“I can even restore her wolf,” Lyra added casually, though I could tell she’d saved this as her trump card. “Her condition is psychosomatic, triggered by emotional trauma. Remove the trauma, restore the wolf.”
My heart skipped a beat. Kira’s wolf–the essential part of her that had been silenced by my betrayal–could be restored? The temptation of that alone nearly overwhelmed my misgivings.
“Of course,” Lyra continued, her tone lightening, “everything has a price.”
I felt my shoulders tense. “What price?”
“This kind of memory reset isn’t permanent,” she said dismissively. “It would need to be refreshed every few years or so.”
The implication hit me immediately. “So I’d be permanently under your control.”
“Not control,” she corrected, wagging a finger. “Cooperation. I help you maintain your perfect marriage, and you help me with… certain small favors.”
The very idea of manipulating Kira’s memories made me feel sick. To rob her of her autonomy, to trick her into loving me again–it would be the ultimate betrayal, worse than anything I’d already done to her. And yet, a small, desperate part of me considered it for a heartbeat.
I thought of Kira’s face when she smiled, before I destroyed everything. I thought of her voice, soft with love, whispering my name. I thought of her wolf, running alongside mine under the full moon.
Then I thought of her strength, her dignity even when facing death from the Bondbreak Syndrome. Her determination to know the truth, no matter how painful.
“No,” I said firmly. “I won’t do that to Kira.”
Lyra’s expression shifted to surprise. “You’d rather lose her? Watch her fall into someone else’s arms?”
“If that’s her choice, yes.” My voice was steady now. “I’d rather respect her than deceive her.”
“How touching,” Lyra mocked. “But what about her? Doesn’t she deserve the chance to choose happiness? Even happiness that doesn’t remember pain?”
“You think a life built on lies can bring true happiness?” I countered.


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