The Alpha’s Forgotten Mate

CHAPTER3

CHAPTER THREE: The Broken Heart

Aria's POV

Aria’s feet were barely in motion as she walked away from the pack’s main house, each step feeling heavier than the last. The night air bit at her skin, but it didn’t matter. She could barely feel it over the throbbing ache in her chest.

Her mind was still spinning.

Kiera

Alive

Dominic’s new love.

The words echoed in her thoughts like a haunting melody she couldn’t escape. The small, innocent girl who had been her world for so many years had returned to her, but she didn’t even recognize me.

The realization cut deeper than anything Aria had experienced in her life.

Her sister had been lost in the river, but what was worse now? The fact that Kiera was standing in front of her alive, breathing, yet a stranger to her? Or the fact that Kiera, with those soft, confused eyes, didn’t remember her at all?

Aria’s chest tightened. The bond they once shared, that silent understanding between sisters, was gone. And in its place? A void that stretched deeper than any river.

Aria’s footsteps faltered as the door to the pack house slammed shut behind her. She couldn’t keep running, couldn’t keep hiding from what was happening.

“The truth”

It was out there now, in the open, and it felt like a jagged shard lodged in her chest.

Her vision blurred, and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, fighting against the emotions that were threatening to overtake her.

The starlit path in front of her seemed endless, and she found herself walking towards the woods, toward the very place she had taken Kiera all those years ago. The memory of that river, the way the current had swept her sister away, flooded her mind with guilt and regret.

"I didn’t save you," she thought bitterly, her heart aching with the weight of that truth. She had failed her sister once. Now, it seemed, she had failed again.

The sound of approaching footsteps made her freeze. The unmistakable rhythm of heavy boots on the forest floor, the scent of pine and leather.

Dominic…

Why is he here?

Aria didn’t want to face him. Didn’t want to hear him explain himself, didn’t want to listen to him tell her how Kiera had changed everything. But he had found her.

Dominic’s voice was low and controlled, the way it always was when he wanted to mask the emotions simmering beneath the surface.

"Aria, wait."

She didn’t turn around. Instead, she kept walking, though the tightness in her chest was only growing.

"Please," he added, his tone softer now, almost like a plea.

"Can we talk?"

Talk?

After everything that had just happened? What was there to talk about?

"You’ve said everything you needed to say, Dominic," Aria replied, her voice quieter than she meant it to be. She didn’t want him to hear the c***k in her words. Didn’t want him to see how fragile she was, how everything inside her had shattered the moment Kiera had walked into the room with him.

But of course, Dominic wasn’t going to let it end there.

"Aria," he said, his voice now right behind her. She felt his presence, like a weight on her shoulders, and though she tried to push him away, she couldn’t bring herself to walk faster.

"I didn’t know she was alive,"

He said softly,

His voice held a rare vulnerability.

"I thought she was dead. I thought I was holding you back. I never wanted to hurt you."

Aria stopped walking, but she didn’t turn to face him. Her hands curled into fists at her sides, her nails biting into her palms. She was furious, furious at him, at herself, at the cruel twist of fate that had brought them all back together.

She finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper. "You never wanted to hurt me, Dominic?

Then why did you?

She could feel him hesitate. He had never been good with emotions, never understood how to reach her. Aria knew that. And yet, in that moment, when he had hurt her the most, he stood there, unable to make it right.

"Everything was so... complicatedAria,

Dominic said, his voice rough.

"I didn’t know what to do. I don’t even know if I can do the right thing now."

Aria laughed out loud.

"The right thing?

The right thing would have been there for me, Dominic.

“ For us"

She finally turned to face him, her expression hardening. "You never were. Not when I needed you. And now, you’re telling me everything is complicated?"

Dominic’s, his face looking unreadable. He took a step forward, but Aria held her ground. She wasn’t going to let him get close to her, not now, not when everything was so wrong.

"I’ve never been good at this, Aria," he admitted quietly, his eyes softening just enough to reveal the pain behind his usual hard exterior. But I’m trying now. I am. Please... don’t shut me out.

Aria shook her head, the coldness in her chest growing.

"I can’t be what you want me to be anymore," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"I’m not the same person. "I can’t just pretend that everything’s okay when it isn’t."

With that, she turned and walked into the forest, leaving Dominic standing there, his words hanging in the cold air between them.

Kiera's POV

Kiera watched the door close behind Aria, the sound echoing in her chest like the toll of a bell. She hadn’t expected to feel so... unsettled. So lost.

She didn’t know what to make of the woman who claimed to be her sister. Everything about her was so familiar and so strange all at once. Her face. Her voice. The way she carried herself there was a depth to her, something Kiera couldn’t quite grasp. Something she knew she should.

But the thing that unsettled Kiera the most was the pain in Aria’s eyes. It was physical, and it was real. It was a pain that felt so deep, so ancient, it left Kiera reeling.

Why did she feel like she had lost something so important? Why was it that the sight of Aria, standing in front of her with such open sorrow, felt like a part of her own soul was missing?

Dominic’s presence behind her was like a dark cloud that hung over her every thought, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder in a protective, possessive gesture. He hadn’t let go of her since Aria left, but there was something in his touch that felt... hollow.

"Are you okay?" Dominic asked softly, his voice almost tender.

Kiera glanced up at him, her brow furrowed. "I don’t know," she admitted quietly. "I don’t know what’s going on." She stared at him, her chest tight with confusion. "She said... she said she was my sister."

Dominic’s grip on her shoulder tightened slightly, but there was no warmth in his eyes, only a guarded resolve.

"You don’t remember her, do you?"

Kiera shook her head, her voice a whisper. "No. I don’t remember her at all."

She paused, looking out into the forest where she imagined Aria had gone. "But I feel like I should. Like there’s something I’ve forgotten."

Dominic said coldly.

"Maybe it’s time you remember."