RYKER’S P.O.V


    On hind sight, I shouldn’t have kissed her like that but I was too impatient. I hadn’t seen. my mate in


    months and seeing her standing alive in front of me was like a breath of fresh air. I had tried to believe


    that she was alive but a part of me had started to lose hope and finally seeing her standing there with


    her warm eyes, I couldn’t stop myself. Her lips were soft to touch and she stiffened against me. For a


    split second, she kissed me back then it was as if something mmed into her because she pushed


    me off.


    “What the hell?” she eximed taking a step back from me and my brows furrowed. I turned to the


    others in the room and the two women who I assumed were mother and daughter were staring at me


    with wide eyes. Christine had a sad look on her face. “I get that you might be the king or whatever, but


    you cannot go around kissing random people.”


    “I am the king? No, baby, you’re the Queen, I’m your consort.”


    Her eyes widened to the point of saucers and she opened her mouth to speak but Christine jumped in.


    She cleared her throat and grabbed my arm. “Is it okay if I pull you away for a second?”


    She pulled me away before I could even ask any other question. She pulled me to the corner of the


    room and her next words threatened to snap my reality. “She doesn’t remember anything.”


    “What do you mean?”


    “She was asking me about Tyson. She thought he sent me to get her,” she exined and I saw just


    how much this was hurting Christine. Her eyes were welling with tears and she managed to wipe them


    away before they dropped. “I don’t know what happened when


    she fell off that cliff but she might have lost a part of her memory. I don’t know if it is short term or not


    but she has no idea who we are and that means she doesn’t know the girls.


    either.”


    I cursed loudly before turning back to my mate. She was whispering with the other women and I felt a


    pang of possessiveness and jealousy in my chest. I was the one she whispered with like that, I was her


    confidante and now I wasn’t anymore. I turned back to Christine.


    “What do I do?” I asked. “The elders need to know she is alive or they will go on with the ceremony. We


    have a few days left. She has to return to the pce.”


    “I know, I just don’t know what we can do. She might not even agree toe with us. She seems to


    like her life here.”


    I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. “I’ll figure something else.”


    I made


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    e my way back to the center of the room and I didn’t fail to notice that Cami took


    few discreet steps back from me. I tried to pretend like it didn’t hurt, but there was a hole. in my chest


    that I knew only she could fix. I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms but I couldn’t. I was


    going to scare her if I tried that.


    “I apologize for kissing you like that. I was under the impression that you remembered everything. It


    was never my intention to make you feel ufortable,” I began slowly and I saw the guarded


    expression rx a little. “As it is right now, I am about to upend your life here because you cannot stay


    here.”


    “And why not?” the younger woman asked and I leveled her a look that had her shrinking back. Once I


    was sure that she wouldn’t be a problem anymore I turned to Cami.


    “You are the Queen, Cami, and the kingdom needs you. You have been missing for a few months


    and they are about to dere you dead and hand it over to the next person. You need to return to your


    subjects.”


    “Who would it go to?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it go to some


    Stant rtive?”


    “It would go to our daughter but seeing as she is too young to rule, I it until she is old enough.”


    have to hand


    She blinked twice before cing her hand against the side of her head. “I think I need to sit down for a


    while.”


    I helped her into a chair and to her credit, she let me help her. She ced her head into her hands and


    for a full five minutes, she didn’t say a word. I began to panic that something had gone wrong but


    Christine kept me in one ce. That didn’t stop me from watching her carefully and trying to discern


    what it was she needed.


    “What if I don’t want to return?” she asked carefully and I stilled. “Being Queen seems like a lot of work


    and I don’t remember anything. I might just make things worse. Wouldn’t it be better if I just continued


    pretending to be dead?”


    I had to breathe deeply before responding. “What about the girls?”


    “I don’t remember them. I don’t know thest thing about being a mother. I think they will be better off


    without me. They have you and her,” she gestured to Christine. “I’m sure they love you both. They’ll be


    fine without me.”


    Even as she was speaking, I could feel the hurt in her words. She had on an iron d expression but I


    could feel the longing deep in the mate bond. I cocked my head to the side and analyzed her. She


    might not remember us but the truth was that she still felt for us. Nothing could possibly change that no


    matter how much she wanted to.


    “Let’s make a deal,” I offered and she turned to me. “You get toe back with us for a year. All I am


    asking for is one year and if you don’t remember anything or want to stay then you can leave. We will


    fake your death or whatever and you can return to this life.”


    She didn’t say anything but I could tell that she was seriously contemting it. “You


    swear that I will return and you will nevere looking for me again?”


    “I swear it on our bond,” the words hurt to speak and I could feel my wolf moring in my head but I


    locked him out.


    I had no intentions of letting her go. She was only speaking like this because she didn’t remember. I


    was certain that a month in the pce was more than enough for her to regain her memories again. It


    was just a matter of time and I just needed her to agree toe with. She turned to the other woman


    and a look passed through them.


    While they silently spoke, I tried to analyze the other women. The younger one reminded me a lot of


    Christine. She had that fierce and protective nature about her. It was clear that she wanted to protect


    Cami but would otherwise do whatever she wanted. The older woman was a lot harder to get a read


    on. She had a neutral expression on her face and her eyes were cold towards us but warm whenever


    she looked over at Cami.


    “Fine,” Cami said after a moment of deliberation. “But, I have a condition.”


    “Name it.”


    “Marie and Peggy have toe with me. I won’t leave them here. If I have all this power that you say I


    have then they deserve to partake in some of it. After all, they have been watching over me since I was


    pulled out of the water.”


    “Fine, they cane. I suggest you start packing your things. We leave for the pce tonight.”


    She swallowed deeply and nodded. I watched her leave with the women and I had to fist my hands to


    my sides to stop myself from reaching out to drag her back. As soon as she was gone, I buried my face


    into my hands and sunk into the chair she had just evacuated. Her scent was everywhere and it was


    both a blessing and torture. Her scent had been stuck in my head for the past few months, now it was


    around me and I couldn’t even touch her.


    “Ryker,” Christine began but I held up a hand to stop her. I just needed a second to bask in


    the scent.


    I exhaled deeply after a minute and looked up at her. “I’ll be fine.”


    “Are you sure this is a wise idea?” she asked. “The girls will not know the difference. They will not


    understand that their mother lost her memory. They will be expecting Cami. What will we do about


    that?”


    “I don’t know, Christine, for fucks sake. I don’t always have the answers. I am trying to take this one


    step at a time. I have never dealt with a mate who lost their memory before.”


    “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to put any pressure on you,” she ced a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure


    everything will sort itself out. You don’t have to worry about it.”


    I didn’t move from that spot until evening. Christine left to purchase extra horses for our new


    companions. It wasn’t until I was told that Cami was around that I finally dragged myself out of the


    room. She was a sight to behold but I could see that she was a bit worried. I couldn’t me her. She


    was going to a life that she couldn’t remember and it was daunting.


    When she saw me approaching, she tried to hide her fears but I had already seen it. Marie and Peggy


    were a few feet away so 1 knew we had a bit of privacy.


    “It was brave of you to agree, thank you for that,” I told her and she smiled.


    “I can definitely see why I would have picked you. You are nicer than most of the males I remember,”


    she said simply and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. It was refreshing to see her with a bit of a bite.


    “I’m not going to act like I am not worried as hell. You said we have a daughter. How do I do this? I


    don’t remember her.”


    “We have two daughters actually,” I corrected and her eyes widened. “But I will be here the entire time.


    You and I will be together and I will remind you of everything you need to


    know as the need arises. Before we return however, I need to tell you about some…


    powers.”


    “I can control water, yeah, I found out,” she threw it out like it was no big deal. “If we do this, do we


    have to pretend like we are actually mated?”


    “You know we are mates,” I said dumbly and she nodded.


    “I can feel the bond. It feels weird but it is there. Do we have to-” she trailed off.


    “We only do whatever you want to do. We take this at your pace, okay?”


    She nodded. “Okay then, let us do this.”


    m