Chapter 247: Snatched Away
Rebecca’s POV
"Answer me!" Kaden’s roar tore through the courtyard, echoing off the stone walls like thunder.
I flinched, my heart pounding violently against my ribs. Every warrior standing nearby went completely still.
"Kaden—"
"Why did I call you Rebecca?" he demanded again, his voice shaking with a terrifying mix of fury and confusion. "Who the hell are you?"
My throat closed. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. His eyes were burning into mine, but they no longer looked human. They looked lost. Terrified. And scary.
Then his face suddenly twisted in agony. Both of his hands flew to his head as if his skull were splitting open.
"Fuck—" A gut-wrenching scream tore from his throat.
"Kaden!" I gasped, rushing toward him.
He stumbled, his body trembling as a violent wave of Alpha power suddenly exploded from him, rushing across the yard. The warriors immediately backed away, shielding themselves from the wild, dangerous shift in his energy.
"Get out of my fucking head!" he choked out, gripping both sides of his face.
My blood turned cold. Right in front of me, his knees buckled, and his body crashed onto the ground.
For one terrifying second, nobody moved. Then panic erupted around us.
"Alpha!"
Three guards rushed forward at once, surrounding his motionless body. One dropped beside Kaden to check his pulse while another shouted toward the mansion, his voice filled with urgency.
"Take him to his room! Now!"
Two warriors lifted Kaden carefully beneath his arms, his face completely slack and his head hanging against a guard’s shoulder as they carried him away.
"I’ll get the healer!" another yelled before sprinting toward the main doors.
I stood frozen in place, my hands shaking, my throat tight, and my mind spinning in utter confusion. What had I done? He had remembered me. Not everything, but enough.
What if those memories came back when he woke up? What if everything came back?
My stomach twisted painfully, and my attention dropped down.
The locket. It was still clenched tightly in my fist.
The pin... I had almost forgotten. My fingers tightened around the metal instantly.
"Hand it over."
The voice snapped me out of my trance. I looked up to find one of Kaden’s personal guards standing directly in front of me, staring coldly at my hand.
"What?"
"The locket," he said, holding out his hand. "Give it to me."
"No," I said, stepping back.
His eyes narrowed with blatant suspicion. "Hand it over, Rebecca. Alpha Kaden was arguing with you over this before he collapsed. I won’t let you hold onto it."
My breath hitched, shock replacing my fear for a split second. He didn’t call me Ruby. He wasn’t pretending anymore. He knew exactly who I was.
"You know," I whispered, staring at him. "You all know."
He said nothing, his jaw tightening in tense silence.
"You knew who I was this whole time?"
"That isn’t important right now," he said, stepping closer. "Give me Alpha Kaden’s necklace."
"No," I said, my voice trembling as I pulled my fist against my chest. "I’ll give it back to Kaden when he’s well."
"No."
Before I could react, the guard lunged forward and grabbed my wrist.
"Let go!" I yelled, struggling against him. "Give it back!"
He was far stronger. With one sharp, powerful pull, he forced my fingers open and ripped the locket right out of my palm. I lunged toward him, but he shoved me back just enough to keep out of reach.
"I don’t know what game you, Alpha Kane, and Beta Logan are playing," he sneered coldly, carefully putting the black chain into his pocket, "but I am loyal to Alpha Kaden."
Cold, suffocating fear crawled up my spine.
"We have all been ordered to pretend around him," the guard continued, his eyes flashing with contempt. "To act like we don’t know you. To act like nothing is wrong. But I know enough to know that my King has been lied to. I will secure this until Alpha Kaden wakes."
He turned on his heel and strode toward the mansion.
"Wait! Please!" I called out, but he kept walking, disappearing inside.
Panic exploded inside me. That piece of jewelry held the pin to my freedom, and now it was completely out of my reach.
I needed Kane or Logan immediately. Only they had enough authority to force that warrior to hand the chain back over.
I sprinted toward the mansion, my heart hammering in my ears. The moment I burst through the doors, I spotted one of Kane’s men near the main staircase.
"Please!" I rushed up to him, breathless. "Contact Alpha Kane right now. Tell him he needs to return to the territory immediately. It’s urgent!"
The warrior took one look at my pale face and gave a sharp nod. "I’ll mind-link him now."
"And Beta Logan too," I added quickly. "If you can reach him, tell him to come!"
Not waiting another second, I turned and rushed upstairs toward Alpha Kaden’s master suite.
When I reached the hallway, two heavy-set guards were standing firmly outside his bedroom doors. The moment I approached, both of them turned and glared at me with sharp, hostile eyes.
I slowed down, swallowing hard. "How is he doing? Is he awake?"
Neither of them answered. They just stared at me in hate, their posture stiff and protective.
I gripped my cardigan tightly around myself. I was terrified for his condition—terrified of what those sudden, violent memories had done to his brain—but I was equally terrified that when he woke up, he would remember every single thing. And where the hell were Kane and Logan? Why, of all times, were both of them gone right now?
With nowhere else to go, I sank down onto the floor against the wall opposite his door, pulling my knees toward my chest.
Nearly an hour passed while I sat on the cold floor, staring blankly at the heavy wooden doors. Finally, the brass handle clicked, and the bedroom door swung open.
A female healer walked out, closing the door softly behind her.
I shot to my feet and rushed over to her. "Elder! How is he? Is he okay?"
The healer looked at the two guards, then back at me. Her expression remained strictly neutral as she said, "Come with me."
She led me down the corridor and around a secluded corner, far out of earshot from the guards. Once we were completely alone, she let out a long breath and leaned in closer, whispering tightly.
"Thank the Goddess he collapsed, Rebecca."
I held my breath, my heart hammering against my ribs. "What happened?"
"He was beginning to remember you," she murmured, her eyes wide with lingering tension. "The spell was cracking. Those flashes he saw weren’t random—his mind was starting to reconnect pieces that had been cut away. The trigger was too strong."
"Does he remember now?" I swallowed, my face going cold.
The healer shook her head. "No."
A massive sigh of relief escaped my lips, the crushing weight on my chest loosening just a little. My knees nearly weakened. "Thank Goddess."
"When he fainted, his mind became vulnerable enough for me to step in and reinforce the blocks," she explained quietly. "I subdued the memories that surfaced. Right now, he won’t remember what he saw in those flashes."
"He won’t remember my name?"
"For now, no. He may wake with a headache, confusion, and a strange sense that something happened, but he won’t remember clearly."
"Great." I breathed out slowly, though those two words—for now—terrified me.
Before I could even process the good news, the healer grabbed my arm, her expression turning deadly serious.
"Rebecca, listen to me carefully. You have to stay away from him."
My heart sank. "I need the pin. The locket—"
"Forget the locket for one moment!" she warned softly, her eyes searching mine. "You can forget it if the alternative is Kaden remembering everything before you’re prepared. He is remembering because you’re constantly around him. Your scent, your voice, your touch... his wolf recognizes you even when his conscious mind doesn’t."
She stepped closer, her grip tightening on my arm. "Every time you get close to him, you’re pushing against the spell. Eventually, I won’t be able to repair it."
A cold chill ran through me. "How long?"
"I don’t know. Days... maybe hours."
The healer’s gaze pierced right through me. "No more private walks. No more touching. No contact."
My eyes snapped to hers, my face heating up despite the terror chilling my blood.
"Stay away from him, Rebecca," she repeated, her tone leaving no room for argument.
She turned and walked back toward the suite, leaving me alone in the quiet corridor.
I stood there staring toward the hallway where Kaden lay unconscious. My freedom was finally close enough to touch—the pin was somewhere inside that locket—but getting near Kaden again could destroy the entire lie.
And for the first time since entering this packhouse, I realized something terrifying.
Finding the pin might not be the hardest part anymore. Getting out before Kaden remembered me might be.