Calvin’s POV
I blinked.
What?
Orion rubbed his chin, considering. “Together is probably best. Less hassle that way.”
Rmonica nodded, adjusting her hold on Astor. “You’re right. We should take them both at the same time. Besides, they’re already so attached to each other, they’ll probably grow up doing everything together-” She glanced down at the baby in her arms, smiling softly. “Isn’t that right, Elian?”
Elian?
I stiffened.
Who the hell was Elian?
And then, as if the universe wanted to kick me while I was already drowning in confusion, Rmonica continued.
“And little Eloise should be up from her nap soon. I’ll get them ready and we can go, I’ll feel more at ease once they’re immunized.”
Eloise.
My stomach twisted violently.
Elian and Eloise.
My children.
Astor and Arabella.
Rmonica was talking about them.
But she was calling them by different names.
As if-
As if they didn’t already have names, like they were kids she picked up at some orphanage and adopted.
Something inside me snapped.
I surged forward, grabbing Astor-no, not Astor, Elian, she called him Elian-from her arms, holding him protectively against my chest.
“Don’t-” My voice was low, dangerous. “Don’t ever call him your son. He and Arabella are mine and Kamrynn’s children.”
Rmonica’s eyes widened in alarm.
For a second, just a fraction of a second, I saw something flicker across her face.
Something uncertain.
Something almost-almost-like recognition.
But then, panic overtook her features.
And the moment shattered.
“Give him back!” she shrieked, reaching for the baby in my arms.
Astor-Elian, whatever his name was supposed to be-let out a loud, startled wail.
Rmonica’s breathing turned erratic, her hands trembling as she reached for him again.
“Who the hell is Kamrynn?” she demanded.
I froze.
My grip on the baby tightened.
She-
She didn’t know?
What the hell was this?
How could she not know who Kamrynn was? Was this supposed to be some next level acting?
I barely had time to process it before Rmonica lunged at me, her motherly instincts in full force.
I barely managed to take a step back before she ripped Astor from my grasp, holding him close and spinning away from me as if I were a threat.
“Stay the hell away from my child!” she snapped, her voice laced with fury.
Astor’s cries grew louder, distressed by the sudden chaos.
Rmonica cooed at him, rubbing circles into his tiny back.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” she murmured. “Mommy’s got you.”
Mommy.
She had just called herself his mother.
The horror of it was suffocating.
I took a shaky step forward, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“Where’s Arabella?” I demanded.
Orion’s face hardened.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he raised a hand-
And the office doors burst open.
Guards stormed in, moving toward me with practiced precision.
“Take them,” Orion ordered coldly. “And make sure they never set foot in this palace again.”
A growl ripped through my chest as hands seized me, yanking me backward.
I struggled.
I thrashed.
I fought.
But I was still recovering.
Still weak.
And there were too many of them.
Franklin and Lysaa appeared in the hallway as I was dragged out, their faces contorted in confusion.
“Alpha?” Franklin called.
“They took-!” My words were cut off as a guard slammed his elbow into my gut, knocking the wind out of me.
I fell to my knees, gasping for breath.
And then-
I was thrown out of the palace.
Lysaa and Franklin were tossed out after me.
The gates slammed shut behind us.
For a moment, none of us spoke.
We were too stunned.
Too caught in the shock of what had just happened.
“What the hell was that?” Franklin burst out. “What just happened?”
I forced myself to my feet, my breath ragged.
“Rmonica…” I started, my voice hoarse. “She-”
I couldn’t even finish the sentence.
Franklin and Lysaa stared at me expectantly.
I clenched my fists.
“She doesn’t know who Kamrynn is. They acted like they were just meeting me for the first time, heck they’re calling my children by a different name.” I said, the words tasting like poison on my tongue.
Franklin scoffed. “Obviously, they’re just pretending. They don’t want you to take the kids.”
I shook my head.
“No,” I said firmly. “That wasn’t an act. I could tell, the reactions were too… innate. I saw the fear of a mother almost having her child taken.
That wasn’t a lie. They truly have no memory of her, of me.”
Lysaa’s brows furrowed, her sightless eyes narrowing.
“That’s impossible,” she said.
I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair.
“She was calling them by different names,” I repeated, my voice raw. “She called Astor Elian. She called Arabella Eloise.”
Franklin’s expression twisted into a mixture of confusion and unease.
“They don’t even recognize them as Kamrynn’s children,” I continued. “They’ve adopted them. They think they’re their own.”
Silence.
Thick, suffocating silence.
Then, Lysaa inhaled sharply.
“You don’t think…? Could this be the work of a witch?” she murmured.
I stiffened.
Sherelle’s voice echoed in my head.
“I’m taking her life from her.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Sherelle was a witch.
She had been involved with the witch from Silver Pines before. I was starting to believe she had a hand in my previous inexplicable hatred for Kamrynn.
She knew how to manipulate the mind.
I could barely breathe as the realization hit me.
She hadn’t just stolen Kamrynn’s memories.
She had erased every trace of her from the memories of everyone in the Blue Bell Pack. If you can’t beat them, just get rid of them… I recall she used to say that a lot.
She had erased the memory of Kamrynn’s existence, of her ever coming to the Blue Bell Pack.
It was as if she had never existed at all.
I had come here to reclaim my children.
But now…
Now, I had to fight for Kamrynn’s existence itself.
And for the first time since waking from my coma-
I realized just how deep Sherelle’s treachery ran.