Chapter 66
“I would rather spend one lifetime with you, than face all the ages of this world alone.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
Rose's POV
“It is possible that Aiden’s marking is what opened the block of memories,” Dr. Danvers said, going over my reports and brain scans.
He looked up at me intently;I was holding Aiden’s hand happily as we sat in the doctor's office. “The brain is a powerful thing. You didn’t want Alistair going through your mind so your subconscious purposefully locked parts of your mind away to protect the memories from him.”
“But why the entire previous year?” I queried. “It’s an oddly specific amount of time when I think about it…” I trailed off.
“One of the things you wanted to hide was the details of yours and Aiden’s relationship?” Dr. Danvers inquired, peering at me intently over the bridge of his nose. “More specifically, you didn’t want him to realize you were pregnant.”
I nodded. I’d already told them that Lexia had lied to Alistair about Aiden being intimate with me.
In hindsight, I suspected that Lexia had knownI was pregnant.
I shared my suspicions with Aiden who had acknowledged that it was a definite possibility.
And even though he didn’t like it, I made him realize that he owed Lexia for trying to protect me and his unborn child from Alistair.
Dr. Danvers’ eyes trailed to Aiden. “You returned the same month Rose’s memories were wiped back to. Maybe…maybe it was her mind’s way of completely erasing you? The two of you must have interacted at some level upon Alpha Aiden’s return,” Dr. Danvers stated the words carefully.
“We saw each other at the diner,” I said in realization.
I turned to look at Aiden. “My brain specifically blocked out everything regarding you in case Alistair picked up on something. I was in so far over my head,” Iconfessed.
“And with the whole mess with Evercore, I think I was also afraid there might be something in my memories that might tell him where the report was.”
I’d already discussed with Aiden the entire story about Evercore. He told me he was just as clueless as I was, stating his father hadn’t left anything alluding to Evercore or an EIA report anywhere in his study.
“Plus you wanted to protect the information that you were pregnant,” Dr. Danvers added gently. “So your brain went into auto-pilot mode, locking away things that were deemed sensitive information. And the most effective way was to just erase the entire past year.”
“One of the most wonderful years of my entire life,” I said quietly.
I looked over at Aiden affectionately.
But Aiden looked at me grimly. “If you ever risk your life like that again, I’ll go insane. I don’t think my heart could stand it again.”
“I love you, Aiden, but we have a responsibility to our pack,” Ireplied. “That's why I’m the luna and you’re the alpha. Risking our life for the pack is kinda part of our job description.”
“It’s my job description, not yours,” Aiden retorted impulsively. “You’re supposed to let me and my warriors protect you because everyone knows I’ll go crazy if anything happens to you.”
“You can’t expect me to just sit by and not help. Doing things for the good of the pack is important." I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms.
“Then maybe I’ll quit being the alpha because nothing is more important than you, Rose,” Aiden spoke with flames in his eyes.
I opened my mouth to argue but Dr. Danvers cut in to stop our argument.
The weary doctor must have already realized that arguing was apparently an integral part in his alpha and luna's relationship.
And Dr. Danvers guessed it right. Because some people talked through their feelings, but not me and Aiden.
And even though this might be, to an extent, therapeutic for us, we stopped our argument to not make Dr. Danverswitness a shouting match between us in his office.
“In other news, the witch healer has arrived. She’s examining young Dylan as we speak. Afterwards, she wished to speak with the alpha.”
“Took her long enough,” Aiden responded churlishly, easily changing the topics to avoid fighting with me. “She was supposed to come in January. It’s March now.”
“Well, she wanted to come sooner but got held up with something,” Dr. Danvers mumbled. He looked around the room with shifty eyes. “I’ll let her explain.”
I had expected an old lady with possibly a few warts on her nose. Aria, the witch healer, was anything but old. She looked to be in her early thirties and had midnight black hair with purple streaks. She was busty and tall, seeming to tower over me.
Tony couldn’t keep his eyes off Aria's huge chest.
“I’m sorry for the delay,” Aria admitted, her kohl-rimmed eyes wide and apologetic. “I had some things to take care of and the previous luna’s sister told me that you…” Her eyes landed on me. “…could help me.”
Aria took out what looked to be a small, wooden grandfather clock.
At once I got a feeling of foreboding from just looking at it. The gold pendulum wasn’t moving, but the clock kept ticking, keeping time. Aria opened the back of the clock, showing them the various gears embedded in the back.
“What is that?” I queried.
“I found it in my travels,” Aria revealed. “It was found in an ancient witch's coven excavation site before I came here. Judging from the pictures drawn in the witch's tomb this was extracted from, it has something to do with the ability to change things that happened in the past.”
The raven-haired witch looked at me expectantly.
“You want me to figure it out by talking with the ancestors,” I deduced.
Aria nodded eagerly. “It’s an amazing discovery for us. It would be wonderful to know how to use it. I could present it at our next convention.”
I took the clock and decided to do some sleuthing of my own. My interest had definitely been piqued. Aiden took the clock from me, looking at it carefully. I didn't miss the tiny gleam in his eye as he ran a finger across the edges of the time piece.
Rose's POV
It was the first time I’d be conversing with the elders since becoming mated to Aiden again.
He had only just mated and marked me a few days ago.
So, when Ifelt the burst of warmth at my fingertips, it was comforting.
Like I was meeting old friends again. And they all wanted to know the reason for such a long absence.
I went into detail, explaining everything about Alistair’s plot and the events following it.
“The EIA report is in a false bottom in the safe in Aiden’s room,” Alpha Austin supplied the information.
“The original must have been lost in my accident, but I left a copy there. It was the only place no one else except Josie had access too. Tell Aiden to get it submitted so our lands will be safe.”
I started a little bit, recalling that I'd opened the safe multiple times to get out the expensive jewelry Josie had insisted on handing down to me as heirlooms.I'd never thought to look there in a million years.
“Now our lands have joined with the Silver Creek Pack, yes?” Diane’s abrupt voice entered the fray.
“We should merge the pack names, for unification purposes,” another voice spoke up.
“No! We should make them change their pack name to ours!” A third older and gruffer voice spoke up.
I hesitated before telling them Aiden’s decision.
“Aiden decided to let Dylan rule the Silver Creek Pack. He doesn’t want to alienate them further or make them feel like they’re being punished for Alistair’s mistakes.
They will maintain their pack autonomy, but Aiden has final veto on major decisions.
He’s merged the training sessions so that the two packs will train together from now on.
Once Dylan is older, he can take over the Silver Creek Pack formally. ”
A few ancestors grumbled. But Alpha Austin voiced pride in his son’s decision.
“I think for now, that’s the best decision,” Alpha Austin spoke.
“I have an ancient witch relic in my possession,” Ifinally informed the elders. “It’s a grandfather clock as big as my forearm. There are round gears in the back each labeled, year, month, and day.”
There was a collective gasp from some of the ancestors. Others were blank.
“You must make sure it does not get into the wrong hands. Hide it away!” Diane screamed so loudly I thought my eardrums might start to bleed.
“It’s a time traveling artifact,” I said to Aiden and Tony, setting it down on the table in front of them.
“You turn the gears clockwise to go forward, counterclockwise to go back in time.” I looked at Aiden gravely, and I moved the gear for years in ten full rotations to demonstrate.
“Imagine what one could do with an ability like that. But it only takes you forward or backward for twenty-four hours. Then when it brings you back to the present time, one day has already passed. If you’re alive in the future you choose to visit, for the sake of paradox avoidance and there being two yous in one specific time, your consciousness travels into your future or past self.
Your consciousness or…soul ends up switching places with your present and past selves. ”
"And if you're dead in the time you wish to travel back to...or forward too?" Aiden asked.
"Then your entire body either makes the trip or the device glitches and doesn't take you all the way," Iconfirmed. I bit my lip. "It's a really risky venture, using this. I suspect it’s why it was buried away with the witch in her tomb.”
“Oh, hell.” Tony shook his head. “Think of it, you could travel to the future, at any point in time really, and find out about stocks hitting all-time highs.” He whistled. “A person could amass a fortune from investments doing this.”
“Or…” Aiden began resolutely. “Someone could go back in time and fix their mistakes.”
His eyes were hard as he stared at the clock.