Chapter 121: Chapter 121

“WAKE UP.”

He blinked once, then twice.

A towering figure came into view, and it took a moment for Julian to realize it was Alex. He stood in front of him, with Olivia behind him.

Blood. There was a shocking amount of blood. Soaked clothes, stained gloves, and even her skin was marked.

“Where’s Maya?”

How could he have let himself fall asleep? How long had he been out?

Failed. He had failed.

“She’s okay,” Olivia answered, staying behind Alex.

Julian had always seen Olivia’s unwavering bravery when it came to her mate, despite their different statuses.

This change in her usual behavior took him by surprise. But why should she be scared? Hadn’t she just reassured him that Maya was safe?

“What are you not telling me?”

“Where did you find her?” Alex asked, ignoring Julian’s question.

“Why?”

“Was there anyone else there?”

“Why?’

Olivia’s hand reached up to hold Alex’s arm as she pressed herself against his back. “Alex, he’s worried about Maya.”

Alex turned his head slightly, looking at his mate. “So am I. That’s why he better start answering.”

“Why?”

“There was silver.”

“What?”

“Melted silver. Inside her wound.”

~Melted silver…why would it…who…~

It wasn’t an accident. Someone had done this on purpose, fully aware of what she was, aware that it could be fatal.

No, it wasn’t just the chance of death. It was intentional. Silver could be used against them, but to have it injected into the bloodstream…

~She could have died.~

If he had been even a bit slower, a fraction less alert, he would have lost her.

He hadn’t really known her yet. They hadn’t broken down each other’s walls, hadn’t shared a laugh.

He hadn’t claimed her. They hadn’t even started to discover what they could be. But she had almost slipped away from him.

Julian’s knees felt weak, and he fought to stay standing. “I didn’t do this.”

But silver in an arrow? It could only mean one thing. A hunter. And he was the one with memories of hunters.

He had almost hurt Maya because of it. He had been right. It was the only explanation that fit.

So maybe he hadn’t inflicted the harm.

But…

“I—I didn’t…”

“No one said you did,” Olivia cut in, shooting a quick look at Alex. “But this is dangerous. For the pack. For everyone.”

“Something dangerous that you brought here,” Alex added.

He wasn’t entirely wrong.

But it was more than that.

They had a child together. He had forgotten that. Now they saw him as a threat who had brought danger to their pack, to their mate, to their child.

This was why Olivia was scared. This was why Alex had stepped up.

Julian didn’t care.

“I can’t leave without her.”

But maybe he should, because he didn’t fully understand why a hunter was there. After him. Haunting him. Why?

“No one is asking you to leave,” Olivia said.

“He should leave. If you care about Maya, you should leave.” Alex raised his hand, pointing emphatically at the door.

“This? It happened because of you. Before you came, she was perfectly fine. ~You~ did this.”

Maybe he had. Beyond Alex’s ego and his need to assert dominance, Julian couldn’t deny that there was a grain of truth in his words.

Something followed him, something dangerous that had put Maya in danger…because of him.

If only he could remember, he could help her.

If only he could figure out why a hunter might be after him...

Julian understood the motives of hunters, but if he was right, if his memory was from a long time ago, then this was personal. It had to be.

~But why?~

What could he have possibly done?

He felt completely useless to Maya without his memories. Useless to himself.

Would the hunters come after the whole pack? Would they come after him? Julian didn’t even know who he should be on the lookout for. He knew nothing.

He didn’t know how he could leave Maya, but he also couldn’t bear the thought of being the reason for her death.

“You think I can just leave?” He pointed at Olivia. “Would you leave her?”

“It’s not the same,” Alex retorted.

“Yeah, so you never stayed when she wasn’t yours?”

For a fleeting moment, he saw a smile on Olivia’s face, but it quickly disappeared.

“I wasn’t putting her in danger. I wasn’t putting everyone at risk.”

“Alex, he can’t leave,” Olivia countered.

“So what are we supposed to do, Livy? Die so we can find out if he’s a piece of shit? Wait until Maya dies? Because whoever is after him—they’re going to come after her.

“They already have. Do I need to remind you of the kind of damage obsessed assholes can cause?”

“No, you don’t,” she snapped back at him.

Their personal issues were not his problem.

“She’s asleep. She’s fine. Why don’t you go check on Willow?” Olivia suggested.

“And you trust him alone with her?” Alex protested.

He wouldn’t do anything that might hurt Maya. No more than she was already hurt. But he needed to see her. They had to let him see her.

What if she wasn’t really okay? What if it was all a lie?

“She’s fine, Julian. I promise.”

“Are you—”

“Alex, stop. I know. You think I don’t know? I have our son here, sleeping. I know. But whoever did this, they know who Maya is to him. They ~know~.

“So even if he leaves, it won’t change anything. They might try to lure him back by putting her life in danger again. Or they might kill her just to hurt him.

“It’s too late now. Leaving won’t change a thing. You saw the aftermath. Do you think they’ll let us all get away unscathed?”

She was right. The moment he found her, he put her in danger, and there was no turning back. But from this point forward, maybe he could negotiate. Maybe he could protect her.

He shouldn’t want to do this.

He didn’t know who he was.

He didn’t know if he was good for her or good for himself. But he couldn’t help it.

The thought of leaving her behind ignited a fiery rage in his blood, accelerated his heartbeat, and just the consideration of never seeing her again caused his chest to constrict.

It made it difficult to breathe. ~Maya~. He didn’t even know if she would ever allow him to touch her.

But he didn’t care.

He was spiraling.

“Go see if you can find something from Willow. We can’t afford to play games anymore.”

No more games with phones. But Maya…His eyes darted toward the closed door, and even from this distance, he could catch a whiff of her blood.

“I’ll come get you when she wakes up,” Olivia assured him.

Not ~if~ she woke up.

~When.~

He shouldn’t leave. Every instinct inside him was telling him to stay there, to fight. But he didn’t know if he would win this fight.

There was one thing he did know. Olivia cared for Maya. He couldn’t think of any other reason why she would defend him to her mate.

She was doing it for Maya’s sake, not for Julian’s.

That was fine.

If something was good for Maya, it was good for him.

“But I’ll come back,” he settled on saying.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

Alex didn’t look like he thought it was fine. Olivia’s fingers were digging into his flesh, as if she was the only thing keeping her from smashing Julian’s face in.

A fight would feel good. He wanted to unleash his anger on something.

But Maya wouldn’t like it.

“Fine.”

His entire body trembled, hating his choice, but he forced himself to move away from her. He needed to direct his energy somewhere, onto something.

If not, he might rush outside and do something reckless.

Because there was a trail out there, one he could potentially track. One that could lead him to the person responsible for all this.

But no, he couldn’t follow it. Maybe not killing Maya was intentional. Maybe it was meant to lure him out there.

If he knew for sure that going out there and possibly dying would spare her from any danger, maybe he would do it. They weren’t mated, so she wouldn’t miss out on anything.

If it hadn’t been for this, he probably would have never found her. That was fine.

Some people had perfectly ordinary relationships with others who weren’t “the one.”

The problem was, Julian didn’t know if his death would be enough.

Through the haze of his rage, he knew one thing: Maya would only be safe if he managed to kill the person who had a vendetta against him.

So if he rushed out carelessly, he would only be putting her in more danger.

~And haven’t you done enough?~

He had.

His steps echoed loudly as he made his way to Willow’s room. She was his only hope.

He had tried before, tried to be someone she could trust, but he didn’t have that kind of time anymore.

Julian didn’t remember Willow, and he didn’t care about her.

He cared about Maya, probably more than he should. But it was an instinct, a driving need.

Julian didn’t know the purpose of his life. He didn’t know anything. But he knew what Maya meant to him, and he knew he had put her in danger.

Since he couldn’t fix anything else about his shitty life, he would fix this.

Without a second thought, he pushed the door open forcefully, causing Willow to jump from the bed. She had been lying down, the sheet falling to her waist as she clutched at her chest.

“Julian? What the fuck? You scared me!” Her voice trembled as her fingertips grazed the exposed skin of her neck.

“What’s wrong? I smelled blood. Did someone…get hurt?”

~Someone did get hurt.~

“Yes,” he answered through gritted teeth.

She threw the blanket off and stepped out of bed, walking toward him as if she trusted him, as if she was concerned. Was it the way he looked? Was it the rage seeping through his blood?

She shouldn’t trust him.

Nobody should.

“I—Can I help? I—I could help patch up the people…”

She spoke as if she knew nothing, as if she genuinely intended to help. He should approach her in the same way, should ask her for help. But he was so fucking tired of not getting answers.

So he snapped.

Julian’s mind was consumed by the image of Maya’s lifeless form, the scent of her blood overwhelming his senses.

He lunged at Willow, his target her throat. In a split second, he had her pinned against the wall, his grip on her neck tightening.

She wasn’t the enemy, but she was hiding something.

And if she had been honest, maybe Maya wouldn’t be in this state.

So she wasn’t innocent.

She wasn’t helpful.

She wasn’t a friend.

Willow’s fingers scraped at his wrist, a futile attempt to break free. He wasn’t going to release her.

“What are you hiding?”

“N—nothing,” she choked out, struggling against his hold.

“What are you not telling me?”

“N—nothing.”

That wasn’t the answer he was looking for. It wasn’t enough.

He slammed her back against the wall. “Stop lying!”

“P—please,” she pleaded, gasping for air.

If she died, he wouldn’t get his answers. He held on a bit longer, his grip tightening before he finally let go.

Willow crumpled to the floor, clutching her throat as she gasped for breath, tears streaming down her face.

She didn’t look at him.

She fought for air, her gaze fixed on the floor.

“I—I don’t know,” she finally managed to say. “We were always moving. You were scared. But you never said why. Your parents, your old pack, they’re all dead, okay?

“You said someone wiped them out. I don’t know. Sometimes you’d wake us up in the middle of the night, and we’d have to leave.”

His lips pressed together. “You would just leave? I wouldn’t tell you why we had to fucking leave, but you’d just go?”

“YES!” she yelled, struggling to her feet. “You looked after us. We were a small pack, but you took us in, Julian. You cared for everyone. So we trusted you.

“When we had nowhere else to go, we had you. When I was alone at night, feeling the void of losing my mate, you were there. You provided for us.

“So yes, we trusted you. I thought we were a pack, but I never smelled a wolf. We believed in you.”

Tears continued to stream down her face as her chin quivered. “I would have said anything you wanted. I would have done anything you asked.”

She licked her lips. “You were everything, Julian. When—when I found you here, I thought…”

She thought what? That she had been rescued?

“I thought I had found you. But Julian died. He died where I found his blood. Whoever you are, you’re not Julian. Not anymore.”

She touched her neck. “Julian wouldn’t have done this.”

But he wasn’t Julian. Not that Julian.

He was nobody.

Nothing.

“So, no. We had a place to live, food to eat, and someone to protect us. I had lost so much that I didn’t ask questions. But you were scared of someone.

“That’s all I know. So unless you want to snap my neck, I really want you to leave.”

He remembered the first time she walked into the packhouse, the way she looked at him. It was nothing like the look she was giving him now. Now, her eyes were filled with pure hatred.

But he could handle it.

Because she was right.

He wasn’t the same person, even if he could remember everything.

He had probably done things he couldn’t undo, things he couldn’t take back.

“Yeah,” he conceded.

He turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

He shouldn’t care because he didn’t remember Willow.

But there was a twinge in his chest.

Everything was wrong—so terribly wrong.