*Zander*
“Dad! Look what I found in your drawer!” Austin exclaimed as he bounded into the room, holding up a scarf.
I took it from his hands, examining it closely, trying to recall how it could have ended up in my drawer. But no matter how much I searched my memory, I couldn’t place it.
“Whose scarf is it?” he asked again, his curiosity unrelenting.
“It might be your grandmother’s,” I replied thoughtfully, still turning it over in my hands.
“Nope! I asked her already, and she said it’s not hers either,” Austin countered with a confident shake of his head.
“Okay, then it might belong to your Aunt Blair,” I said, laughing at his determination. He nodded, pursing his lips with a sense of accomplishment, as though he had just solved a grand mystery.
“Well, case solved, Sherlock Holmes!” I teased, handing the scarf back to him.
Austin giggled as he grabbed it, tugging playfully to pull it from my hand. Yet, as he did, a strange tugging sensation echoed in my chest. Something about this scarf felt… familiar. But for the life of me, I couldn’t pinpoint why or whose it was.
Before I could dwell on the feeling, Anne stepped into the room, smiling warmly at Austin and me. Her father followed closely behind.
“Anne,” Austin said with a bright smile.
“Austin, let’s go to the garden. We’ll play there,” Anne replied warmly, and without hesitation, Austin followed her. He had formed a strong connection with Anne in a surprisingly short time.
After my wife, Avery, had passed, Alpha Albert had come to me with a proposal for his daughter Anne to marry me. At first, I was reluctant, feeling no inclination for a second marriage. But seeing how well Austin bonded with Anne, I eventually agreed.
Yet, something about the situation was deeply unsettling. I couldn’t recall any memories of Avery as my wife-our life together, our love-nothing. I only remembered the day I got married to my childhood friend. After that, it felt like everything had vanished in a blur, leaving me with no recollection of her at all. It was as though she had been erased, not just from my mind but from everyone else’s too. No one in my family or pack remembered her.
“Alpha Zander,” Alpha Albert’s voice broke through my thoughts, laced with unsettling authority. “I have made all the preparations for your and Anne’s marriage next week.”
I nodded absently, my response devoid of emotion. I couldn’t summon any feelings about this marriage, doing it instead as if some unseen force was compelling me forward.
Then, a strange sensation prickled at the back of my neck. It was as if someone was watching me. My gaze shifted, scanning the space around me. My heart skipped a beat as, for the briefest moment, I caught sight of hazel eyes gleaming in the void.
Those eyes-amid all the strangeness-were the only thing that felt absurdly familiar. It was an odd and unsettling sensation. In fact, they had been haunting my dreams, piercing through the fog of my waking life with an intensity that defied explanation. They vanished almost as quickly as they appeared, leaving me questioning whether I had imagined them.
Driven by a sudden urgency, I strode toward the corner where I thought I had seen them. My steps quickened as I reached out, my eyes searching desperately. But there was nothing there. Just emptiness.
Emptiness, much like my heart.
“What’s wrong, Alpha King?” Alpha Albert asked, his confusion evident due to my erratic behavior.
“Nothing, Alpha Albert,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose to ease the tension building inside me. “Go ahead with the preparations. However, I still doubt this is the right decision, especially when we’re dealing with the looming threat of the Dark Alpha.” My tone was stern, a warning veiled within my words.
The Dark Alpha-an enigma cloaked in shadows-remained a relentless threat to our kind. No one had ever seen his face or learned his name, and that anonymity made him all the more dangerous.
“I understand, Alpha King,” Albert replied, concern lacing his voice. “But Damon has threatened to abduct Anne. I fear for her safety. If you marry her, she’ll be under your protection, and that vampire won’t dare to act.”
Ah, Damon Shadowborne-wicked and ruthless. Since the death of his father, he had become the new terror of the werewolf community, even more vicious than his predecessor.
“Don’t worry,” I assured him, my voice firm. “He won’t touch Anne. You have my word.” With that, I turned and began walking toward my study, craving solitude.
Damon, Anne, the Dark Alpha-these names struck a strange chord in my mind, like a puzzle with a piece missing. Something about them wasn’t fitting together properly, but what was it? Why did it feel like I was making a huge mistake, even though everything seemed to be falling into place?
‘I also feel that way, Zander,’ Lyon echoed through our mindlink. ‘It’s as if something’s off, but we can’t quite place it.’
If he, too, felt the unease, then it wasn’t just me. I could sense Alpha Albert’s presence lingering behind me, but I wasn’t in the mood for company. My thoughts were in disarray, my heart unsettled in ways I couldn’t yet comprehend.
“Alpha Albert, make yourself comfortable,” I said, not breaking stride. “Feel free to order from the royal kitchen. If you wish to stay the night, inform the head omega, and she’ll arrange everything for you.”
“Thank you, Alpha King. I-” he began to say something, but I didn’t wait to hear the rest. My need for solitude was overpowering. My heart was heavy, and I needed to uncover the root of the restless storm raging within me.