Cynthia’s POVBefore I can protest, the maids leave me alone in the kitchen, and I’m stuck with an impossible task ahead of me.The doors slam shut behind them, and the sound echoes throughout the vast room. My heart starts to race. I walk over to the pantry frantically, gaze raking over the ingredients and praying my memory will come back just enough to save me.It doesn’t work, though. Nothing is familiar about this. Cooking must be new to me–I have no clue where to start.Maybe it’s because I’ve never cooked before.But if I’m really as lowly as the Omega maids claim I am, shouldn’t I be quite used to cooking by now?“You know I can’t do this!” I shout into the empty kitchen, but it’s no use. I sigh, grab a few ingredients off the shelves at random, and get to work. Two hours later, the maids sweep back into the kitchen, muttering and giggling to themselves wickedly. I step back from my handiwork so they can appraise it. My hair is thrown back in a messy ponytail. My back hurts

Vikrov’s POV The moment I break down the door to the cabin, I know something is deeply wrong. I’d wanted to stay with Cynthia after she fainted. I hate to admit it, but I missed her desperately while I was off fighting rogues. I wanted to be there when she woke up, but I do have duties. I had to leave. “What have you done to her?” I roar at the maids.An unholy anger floods me as I look at Cynthia’s nearly-unconscious body in the chair, sprawled out pathetically. I recognize the shape of the empty bottle in one of the maid’s hands, the curve of its rim. The bottle is filled with an evil-looking shimmery purple liquid. Only wolfsbane potions are stored in bottles like those. Wolfsbane. They were going to make Cynthia drink wolfsbane. “We were just–we were just…” one of the maids murmurs weakly. They both look dazed, completely overwhelmed by the Alpha aura I’ve unleashed. I haven’t fully released my Alpha aura yet, but even the smallest fragment of it is enough to terrify Omegas l

Cynthia’s POV“I can’t do that!” I blurt out, tensing up and curling away from Vikrov. I blush and cover my chest with a nearby blanket. “I need to–I need to–” Oh, Moon Goddess, I’m panicking. I want him, I really do, but I’m not ready to be naked in front of him. I mean, it’s all too fast. I swallow hard and exclaim, “I need to finish eating first!”Vikrov raises an eyebrow, then smiles slightly. His gentle gaze bores into me as if he can see right through to my heart. I grow even more flustered and pull the blanket tighter around myself, but forget about the many wounds on my body. The blanket rubs against my sensitive skin, making me wince in pain. “Alright.” Vikrov's relaxed playfulness vanishes. His expression turns serious as he notices my discomfort, but his voice remains gentle as ever. “Let's eat first. Will that be okay?”“That would be nice,” I reply, flushing bright red.“Shall I move you to the couch?” He asks, but his domineering tone makes it sound less like a question

Stop refusing me, love.The words echo through my mind. Stop refusing me. And why am I refusing him? The warmth of the quilt wrapped around me is overwhelming. He is my mate, isn’t he? There’s no reason for me to be so nervous around him. He loves me deeply, I can feel that much. It’s not his fault that I’ve lost my memories, so I shouldn’t keep distancing him because of it.Slowly, tentatively, I reach my hand out from underneath the blanket and tuck it into his. The moment his skin touches mine, my breath quickens to shallow gasps. My heart starts to thud. I’m grateful for the blanket–it means that Vikrov can’t see how fiercely red my face is. He saw me. Naked.And I want him to see me like that again.I want it so bad it scares me. I gasp ever so slightly as Vikrov starts to rub something into a wound slicing across the palm of my hand. As he tends to my wounds, I wriggle out of the blankets so I’m no longer burrowed under the sheets. Instead, my torso is wrapped in the blanket,

Vikrov’s POVIt pains me to leave Cynthia, but at my father’s command, I have no choice but to obey his orders. I take a moment to adjust my hair–Cynthia’s hands most certainly left it in disarray. I shoot Cynthia a sly wink before following the maid out of the room and through the pack house, to my father’s office. I’m still reeling from the kiss, but my thoughts are tangled up in so much chaos I have no idea how to feel about it.This is good. Definitely. It means she trusts me, and nothing more. It means my plan is working. “Vikrov,” my father says the moment I set foot in his office. I close the door so it’s just the two of us in the room. “I just heard that you expelled a pair of Eclipse pack maids over a dispute with your little captive. Is this true?”That’s my father. He never cares if I get hurt in battle, nor will he say, ‘Hey, it’s good to see you alive after the fight.’ Although I am used to his indifference, I am still angry about it.“Why so quiet?” My father asked st