To an outsider, the alpha’s concern would appear genuine, but I knew it was less to do with caring about me and more about losing the mate who was essential to boosting his power base. The most damning evidence was the way he hadn’t even looked at me once, choosing instead to spend his time and energy throwing a tantrum because his toy was broken.

“I’m fine,” I croaked, tapping him—okay, it was more like a hard poke in the chest—so he would look down. “You can let me go.”

He finally registered that I was talking, and as his furious, half-shifted face turned toward me, I met his gaze.

“Mera?”

Who the fuck else would it be? “Clearly.”

His lips twitched, and fuck, if my smartass mouth wasn’t growing on him. About the last thing I wanted to happen. I wanted him to hate me and stay away from me, but no, he had to be all up in my shining star of a personality.

“What happened to you?”

I wiggled in his arms, reminding him that no one carried my ass around. Thankfully, he didn’t fight, placing me back on my feet. “I was trying to break through the barrier around my memory loss,” I said matter-of-factly, not missing the angry expression that creased his face.

He wasn’t a fan of me “opening past wounds,” as he put it.

Too fucking bad. Maybe he shouldn’t have inflicted wounds in the first place.

Mika stepped in, and I mentally applauded her bravery because Torin was fuming. Luckily for her, the new alpha wasn’t quite as cruel as his father yet.

“We were on our way to discuss Simone with you,” she told him, “when Mera collapsed and started screaming. I’m not sure what happened, but I think it’s best that we head inside so the alpha-mate can rest.”

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “I told you already, I was fighting against the spell in my head that appears to be holding my memories captive. Someone wants me to remain in the dark, and that someone is going to be greatly disappointed.”

The many shifters around us shuffled their feet and cleared their throats, since, apparently, a tiny, innocent discussion about a magic spell made them uncomfortable.

Whatever. I knew my truth, and even if they didn’t want to deal with it, it didn’t change a fucking thing.

I’d been spelled by a powerful being. A powerful being who’d underestimated how far I’d go to destroy this stasis holding my memories. And thanks to Simone’s parents, I now knew that more than just my current memories had been messed with. Memories of my past and my father had also been tampered with, or at least tainted with happiness that probably hadn’t existed.