Beneath the Alpha's Moon
Chapter 216: Forgetten

Chapter 216: Forgetten

Eldur’s P.O.V.

The night swallowed us whole as we landed deep in the heart of the forest, my magic still crackling around us. The air smelled of damp earth, leaves, and the faint lingering scent of Mai’s fury.

She stumbled slightly as the spell dissipated from her eyes, and then—just as I expected—she turned on me like a cornered wolf.

"You bastard!" she snarled, her silver eyes burning with rage.

Ah.

There she was.

My Mai.

The fire, the fury—it made my blood sing.

She lunged at me, wild and reckless, but I caught her wrist in midair, twisting it behind her with ease. She gasped, her breath hitching—not in pain, but frustration.

"Let me go!" she spat, struggling against my grip.

I leaned in, my voice a low whisper against her ear. "Why would I do that?"

Her silver eyes, once filled with something I used to recognize, now held nothing but hostility towards me.

"You don’t get to decide who I can be with, whatever your name is!" she hissed.

My grip tightened slightly. "And he does?"

She froze.

That hesitation. That single moment of silence was all the confirmation I needed.

A slow, bitter chuckle rumbled in my throat. "Liam? That weakling?" I shook my head, my amusement curling into something darker. "What does he have that I don’t?" My smirk faded into something sharp, something unhinged. "Because it sure as hell isn’t strength."

She wrenched herself free and stepped back, her breathing uneven. "It’s not about strength, you lunatic!"

Lunatic.

She used to say it fondly, back when she loved me. Back when everything I did was fun.

Now, it was an insult.

I exhaled slowly, tilting my head. "I don’t understand you."

"That’s the problem!" she snapped, shoving me hard. "You don’t know me!"

Her touch burned—not in the way it used to. Not in the way that made my heart pound and my magic pulse. No, this was different. This was rejection.

I stared at her, taking in every frantic movement, every uneven breath.

"You just—" Her voice wavered. "You don’t get to control me or anyone else."

A hollow laugh slipped past my lips. "Control you?" I took a slow step forward, and she stiffened. "Is that what you think this is?"

She didn’t move as I reached out, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. She flinched but didn’t pull away.

"You think I want to control you?" My voice softened, though the danger still curled beneath it. "No, Mai. I want you to remember what we used to share."

She swallowed hard, her beautiful eyes flickering with uncertainty.

"You are not weak." I let my fingers graze her cheek, my touch feather-light. "You do not belong with him."

Her breath hitched.

"And you know that."

She shook her head violently, squeezing her eyes shut. "You don’t get it!"

I stepped even closer, close enough to feel the tremble in her body.

"Then make me get it, Mai," I murmured.

She opened her mouth, but the words that tumbled out made my blood run cold.

"Whoever you are, I don’t know you. I don’t remember you."

My whole world tilted.

The words didn’t register at first. They echoed in my mind, distorted, like they had come from underwater.

What?

I stepped back, not out of fear, but out of sheer disbelief, as if distance could somehow change what I had just heard. As if space could undo the unbearable weight pressing against my chest.

"What does that mean?" My voice came out low, rough, like something jagged had lodged itself in my throat.

She sighed, and the sound was so casual, so indifferent, it made my blood boil. "It means I lost my memories. I literally don’t know who you are. Now, let me go!" Frustration laced her words, but there was no recognition, no hesitation—nothing.

No.

No, that wasn’t possible.

I had expected anger. I had expected hatred. I had even prepared myself for her to fight me every step of the way.

But this?

This was worse than any of it.

She didn’t remember me.

Not the way she used to smirk at me when we turned the world to chaos together.

Not the way she whispered my name like it meant something.

Not the way she clung to me when the whispers in her mind became too loud, when she needed me—only me—to silence them with chaos.

Nothing.

My fingers curled into fists, nails biting deep into my palms, drawing blood.

How?

How had this happened?

Mai was powerful. Unmatched. No ordinary spell could touch her, let alone steal something as vital as her memories. No, something wasn’t right.

No wonder my spell had worked so easily on her. No wonder she had followed without a fight.

She had forgotten how to fight me.

She had forgotten herself.

She had forgotten us.

A slow, burning rage crept through my veins, but beneath it, beneath the storm that threatened to tear me apart, was something worse. Something raw.

Something agonizing.

Loss.

I had spent the last seven months clawing my way out of hell for her.

I had bled for her.

I had torn myself from the clutches of that prison, shattered every chain, burned everything in my path, all for this moment—for her.

And when I had searched for her, when I had found the witches who promised me the power to take back what was mine, I hadn’t hesitated.

I had taken their spell without a second thought, without caring about the price.

Because she belonged with me.

Because she wanted to be with me.

Didn’t she?

I studied her, waiting—begging—for the lie to crack, for her mask to slip, for her to break the illusion and laugh, tell me this was a cruel joke, that she could never forget me.

But she didn’t.

She was serious.

Her silver eyes, once filled with that wicked gleam I had adored, now held nothing but defiance.

She had forgotten me entirely.

I let out a slow breath, trying to steady the storm raging inside me. "You expect me to believe that?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I don’t care what you believe," she shot back. "I just want to leave."

A bitter chuckle slipped from my lips, humorless, sharp. "Leave?" I repeated, tilting my head. "And go where, exactly? Back to him?"

Her whole body tensed.

Ah.

That was all the confirmation I needed.

Liam.

That pathetic, weak excuse of a wolf.

I ground my teeth together, feeling something dark coil inside me, something that demanded destruction.

I had spent years by her side. I had watched over her, understood her, loved her in a way no one else ever could.

And she had run off after him?

"I will burn him to the ground," I murmured, more to myself than to her.

Mai’s face darkened, fury igniting in her eyes. "You will do no such thing!"

I laughed, slow and cold. "You really think you can stop me?"

She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to.

Because the truth was, she couldn’t now.

Not like this.

Not when she had no idea what she was truly capable of.

She had forgotten how to wield her power, forgotten the kind of force that had once made the world tremble at her feet.

And me?

I hadn’t forgotten a single thing.

I closed the distance between us, my steps slow, deliberate. She tensed the moment I moved, her body locking up as though she already knew—on some deep, primal level—what was coming.

"You may not remember me, Mai," I said, my voice a low, lethal whisper. "But I remember you."

Her breath hitched. She swallowed hard, her throat working around the weight of fear she hadn’t yet voiced. For a moment—just a sliver of time—I saw something shift in her gaze.

Not recognition.

Something better.

Fear.

Good. She should be afraid.

A slow, satisfied grin stretched across my face, wicked in its promise.

"We’ll just have to start over, won’t we?"

She frowned, confusion knitting her brows, her lips parting slightly. "What—"

I lifted her chin with the barest touch, forcing her to meet my gaze.

"Don’t worry," I whispered, leaning in so close I could feel the shaky exhale against my skin. "By the time I’m done, you won’t have anyone left to remember but me."

She inhaled sharply, her breath shattering against the silence.

Liam. Her precious, pathetic Liam.

Her family.

Her pack.

They had already lost her once.

Now, they would lose her again.

Permanently.

I would carve through their world like fire in a dry forest—unstoppable, merciless, leaving only ruin in my wake.

I would unravel everything she had ever known, strip away everything she had ever loved, until there was nothing left.

Nothing but me.

And when there was no one left for her to run to—when every road led back to me—

She would finally understand.

She had always belonged to me.