The scent of damp earth and bitter herbs was the first thing I felt even before opening my eyes. My head throbbed, and my whole body felt heavy, as if I had run for days without rest. I blinked slowly, trying to adjust my vision to the soft light that filled the room.
The first thing I saw was a dark wooden ceiling, with sturdy beams that looked as old as the earth itself. For a moment, I didn't know where I was. There were no familiar sounds, no echo of known voices. Everything seemed... strange.
"Calyssa, you need to be alert," Akira's deep, protective voice sounded in my mind, pulling me back to reality. "Don't let your guard down."
I remembered the fall. The cliff. The imminent impact that never came. Who saved me? How was I still alive? My heart raced, and I sat up in an abrupt movement, which was a mistake. My head spun, and I needed to support myself with one hand on the bed.
"Easy, it's okay..." A soft female voice made me look up.
A young woman was beside me, holding a bowl of water and looking at me with a careful expression. Her eyes had something gentle, but there was caution there too.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, approaching slowly, as if afraid to scare me.
My mouth was dry. "Don't trust her," Akira growled in my mind. I knew she was right. I couldn't trust anyone here.
"Where am I?" I asked, ignoring the slight pain throbbing in my temples.
The young woman hesitated for a moment before answering. "You're in the Nightbane fortress. You were brought here injured... but it doesn't make sense. Your injuries... disappeared. It's like you healed in a few hours. I've never seen anything like it before. Well, no one here besides our Alpha has that healing power."
Nightbane. That name echoed in my mind like a warning. I had heard of this pack before. Isolated, dangerous, brutal. My heart clenched. I couldn't reveal anything about myself, they weren't trustworthy. The only thing I could do to survive was pretend.
"You're right," Akira whispered. "But be careful what you say. They can be cunning."
"What's your name?" the woman asked, tilting her head slightly.
I hesitated, feigning confusion. "I... I don't remember."
She frowned, surprised. "Don't remember? What do you remember?"
I looked away, trying to appear lost. "Nothing. This is so strange... I don't know who I am... or where I came from."
She sighed, worried, and stood up. "This isn't good. I need to tell the Alpha about this. He'll want to know."
Before I could ask anything, the door of the room opened abruptly, and a man entered. My body stiffened immediately. He was tall, with an overwhelming presence that filled the room like an impending storm. His eyes pierced me, and my instinct screamed danger.
"It's him," Akira growled. "The Alpha."
He looked at me as if he was trying to unearth the truth from my bones, and my heart pounded.
"Lyss, how is the outsider?" His voice was deep, a command masked as a question.
"Outsider," I thought, feeling my stomach sink.
The young woman called Lyss hesitated before answering. "She has no more injuries, Alpha. She healed too fast, almost... miraculously. But there's a problem."
He raised an eyebrow, his gaze darkening. "Which is?"
"She doesn't remember who she is. She may have lost her memory."
His eyes, which were already intense, seemed even sharper when they turned to me. The atmosphere became heavy, and my heart was racing so fast that I could hear it in my ears.
"Damn," he muttered before ordering, "Lyss, leave us alone."
The young woman hesitated, but obeyed, leaving the room without questioning. Now we were alone, and the air seemed charged with electricity.
"We're lost," Akira whispered, uneasy.
He approached slowly, like a predator studying its prey. Each step he took seemed to resonate like thunder in my mind.
"Who are you really?" he asked, his voice low, almost a growl.
I stared at him, trying to hide the panic. "I... I already said, I don't remember. My head is confused."
He came even closer, so close that I could feel the heat of his presence. His intensity was suffocating, almost oppressive. He tilted his head, as if he wanted to see inside me.
"Get up," he ordered, his voice laden with authority.
My throat went dry, but I obeyed, even with my legs trembling. He came so close that my whole body tensed, and then he did something that caught me by surprise: he leaned in and smelled my neck.
My breath hitched, and Akira was on high alert.
"You don't smell like amnesia," he murmured, his eyes still fixed on me.
His hand went to my waist, and he squeezed lightly, as if he was testing my reaction. My body stiffened. He brushed a strand of hair away from my face, examining my head, but there were no more injuries.
"If you're lying to me, know that I'll feed you to my dogs," he said, coldly, almost casually.
My heart almost stopped.
"If you have something to say, you better say it now, because, either way, I'm going to find out who you are."
My mouth almost opened, but I closed it again. I needed to maintain my charade. I needed to buy time.
"I... don't remember." My voice came out firmer than I expected.
He studied me for another moment, with those relentless eyes, before stepping back abruptly.
"We'll find out if you're telling the truth," he growled before leaving the room, leaving me there, alone and trembling.
"We need to get out of here, Calyssa," Akira insisted. "He won't stop until he finds out who we are."
I knew she was right. I needed a plan. And fast.
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