ISLA'S POV
My head feels like someone hit it with a hammer.
I blink up at faces I don't recognize. A man with golden eyes holds me like I'm made of glass. He's saying my name over and over. "Isla. Isla, please. Come back."
Who's Isla?
Wait. That's me. I'm Isla.
But why can't I remember anything else?
"Who are you?" My voice sounds wrong. Echoey. Like there's someone else talking with me.
The golden-eyed man's face crumbles. "It's me. Rowan. You know me. Please tell me you know me."
Rowan. The name feels important. Like I should remember it. But there's nothing—just a blank space where memories should be.
I look around. We're in a forest. There are bodies on the ground. Dead rogues. Blood everywhere. And at least fifty wolves surrounding us, all staring at me like I'm a bomb about to explode.
"What happened?" I try to sit up, but my body won't cooperate. I feel weak. Drained. "Why are there dead wolves? Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
"You don't remember the attack?" A dark-haired man kneels beside Rowan. "Isla, it's me. Kieran. We've known each other since you were a kid."
I search his face. Nothing. No recognition. No memories.
"I don't know you," I whisper. Panic rises in my chest. "I don't know any of you. Why can't I remember?"
"Daemon." Rowan's voice is dark with rage. "That bastard's spell didn't just knock her out. It took her memories."
"Can we reverse it?" asks an older man. He has kind eyes but looks at me with guilt and sadness.
"I don't know," says a girl with dark curly hair. She touches my forehead gently. "Memory spells are tricky. Sometimes they wear off. Sometimes..." She trails off, not finishing.
Sometimes they don't. That's what she's not saying.
"Everyone back up," Rowan orders. His voice carries weight—like when he speaks, people have to listen. "You're scaring her."
The wolves take a step back. But they keep staring at me with those hungry, awed eyes.
"Why are they looking at me like that?" I ask.
Rowan's jaw tightens. "Because you're special. A True Omega. The rarest type of wolf."
True Omega. The words trigger something. A flash of memory—power exploding from my hands, wolves freezing at my command, silver light everywhere.
Then it's gone.
"I don't feel special," I say quietly. "I feel confused and scared."
"I know." Rowan's voice softens. "But you're safe now. I promise. No one's going to hurt you."
"How do I know that?" I pull away from him. "I don't even know who you are."
Pain flashes across his face. "You're right. You don't. But Isla—" He reaches for me, then stops. "Before the spell hit, you and I... we were complicated."
"Complicated how?"
He opens his mouth. Closes it. Looks at the dark-haired man—Kieran—who shakes his head slightly.
"We'll explain everything," Kieran says. "But right now, let's get you somewhere safe. Daemon Shadowcrest might come back with reinforcements."
Daemon Shadowcrest. That name makes my wolf snarl inside my head. She remembers something I don't—danger, threat, enemy.
At least my wolf is still here.
*Do you remember anything?* I ask her silently.
Images flash through my mind. Running through trees. Pain. A rejection—someone rejecting someone. But the details are fuzzy, like looking through dirty glass.
*Not much,* she admits. *But I remember HIM.* She focuses on Rowan. *Mate. He's our mate.*
My heart skips. "You're my mate?"
Rowan goes very still. "Yes."
"Then why do I feel..." I touch my chest. There's something wrong there. Something broken and bleeding. "Why does the bond feel damaged?"
Silence. Everyone looks at Rowan.
He takes a deep breath. "Because you rejected me. Tonight. Right before Daemon attacked."
The words hit like a slap. "I rejected you? Why would I—"
"Because I hurt you." His voice cracks. "For years, I hurt you. I was cruel when I should have protected you. So when the bond snapped into place, you wanted nothing to do with me. And you were right to reject me. I deserved it."
I study his face. The guilt there is real. The pain is real. But I can't remember any of it—not the cruelty, not the rejection, nothing.
"I don't remember hurting," I say slowly. "I don't remember you at all."
"I know." He looks like those words are killing him.
"So what happens now?" I ask. "Do we just... start over? Pretend the rejection never happened?"
"The rejection did happen," the curly-haired girl—Mira, I think?—says gently. "The bond is fractured. That's dangerous for both of you. If it's not healed or fully severed..."
"We could die," I finish. My wolf supplied that information. "Both of us."
Rowan nods. "But I'm not accepting your rejection. So we're stuck in limbo until you decide what you want."
"How can I decide anything when I don't remember my own life?"
No one has an answer for that.
The older man—the one who looks guilty—steps forward. "Isla. I'm Marcus. Alpha of Silvermoon Pack. And..." He swallows hard. "I'm your father."
Father. The word should mean something. Should trigger warmth or anger or *something*. But I feel nothing.
"Okay," I say, because what else can I say?
Marcus flinches like I hit him.
A beautiful woman pushes through the crowd. She looks at me with cold eyes. "This is ridiculous. The girl has no memories. She's useless to us. We should send her away before more Alphas come looking for her."
"Victoria—" Marcus warns.
"Don't 'Victoria' me. You heard Daemon. Every Alpha in the country will hunt her now. She's a liability."
"She's your husband's daughter!" Rowan snarls.
"She's a bastard who's brought nothing but trouble," Victoria snaps back. "And now she can't even remember why we tolerated her this long."
"Tolerated?" A girl with perfect blonde hair steps forward—pretty, polished, everything I'm apparently not. "Mother, that's harsh. Isla didn't ask for any of this."
"Stay out of this, Celeste."
Celeste. That name triggers something too. A flash of white dress. Engagement party. Pain.
"You were engaged to him," I say, looking at Celeste, then at Rowan. "To my mate."
Celeste's perfect face tightens. "Was. Past tense. The mate bond broke our engagement."
"I'm sorry," I say automatically.
She laughs bitterly. "You rejected him anyway. So I guess we're both losing him."
"No one's losing anyone," Rowan says firmly. "Isla is my mate. Period. We'll figure out the rest."
"How?" Victoria demands. "She doesn't know you. Doesn't trust you. Can't even remember her own name without prompting!"
"Then I'll make her fall in love with me again." Rowan's voice is quiet but absolute. "However long it takes."
"You can't make someone love you," I say. The words come automatically, like I've said them before.
"No. But I can prove I'm worth loving. That's what I should have done three years ago." He looks at me with those intense golden eyes. "I failed you before, Isla. I won't fail you again."
Three years ago. My wolf whimpers at those words. Something important happened three years ago. Something that broke me.
But I can't remember what.
"Take me home," I say tiredly. "Wherever home is. I need to sleep. Maybe when I wake up, I'll remember."
"Home is the Omega quarters," Victoria says coldly.
"No." Rowan's voice turns to steel. "Home is the main house. Guest wing. Where she's been staying since the rogue attacks started."
Rogue attacks. More things I don't remember.
Marcus nods. "Agreed. Isla stays in the main house under guard. For her safety."
"And who guards her from him?" Victoria points at Rowan. "A rejected mate going feral? That's just as dangerous as Daemon."
"I would NEVER hurt her." Rowan's eyes glow gold. His wolf is close to the surface.
"You already did," Victoria says smugly. "She just doesn't remember it."
The words hang in the air like poison.
Rowan looks at me. "She's right. I did hurt you. But I swear on my life, I will never hurt you again. You don't have to trust me. You don't have to forgive me. But please. Let me keep you safe."
I should say no. Should run from this boy who apparently hurt me so badly I rejected a sacred mate bond.
But my wolf is howling for him. And the broken bond in my chest aches like a missing piece.
"Okay," I whisper. "But just until my memories come back. Then I'll decide."
Rowan nods. "That's all I ask."
He helps me stand. My legs shake, but his arm around my waist keeps me steady.
We start walking toward the pack house. But after three steps, my vision blurs.
"Rowan?" My voice sounds far away. "Something's wrong."
Then I'm falling.
And as the darkness takes me again, I hear Mira scream: "The rejection! It's killing her! Rowan, if you don't accept her rejection or she doesn't revoke it, the fractured bond will tear her apart from inside!"
"Then I'll find another way," Rowan's voice says from very far away. "I'm not losing her. Not again."
But as I slip into unconsciousness, I hear one more voice.
My wolf.
*He's lying,* she whispers. *Not about loving us. But about the past. There's something he's not telling you. Something important. Something that happened three years ago that broke us both.*
*What?* I ask desperately. *What happened?*
But before she can answer, the darkness swallows me whole.
And in my dreams, I see fragments of memories I shouldn't have:
A younger me, crying with bloody knees.
Boys throwing rocks.
A golden-eyed boy turning away, laughing.
And a voice that sounds like mine screaming: "I hate you! I hate you! I wish you were dead!"