Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1288 - 43 : Forgotten Again

*Noah*

My heart lurched as the feeling of having lost something settled in. Zara’s expression fell, and the feeling of being hollow inside was unbearable.

“This is very strange,” she said. “I’m not entirely sure why you aren’t remembering. We—”

She rubbed the back of her neck, hesitating for a moment.

“I can tell something is missing,” I said. “What happened?”

“We spent a lot of time together. And well, we’re mates. I–”

“We are?!” I asked, feeling delight rush through me. I walked over to Zara and took her into my arms, a familiar feeling now rushing over me.

She gave a soft chuckle, though when I pulled away, she looked into my eyes with concern. She reached up and cupped my cheek, furrowing her brow.

“You forgot the first time we found out, too, but then remembered upon drinking the tea. I’m going to go take a shower and think this over some more, maybe talk to Niva about the next steps....”

I nodded, that itch in the back of my mind not going away for one second. I couldn’t stand the feeling that something was missing.

While Zara went off to shower and probably think this over, I called Caleb and a few members of the Drogomor staff over for a discussion.

He was all smiles. “I am very happy for you, Noah. This situation is turning out to be wonderful for you, when it seemed like a rocky start at first.”

I slowly nodded. “It would be wonderful... if I could remember anything.”

He stared at me with a bewildered expression. “What?”

“I can’t remember anything from the previous day.”

“But when you drank the tea, it all came back, you’d said... yesterday,” he said. “We all thought it would be permanent.”

“It unfortunately wasn’t. I can sense something is missing, and now I know what. My heart feels like it is bleeding. I need to know what happened.”

A look of sadness crossed Caleb’s expression. “You could try the tea again, but if it didn’t work the first time....”

“It has to work this time,” I said firmly. “I’ll ask Zara when she’s finished with her shower.”

I ignored the glances Caleb gave with the rest of the staff, and the concerned expressions on their faces. A feeling of unease settled on me as I let out a soft sigh.

When Zara finished up her shower and came to see me in the living room, she stared at me with concern as well, but gave me another hug.

“We’ll figure something out, Noah,” she said softly.

“Caleb said the tea worked to clear my head up the last time, so let’s try that again.”

“Try that again?” she asked. “I don’t know the effects of an overdose. It could be dangerous.”

“Anything is better than not remembering. Please?”

She bit her lip, staring into my eyes with her gorgeous emerald orbs. The confirmation that she was my mate warmed my heart, and I wanted so badly to take her into a kiss.

But I wanted to remember what I’d forgotten first, so the feeling could be all the richer. I hated not being able to know what happened.

“How do we know it’ll stick this time?” she asked.

“We don’t, but it definitely won’t if we don’t try. I trust you completely, Zara.”

After another pause and a bit of pacing, Zara finally stopped in front of me. “Alright,” she said. “But the moment you feel off, you need to tell me, and we need to get you to a healer.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful, beautiful,” I said, winking and causing her to give a light chuckle.

With that, she entered the kitchen and began to brew some tea.

The warm, floral scent that wafted through the air made my heart leap with excitement. If that was the solution to the problem, I knew I would drink that tea all the time.

“Try to make a really strong dose, stronger than last time,” I said as she made it. “Maybe the effects will last.”

Zara peered over to me with a frown. “Alright, but only as strong as I feel most likely won’t cause a problem.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t want to worry you.”

The scent grew ever stronger, and when Zara placed the tea in front of me, I licked my lips. I gave her a dazzling smile that she couldn’t help but return.

Then, I drank up, eagerness rushing through me as I kept my eyes locked on Zara. It was as if a fog had lifted from my mind as my memories crystallized.

When I finished drinking, I let out a breath. “I remember, Zara. It worked,” I said, putting the tea down and taking my mate into my arms.

Zara’s arms wrapped around me as our lips met hungrily, the kiss aggressive as if making up for lost time and the worry I may not have remembered at all.

I practically dragged her to the couch, where I couldn’t feel enough of her, kissing her all over until eventually pausing to take a breath.

The overwhelming emotion was potent, and it took everything I had not to break down and hold her tightly for hours, never letting go.

“Our night of passion was magical,” I said. “I remember feeling every inch of you, driving into you as every beautiful whimper and moan escaped from your lips.”

Zara blushed deeply at this recollection, staring into my eyes and smiling brightly, an expression that completely lit up my world.

“It was amazing, Noah,” she said. “You are such a loving man, and you took care to fill me with not only pleasure, but love. I’m still somewhat worried about side effects, but I’m relieved that you can remember.”

“I want to have many more nights with you like that again,” I breathed. “We are together now, forever, my love. I... hope I can continue to remember.”

I swallowed, realizing that even with a stronger dose, the effects may not stick. I panicked slightly, wondering what could possibly be causing me to forget the most important realization of my life.

“Hey,” Zara said in a whisper. “If you do, we’ll handle it, somehow. Like you said, we’re together forever, Noah. This won’t get in the way of that.”

I smiled at her and leaned down to take her into a very tender kiss. Bliss enveloped me as her scent filled my senses, causing me to feel calm and relaxed here with her.

“Let’s spend another day together,” I decided. “Are you up for it, beautiful?”

Zara grinned at me. “I am. This place is beautiful, Noah, and I’ve had the time of my life here with you.”

With that, we went outside to wander the woods and get some fresh air for a while, planning on spending hours in the trees and crisp air of the forest.

After a few hours, though, something was wrong. My hand flew to my head, and I began to have trouble remembering what, exactly, we had done that morning... or for the past couple of days, for that matter.

“Noah? What’s wrong?” Zara asked with alarm.

“I... I’m not sure. My mind is a fog again. I can’t remember. Shit, I can’t remember. I can remember I couldn’t remember discovering our mate bond, but that’s it.”

“Well, it’s a step in the right direction that you can remember the nature of what you’re forgetting, but–”

“But I want to remember everything,” I said in a solemn tone. I looked into Zara’s eyes, my own wide with fear. “These memories, I want to cherish them, to remember every feeling of you.”

“I do as well, but at least you remember the fact that we have a mate bond.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I couldn’t remember something so important.

My wolf was going mad with the idea that something was wrong, that I should remember and yet couldn’t.

“We will figure something out, I know it,” she said confidently.

I shrugged. “We know one thing that works—the tea. Can you make a stronger dose?”

“No, let’s give the tea a rest for now, Noah.”

She leaned in to give me a soft kiss. I closed my eyes and accepted it, wrapping my arms around her and holding her for a moment.

“I really want to remember,” I whispered into her ear.

“It may not work this time, and we still don’t know the side effects. The tea didn’t last as long this time, and it was a stronger dose. How about this—”

She paused for a second, letting that sink in before continuing.

“I’m all ears.”

“I’d rather leave it for now, and we can research some other method, or at least figure out there won’t be harm to you if we keep increasing the dose,” she explained. “I’d rather have your true love and feelings without the mate bond than for you forgetting the most important moments that we share together. And I don’t want you to get hurt, either.”

I hesitated, but then I nodded. That was reasonable. After all, I’d been developing feelings for her prior to this for a while.

But I wondered whether the mate bond feeling was more potent, and I was missing something huge, a huge chunk of myself with her I really couldn’t be without.

When we returned home for lunch, I mulled that over in my head. Zara excused herself, citing nausea again, and I told her to go rest a bit.

Meanwhile, I remained in the kitchen, and my eyes fell upon the Luna Lilies that Zara had left on the counter for the tea.

I had to try one last time with a stronger brew to remember the mate bond.

So, quickly, I began to brew myself some tea. I was certain that the worst thing that could happen was losing my memory again. Other than that, I figured I would be fine.

The tea was very potent, but I masked the scent of it by also asking the staff to cook some garlic-butter pasta for lunch, which would lead to less suspicion from Zara.

When the tea was finished in a higher dose, I downed it, feeling tingles go through my body. Once again, the fog cleared, and once again, I remembered everything.

Letting out a sigh of sheer relief, I grinned and hurried to the room, where Zara was resting in bed with a book, per my suggestion.

“Hi Noah,” she said in surprise, no doubt noticing the spark in my eye.

“Hi, beautiful,” I said. I wondered about the best way to approach it. I knew for sure that I didn’t want to hide the truth from her, so I cleared my throat and widened my smile. “Good news.”

“What is it?”

“I know you told me not to, but I had to try one more time. I took a stronger dose of the tea and can now remember the mate bond.”

Zara gasped, widening her eyes. “Noah!” she said in a worried tone. “We still don’t know how much that could hurt your body! That was a really bad idea. There’s a reason I said no in the woods!”

My heart clenched as she scolded me, but I wasn’t regretful one bit. Stubborn in my ways, I glanced away from her, then back to her again. “I really wanted to remember,” I said in a soft, pleasing tone.

“I know, I know, but... please, promise me. Don’t do that again, no matter what, even if you can’t remember again. Alright?”

A silence stretched between us.

I wasn’t sure I could make that promise.