Chapter 52

"You… remembered… what?" Darian's fingers drummed nervously on the balcony railing, his eyes fixed on Althea. An undercurrent of anxiety swirled within him, hoping against hope that his lycanthropic influence hadn't waned on her.

"We kissed," Althea confessed, her words hanging in the night air like a revelation. As she stepped closer, Darian felt a palpable tension in his chest. "And you did something to me. You selectively wiped my memory; that dream… wasn't a dream, was it?"

Darian's silence spoke volumes, his expression a mixture of trepidation and guilt.

"What… you don't have anything to say." Althea abandoned formality, frustration lacing her words as she struck his chest. "You wiped my memory, Darian. You delved into my mind without my consent, did the very thing I've always feared someone would do. Invade my thoughts."