Chapter 176: Memories
*~Hazel’s POV~*
I stood frozen, locked in Cayden’s arms, both of us gripping each other like the other might vanish. His body trembled slightly under my hands, Then, slowly, he pulled away.
My breath caught.
The terrifying form I had seen horns, black veins, inhuman wings—was gone. In its place was the Cayden I knew. The gorgeous, sharp-jawed Cayden with the piercing eyes
He cupped my chin gently and forced me to meet his gaze.
"Hazel..." he began, his voice low, uncertain. "There’s something we need to tell you."
Something about the way he said it made my chest tighten. I swallowed hard.
He continued. "We wiped your memory."
I blinked.
The words didn’t register at first. It was like he had spoken a language I didn’t understand.
"You... what?" I breathed.
Cayden nodded solemnly. "You were right. Those weren’t the first moments of you seeing your babies. You’ve held them... you’ve named them... you’ve laughed and cried with them. But you couldn’t remember because... we took that from you."
My heart stopped. The air left my lungs.
"What are you... saying?" My voice trembled. "I’ve... already met them?"
Cayden glanced at the ground, guilt heavy in his expression. "Thirty weeks You spent three weeks with them. But something happened, Hazel. Things got dangerous
too dangerous. So... we took your memories, to protect you. We thought it was the only way."
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. My entire chest caved in. I felt like I was being torn apart from the inside.
"Hazel..." he reached for me, but I stepped back.
"You erased my memories," I whispered. "You erased three weeks of my children from me."
Caspian stepped forward, arms folded, his jaw tight. "It was me and Aurora’s plan, we did it to take..."
But before he could finish, Cayden whipped around, eyes sharp. "No. Don’t tell her. We show her. When we get home, Hazel, we’ll show you everything."
"Show me?" I snapped. "You want to show me the pieces of my life you ripped out of my head like they were never mine to begin with?!"
Pain cracked through me and it hurts like hell. The reason I felt hollow... the reason my dreams didn’t make sense... the reason I felt like a stranger to my own babies—they did this.
My hand curled into a fist. I turned sharply to my mother. "Did you know?"
Her face fell. "No. I swear to you, I didn’t. I’ve been begging you to remember. I didn’t know they’d taken your memories."
She looked between Cayden and Caspian. "This is wrong. Hazel has every right to be angry."
Then she stepped away from us all.
"I have to go."
"What?" I said.
"I need to see the Crescent," she replied. "With Jonathan our alpha was gone, everything has changed. We’ve lost the balance that held this territory together. "
"No." Cayden’s voice was firm. "Not yet. We still..The council must know what’s happened. The dark magic, the secret power inside youthis changes everything. The Crescent cannot stay whole if it threatens the world outside it."
That was when Lilith spoke, voice dry and dismissive. "The Crescent has nothing to do with your council."That’s exactly what caused the war years ago. The werewolf council wanted control. The Crescent wanted to remain sovereign. "
Caspian cut in, stepping between them, "we’ll settle this later. Right now, Hazel needs rest. She needs her memories back. That’s our priority."
Cayden nodded slowly, turning back to me. "When we get home, I’ll show you everything. No more secrets. No more lies."
I didn’t speak. The betrayal ran too deep, I didn’t know what to feel anymore.... Aurora was involved....?
"Let’s go," I whispered.
As soon as we arrived at the High House, Aurora ran toward me. Her eyes scanned every inch of me, frantic and relieved all at once.
"Oh my God, you scared me! How did you even do that?" she asked, referring to when I had broken free of the spell and pinned her to the wall earlier. She had been leaving the room then, not expecting me to break it.
"I don’t know," I replied, my voice flat. "I just... needed to find the truth."
And I did. Because the truth lies with her.
And she was the one who took it from me.
Her gaze shifted past me to where Caspian and Cayden stood. The moment she saw them, I watched the guilt rush into her face. She knew.
They had told me.
And now, I needed answers.
"So," I said, my tone sharp, "when are you giving them back? My memories. My truth."
I didn’t even try to mask the disappointment in my voice. I had trusted her. Somehow, I wasn’t even surprised Cayden or Caspian could do something like this but Aurora? She was supposed to be my friend. The only person, besides Ariel, I truly saw as real.
And yet, she had cast the spell. She had taken everything from me. Watched me cry, watched me spiral, watched me forget, and said nothing.
"It better be for a good reason," I muttered and stormed upstairs, not waiting for her reply.
She followed closely behind.
"Hazel, please, I can explain—"
"No!" I snapped, turning to her. "What could you possibly say? You saw me suffering. You saw me losing my mind. And you still didn’t tell me. You looked me in the face and let me keep searching for something you already had in your hands. Some friend you are."
I slammed the door behind me, the sound echoing through the house and jolting my babies awake.
My heart softened instantly. "Oh, I’m sorry," I whispered, rushing to them.
I pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads.
"So you little miracles were right all along," I murmured with a broken smile. "Heather and Christian... those are your names. Thank you for showing me."
Behind me, Aurora slipped quietly into the room and sat on my bed. She stiffened when I turned to face her.