(Third–person’s POV)

    Matthew pushed Theodore aside and carried Olivia out of the sea of fire. Emergency response teams swarmed the area, the cacophony of fire trucks, ambnces, and sirens filling the air.

    Matthew ced Olivia in a safe spot and quickly checked her for injuries. His golden eyes darkened with fury when he found a red mark on her arm.

    But Olivia was alight with exhration, her eyes sparkling. “I defeated Zero!” she announced, her triumphant smile slowly freezing as she met his gaze.

    He wasn’t proud or happy for her. His eyes were cold and fierce.

    Intimidated, she lowered her gaze and grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry, I left the Sovereign’s Club without permission,” she exined, rushing to justify her actions.

    “He called me, he invited me. He knows I’m ‘Cipher‘! If I didn’t ept, he would have kept troubling me. I found his location. I went because I knew I could get out safely.”

    She pulled his hand to her lower back, looking up at him earnestly. “See? I’mpletely unharmed. If Theodore hadn’t suddenly shown up and grabbed me, I would have been out already, and you wouldn’t have had to risking in.”

    Sensing his grip on her waist, Olivia buried her face in his chest, nuzzling him. “Hold me, okay?”

    She felt a profound sense of relief. With Zero defeated, Matthew’s inauguration as Alpha King would proceed without a hitch.

    Matthew’s aura was heavy as he pulled her into a tight embrace, his heart weighed down with worry. “Don’t let there be a next time,” he warned, his tone leaving no room for argument.

    Olivia nodded obediently, her soft hands wrapped around his waist.

    As Theodore was helped out of the mall by paramedics, his gazended on Olivia and Matthew embracing amidst the chaotic crowd. A post–disaster reunion, yet her eyes were only for Matthew.

    Pain radiated from his heart, settling physically in his wounded shoulder. Just then, two bodies were carried out on stretchers–one barely alive, the other dead.

    Olivia pulled Matthew over, eager to show him her trophy. “Let’s see who Zero really is, she said, pulling the mask off the deceased man.

    Her eyes widened in surprise. “Loric Steele?”

    It felt wrong. She had a nagging feeling it wasn’t him, though she’d never personally faced him.

    At that moment, Beta Tristan approached. “Alpha King, everyone else was under surveince. Only Loric Steele suddenly broke from our watch,” he reported, presenting a microptop.

    “We found this at his residence.”

    Olivia took the device, and upon essing it, found the programming code for Zero’s system.

    Is it really him?‘ she murmured.

    If not him, who could it be? Zero was undoubtedly caught in the st and mes; it was impossible to have escaped in just a few minutes.

    Nearby, a severely burned Cynthia Mooncrest clutched Matthew’s hand with all her might. “Matthew, can I have a word with you?” she pleaded.

    Olivia released Matthew’s hand, and he leaned over Cynthia’s stretcher. In a voice only he could heat she whispered, ‘Let me go. I can give Olivia a heart. I can save her. She’s a Mooncrest bloodline, she won’t live long.”

    A shadow fell over Matthew’s eyes. He motioned for the paramedics to take Cynthia away before turning back to Olivia.

    Just then, Theodore intercepted Olivia. “My pack tracker… saw Zero’s big operation, and I followed Cynthia to the mall,” he exined urgently, grabbing her wrist.

    “Olivia, I don’t know why Zero isn’t Cynthia, but Cynthia is a very dangerous person. You must stay away from her.”

    Olivia’s gaze fell on Theodore’s bleeding shoulder, and shes of him repeatedly risking his life for her surfaced. She crouched to meet his gaze, studying his handsome but haggard face

    The memories of his affair with ra Thorne felt disjointed, a stark contrast to the man before her. “What did you do to me?” she demanded, her nails digging into his arm.

    got into your vehicle, I drank the moonlight wine you gave me, just one sip, and I fell into darkness. What did you do to me! Now I…”

    Why didn’t she hate him anymore? Why were only the good memories left?

    She knew he had betrayed her for five years. That was the truth! But her memories felt fragmented.

    Theodore looked at her, stunned, a flicker of intense emotion in his amber eyes. “My Luna, what about me now?”

    Matthew walked over. Olivia snatched her hand away from Theodore.

    “I was thanking Alpha Redgrave for taking a bullet for me,” she said coldly. “But it would have only grazed my head. I hope Alpha Redgrave won’t do such a superfluous thing again.”

    Theodore clutched his shoulder, watching her walk away with Matthew without a backward nce. A sliver of hope that she might return to him tempered his pain.

    Back at the Sovereign’s Club, Dr. Aris Lowell waited in the living room. Matthew had to leave to manage the aftermath, but he paused at the doorway.

    Olivia stood on the steps, meeting his gaze. “Have a healer look at your injuriester.”

    “Okay.”

    She took his hand, feeling the warmth of his dry palm. She studied his indifferent eyes, so distant when he looked at people.

    “You went to my mating ceremony, didn’t you? You left a bouquet of red and purple tulips.”

    Matthew remained silent, the memory vivid: seeing her so happy, hearing her say, “I ept your mark.”

    “But I didn’t invite you,” she pressed, her hands sliding from his to wrap around his neck. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

    “Why was the Alpha King at my mating ceremony back then?”

    Cynthia’s words echoed in her mind–that Matthew had broken off their betrothal for her thirteen years ago. It made no sense.

    She had only met him three times back then. Their two years at the Shadow Syndicate were also marked by distance; she was closer to Killian Vance.

    He was always busy, surrounded by people. He had even epted her resignation without question.

    Olivia threw herself into Matthew’s arms, and he held her securely. “My King? Tell me, why?”

    Matthew looked down at her, the urge to confess everything, to tell her and perhaps keep her from ever leaving him again, stirring within him.

    “Alpha King?” a subordinate’s voice urged from behind, “We have to go.”

    Olivia clung to him, her beautiful eyes smiling. “Tell me, then you can go,” she coaxed, her voice dropping to a whisper, her face flushing.

    “My King? Come on. Why…”

    The yful, cat–like teasing made his heart itch. “Mm,” Matthew cupped her face and kissed her lips.

    “I’ll tell you when I get back.”

    He needed to prepare, to do it right. His kiss was restrained and gentle, his faint cedar scent enveloping her.

    As Matthew sat in the back of the car, his gaze lingered on Olivia. “Beta Tristan, get me the moonstone pendant,” he instructed.

    “And a bouquet of red and purple tulips.”

    Her favorite. A smile spread across his lips, lighting up his eyes, his heart filled with a honey–like sweetness.

    “Rest assured, Alpha King,” Beta Tristan replied.

    (Olivia’s POV)

    I watched Matthew leave before walking into the club to face Dr. Aris Lowell. My face was terribly pale, my hands twisting together.

    “I’ve lost my memory,” I said, my voice strained. “It must be something Theodore did. When I woke up in his manor, that pack healer was there. She must have done something to me.”

    “I know the Alpha King had her interrogated, but they must not have found anything. Aris, can you help me, please?”

    I clutched the moonstone ring on my right hand. “Not to recover the memories of Theodore and ra’s betrayal. I don’t need those memories; I just need to know they existed.”

    “I want you to awaken my memories of Matthew.”

    A tear fell from my eye, sshing onto the moonstone ring. My eyes were red–rimmed and unfocused, filled with a deste sorrow.

    “I… I feel like I’m about to forget him too. I don’t want to forget him.”

    My voice broke as I whispered the words that terrified me most. “I haven’t even told him that I love him.”