My Alpha Forced Me to Forget Him Chapter 05

My Alpha Forced Me to Forget Him Chapter 05

I was about to leave when Selene suddenly ran out of the room and grabbed my wrist.

“Elara… I’m sorry.”

She kept her head lowered, her voice trembling as tears gathered in her eyes.

“I shouldn’t have touched your things.”

Then she looked up, forcing a timid smile.

“It’s my birthday tomorrow. Will you come?”

“I’d love for you to make a floral arrangement for my birthday cake.”

Before I could answer, a cold voice interrupted from behind.

“You’ve got some nerve. You actually expect Elara to make flowers for you?”

I turned around.

Raven stood with her arms folded, her expression as dark as a storm cloud.

I gently squeezed her hand, signaling her not to speak.

Then I looked at Ryker.

He stood silently in the doorway. His gaze was unfocused.

It was obvious he still hadn’t recovered from hearing me ask,

“Who are you?”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, avoiding my eyes.

“Selene’s surgery is tomorrow night. She wants to celebrate her birthday before the operation.”

I smiled faintly.

“Fine. I’ll come.”

The moment I finished my words, Raven dragged me away by the arm.

“Have you lost your mind? You’re actually going?”

I shrugged.

“Why not? I might as well watch the show.”

She sighed helplessly.

In one hand I carried the tissue holding the crushed hydrangea petals.

In the other was a garment bag containing my Luna gown-I had packed it away before leaving.

That night, I slept in the guest room at Raven’s house.

Lying in bed, I stared blankly at the ceiling.

When I had looked at Ryker and asked, “Who are you?” I hadn’t been trying to hurt him.

For that brief moment…I genuinely hadn’t recognized him.

His face had felt strangely unfamiliar. So had all the memories we once shared.

Everything between us was fading. Like footprints disappearing beneath fresh snow.

Perhaps the Lethe Elixir really was working.

If forgetting him was the price, maybe it wasn’t such a terrible thing.

The following afternoon, Selene’s birthday celebration was held beside the lake outside the Blackwood Pack

House.

Flower petals blanketed the grass.

A temporary stage stood at the center, decorated with lavish floral displays.

Anyone passing by would have mistaken it for a mating ceremony.

Selene wore an elegant white dress. Her long hair flowed over her shoulders as she smiled beneath the

afternoon sun.

Standing beside her was Ryker. Dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit.

Together, they looked like the Alpha and Luna of the pack.

Selene stepped onto the stage first and thanked everyone politely for coming.

When she finished, Ryker took the microphone.

Smiling at the gathered wolves, he announced,

“Next, I’d like to invite my sister, Elara, to create a floral arrangement for everyone.”

“Let’s make today even more beautiful.”

SISTER.

The word barely stirred anything inside me anymore.

I simply picked up my basket and walked onto the stage.

White roses. Bellflowers. Silver eucalyptus…

My hands moved automatically, guided by years of habit.

As I placed the third flower into the arrangement, Music suddenly began to play.

I looked up.

Ryker had wrapped one arm around Selene’s waist.

She leaned naturally against his chest as they began to dance together in front of everyone.

While they danced, Selene looked directly at me.

The smile on her lips widened. Her eyes sparkled with unmistakable triumph.

She didn’t need to speak. Her expression already said, “I won.”

My wolf remained strangely quiet.

I finished the arrangement, stood up, brushed the dirt off my hands, and walked off the stage.

Applause erupted around me.

“They’re perfect together!”

“What a beautiful couple!”

“So romantic!”

Then, Ryker suddenly dropped to one knee.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.

Opening it slowly, he revealed a ring.

For a brief second, his eyes met mine.

A flicker of guilt crossed his face before he quickly looked away.

Then he slid the ring onto Selene’s finger.

Something inside me stirred.

Years ago, I had been the one kneeling before Ryker.

Holding out a ring. Asking him to become my mate.

People praised my courage to my face.

Behind my back, they mocked me.

They said I was throwing myself at an Alpha who would never truly treasure me, that one day, he would trample my heart beneath his feet.

Whenever I heard those rumors, I defended him without hesitation. I argued with anyone who spoke badly

about him.

Looking back now, they had been right all along.

I had been the fool.

I watched Ryker finish placing the ring on Selene’s finger.

Then I quietly turned around and walked away.

Back inside Raven’s car, my phone vibrated.

I glanced at the screen.

It was an email from the International Academy of Floral Arts. The Academy’s Master Florist had once designed ceremonial floral displays for the High Alpha himself.

The application I’d submitted last month had finally received a response.

The message read:

[Elara Hawthorne, we are honored to invite you to join the International Academy of Floral Arts.]

A smile slowly spread across my face.

So what if I’d lost love? I had finally found my future.

The Lethe Elixir was working remarkably well.

The pain was almost gone. Neither my wolf nor my heart reacted anymore.

Half an hour later, Raven sent me another message.

Half an hour later, Raven sent me another message.

[You got the show you wanted yesterday. Totally worth watching.]

There was a video attached.

I opened it.

The footage began moments after I’d left Selene’s birthday party.

The banquet hall doors were kicked open with a deafening bang.

A crowd stormed inside.

Leading them was a guy with a megaphone, his furious roar echoed through the entire hall.

“Ryker, you bastard! Selene, homewrecking bitch!”

Selene’s face drained of color.

She instinctively stumbled backward and clutched Ryker’s arm.

Ryker’s jaw tightened. His entire body went rigid.

Someone in the crowd shouted even louder.

“Alpha Ryker! You abandoned your own Luna to keep another she-wolf by your side, then called her your

‘sister’?”

“Do you think everyone in this pack is blind?”

A wolf from the crowd spat directly toward Ryker and Selene.

I recognized him immediately.

Kieran.

The little troublemaker who used to sneak into my workshop every day looking for free food.

Later, after Adrian Hawthorne started researching the Lethe Elixir, Kieran followed him everywhere, becoming

his closest assistant.

On the screen, Ryker forced himself to remain composed.

“Enough.” He looked toward his Beta.

“Get them out of here.”

Before the Beta could move, Kieran had already stepped forward and shoved him aside. His voice dropped

into a dangerous growl.

“What are you pretending for?”

“Back then, you knelt before Brielle’s parents’ graves. You held her hand. You swore before the Moon Goddess that you’d protect your mate with your life.”

His wolf surged forward, his Alpha aura clashing against Ryker’s.

“Look at yourself now. Is this what you call protecting her?”

Ryker swallowed hard.

“The ring I gave Selene was only because I treated her like family.”

Kieran barked out a cold laugh.

“Family? You two aren’t even related by blood. Who the hell are you trying to fool?”

He shoved Ryker again, much harder this time.

“You forced your own mate to drink the Lethe Elixir so you could stay with Selene. Didn’t you?”

“Do you even know what that potion really does to Brielle?”

Ryker froze.

Kieran stepped closer. He spoke each word slowly and clearly.

“It takes away ten years of her life.”

Ryker’s pupils contracted violently.

“What did you just say?!”

He grabbed Kieran by the collar with both hands. His wolf roared inside him. The Alpha aura exploded throughout the room.

But Kieran didn’t flinch.

He looked Ryker straight in the eyes.

“The Lethe Elixir was created by your mate’s brother. Do you know why Adrian stopped making it?”

“Because the side effects were too severe!”

“He refused to let anyone else suffer because of it!”

Ryker’s grip loosened. His hands began trembling uncontrollably.

Kieran shoved him away with obvious disgust.

“You really believed those so-called clinical trials? Who gave you the potion? Who handed you that fake test

report?”

As he spoke, he slowly turned toward Selene.

Ryker instinctively followed his gaze.

Selene staggered backward. Her face turned deathly pale. She shook her head frantically.

“I… I don’t know what he’s talking about…”

Her legs gave out. She collapsed onto the floor.

Looking up at Ryker through streaming tears, she choked out,

“I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

Kieran took another slow step forward. A cold smile spread across his face.

“Really?”

“Then how about I tell everyone one more secret?”

The video ended there.