Chapter 7 Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

LYKON'S POV

Waking up in a strange place with no memories is something you'd think would send a person into an existential crisis. But I didn't have the time for that.

Not when the first face I saw was hers. Not even when I felt something draw me to her.

Ignas was her name.

I didn’t remember her. I didn’t know her name until someone else said it. I didn’t know where I was or who I was, but I felt it deep in my chest that I knew her.

Something in my chest pulled tight every time I looked at her. It felt like something ancient and primal and raw. It felt like something that was meant to be.

It wasn’t just an attraction. It was this bone deep certainty, like gravity had finally found me. And I was orbiting her.

She, on the other hand, was doing everything in her frosty power to pretend I was a stray pup who’d wandered into her territory.

Why was she treating me that way?

Doesn't matter.

Well. I’d like to see her try to get rid of me now.

"You're not eating."

Her voice cut through the silence like ice breaking over a frozen lake. I looked down at the tray of food she’d brought and raised a brow.

"I'm observing, I'm not hungry.”

Ignas sighed and crossed her arms. Her uniform looked like it was carved from steel. Her expression was worse. She had the kind of beauty that hurt to look at. Not the soft, sweet kind. No. She was like the storm clouds over a burning field kind of beautiful.

Soft yet unpredictable. Cold and sexy.

"Observing the food won’t make it taste better," she said. "Eat."

"You’re being very controlling for someone who insists she’s not my mate,” I leaned backwards, my lips involuntarily stretching into a small smile as I crossed my arms over my chest.

Her eyes twitched.

"I am not your mate, I told you. You're just a little bit disoriented from your accident, that's all,” she said dismissively, standing up to leave.

"You keep saying that, and yet, here you are. Personally delivering me soup."

She turned around. Walked to the window. "Don’t make me regret saving you."

Too fucking late, Ignas.

I leaned back in the bed, smirking. "Too bad I can’t remember what happened. Feels like you’re hiding something."

She stiffened. "You almost died. That’s what happened."

"And yet here I am, alive. In my wife's territory. Being babied by the Alpha herself."

That got her attention. She turned, her eyes burning like wildfire now. "You are not being babied."

"Then what do you call this tender loving care?" I raised a brow with a smirk.

"Duty," she snapped.

I laughed. And it felt good. It so felt so fucking right to tease her.

"You’re a terrible liar."

"And you’re an insufferable fool."

"A fool who knows what he wants."

She looked away again. This time, her shoulders dropped just a little. Not enough for most people to notice. But I did.

Because despite what she wanted me to think, she cared. And maybe she hated herself for it. Maybe she hated me for stirring something inside her she’d buried long ago. But that bond? It wasn't going away. And neither was I.

Later, I wandered through the corridors when no one was watching. I'd only been out of bed a day, but I felt stronger than I should.

The wolves stared at me as I passed. They even whispered.

What was going on?

One pup even bowed. Weird.

I found a training yard and leaned against the railing. Warriors sparred below, right on the ground. The scent of sweat and steel filled the air. It should’ve been foreign. But my muscles twitched like they remembered every move.

It felt familiar, and yet... empty, I didn't know how to put it.

"You shouldn’t be up," Ignas's voice came from behind me. I didn’t turn around.

"Your warriors look weak."

"You're pushing your luck."

"You like that about me."

She walked beside me, close enough that her shoulder brushed mine. The heat of her skin branded me.

"You’re reckless."

"You’re cold."

"You’re arrogant."

"You’re gorgeous."

She blinked.

Got her.

The smirk returned again. God I loved making her speechless.

"Why are you like this?" she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh escaping her lips.

"I'm like this because you keep denying what’s obvious. We’re mates. We're husbands and wives.”

"I told you. You're still sick, you don't know what you're saying. Even if we are mates, I don't want that!”

That quiet confession almost hurt more than it should.

"Well, I want to be. Doesn’t that count for something?"

She shook her head. "You don’t even know who you are. You don’t know what you’ve done."

I tilted my head. "Then tell me."

"I can’t."

"Why not?"

She stepped back. The distance between us felt like a wall. "Because I don’t trust you."

Ouch.

But I didn’t say anything. I let her go, not because I was giving up. But because I saw the war and hurt behind her eyes.

She was trying to protect herself from me. From the bond. From whatever past had torn us apart before we even began.

But I wasn’t going anywhere.

I was here to stay.

Mate.