Caden’s POV
It had been three days since everything happened.
Three long, exhausting days.
And honestly, having Carian inside this pack house felt wrong in every possible way.
Her presence alone was unsettling.
Every ti she walked past soone, the air around them changed. Guards avoided looking directly at her. Servants whispered the mont she passed. Leslie barely tolerated being in the sa room with her. Even I found myself watching her constantly because I didn’t trust a single thing she did.
None of us did. Especially Cane.
Keeping him under control these past three days had been a full-ti job on its own.
The mont Carian spoke too much, he got irritated. The mont she smiled, his jaw tightened. The mont she ntioned Gunnar’s na, his claws started threatening to co out.
I had never seen him this close to losing control for this long before.
And honestly, I understood why.
Riley was gone.
Not dead. Not exactly missing either.
But gone enough that everywhere now felt empty without her.
It was strange how quickly her absence affected everyone.
The halls were quieter. Everywhere turned boring.
Even Gunnar’s room had felt colder these past few days despite Leslie constantly keeping the fire going.
Every single one of us felt it.
Like sothing important had been ripped out of the middle of the pack house.
And knowing Riley was sohow trapped inside Carian only made it worse.
That woman had us cornered. If we touched her, Riley could disappear too.
If we trusted her, we were idiots. If we didn’t trust her, Gunnar might die.
Everything about this situation was ssed up.
I had barely slept these past few days because my mind wouldn’t stop running.
Between Gunnar lying unconscious, Cane barely controlling himself, Sebastian acting strangely quiet lately, and Carian calmly existing like she hadn’t destroyed everyone’s peace, it felt like one wrong move would break everything apart.
But today was different.
Today was the third day. The day Gunnar was supposed to wake up.
At least according to Carian.
And despite how much I hated admitting it, we were all waiting for it.
I made my way down the hallway toward Leslie’s chambers early that morning. My steps were slow, my mind already preparing for whatever today would bring.
Part of still didn’t believe Gunnar would wake up normally.
Another part of worried about what exactly he would wake up as after whatever spell Carian forced on him.
The closer I got to the room, the tighter my chest felt.
I finally reached the door and pushed it open.
Cane was already there.
Of course he was.
He stood near the bed with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, his expression unreadable but tense.
Leslie stood near the table organizing herbs quietly, though I could tell from her face that she was nervous too.
And then there was Carian. She sat beside Gunnar’s bed like she belonged there.
That alone irritated instantly.
The mont I entered, everyone looked toward briefly.
I glanced between them carefully before my eyes shifted toward Gunnar.
He still hadn’t moved.
His body lay still on the bed exactly the sa way it had for the past three days. His breathing was steady now, far healthier than before, but his eyes remained closed.
I frowned slightly. "He hasn’t woken yet?" I asked.
"No," Leslie answered quietly.
Cane didn’t speak. His attention remained fully on Gunnar.
Carian, on the other hand, looked completely calm..
"He’ll wake up soon," she said casually.
The confidence in her voice annoyed imdiately.
"You sound very sure of yourself," I muttered.
She looked at briefly. "Because I know what I’m doing."
Cane scoffed under his breath but didn’t say anything.
Then suddenly-
Gunnar jolted upright.
The movent happened so fast Leslie gasped loudly beside .
Gunnar sucked in a rough breath like soone who had been underwater too long. His chest rose and fell heavily as he looked around quickly, confusion written all over his face.
His hands gripped the sheets tightly while he tried to steady his breathing.
"Alpha Gunnar," Leslie breathed out imdiately, rushing toward him.
Cane moved too, stepping closer to the bed instantly.
I stayed where I was for a second, watching carefully.
Gunnar blinked several tis, still breathing hard while his eyes moved around the room slowly like he was trying to process where he was.
Then his gaze landed on Carian.
Everything changed imdiately.
Carian’s entire face lit up. Actually lit up.
A wide smile spread across her lips as she rushed toward him without hesitation.
"Gunnar!" she said happily.
Before any of us could react, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him in a hug.
For one second, Gunnar froze.
Then he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from him quickly.
His brows furrowed deeply as he stared at her face.
Confusion crossed his expression imdiately.
"You’re d-"
He stopped abruptly. A sharp gasp left his mouth as both his hands flew to his head.
His entire body tensed.
"Alpha Gunnar?" Leslie called out worriedly.
He groaned loudly, shutting his eyes tightly while gripping his head harder like he was trying to stop sothing painful inside his mind.
I knew instantly what was happening.
Carian.
She had blocked sothing. His mories.
The mont he tried rembering, the spell would react and hurt him.
Cane clearly understood it too because his expression darkened imdiately as he looked sharply toward Carian.
But she stayed quiet.
Gunnar breathed hard again, still holding his head for a few seconds before the pain slowly seed to lessen.
"You okay?" Cane asked carefully.
Gunnar lowered his hands slowly and looked up.
"Yeah," he muttered roughly, though he still looked disoriented.
Leslie quickly handed him water, and he drank so before leaning back slightly against the bed.
For a mont, nobody spoke.
The room felt tense again. Gunnar glanced around slowly once more before his eyes returned to Carian.
She smiled softly at him. And for a second, I braced myself for the worst.
For him to suddenly start looking at her differently.
For the spell to show itself. For him to start acting obsessed the way Cane feared.
But instead-
He frowned. Actually frowned.
Then he looked around the room again.
Confused.
"Where’s Riley?"
The question hit the room like a bomb.
I froze. Cane froze. Even Leslie looked stunned.
Carian’s smile disappeared instantly.
My eyes widened slowly as I stared at Gunnar.
No.
That wasn’t possible.
Carian’s spell was supposed to have blocked those mories.
If the love bind spell worked the way she claid, then Riley should have been the last person on his mind right now.
So how the hell-
"How do you rember her?" I asked before I could stop myself.
The mont the words left my mouth, the entire room went dead silent.
And the look that crossed Carian’s face told sothing had gone very, very wrong.
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