Chapter 10

NATHANIEL 




"So, Ayra is making the preparations for the Blood Moon Festival. That's surprising," Kai said, his eyes holding questions he feared to voice out.




"I am just as surprised myself," Logan added.




Handing the responsibilities of the ceremony had been a spur-of-the-moment decision in a bid to distract her from the questions she was asking. She'd been hellbent on getting answers, but that quickly changed when I offered the job to her.




I couldn't bring myself to take the role away from her after seeing the way her eyes brightened up in anticipation. I'd have to deal with the stares and gossip from the people, not that I cared that much about them in the first place.




"Ask whatever you two want to ask," I said when they kept staring at me expectantly.




"What is wrong with you? You're acting unlike your usual self. Is it something we have to be worried about?" Logan asked, always the first to speak his mind even in difficult situations. 




"How am I acting unlike myself?" I asked, twirling the ball pen between my fingers.




Kai answered next. "Your obsession with this woman leaves a lot of questions in the air. People are speculating that she is your mate."




"If she were to be my mate, wouldn't that be a good thing? It's common knowledge that the people believe the moon goddess will bless them more if I have a mate and a pup of my own."




"Normally, yes, the pack members would be happy, but they're wary of Ayra. Sandra has been spreading some, uh, disturbing rumors," said Logan.




I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my desk. "What rumors?"




"She's been telling people that Ayra was sent by some evil sorcerers to mislead you, and take over your power. She pointed out some stupid facts I don't quite remember, but it's safe to say some of the people are buying it."




"If this circulates enough, and the majority believes that, they'll start questioning your sense of judgment, and once that is in question, they'll raise questions about your leadership abilities."




Fucking Sandra. She was proving to be a huge problem for me. She was well known in The Borough, and due to our past ties, they were most likely to believe her. She boasted about knowing me more than anyone else, and I hadn't done anything to squash the rumors in the past. That was coming to bite me in the ass now. They'd believe her because they thought she knew me well.




"I need to talk to Sandra. Get her in here in five minutes."




"On it," Kai said before making his way out of my office.




"So… do you think she could be your mate?" Logan asked long after Kai had left.




"I have no idea," I admitted.




"I'm not getting my hopes up this time around. I had high expectations for you and Sandra."




"Would you have liked it if Sandra became the Luna of this pack?" I asked with a smirk. 




Even though Kimberly and Sandra were longtime friends, he certainly didn't like her, but he tried to hide it. Sandra on the other hand had no such reservations. She didn't like him, and she made sure to let him know every time they had an interaction.




"Fuck no. Sandra is… a lot. I don't think she'd be a suitable Luna. The jury is still out on Ayra."




"Ayra isn't my mate."




"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. If you convince yourself enough, maybe you'll actually believe it. Aren't Alphas supposed to know these things? I heard the same rules don't apply to Alphas as opposed to their subjects."




"Maybe I am an exception."




He rose to his feet. "Sure. I'll go check on the ladies. They kicked me out of my house early this morning because they had *things to plan*."




"If you want to keep your balls, don't go. Kimberly is violent without having to try."




He grinned from ear to ear, his face that of a man in love. "Right? Funny, I heard Ayra and Nikki telling her she's the nicest person they've ever met. I choked on my coffee. They haven't met any nice people in their life."




His comment reminded me of Ayra's memory loss. Her memories should have returned by now. Sure, I had been the one to force sleep upon her mind, and a side effect of that for people that weren't strong enough was temporary memory loss. 




Eventually, they got their memories, and everything became fine. The new pack members had gone through the same thing. None of them went this long without remembering anything which led me to believe someone had done something to fuck with her memories even before we found her.




If only the couple didn't die at the hands of those werewolves. They'd have completed the missing pieces to this puzzle.




***
"Nathaniel. I heard you were eager to see me," Sandra said with a sweet smile I saw right through.




"Not quite," I drawled. "I heard you were spreading rumors about Ayra."




Her smile faded, and a frown replaced it instead. "I'm not spreading rumors about her."




"No?"




"I was merely speaking the truth. She has you wrapped around her little finger that you can't see the signs. She is a plant sent here to ruin you. I heard her bullshit sob story about not recalling anything from her past. I call bullshit on that. She knows what she's doing."




When she was done speaking, her chest rose and fell quickly.




"I don't care what you think about her, Sandra. It doesn't change anything. What I do care about is the damage your rumors are causing. You're making people question my decision-making skills. Do you realize how grave a crime that is?"




She opened and closed her mouth several times before she found the words she needed. "It's all that girl's fault. She has blinded you. She's making people question you."




"Sandra quit it. It won't take me anything to kick you out, but I'm holding back all because of the past. Stop this nonsense, and instead of spreading rumors, keep to yourself."




"Why did you give her the responsibilities for handling the ceremony?"




"Because it's none of your fucking business," I snapped, starting to lose the grip I had on my anger. "I must have given you the impression that you could question me," I growled, allowing my demon to surface briefly. 




She gasped, backing up against the wall. "I'm sorry. I won't trouble her anymore. Please don't hurt me."




"If you go back on your words, I don't have to tell you what the consequences will be. You're not allowed to be less than twenty feet close to her. Do you understand?"




She bobbed her head vigorously. "Yes. I understand."




"Good. Now, leave."




She yanked the door open, sprinting off like her ass was on fire. That'd teach her a lesson. She'd think twice before spreading rumors.




***




AYRA




"Well, did it work?" I heard Kimberly ask as I slowly drifted awake.




"Where am I?" I asked, opening my eyes to take in the beige walls of the room.




"You're in Ishmael's place," Reese replied.




I turned my head to the side to take in Reese, Nikki, and Kimberly who had expectant looks on their faces.




Slowly, I began to remember how I got here.




We were all at Kimberly's place when she brought up the issue of me not remembering my past. She suggested visiting Ishmael. He was a sorcerer, and according to her, *he could whip up some potion to help me regain my memory*.




Nikki and Reese had agreed, and seeing no harm in the suggestion, I'd also agreed. I vividly remember gulping down a black liquid that tasted unpleasant, and it was blank after that.




"What happened after I drank the potion?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. 




"You fell unconscious. Ishmael said the potion worked that way, and you'd remember when everything after regaining consciousness," Nikki explained. "Did it work?"




"No." My memories still felt foggy, and the potion had done nothing to help with that. "How come it didn't work?"




"Whoever put a lock on your memory must have really strong powers. I realized after you'd drunk the potion that your memory loss has magic dancing around it," Ishmael said from the doorway.




We all snapped our gazes to him, but it was Nikki that spoke first.




"Aren't you supposed to be a powerful sorcerer? So much for that," she scoffed.




Ishmael smiled at her not looking offended by her comment in the slightest. "I admit to being powerful, but even I have certain boundaries to those powers. Other sorcerers have more powers than I do, and some don't. That doesn't mean I lose my relevance."




"Who do you think could have put the lock on her memories? You are a powerful sorcerer. Surely, there can't be a lot of sorcerers that possess stronger powers," Reese said.




"You're correct about that. There are only two sorcerers I know of that are capable of doing something like this. Ryker and Samuel. They're brothers. Samuel fell off the face of the earth many years ago, and no one has heard from him since then."




"And Ryker?" I asked.




Ishmael's mouth curled up in displeasure. "He's working for the demons."