Remember Me, Mate

Chapter 10

TYRONE

“So, what have you got for me?”

Tristan was sitting comfortably in my chair in the Alpha’s office, right behind the new desk I had ordered, while Circe and I stood side-by-side in front of him. Nevan was growling inside my head, furious about the way my brother blatantly took my seat, but I shrugged the ravenous beast off. I wasn’t planning on sitting anyway, and I was content with the simple fact that he seemed to be in a slightly better mood today.

The tour I took him on after his welcome dinner last night must have made him realize that I had only resorted to erasing his Luna’s memories because I had no other choice, although his acknowledgement had caught me off guard. Not because he wasn’t humble - despite him having a firmer hand than me, he never let his power get to his head when he was still Alpha - but because his words of gratitude inevitably reminded me of the heated moment Zahra and I had had only hours earlier.

“Ty and I agreed that it is far too risky for you to try to tell her about your past together.” I blinked a few times as Circe’s voice interrupted my guilt trip.

“Sure. It’s too simple. What’s the fun in doing it the easy way, am I right?” Tristan didn’t bother masking the sarcasm in his tone.

“If everything works the way you want it to, yes, it would be fairly easy. But what if it doesn’t?” The witch frowned, clearly tired of the man’s attitude. “There’s a high chance she will not believe you, and if she does, it might cause her memories to collapse. She could start doubting what’s real and what’s fake. I think we can both agree that we should try other possibilities before risking putting her through that pain and confusion.”

My brother mimicked her reaction. He couldn’t hide the worry in his heavy sigh though. “Okay. Do you have any ideas?”

“I spent the night researching the spell cast on her.” Circe walked to one of the shelves, taking a big book in her hands. She was skilled enough to use her powers to lure the object to her, but because of the anti-magic barrier surrounding the building, her efforts would have been useless. “I’ve studied a few options, but I believe we’ll have a better shot at trying to fix the situation if we simply encourage her to remember in her own time.”

“How the hell do we do that?” Tristan questioned eagerly.

“No spell is perfect; there’s always a loophole. The stronger the witch, the harder it is to…trick her magic, per se,” the chocolate-haired woman explained. “Zahra’s memories haven’t been literally erased, but rather confined within the depths of her mind, in a corner so dark not even her wolf can reach them. However, I think we can trigger these memories to come forth if we try to recover the bond you two shared, which is also magical, by taking her to places you visited together or doing things you used to do. That way, the spell might be undone naturally.”

“How long do you think it would take for her to remember everything?” It was my turn to ask.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It could take weeks, months. There’s also a chance it’ll never work.” Her saddened gaze turned to the floor.

“We should start as soon as possible then.” My brother jumped up from his chair, clearly ignoring Circe’s last statement. “For that, I need to know exactly what she remembers about me.”

“It’s a short list, actually,” I chimed in. “In order to make sure she would forget all about your relationship, we had to make sure every romantic memory she had of you was locked.”

Tristan ran his hand through his hair in a mix of distress and hurt. “Basically everything after she came of age and learned that we were mates.” I nodded, watching his face fall. “What about our childhood? Does she still remember that we were friends growing up?”

“Only as much as she was mine,” I confessed. “We couldn’t be sure whether your destiny together was what made you two grow so close even before you gained your wolves, so we preferred not to risk it.”

“f**k! You really did an impeccable job here, didn’t you?” he scoffed, once again hiding his pain behind his anger.

“We had to play it safe,” Circe backed me up. “Zahra should only be able to remember details about you that weren’t related to the love she had for you.”

“So she knows that I’m Tyrone’s brother, and that I was the Alpha of Scarlet Meadows before him. That’s all?”

“Pretty much.” The witch shrugged apologetically.

Tristan clenched his fists, and I was sure he was about to punch a hole in the wall, but he seemed to change his mind last minute, gluing his arm to his side. He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he took a few breaths. It was common for born Alphas to have anger management issues, but it always seemed harder for him to control his inner beast than it was for me. Honestly, I was surprised he hadn’t murdered me yet; though I didn’t know how long it would be until he finally tried.

“It’s fine. I can do this,” he stated, mostly for himself than for us.

“It’ll be alright.” Circe smiled reassuringly, though she didn’t sound as confident as him. “Just take it slow, and remember that your priority is to make sure Zahra doesn’t get hurt in the process.”

“Of course. As desperate as I am to fix all this, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I caused her any more pain.” Tristan’s anger shrunk as his guilt took over. “I’ve already put her through too much.”

“We’ll try to help you to the best of our abilities,” the woman reassured him, elbowing me.

“Yeah,” was all I could say.

My brother was already at the door when he glanced at us over his shoulder. “Thank you, guys.” He didn’t wait for a response before he walked out.

As soon as the door closed, Circe moved to stand right in front of me with her arms crossed.

“What?”

“This needs to stop, Ty,” she whispered in a demanding tone.

My heart froze as I stared into her eyes. Part of me wanted to ask her what she was talking about, but deep down, I knew. Unable to look into her eyes, I turned my back to her with a heavy sigh.

“I know. I’m working on it,” I replied defensively.

“Are you? Because that’s definitely not what Zahra told me.” She raised her voice, letting me know she was serious. “Look, Ty, I don’t judge you for falling for her. Gods, I even encouraged her to take you as her chosen mate so she could finally feel the love she deserved again…” I tensed up when I felt her hand on my shoulder, forcing me to look at her. “But Tristan’s back. That changes everything. They’re destined partners. I’m sure you know better than to go against your Moon Goddess’ wishes.”

“Yes, I know!” I yelled, losing my cool for a moment. “I tried to make her stop yesterday, but she was on my lap, kissing me… And when I pulled her away, she asked why. What was I supposed to say? Then she…” I groaned in frustration.

I stopped for a moment, realizing how stupid I sounded coming up with excuses for my poor self-control. Nevan must have been poisoning my thoughts, because for a brief moment, I believed what he had told me the day before. But I knew it was wrong; I had known since the beginning. With a deep breath, I lowered my head.

“It won’t happen again. I’ll call it off,” I promised.

Circe showed me a sad smile, soon wrapping her arms around me. “I’m sorry, Ty.”

“Don’t be. I shouldn’t have gotten in their way to begin with. I put myself in this mess.”

“Your mate is still out there.” There was a twinkle of hope in her voice - something I had lost a long time ago.

Mates usually found each other within months, weeks, or even days of getting their wolf counterparts. Their paths were destined to cross, and it usually happened fast. A few unlucky shifters might have to wait a couple of years for it to happen, sometimes a little longer if there was a big age gap between them. However, at twenty-seven years old, I was getting used to the idea that my destined partner might have passed away before we met. Or maybe the Goddess had simply forgotten about me. Either way, I wasn’t too hopeful about ever feeling what true love was like.

“Yeah. She has to come along sooner or later, right?” It took all of my strength to force a smile. Knowing I was close to breaking, I quickly made up an excuse. “I need to make a phone call. Text me if there are any updates on Zahra and Tristan.” She reluctantly nodded before exiting the room, and I was left to dwell in my thoughts.