Chapter 73: Unexpected Comfort

Words : 1403 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 73: Unexpected Comfort Lily POV I woke up screaming. The nightmare felt so real - Caleb’s empty eyes staring at nothing while I shook his lifeless body, asking him to remember me. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst from my chest. "Lily!" Someone crashed through my bedroom door. I expected Aiden or maybe Elder Iris, but it was Brock who rushed to my bedside. His usual tough look melted into worry when he saw my tear-streaked face. "Another nightmare?" he asked quietly. I nodded, unable to speak. These dreams had been haunting me for three days straight since we returned from the rite site. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Caleb looking at me like I was a stranger. The mate bond we’d fought so hard to protect felt like a thin thread ready to snap. "Tell me about it," Brock said, sitting on the edge of my bed. His voice was softer than I’d ever heard it. "He doesn’t know me," I whispered. "In the dream, I’m trying to describe who I am, but he just stares at me with those empty eyes. Like our love never existed at all." Brock was quiet for a long moment. Then he shocked me by reaching over and taking my shaking hand in his big, calloused one. "When I was fifteen, I watched my best friend Marcus die in a rogue attack," he said slowly. "For months afterward, I kept expecting to see him around every turn. I’d set two plates for dinner out of practice. I’d start to tell him something funny, then remember he wasn’t there anymore." I looked at him with new understanding. Brock never talked about his feelings, but here he was, sharing something painful to help me. "The dreams were the worst part," he added. "In them, Marcus would be alive and happy. Then I’d wake up and have to lose him all over again, every single morning." "How did you make it stop?" I asked desperately. "I didn’t," Brock said honestly. "But finally, I learned that grief isn’t something you fix. It’s something you carry. The dreams became less common, but they never completely went away. And you know what? I’m glad they didn’t." "Why?" "Because forgetting the pain would mean forgetting how much he meant to me." Brock squeezed my hand. "Your nightmares about Caleb show how deeply you love him. Don’t try to push that away." I felt tears running down my face again, but these were different. Less frantic, more healing. "Aiden keeps telling me everything will be fine," I said. "He brings me flowers and tries to busy me with pack business. Caleb just stares at me with those confused eyes when I try to talk to him about our past. But you... you’re the only one who knows that this might not have a happy ending." "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst," Brock said. "That’s how fighters think. It doesn’t mean giving up - it means being strong enough to face truth." A soft knock stopped us. Elder Iris peeked her head through the door, looking worried. "Lily, dear, I heard you cry out. Are you all right?" "She had another nightmare," Brock stated. Elder Iris entered the room, bringing a steaming cup that smelled like chamomile and honey. "This will help you sleep peacefully," she said, giving it to me. As I sipped the warm tea, Elder Iris studied my face with her old, knowing eyes. "The bond isn’t completely gone," she said finally. "I can still feel the thread connecting you and Caleb. It’s damaged, twisted, but not removed entirely." "Then why can’t he remember loving me?" I asked. "Memory and feeling are different things," Elder Iris said. "His mind might not remember your relationship, but his heart still knows you belong together. We just need to find a way to reconnect them." Brock stood up. "What can we do to help?" "There’s an ancient ritual in the old texts," Elder Iris said slowly. "The Memory Restoration ritual. It’s dangerous and requires great sacrifice, but it might be our only chance to fully repair the damaged bond." My heart jumped with hope. "What kind of sacrifice?" Elder Iris paused. "The person conducting the ritual must willingly give up their most precious memory to restore another’s. And there’s no promise it will work." The room fell silent as the weight of her words sank in. Give up my most valuable memory? The thought scared me. What if I forgot the first time Caleb told me he loved me? Or our mating ceremony? Or the moment I first felt our pup growing inside me? "I’ll do it," I said without doubt. "Lily, no," Brock said strongly. "You can’t make that choice right now. You’re upset and scared. Sleep on it first." "But what if waiting makes things worse?" I argued. Elder Iris nodded seriously. "Actually, Brock is right. The rite must be performed during the new moon, which is still five days away. That gives us time to prepare and make sure this is truly what you want." As if summoned by our talk, footsteps echoed down the hallway. Caleb emerged in the doorway, looking confused and slightly annoyed. "Why is everyone awake?" he asked. "I heard shouting." My heart clenched seeing him like this - physically present but emotionally detached. The man who used to hold me during dreams now stood in the doorway like a polite stranger. "Lily had a bad dream," Brock stated. "We were just helping her feel better." Caleb looked at me with mild concern - the kind you’d show any pack member in trouble, not the deep worry of a mate. "Are you all right now?" "Yes," I lied. He nodded and turned to leave, then paused. For a moment, something flickered across his face - confusion, maybe even recognition. He touched his chest absently, right over his heart. "Strange," he mumbled. "I keep feeling like I’m supposed to be somewhere else. Like I’m forgetting something important." Hope flared in my chest. Maybe Elder Iris was right. Maybe some part of him still knew. But then his face cleared, and the moment was gone. "Well, goodnight everyone," he said, going back down the hallway. I watched him go, my heart breaking all over again. Brock squeezed my shoulder supportively. "The ritual," I said quietly to Elder Iris. "Tell me everything about it." She looked deeply worried. "There’s something else you need to know, child. Something I haven’t told you yet." "What?" Elder Iris glanced at Brock nervously, then back at me. "The Memory Restoration ceremony doesn’t just require giving up a valuable memory. It needs the person performing it to temporarily sever their own mate bond during the ritual." My blood turned to ice. "What does that mean?" "It means for the duration of the ceremony, you would experience exactly what Caleb is feeling now. Complete separation from your mate. No tie, no recognition, no love." The room spun around me. Bad enough to give up a memory, but to lose the mate bond completely, even temporarily? "And if something goes wrong during the ritual?" Brock asked coldly. Elder Iris met his eyes. "Then the temporary separation becomes permanent. Lily would lose her mate bond forever, and Caleb would stay as he is now." I stared at her in shock. The decision was impossible - risk losing everything to save the man I loved, or live with him as a stranger for the rest of our lives. But before I could reply, a blood-curdling howl split the night air. Then another. And another. Brock was on his feet quickly, his warrior instincts kicking in. "That’s the attack signal." Through my window, I could see wolves running through the pack grounds in fear. In the distance, fire lit up the darkness. "The rogues," Elder Iris breathed. "They’re attacking Silver Peak." Another howl rang through the night - but this one was different. Closer. Right outside our house. I ran to the window and looked down. In the starlight, I could see a massive black wolf standing in our front yard. When it looked up at me, its eyes glowed red with strange light. The wolf opened its mouth and spoke in a voice that chilled my soul: "Lily Carter. The ritual starts now, whether you’re ready or not."

Chapter 73: Unexpected Comfort

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