9. The Memory Between Us.

Rose’s POV

The silence inside Adrian Wolfe’s mansion could choke a soul.

I stood there, my heart pounding so loudly it echoed against the marble walls. His eyes...those same dark, predatory eyes I’d once thought only existed in nightmare...were locked on mine.

“So…” I started, my voice trembling, “you really wiped my memory?”

Adrian didn’t flinch. He stood near the edge of the room, the light from the massive glass window carving sharp lines across his face. He looked every inch the billionaire Alpha he was...untouchable, perfectly controlled, terrifyingly calm.

“You shouldn’t have remembered,” he said finally, his tone deep and cold. “That’s not something you were meant to carry.”

“Not something I was meant to carry?” I repeated, my anger rising with my pulse. “You took away my right to remember my own life! You made me think I was crazy!”

His jaw tightened, but his expression didn’t crack. “If I hadn’t, you’d have lived the rest of your days haunted. The things you saw that night...the vampires, the blood… It would’ve destroyed you.”

“Destroyed me?” I took a step closer, glaring up at him. “You don’t get to decide what I can or can’t handle!”

His nostrils flared, and for the first time, I saw something flash in his eyes...something dangerously close to regret. “You were bleeding, terrified, barely breathing. I did what I had to do to keep you safe.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “Safe? You mean controlled.”

That word hit him like a strike. His shoulders stiffened. “You think I control you?”

“You wipe my memory, you take me to your mansion, and then...” My voice broke, memories flooding back. His touch. His kiss. His breath. His body against mine. “You took something I can never get back.”

The room went dead still.

Adrian’s eyes darkened, and I saw his hand flex at his side, like he was fighting something primal inside him. “I didn’t plan that night, Rose,” he said quietly. “You came to me… and when you touched me, everything changed.”

My chest ached. “You’re unbelievable. You sound like it wasn’t real.”

He turned away, running a hand through his hair. The movement was tense, angry. “It wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t understand what you are… who you are.”

Before I could ask what that meant, Caleb’s voice cut through the tension.

Caleb’s POV

I’d been standing just outside the doorway, watching this like some twisted movie I couldn’t pause. I already sent away the guards that were around, so they won't see the drama unfold.

Adrian’s walls were cracking...something I’d never seen before. The great Alpha Wolfe, always in control, looked… conflicted. Torn.

Rose’s energy filled the room like a storm. Her scent, her heartbeat...I could feel it too. And so could he.

I cleared my throat. “Okay, before one of you decides to break a vase or a neck, maybe we should talk this out.”

Rose turned to me, her eyes wide. “Talk this out? He erased my memory! That’s not something you just… talk out!”

Adrian shot me a look that could kill. I ignored it. “Rose, look...there’s a lot you don’t know. Adrian didn’t do it to hurt you.”

She folded her arms, glaring between us. “Then explain. Someone better start making sense.”

I sighed, stepping forward. “Fine. Here’s the truth. Vampires and werewolves aren’t bedtime stories. They’re real. And for centuries, there was a treaty between humans and wolves...to protect both sides. Only government officials and Alpha leaders know it still exists.”

Her eyes darted to Adrian, who stood motionless, his jaw clenched. “And you… you’re their leader,” she said quietly.

“The Alpha,” I confirmed. “The strongest of our kind.”

Rose swallowed hard. “And vampires?”

Adrian’s voice returned, low and hard. “The vampires feed on human blood. They corrupt. They kill. They don’t stop. We...wolves keep the balance.”

Her face twisted in confusion and pain. “So what does that make me? Some pawn between your world and mine?”

Adrian stepped forward, the air between them thick with tension. “It makes you someone I can’t ignore, someone that somehow gets involved in anything I do.,” he said, his voice dropping to a near growl.

Adrian’s POV

She looked so fragile standing there, her heartbeat fluttering like a frightened bird. Yet she defied me, glared at me, challenged me.

And that pull...that maddening bond between us...grew stronger every second.

“I never meant for you to get caught in this,” I said, quieter this time. “When I found you that night, you were broken. I couldn’t let the world you came from destroy you.”

She shook her head. “You mean you couldn’t let me remember you.”

Her words cut deep.

She didn’t know that every time I thought of her, something inside me burned. That her scent haunted me. That the moment I kissed her, I felt… alive.

But I shouldn't be feeling this... She's a human.

Caleb’s voice broke my thoughts. “Adrian…” He was warning me now, sensing my control slipping.

“Leave us,” I said.

He hesitated, but one look from me sent him walking toward the door. When it closed behind him, silence filled the room again...tense, electric, dangerous.

Rose was breathing hard, her eyes still wet. “You don’t get to play god, Adrian.”

“I never wanted to be your god,” I said, stepping closer, my voice dark. “But I am what I am. I’m the Alpha. And when you stepped into my world, you suddenly became something I can’t ignore.”

Her lips parted, her pulse quickened. I could hear every heartbeat, every breath. She backed up slightly, hitting the edge of the desk behind her.

I leaned in, close enough to feel her warmth. “You want the truth, Rose? You were never supposed to remember me. I don't how you remember, no human ever does .”

Her breath hitched. “Adrian—”

I didn’t let her finish. I grabbed her waist and pressed my lips against hers. I kissed her... without thinking.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t patient. It was every ounce of heat, guilt, and hunger I’d buried since the night she stumbled into my life.

She didn’t pull away this time. Her hands trembled against my chest, her heartbeat syncing with mine.

When I finally broke the kiss, I whispered against her lips,

“Don’t ask me to be sorry.”

Then I stepped back, my face unreadable, and turned toward the door.

She stood there...frozen, dazed, breathless...as I walked away, leaving only the echo of my footsteps and the burn of what we’d just done hanging in the air.