Chapter 81: The Scent of Memory

Words : 1148 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 81: The Scent of Memory Lily POV I jerked awake as something cold and sharp crashed into my chest. For a second, I couldn’t move. The shadow voices that had been talking in my head for days suddenly went silent, leaving me alone in my own mind for the first time in what felt like forever. "What’s happening?" I gasped, sitting up in bed so fast the room spun around me. Dr. Chen rushed to my side, checking the monitors that beeped furiously around my bed. "Lily? Can you hear me? Are you... you?" I blinked at her, confused. "Of course I’m me. Who else would I be?" The relief on her face was so strong it scared me. "You’ve been unconscious for three days," she explained quickly. "And when you were awake, you weren’t... acting like yourself." Pieces of memory came rushing back - dark voices telling me to hurt people, my own hands moving without my control, saying terrible things to Luna about Caleb. I covered my face with shaking hands. "The shadow wolves," I whispered. "They were in my head." "Are they gone now?" Dr. Chen asked, her voice tight with fear. I searched inside my mind carefully. The cold presence was still there, but it felt faraway, like something watching from far away instead of controlling me. "I think so. For now." "Good. The pack is having an emergency meeting downstairs. Alpha Marcus wants everyone there to talk what’s been happening. Do you feel strong enough to attend?" I nodded, even though my legs felt like jelly when I stood up. I needed to apologize to everyone for whatever I’d done while the shadows were ruling me. Especially to Luna, who I remembered frightening. Walking down the stairs was harder than I expected. Every step made my head pound, and I had to grip the bar to keep from falling. When I reached the main hall, I saw the entire pack gathered in a big circle. Everyone turned to look at me as I entered. Some faces showed relief, others showed fear, and a few looked angry. I couldn’t blame them. "Lily," Marcus said gently. "How are you feeling?" "Like I got hit by a truck," I revealed, trying to smile. "But I’m me again, if that’s what you’re asking." I looked around the circle until I found Luna. She was sitting as far from me as possible, her face pale and scared. "Luna, I’m so sorry for whatever I said to you. I wasn’t myself, but that doesn’t make it okay." She nodded quickly but didn’t speak. I could see her hands shaking in her lap. "The important thing is that you’re back," Marcus added. "Dr. Chen says the shadow drug is still in your system, but your mind is clear for now. We need to figure out how to get rid of it permanently before—" He stopped talking suddenly, his nostrils flaring. Everyone else started sniffing the air too, their faces changing as they caught whatever smell had gotten Marcus’s attention. That’s when I smelled it. The smell hit me like a physical blow. It was warm and woodsy, like cedar trees and old books, with something underneath that made my heart race even though I didn’t understand why. My knees went weak, and I had to grab the nearby chair to keep from falling. "Caleb," I breathed, not even realizing I’d spoken out loud. He was standing in the hallway, looking tired and sad. When our eyes met across the room, something strange happened. I didn’t remember loving him - that feeling was still gone, wiped by whatever the shadow wolves had done to us. But my body remembered him. My pulse quickened. My skin felt warm. I found myself taking a step toward him before I even knew I was moving. "Lily?" he said softly, and his words made something deep in my chest flutter. "I don’t understand," I whispered, putting a hand to my racing heart. "I don’t remember you, but my body does." Caleb moved closer, and with each step, the smell got stronger. It was like my cells were waking up after a long sleep, recognizing something my mind couldn’t understand. "I can smell you," I said, my voice barely audible. "And it’s... familiar. Like coming home." Dr. Chen stepped forward, her eyes wide with joy. "Physical memory," she said quickly. "The shadow wolves erased your emotional memories, but they couldn’t remove what your body knows. Your wolf knows her mate even when your human mind doesn’t." Caleb was only a few feet away now. I could see the hope starting to grow in his eyes, mixed with fear that I might disappear again. "Can I..." he started, then stopped. "Would it be okay if I came closer?" I nodded, not trusting my voice. When he took another step, my whole body responded. My skin tingled. My breathing got faster. It was like every cell in my body was saying "yes, this is right" even though my brain was completely confused. "This is incredible," Dr. Chen whispered to Marcus. "If her body remembers the mate bond, we might be able to use that to restore her emotional memories." But as Caleb reached out his hand toward mine, the shadow voices suddenly roared back to life in my head. "NO!" they screamed, and pain exploded through my brain. "You will not remember! You will not bond with him again!" I doubled over, clutching my head as pain tore through me. The shadows were fighting back, trying to recover control now that they realized my body was remembering what they’d tried to erase. "Fight them, Lily!" Dr. Chen shouted. "Your body knows the truth!" Through the pain, I could still smell Caleb’s scent. It was like an anchor in the storm of shadow voices, something real and good to hold onto. I forced myself to stand up straight, reaching out toward him even as the shadows screamed in rage. Our fingers touched, and the moment our skin made contact, something amazing happened. A warm golden light began to glow between our hands, getting brighter and stronger despite the shadows’ rage. "The mate bond," Elder Iris gasped from somewhere behind me. "It’s still there, hidden deep. Her body is calling it back!" But the shadows weren’t giving up. As the golden light grew brighter, I felt something else waking inside me - something dark and hungry that had been sleeping in the shadow poison. "If I cannot have you," the shadow voice hissed through my lips, "then no one can." My hand began to change, fingertips growing into razor-sharp claws that gleamed with black poison. The part of me that was still really me screamed in horror as I realized what was about to happen. The shadows were going to make me kill Caleb with my own hands.

Chapter 81: The Scent of Memory

Comments (0)