My Alpha Forced Me to Forget Him Chapter 07

My Alpha Forced Me to Forget Him Chapter 07

By the time I arrived in Europe, I was so busy that I barely remembered what sleep felt like.

From sunrise to late at night, I stayed in the studio at the International Academy of Floral Arts, learning advanced floral techniques from the world’s finest designers, fulfilling commissions, and creating arrangements for international exhibitions.

Most nights, I stumbled back to my hotel and collapsed onto the bed without even changing clothes.

A week passed before I finally adjusted to the time difference.

Not long afterward, the Academy assigned me an assistant.

“Elara!”

I looked up.

Kieran dropped into the chair across from me with his usual mischievous grin.

“Miss me?”

The corner of my mouth lifted. “It’s been a while.”

He puffed out his chest proudly.

“I’m your assistant now. And I’ve got good news.”

He placed a small wooden box in front of me.

“Adrian’s old research team finally created an antidote to the Lethe Elixir. It’s not perfect. But after taking it, the side effects will disappear once the potion wears off.”

For a brief moment, my chest tightened. Then my wolf settled again.

If Adrian were still alive, he’d probably laugh at how foolish I’d been.

Kieran opened the box.

Inside rested a small crystal vial filled with faintly glowing violet liquid.

I couldn’t help smiling.

“So… I guess I just got those ten years of my life back.”

Then another question surfaced in my mind.

“Kieran. Do you know why my brother stopped making the Lethe Elixir?”

He nodded.

“He mentioned it once.”

“The final round of testing involved two mated couples. The first she-wolf looked down on her mate because

he’d been imprisoned before. She believed his past would stain their future pups.”

“After she drank the potion, she fell hopelessly in love with him again. They eventually committed murder

together. She became his accomplice.”

He paused before continuing.

“The second pair had already fallen out of love. They tried using the potion to repair their mate bond.”

“It worked… for a little while. They loved each other again.”

“But not for long. They soon started fighting every day. They couldn’t live together. But neither had the

courage to sever the mate bond.”

“In the end, they chose to die together.”

Kieran sighed.

“After that, Adrian thought some things weren’t meant to be forced. So he stopped producing the Lethe Elixir.”

I lowered my eyes.

People changed. Feelings changed.

Sometimes, not even the Moon Goddess could repair a broken mate bond.

Maybe Ryker and I had never truly been destined to last.

There had been too many cracks. Too many wounds.

“Elara. Someone’s here to see you.”

A colleague poked her head into the studio.

I smiled at Kieran before walking outside.

The moment I stepped through the door, someone grabbed my arm.

I instinctively thought it was the homeless wolf from the nearby square.

Sometimes I brought him leftover bread after work.

But when I looked up, I froze.

It was Ryker.

His hair was a mess. Dark stubble covered his jaw.

His eyes were hollow, with heavy shadows beneath them.

Even his wolf aura had become unstable.

The once-proud Alpha looked like a man who had lost everything.

“Elara…” His voice was rough.

“I know I was wrong. I know I destroyed everything.”

“Please… come home with me.”

I met his gaze calmly.

“I don’t love you anymore, Ryker. Our mate bond is over.”

His breathing became uneven.

“No! You can’t say that! You promised we’d be together forever!”

His trembling hands searched inside his pocket before pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.

Old tear stains still marked the edges.

He carefully unfolded it.

Written across the top, in my own handwriting, were the words:

[Ryker, unless I die, I’ll love you forever.]

“I did write that.” I looked at him quietly.

“But you made a promise too.”

“You broke yours first. You betrayed our mate bond. Not me.”

I took the paper from his hand.

Slowly, I tore it into pieces.

The scraps fluttered to the ground between us.

Ryker immediately dropped to his knees. Frantically gathering every tiny fragment as though each one were

priceless.

“I regret it. I really do.”

“Please…give me one more chance. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

He looked up.

When he saw my completely expressionless face, panic filled his eyes.

Suddenly, he pulled a silver dagger from inside his jacket.

He pressed the blade against his own throat.

“If you won’t come back, I’ll die right here.”

I didn’t move. I’d seen this kind of desperation before.

“Ryker.”

I stepped forward slowly, deliberately softening my voice.

“Put the knife down. Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Then promise you’ll stay!”

His voice cracked.

“Promise me!”

For one brief instant his attention shifted.

I lunged forward. My hand grabbed the blade.

The silver edge sliced deeply across my palm. Warm blood streamed between my fingers.

Ryker froze. The dagger slipped from his hand.

“Elara… I’m sorry…”

He seized my bleeding hand, his entire body shaking.

I gently pulled my hand back.

“There’s medicine that can erase love. But…”

“There isn’t a cure for regret.”

His face went deathly pale.

Before he could stop me again, someone yanked him backward.

Kieran stepped in front of me. His face was darker than thunder.

“Have you completely lost your mind?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be taking care of your precious Selene?”

“What are you doing chasing Elara all the way to Europe?”

He folded his arms and let out a cold laugh.

“Oh, right. Speaking of Selene…”

“Want to know what she’s doing now?”

He pulled out his phone and shoved it toward Ryker.

“Take a good look.”

“She was arrested for organizing group sex parties.”

“If

you hurry back, you might still get to visit her through reinforced prison glass.”

Ryker’s knees buckled. He collapsed to the ground.

I wasn’t surprised.

Selene had always been the untouchable white moon in his heart. The she-wolf he believed was pure.

Perfect.

Even after learning the truth, he still couldn’t completely let go.

He had crossed continents searching for me.

Yet the moment he heard Selene’s name, his heart still wavered.

Wasn’t that answer enough?

He still didn’t know what he truly wanted.

I crouched down and looked at him quietly.

“Stop lying to yourself, Ryker.”

Beside me, Kieran snorted.

“You’re too kind. If it were me, I would’ve punched him long before today.”

I smiled.

Everyone loved differently.

I never doubted that Ryker had loved me once.

But his love shifted like the wind.

One day it belonged to me. The next, it belonged to someone else.

That wasn’t the kind of love I wanted.

I wanted a mate who would choose me every single day.

Maybe that kind of love didn’t exist.

Or perhaps it only existed between wolves who truly understood what a mate bond meant.

Love wasn’t sustained by fate alone. Nor by the Moon Goddess.

In the end, it depended on something much simpler.

Loyalty. And conscience.

Ryker ?

He had lost both.