Kamrynn’s POV
Sleep refused to come.
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind an endless swirl of questions. The key sat hidden beneath my pillow, yet it might as well have been burning a hole through the mattress.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
For once, I was grateful that Lorien had chosen to sleep in the living room tonight. The distance between us gave me a rare moment of solitude, a chance to breathe without his watchful gaze lingering over me.
I sat up slowly, careful not to make any noise. The room was dim, moonlight casting silvery streaks across the floor. My fingers hesitated for only a moment before I reached beneath my pillow and retrieved the key.
Holding it up to the light, I turned it over between my fingers, studying the intricate grooves along the metal.
What if this was a mistake?
What if Lorien had placed the collar around my neck to protect me from something?
I clenched my jaw, gripping the key tighter. No. That didn’t make sense. If it was for my safety, why hadn’t he told me? Why had he called it a symbol of our love?
If I went through with this, I would be making a choice that I couldn’t undo.
Was I ready for that?
I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply.
I had spent so long convincing myself that my life with Lorien was enough. That my love for him was real. That my missing memories didn’t matter. But the truth was… I would never be satisfied until I understood everything.
There were too many unknowns.
And I was tired of living in the dark.
With a steadying breath, I raised the key to the collar around my neck. My fingers trembled as I slid it into the keyhole, the metal cool against my skin.
It fit.
A perfect fit.
I swallowed hard, heart hammering as I turned the key.
Click.
The lock released, and the metal collar slipped from my neck, hitting the sheets with a quiet thud.
Instantly, something surged through me.
A force, raw and powerful, erupted from deep within. It was as if a door had been thrown open inside my soul, and something that had been locked away for too long came rushing back.
My head snapped back, a gasp tearing from my lips as energy flooded every inch of my being. It wasn’t just a feeling-it was a knowing. A subconscious awakening that I couldn’t understand but somehow… somehow knew. A feeling of wholeness washed over me.
It was like finally breathing after being submerged underwater for too long. Like stepping into the sunlight after years trapped in darkness.
It felt good.
Just then, a voice-strong, clear, and impossibly familiar-rang through my head.
“Kamrynn! You did it! Well done!”
I froze.
That name again.
Kamrynn.
Why did that name feel so… right?
Panic swelled in my chest. I looked around the dark room as if the voice had come from somewhere inside it, but I was alone.
No. Not alone.
She was there. I could feel it, whatever she was was inside me. But how’s that possible? Am I going crazy? Logically, I should be freaking out but instead, my lips moved on their own.
“Aryna?” I whispered, the name slipping from my lips before I could even process it.
A hum of approval vibrated through my mind. “Don’t be afraid, Kamrynn. I’m here. And I promise, I’ll explain everything. We’re getting out of here. We’re going back to our babies.”
My heart stopped.
“Babies?” I echoed, my voice barely a breath.
Aryna’s voice was calm but firm. “Yes. Our babies. They need us. And we need them.”
I shook my head, confusion twisting through me. This wasn’t real. I had no babies. Lorien had never mentioned us having any children.
A whirlwind of thoughts swirled in my mind, questions piling on top of each other. Yet, despite the overwhelming flood of uncertainty, I knew-deep down-I could trust this voice.
Aryna.
She felt like a beacon of hope, a guiding light piercing through the thick fog of my confusion.
“I’ll help you discover the truth,” Aryna promised, her voice warm yet firm, laced with certainty. “But you have to listen to me. Lorien has been lying to you.”
My stomach clenched. “No,” I whispered automatically, shaking my head.
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?” Aryna pressed. “Think, Kamrynn. He’s not your husband. He wiped your memories and stole you from your mate and your children.”
The air left my lungs.
“No,” I repeated, but it was weaker this time, trembling with uncertainty.
“He’s been using you for your powers,” Aryna continued, relentless. “Playing house with you, pretending to love you while keeping you in the dark. Keeping you his.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Lorien would never-”
“Admit it,” Aryna cut in sharply. “You’ve felt it, haven’t you? That something isn’t right? That he’s lying to you, hiding things? It isn’t just your imagination, Kamrynn.”
My breath came out shaky.
I had felt it.
The missing pieces, the vague sense of loss I could never explain, the restrictions, the way he always steered me away from asking too much.
No matter how much I denied it, the truth was there, pressing in on me from all sides.
But believing Aryna meant accepting that everything I knew-everything I loved-was a lie.
Lorien.
Was it really possible that he had stolen me from my real family? That he had taken everything from me and reshaped my world into one of his own making?
I didn’t know what to believe anymore.
But I did know one thing.
I needed answers.
“What do I do?” I whispered.
“Lorien extracted your memories,” Aryna revealed. “He keeps them in an orb that’s in some kind of subspace only he can reach. If you want them back, you’ll have to force him to return them.”
My heart pounded painfully. “Force him?”
“Yes. We have to take back the orb that contains your memories. There’s no other way.”
A lump formed in my throat.
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Simple,” Aryna said darkly. “Grab a knife.”
A sharp chill swept through me.
“You want me to-?”
“We’re not killing him,” Aryna reassured me. “Just threatening him. He won’t willingly give it up, Kamrynn. If you want to remember, you have to do this.”
I hesitated.
Attacking Lorien felt… wrong.
Even with all the doubts clawing at my mind, my body still instinctively rejected the idea of harming him.
But…
I had to know.
I needed to know.
What if Aryna was right? What if I really had a family out there, waiting for me? What if I had been living in a beautiful, golden lie?
My hands curled into fists.
“Alright,” I whispered. “But… I hope I’m not making a mistake.”
I carefully slid out of bed, my heartbeat thundering in my ears. My bare feet barely made a sound as I crept toward the kitchen, my breath shallow, my body trembling.
The dim light of the moon barely illuminated the space as I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the handle of a sharp kitchen knife.
The cold steel sent a shiver down my spine.
This was real.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I turned and padded back toward the living room, each step measured, cautious.
Lorien lay sprawled on the couch, his breathing slow and steady.
His face was peaceful in sleep, lips slightly parted, strands of his fiery red hair cascading over his shoulders. He looked… beautiful.
For a fleeting moment, I faltered.
What if I was wrong?
What if Aryna was manipulating me?
What if I was about to betray the one person who had always been there for me?
But… if I was wrong, then why was my heart pounding so violently?
Why did every instinct inside me scream that this-the way things were-wasn’t right?
I stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
My fingers tightened around the knife’s handle as I raised it.
Slowly, carefully, I reached out, my hand trembling as I brought the blade toward his throat.
Just a little closer-
Before I could even touch him, Lorien’s eyes snapped open.
What used to be red became a sharp, predatory flash of gold.
And then-
A blur of movement.
A gasp tore from my lips as I was suddenly weightless, my vision spinning before my back slammed into the couch.
The knife was wrenched from my grip, clattering onto the floor.
Lorien loomed over me, his entire body caging mine, a suffocating heat radiating from him. His hands pinned my wrists effortlessly, his now golden eyes burning into mine.
My chest heaved, fear spiking through me-
So suddenly…
A heady scent filled the air, thick and intoxicating.
My entire body shuddered.
A slow, simmering heat crawled up my spine, spreading through my veins like wildfire. My breath hitched, my skin prickling, every nerve ending suddenly too aware of him.
No.
No, no, no.
What was happening to me?
“Kamrynn!” Aryna’s voice rang in my mind, urgent. “Snap out of it! He’s-!”
But her voice faded, melting into the background, drowned out by the unbearable need curling in my gut.
I felt hot.
My body ached.
Every fiber of my being screamed for relief.
Lorien’s scent-his touch-his sheer presence pressed down on me like a drug, sending my mind into a haze. Something huge, hard and hot brushed against my inner thigh.
A whimper slipped past my lips before I could stop it.
I heard him chuckle.
Low. Dark. Amused.
A rough tongue dragged along the curve of my neck, leaving a burning trail in its wake.
A helpless moan escaped me. “Lorien…”
“I really did try to hold myself back for your sake,” Lorien murmured, his voice thick with amusement, but beneath it, there was something ravenous. “Things were going just fine the way they were. But you just had to get curious, didn’t you?”
My heart hammered against my ribs, my breaths coming out in shallow, desperate pants.
“Now you leave me no choice.”
His lips brushed against my ear, his voice a purring growl that sent a violent shiver down my spine.
“You’ll have to bear the full extent of my rut.”
A sharp jolt of heat bolted through me.
I barely registered the way my legs trembled, the way my fingers curled into his shirt, desperate, needy.
Lorien’s smirk deepened, his grip tightening.
“I’ll give you so much pleasure your mind will be unable to comprehend it,” he whispered, “and then I’ll mark you as mine-just as I fill you up with my hatchlings, mate…”