Author''s note: This is from Duke''s point of view

    - - -

    It''s been four days how Serina woke up. Or was it five now?

    It took several attempts for me and my wolf to access Serina''s subconsciousness and get her to snap out of it until we finally succeeded.

    I should be happy that she is awake, but unfortunately, this is not the Serina I knew. Or to be more precise, this is not Serina that knows me.

    Most of the time she is absentminded and when she is alert, she doesn''t remember much from her life as Seraphina Mezzanotte and even though she accepted that everyone is addressing her as Serina, she calls me Drago.

    Nearly twelve years of holding hands, me doing things to let her know how important she is to me, kisses, caresses... it''s all wiped out. Like it never happened.

    The interesting thing is that she remembers this villa, Zoe, Luca, Ash, Calista, Treva, and even Lazarus, but when I try to get her to remember me as Duke, her eyes lose focus and she shuts down for some time, like I reminded her of something I shouldn''t have, and I''m penalized.

    Needless to say, Lazarus is delighted by this development, and he decided to stick around. Bastard.

    I caught him more than once getting too close to Serina and making her laugh and if I didn''t fear causing more mental damage to Serina, I would rip his head off.

    As for Fynn, he left on the day Serina woke up.

    He was in a hurry to make sure the werewolves he left behind didn''t flip the place upside down.

    Fynn was eager to get other members of the Bluemoon pack here to meet me, but I told him that I need some time to adjust to my wolf and that Serina needs to recuperate. Neither of those was a lie, and even though we didn''t set a deadline, I knew that the clock was ticking.

    …

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    ...

    Today''s dinner was lively with Zoe, Luca, Treva, Sergio, Calista, Lazarus, and Serina.

    They were chatting and laughing, like nothing is out of place and I felt like an outcast.

    My wolf initially thought how Serina not remembering me will play to his advantage, but soon he realized that he was wrong. Serina didn''t remember our life as a loving couple, and the distance between me and Serina impacted my wolf also.

    The most miserable are nights because I sleep in the guest bedroom and I get to listen to my wolf grumbling and howling in my head.

    I couldn''t wait for everyone to finish eating and scram. Now, this was a point where my wolf agreed with me wholeheartedly.

    "Serina", I called. "I would like to talk to you after dinner."

    I said that aloud, hoping that others will get the message and hurry the hell up.

    I felt like an idiot because I needed to reserve my time with her in advance.

    "She already agreed to walk with me in the garden tonight.", Lazarus said with an obnoxious smirk.

    I could feel rage swelling in me. Was it mine or my wolf''s? I guess it didn''t matter.

    "Are you tired of living?", I squeezed through my teeth.

    "What''s your problem?", Serina asked me.

    "HE IS MY PROBLEM!", I roared and exhaled sharply to calm down at least a little bit. "Serina, maybe you don''t remember, but this is OUR house, and Lazarus is a guest who outstayed his welcome. I didn''t kick him out already because I respect you but if he plans to take advantage of the situation to get close to you more than necessarily, I won''t be polite."

    Lazarus snorted. "This is your idea of being polite?"

    I ignored him and spoke to Serina. "Don''t you see that he is trying to seduce you? Are you willing to give in to his advances?"

    Serina''s eyes moved from me to Lazarus and then back to me. "It''s not like that. We are friends."

    I jabbed my hand in my hair angrily. "You never saw when guys made passes on you. That''s why they misunderstood that you are interested in a relationship and by the time you realized what''s going on, they were too close."

    "Aren''t you just upset that she likes to spend time with me more than with you?", Lazarus asked. "Maybe the outsider is you."

    That did it!

    I bolted on my feet, ready to rip Lazarus into pieces when Serina stood in front of me, blocking my path.

    "Stop! I won''t tolerate violence." She glared at me.

    "You… won''t… tolerate… me?", I spoke with difficulty as my wolf struggled to break free and jump over Serina to kill Lazarus who snickered behind her.

    "Calm down.", Treva said, and I whipped my head toward her.

    "Calm down? That''s easy for you to say because Serina remembers you!"

    "You can''t blame her for memory loss." It was Calista.

    I realized that Sergio, Zoe, and Luca all have their heads lowered in submission, but I didn''t care. None of them cared about me and my situation. They were all chatting happily and letting this drag and I ran out of patience.

    I could go through everything with Serina, but she was not by my side. She was defending Lazarus and looking at me like I am the crazy person here.

    ''Your aura is leaking'', I told my wolf. ''It will only attract trouble, and I need to talk to them.''

    Sergio, Zoe, and Luca shivered and looked at me with fear in their eyes.

    "I am not blaming Serina." This was the truth. "I am blaming all of you for pretending that this situation is fine. Why is no one of you trying to help her remember?"

    "We are trying.", Treva said.

    "TRY HARDER!", I roared and Treva shrunk in her chair.

    I met Calista''s eyes. "How come you don''t have a problem with Serina not remembering her adoptive father? Isn''t Aldus your brother? I''m sure he would be devastated to know that Serina forgot about him and you don''t give a damn about it."

    Calista pressed her lips into a line, and I turned to Zoe and Luca. "How would you feel if one of you wakes up one day and looks at you like a stranger?"

    I glanced at Sergio and then returned my gaze to the youngsters. "How would you feel if one day your mate defends a guy who is openly trying to split you apart?"

    My knuckles cracked as I tightened my hands into fists. "You want me to calm down? Do you expect me to pretend everything is fine when my whole world is falling apart in front of my eyes? You are all eating dinner in the house I fixed up with MY mate and none of you feels the urgency to make her remember the missing pieces?"

    I looked at Serina and I could see that she was helpless and confused but I couldn''t deal with this crap anymore.

    My wolf was still itching for a fight with Lazarus, but I ignored him and walked away.

    I needed air and to clear my head before I said or did something that I would regret forever.

    I knew it was not fair. They were trying to make Serina remember things, but it was all going too slow, and I hated the fact that I was the only one left out.

    If it was anyone else who forgot about me, I would be fine with taking it easy, but this was Serina. MY Serina. The only person who made my life worth living and now she was looking at me like I''m a stranger.

    She remembered that we were desk mates in high school and some events, but every moment that involved any type of sweetness that resembled intimacy was wiped out from her mind.

    The current situation was making me frustrated and helpless but mostly enraged and I wished to smash anything within my reach.

    ''Calm down'', I told my wolf. ''Breaking stuff won''t achieve anything other than needing to pay for damage and Serina will hate me.''

    He snorted. ''Fine.''

    He moved at the back of my mind and then I didn''t feel him anymore.

    To be honest, I didn''t want him to leave. Other than me, my wolf was the only one who didn''t ignore or ridicule my current situation.

    I have no idea how I found myself in the garden.

    The landscaping was immaculate, maintained by Zeiroi, an elf that Serina adopted recently and since then, he is working for us as a gardener. Serina remembers him, and she even remembers small forest animals that he secretly adopted and is smuggling into his room to sleep with him at night… but she doesn''t remember me.

    What a joke.

    "AAAHHHH!", I screamed to the heavens while hoping that someone will hear me and return Serina''s memories or at least smite me with a lightning bolt that could erase my memories of her. Like that, we could be the same, both ignorant about love and happiness we shared.

    And the most devastating part was that this was all my fault.

    If I didn''t stupidly persist in getting my wolf back, she wouldn''t end up in this state.

    And here I am… with my wolf and without Serina.

    Was it worth it?

    Is anything worth it without Serina in my life?

    Yes, she is right there, but every time she looks at me with eyes devoid of warmth that was reserved only for me, a piece of my heart chips off into oblivion. It hurts.

    ---

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