Chapter Forty Nine

*Ariya*


“I think that might be what they did. To protect you. I don’t fully remember but I think that’s what happened that night.” I explained.
Ivan was still tense, “How am I supposed to protect you, Ari?”
I flinched, “It’s not about protecting me. It’s about protecting you. Until we remember everything. Until we know everything. It’s about protecting you. Then we’ll get out of here.”
Ivan growled, “I don’t like this. I don’t want to forget.”
“You won’t have a choice.” I whispered, looking down.
Ivan caressed my face in his hands, “Then I’m not going to wait.”
“What?”
Ivan’s eyes changed to his wolf’s blue as he brought my face to his. My body melted as his lips pressed against mine. My eyes fluttered closed and my legs buckled underneath me. I kissed him back trying to give him all the love I felt toward him.
Ivan pulled away and looked deep into my eyes, “Sorry, I just didn’t want to miss my chance while I’m myself.”
“I…uh…” My head was swimming and I couldn’t form any words.
Ivan suddenly grew concerned, “I’m sorry. I should have waited.”
“No! Never wait. I just wasn’t expecting you to do that.” I said, blushing.
Relief crossed Ivan’s face, “I want to talk to you about this. About everything. I’ve missed you, princess.”
“Princess?”
Ivan laughed, “You’ll remember soon enough.”
“So you’re not mad?” I asked, worried.
Ivan pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me, “I understand. I don’t like it. But I understand.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, “Ok, good.”
“Ari, please don’t let me kiss you as Justin.”
I looked up at him, “You won’t. At least I don’t think you will be able to. When you were Justin you only ever kissed the top of my head and that was only recently. But as Justin you won’t do anything if anyone is around. But if that’s true, you should remember who you are at that moment.”
“Yeah this isn’t confusing at all.”
“You’re not the one that’s going to struggle with the what’s what right now.” I said, rolling my eyes.
Ivan laughed, “How about this, I will show you my wolf eyes to let you know it’s me.”
My eyes lit up and I snuggled into Ivan’s chest, “I love that idea.”
Ivan rested his head on top of mine and hugged me tighter. My stomach growled again.
Ivan laughed, “Boss first, then I’ll get food.”
“One more, before you go?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Anything for you.” Ivan said, his eyes changed to blue as he leaned down pressing his lips against mine. My body melted into his as I kissed him back. I wasn’t going to get enough of this anytime soon.
Ivan left to go let Boss know I had gotten another memory. I grew worried about not knowing everything when Ivan was in front of me. I decided while I had a few minutes I could try to reach Keo.
*Keo.* I pushed the thought to him.
*Ari, thank goodness. I was worried about you! I couldn’t let you know that everything went well last night. What happened?* Keo asked, concerned.
*I had another memory. We don’t have much time, Justin will be back soon.* I warned him.
Keo growled in response.
*Why are you growling, Keo? You know that Justin is Ivan now right?* I laughed.
*You know?* Keo asked, surprised.
*Yeah. I got more of my memory back and Justin was in front of me and shortly after that I found out that Justin was actually Ivan. So why are you growling every time I mention Justin when Justin is Ivan and Ivan is who you said I was supposed to be with?*
Keo laughed, *Aren’t we short on time?*
*Don’t dodge the question Keo!* I growled.
*Because Justin didn’t know he was Ivan and Ivan is who you are supposed to be with. If you’re with Justin then you’re basically with the enemy.* Keo laughed.
*But Justin is Ivan.* I said, matter of factly.
*Kind of. Ask Ivan if he feels that way, then growl at me.*
*That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I need Drake to fix the lock he put on our conversations. We can’t figure out what we’re missing until we know everything but we can’t know everything until we figure out what we’re missing.*
*How do you propose he fixes it?* Keo asked.
*Have it to where Ivan shows me his wolf eyes and I’ll remember our conversations. If I don’t see that and he’s in front of me then I need to forget who Ivan is. I also need the memory that Ivan is Ivan to be hidden too. If Boss thinks I’m lying then Ivan is still going to be in trouble whether he remembers or not.*
Keo cursed, *The serum, I forgot about it.*
*Yeah, we need to figure all of that stuff out but we can’t if I can’t even remember that I can talk to you guys unless no one is here. Ivan needs to be filled in a bit. It can be protected with his memories that he is Ivan. But we need to hurry. Boss will be here any minute. But I also need to keep the memory of what happened that night.*
Keo cursed again, *Drake will create a link in a second.*
Keo severed the link and I felt Drake immediately.
*I’m going to hide Ivan first. That’s the most important. Then I will work on the lock I made for you to be able to talk to Ivan and remember our conversations.* Drake said.
*Ok, just hurry. I don’t know how long we have.*
Drake went silent but I knew he was working as fast as he could to create locks and fix the other lock. I heard footsteps coming.
*They’re coming. I have to go.* I said, the panic started to rise.
*It’s ok, Ariya. I’m done. We’ll talk soon* Drake said severing the connection.
My mind went blank as I felt the memories starting to disappear. As the door opened up I saw Boss and Justin walk in.
“What’s this I hear about new memories?” Boss asked, practically jumping in excitement.
I growled at him.