety of clothing, from artsy and eccentric to plain. For now, I went with a simple red floral dress, sothing that fit very well. I ran a brush through my hair, getting all the knots out as I examined my exhausted expression. My wolf pulled at to do sothing about these feelings.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.
But at the sa ti, I wondered if it would be the best thing to do right now. I wondered if I should knock on Noah’s door. He was just down the hall.
Part of ached so strongly to be near him. The craving I had for his touch was almost unbearable, and I felt so safe in his arms. I wanted that feeling again.
Yet, that other part of , the one that I listened to both when it ca to initially rejecting his help in Silver Fang and requesting my own room here, pulled and tugged at too.
A deep sense of uncertainty billowed within . I just didn’t know where we stood. I couldn’t tell if Noah still cared for like he once did.
In the past, when things had been bright. He looked at with such love, and we spent so much ti together, having built our relationship from nothing at all.
Sure, we were fated mates, but we had fallen in love before we found that out. It was a wonderful thing.
Now, everything was gone. He couldn’t rember , and there was no way he felt the sa because of that. So many conflicting emotions were tearing at .
I decided to resist the urge to go see Noah. My stomach growled, and I knew that was sothing I should take care of next. After all, the last thing I’d eaten were those drugged provisions.
I shivered, rembering waking up and discovering our capture by rogues. I was so relieved to have woken up this morning and not be in another ship or on a pile of hay.
Making my way downstairs, I entered the kitchen to discover Noah’s aunts still bustling about.
Genevieve looked up and gave a dazzling smile. “Hello there, darling!” she exclaid in a happy tone. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” I admitted. “And a bit hungry.”
She gasped, and without further delay, she, Harriet, and Marguerite ushered to a table.
“Breakfast is being prepared right now, dear,” Harriet said. “Settle in. It’ll be ready soon.”
anwhile, Marguerite took a seat next to , eyeing up and down. “What a beautiful choice of clothing, dear!”
“Thank you,” I said with a light smile, feeling touched with their kindness already.
So eggs and bacon were placed in front of , and I eagerly ate. I raised a brow, however, as they stared down with curiosity sparkling in their gazes. “
“Sothing the matter?” I asked.
“Not at all, darling!” Genevieve said, giving a reassuring smile. “We were just wondering about, well, you and Noah.”
“We see how he looks at you,” Harriet said. “We thought you were mates, dear.”
“Noah has good taste if he picked you. You’re absolutely gorgeous... with a great taste in fashion, might I add,” Marguerite said.
“We are dying to know what is going on, darling,” Genevieve said with excitent in her tone, leaning forward.
They were certainly forward, and I decided to let them know exactly what happened. “Well,” I said. “Our relationship is complicated. We t when I was hired to be his matchmaker.”
“Oh, we heard about that. He was so stubborn, so everyone said,” Harriet muttered. “Alpha Issac was very impatient for him to get going.” She snorted. “Pushing him too hard, I say!”
“Got that right,” Marguerite muttered.
I chuckled. “Yes, he was very stubborn. He had a lot of walls up because of his lost love.”
“rida, right?” Harriet asked.
I winced and nodded.
“Yes,” I said softly, a sour taste forming in my mouth at the ntion of her. Well, at least I knew the one posing as her was fake. “But slowly we worked together and ford a friendship despite that.”
“How sweet!” Marguerite exclaid.
The other two nodded in agreent as I continued.
“Yeah, I tried getting him to realize how wonderful true love is, and how he shouldn’t just settle like he tried doing.”
“He tried settling? What does that an?” Geneieve asked.
I dove into the story of Serena, though left out the most recent parts... how she wasn’t ant for him, how I wanted him to be happy, how I’d been stuck on searching for my mate, which in the end, had been him.
I told the story of how we found this out at his family ho. But then, how he forgot our mate bond after we discovered each other again.
“He drank the tea and rembered, but it faded after a few hours,” I explained. “Then... he forgot completely. So, I’m not sure where we stand now. It doesn’t feel the sa.”
Harriet gasped and put a hand over her heart. “How sad, dear! But... the Luna Lilies?” She exchanged a look with the other two and grinned ear to ear. “The miracle flower!”
I furrowed my brow. “What do you an?”
“Our father went to get a lily to restore the mate bond with our mother,” Marguerite said.
I tilted my head, curiosity deep in my gaze. “Were there any side effects?”
Harriet shook her head. “None, not at all. In fact, the bond still lasts to this day.”
I thought this over, feeling frustration rush through . “I wonder why it didn’t work for and Noah,” I said, my tone dripping with despair, "and why he forgot the bond in the first place.”
“What a mystery!” Marguerite exclaid, tapping a finger on her chin and gazing at the other two before looking at . “Well, we can run a few tests while you are here to figure it out.”
I winced. “Not with the lilies, I hope....”
“No, no, none of that,” Marguerite said. “We’ll get to the bottom of it, though! We have to. Clearly you are deeply in love with him, despite feeling so hurt.”
That definitely felt like the truth. The pull toward Noah I had never faded, nor did the hope that we had a future together.
“Hm, I wonder if it’s a curse,” Genevieve said.
“A curse?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes, soone cursing him to forget you, or sothing... it’s a rare magic, but it does exist.”
“The lilies could have been defective,” added Marguerite, snapping her fingers. “Such defections could lead to the magic totally ssing up. He drank the tea even before you found your mate bond, right?”
“Yes, to show that he had no such bond with Serena.”
“Well then, that very lily could have set off sothing particularly bad.”
“Or,” Harriet said, now throwing her speculation into the ring, “the Moon Goddess herself could be overseeing this and frowning upon this thod, using the lilies in this particular way.”
I finished eating as the speculations flew this way, that way, left, and right from each aunt. They were well-aning, but I needed so ti to myself.
“Thank you for breakfast and your offer to help,” I said to them, getting up and giving a smile. “May I take a walk around?”
“Of course! Oh, darling, you must check out the garden. It is beautiful!” Genevieve said.
I perked up with interest.
This garden wouldn’t have Gray in it, so that made it a thousand tis better already. And, well, I did love flowers, despite the troubles one particular one was giving .
I made my way down the hall per the instructions of the aunts, letting out a sigh as I escaped their enthusiasm. Their want to help was touching, and I felt happy that there was a bit more hope now.
I wandered into the gardens as the morning sun climbed higher into the sky, admiring the roses and different designs in the beds.
There was a huge variety. Daffodils, orchids, carnations, even a few normal lilies. I stared at the regular lilies, thinking about the Luna Lilies and why they worked for so, but not us.
Could any of the aunts’ theories be true, I wondered.
When I rounded the corner, thinking this through, I spotted none other than Noah sitting by a patch of flowers. He spotted and gave a tentative, but warm smile.
“Hello, Zara,” he said softly, not getting up to co any closer, clearly wanting to respect my place.
Still, his warm tone full of hope was encouraging, and I found the strength to move forward.
I walked up to him and sat down at a reasonable distance, studying what he had in his hand. Upon inspection, I realized it was a very old-fashioned cara.
“Hey, Noah,” I said. “I didn’t expect to find you here, taking pictures.”
He nodded. “Found this still working very well in the closet,” he explained. Then, he gave a radiant smile, one that made my heart lurch.
I felt the spark between us strengthen as his blazing blue eyes fixed on , studying for a mont. After a pause, he asked, “Can I take your picture, beautiful?”
The way he said that reminded of how he had spoken to before he lost his mory, when things looked up. I couldn’t help but return his smile as warmth rushed through .
Giving a soft giggle, I nodded. “Sure.”
We stood up, and I made sure a reasonable number of flowers were behind for the perfect background to the picture.
Noah humd, “A little to the left... nope, too much, just a bit right. Excellent. Perfect.”
He snapped a picture of right then, and I tilted my head, wondering where his eye for this sort of thing ca from.
“Good thing I wore this floral dress today,” I said. “It fits the scene perfectly.”
“You got that right, beautiful.”
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