Unclaimed

Chapter Nineteen

When I opened my eyes, Grady was holding my head against his shoulder while I sat in his lap. He was rocking me back and forth, whispering things to me, but my brain was too focused on what I'd heard in my dream to hear in my real life. When Aunt Lydia had erased my memories of Luke, she embedded Alpha Evan's words in me as if they were my own thoughts. The exact words he said were the reasons I had given for running away from Grady.

I felt myself becoming more alert and I tried to throw my arms around his neck, but he was pushing down the collar of my shirt to look at my shoulder. For a moment, I fought him. I couldn't understand why he was looking, until he gasped.

"Almost all of your mark is gone, Charli," he chided. As I had expected, he seemed to think I needed those memories to live. "We need to call Lily. You'll stop having these nightmares if she helps you get your memories back."

I shook my head against his cheek. "What makes you think the nightmares would stop? If she brings those memories back, I might never stop having nightmares about them. We have no idea what's buried in there. It doesn't seem like good news from what I've seen."

He held onto my my chin so he could look into my eyes. "Well, one more nightmare like that and they're going to be gone forever. I don't know why it's fading so fast suddenly. Are you seriously one hundred percent certain you don't want to remember?"

"Yes. I already remember too much." A part of me did desperately want to remember, but the part that didn't was louder. I was happy with the new life I was creating in my new pack. I didn't see the necessity in going through even more pain.

He sighed and rubbed my back. "What happened this time? What did you remember?"

I leaned into his touch, holding his gaze. "Alpha Evan told me to break up with Luke and get my memory wiped so that when he came to try to get back with me I wouldn't remember him. It doesn't seem like that worked out though because I'm pretty sure we got back together after that. The most disturbing part is that the exact words he said to me are the exact reasons that I've been giving myself for not being with you. Aunt Lydia must've left that when she erased my memory. I must've asked her to."

Aunt Lydia would have been hesitant to do a mind wipe for me at all, but with the added request to keep one single memory -that of Alpha Evan's words- she would have put up quite a fuss.

He caressed my cheek. "You have an aunt that's a witch?"

I giggled at his confusion. "Aunt Lydia was married to my biological uncle, who was a werewolf."

Grady tensed slightly. "He didn't take a mate?"

"Her. She was the only one he ever wanted. Aunt Lydia probably put up a fight when I asked her to do that. She didn't like using magic. It would've been a hard spell on her." Aunt Lydia had tried to fit in with the pack as much as possible. She was just like the other wolves, minus the fur. She didn't want to be known as a witch, because she thought everyone would expect her to perform spells for them.

Grady softened and held me tighter. "Alpha Evan is why you ran from me? What did he say to you?"

"I didn't know he was the reason until just now. I thought those were my real beliefs. He said that I was going to mess up the Alpha bloodline, and any pups Luke and I would produce would be bastards that would never be accepted by the pack. He said I would weaken the pack, and never be what he needed me to be. He said the pack could never accept me as a Luna."

"So you believed it," he breathed almost in shock. "Those things aren't true, Charli. At least not here. My grandpa didn't come from an alpha 'bloodline'. He was really strong in every way. He was a natural born leader, and he led. You don't have to have some fancy qualifications. You have everything you would need to be a Luna, if you decide you want to do that with me. You're strong and smart, and you aren't afraid to tell me no. You have opinions and you voice them. I can't think of anything else I would want from a Luna."