Page 18 of Winter Unleashed

“I’m sure you don’t. Let’s have a seat, talk for a while. Maybe that will help.” I sat in a chair that faced the backyard. Who would want to put their back to all that beauty?

Liam sat at the head of the table to my left. When the others moved to take their seats, I cleared my throat. “Uh, maybe Fraser and I should do this alone.” I glanced at him. “We could take food and go inside if you prefer. Unless you don’t want to be alone with me.”

“I don’t mind being alone with you.” His lips twitched again. When they pulled into a smirk, I found myself staring at them. “We can stay here. This is one of your favorite places.”

I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off him and barely noticed as the others grabbed plates of food and wandered off into the house.

He cleared his throat to snap me out of my daze. When I lifted my eyes to his, he gave me a slight nod. “Are you hungry?”

I looked around the table at all the food and felt nothing. “No. I think I’m too nervous, which is a strange feeling for me.”

“It’s understandable. Would you prefer to walk while we talk? I can show you another of your favorite places.”

I smiled and nodded. “Walking would be nice.” I furrowed my brow and lowered my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I looked up at him again. “Nothing. I’m just not acting like myself. There’s something weird… off about me. I don’t know how to explain it.” A frustrated sigh escaped me. “I’m usually more—”

“Snarky, sarcastic, playful,” he offered.

I laughed a little. “Yeah.”

“It could be the spell, or because you’re nervous.” He grinned when I groaned. “You’ve had a shock. Your friends told you we are mates, have been for months, and now you have to try to regain those memories… the bond.” His voice turned strained when he said the last two words. “All of this must make you feel out of sorts.”

“You could be right,” I said, rising from my seat. “Let’s take that walk, see if it changes anything.”

As we walked, he told me some of the things I’d supposedly forgotten. He started with the day he’d come to my house after I’d kicked the shit out of a member of his pack. Then he told me we’d worked together against Stella and Cybil. He kept talking about things I remembered but didn’t recall him being a part of.

“Yeah, I remember kicking Chris’ ass. I remember the shit with Stella and Cybil, the old fairgrounds, and my house being burned down. You’re just… You’re not in any of those memories.”

I stopped walking when he did and turned to face him. He studied me for a while then shook his head. “Whoisin those memories? Do you see anyone with you?”

I closed my eyes and thought back to the day I’d fought Chris. Next, I brought the fairgrounds to mind. The day my house burned down. Training the other shifters to fight against the vampires. I ran through all of it. “So, the times when others were around, I only remember them. You’re not there at all. But the times we would have been alone, like in my kitchen, your lab, those memories are… thick?” I shrugged and nibbled my lip as I tried to think of a better way to describe it.

“Like trying to see through mud?” he offered.

I smiled. “Yeah, exactly. There’s something there, but it’s not a clear image. Like in my kitchen, I’m speaking to someone, but that person isn’t clear. It’s like a smudge.”

He shook his head. “It sounds like Celeste did a half-ass job of things. You shouldn’t remember the day in the kitchen or the lab or any other time we were alone.”

“Yeah, I guess that would make more sense. I also can’t figure out why she left Philip and Ciara or even Stella and Isaac in my memories.” I nibbled my lip as I tried to make sense of it all. I wanted to believe my friends. And something about Liam made me want to believe him too. “I just don’t understand. Why didn’t she just erase them all? Or at least erase Philip and Ciara. I’d think she’d want me to suspect everyone I know. It was way too easy for Isaac to convince me he was telling the truth and Celeste wasn’t.”

“I wish I knew the answers. Astrid is working on figuring it all out.”

We started walking again. When his fingers brushed against mine, a tiny spark ran through my hand. He brushed against me again, another spark hit but this time I let his fingers link with mine. The contact felt warm and comforting but not familiar.

We stepped out of the trees, and the magnificence of an enormous lake distracted me. “Oh wow! This is beautiful,” I said.

He studied my face for any sign I may have recognized the spot. I shook my head, answering his unspoken question. I wanted to ease his grief, but I couldn’t lie to him.

“You always love it out here.” He slipped his hand from mine to spread out the blanket he’d grabbed before we began our walk. “Have a seat.”

I lowered myself onto the blanket and sat silently staring out over the water. My wolf stirred to tell me she was comfortable. The call of a hawk had my eyes moving to the trees. I made a small noise of surprise when I saw Henry, my guardian, perched on a tree branch next to a large owl.

“Everything okay?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, it’s just my guardian,” I replied, pointing to the hawk. “There’s a huge owl next to him. I don’t want it to eat him.”