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She lets me lie in this bed with her at night, though, and when I hold her, she wraps around me, restless in her sleep. And that’s not all. The mate bond that has snapped into place has helped me recover memories that I didn’t even know were missing, especially ones from my childhood.

As I watch her sleep, I run my fingers through her hair.

The Goddess had our fates intertwined from a very young age, it seems, but neither of us ever remembered. As a young boy, I wandered off and was kidnapped by humans. A few days later, they brought in a young girl with auburn hair, a little spitfire. Her father had sold her to them to pay off his gambling debts. She cried and screamed, wanting to go home with him, but our captors hit her. My wolf grew fiercely defensive, and I tried to shield her to the best of my abilities.

Maya murmurs in her sleep, leaning into my hand, and I smile softly.

My wolf must have recognized our fated mate back then, but I was too young to understand. I had always been warned never to shift forms in front of humans, but I found myself breaking that rule a few days later when a man came for the girl, his intentions clearly shady. She rode on my wolf’s back as we ran, chased by humans with guns.

The nightmares she has, when she cries out—I recall those moments now. Why did I forget? Or is it that my young mind simply wasn’t able to retain the memories?

Jerry enters the room again. “Commander Erik is looking for y—”

“Jerry, you were a mid-level healer when I was young, right?”

He blinks. “Yes.”

“I seem to have regained some memories from a time in my childhood when I went missing.” The healer stiffens, and I study him curiously. “You know what I’m talking about?”

Jerry looks uncomfortable. “Well, yes. You ran away from home after a fight with your father, and you were missing for two weeks. Your parents had turned the kingdom upside down looking for you when you suddenly came home, a mess, raving about your mate. You were quite young and emotionally charged back then. You wanted to go look for her, but we didn’t knowwhat you were talking about. I think the whole ordeal became too much for you, and you blocked it out.”

“I blocked it out? I forgot about Maya?”

Jerry is quiet as his eyes swivel toward my sleeping mate. “Oh, so that’s who you were talking about.” He seems to understand now. “You met Maya and your wolf recognized her as your fated mate, but you were too young. Fated mate pairs come together after a wolf reaches maturity. If you forgot about her, it was because your wolf was trying to protect its own mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if she, too, lost her memories of your time together.”

“She’s been having nightmares since she was a child about when she was kidnapped. She doesn’t remember me.”

“Children have fragile minds. I’m surprised she was able to retain the memory in the form of nightmares. But Maya is strong. If your parents had known that you truly had met your fated mate out there, they would have looked for her. It does make sense now why you rejected every match your parents and the elders put in front of you; you had already met your mate.”

It pleases me to know that the Goddess put us in each other’s paths earlier than we ever thought. But I do wonder how Maya will feel about it.

I stroke her cheek with the back of my hand, her skin soft and flushed in her sleep.

Never again, I vow silently. Never again will we be parted.

Three days later,I sit in my private study with Cedric, Leanna, and Erik. Maps and reports cover the table between us, but my mind is elsewhere—with Maya, recovering in the royal chambers now, under the watchful eyes of the palace healers.

“Nobody has been able to locate Mathew,” Erik says, breaking the tense silence. “It’s like he vanished.”

“He’s still out there,” I growl, the thought making my wolf pace restlessly. “Planning something.”

“We’ll find him,” Cedric assures me, his voice firm. The king of the North has been surprisingly supportive since arriving with Leanna after hearing the news. “My scouts are searching within our borders. If he fled to the North, we’ll find him.”

Leanna leans forward, her dark eyes concerned. “How is Maya? Jerry says she’s stabilizing, but...” She trails off, clearly worried about her friend.

“She’s...” I struggle to find the words. “She’s changing. Adapting. Of all the things I expected when I marked her, this wasn’t it.”

“You never expected her to become a shifter,” Leanna says softly.

I shake my head. “I heard her heart stop, Leanna. I felt her die through our bond. She was gone.”

“Yet, she lives,” Erik points out. “By any standard, it’s a miracle.”

“Or it’s science,” I counter. “Whatever the Silver Ring did to her, whatever Mathew injected her with—it changed her on a fundamental level. Jerry and the other healers are still trying to understand it. Maya doesn’t talk about it. Won’t talk about it. Won’t talk to me. To anyone. All she does besides sleep is work in the lab.”

Leanna relaxes at my words. “Sounds like a manic phase. This is normal for her. It means she’s on to something. She always became fanatical like this when working on something crucial. She’ll talk to you once she can think about anything aside from the formulas running through her head.” She looks at Erik. “The prophecy said Griffin would be the cause of her death.But what if it meant her death as a human? Her rebirth as a shifter?”

“Prophecies are notoriously tricky,” Erik agrees. “Always open to interpretation.”