Kaden’s POV
The moment I saw her face, my entire body went cold. For several seconds, I couldn’t move or even think properly. I simply stared at the woman sleeping against my chest, wondering whether I was still dreaming. I blinked several times, hoping that when I opened my eyes again, I would see Rola lying beside me, but nothing changed. The woman in my arms was Rebecca.
Her long chocolate-brown hair was scattered across my chest and the pillow, and her face was turned slightly toward me. I slowly lifted my head and looked around the bedroom, trying to understand what was happening. The wedding decorations were still there, beautiful flowers covered the tables, and our wedding clothes lay scattered across the floor. Everything looked exactly as it had the previous night, except for the woman sleeping beside me.
What the hell was going on? How could Rebecca possibly be in my bed when I’d married Rola yesterday?
I looked down at her again, searching her face for any sign that my eyes were deceiving me. But I knew that face. Goodness, I knew it better than I wanted to admit. There had been a time when I’d spent countless nights watching Rebecca sleep, memorizing the little things about her that nobody else would ever notice. I knew the gentle curve of her lips, the way her eyelashes rested against her cheeks, and the small frown that sometimes appeared between her eyebrows when she slept. There was absolutely no mistaking her for someone else.
Suddenly, a strange pressure formed inside my head, and I frowned as something shifted in my memory. I remembered standing at the altar yesterday, watching Rola walk toward me in her beautiful wedding gown. But then the image changed. The woman approaching me no longer had silver-blonde hair. Instead, I saw chocolate-brown curls beneath her veil, and the person escorting her wasn’t King Adrian anymore. It was Lady Maria.
What the fuck?
I sat up abruptly as more memories came rushing back. I remembered taking Rebecca’s hand at the altar, exchanging vows with her, and placing a wedding ring on her finger. I remembered kissing her after the priest pronounced us husband and wife, and even the reception afterward. Every memory I’d had of Rola was now showing me Rebecca instead.
"No..." I muttered, pressing a hand against my forehead.
How was this possible? I’d seen Rola yesterday. I’d heard her voice, recognized her scent, and held her in my arms. At least, that was what I’d believed. But now I could clearly remember Rebecca standing beside me throughout the entire ceremony.
Before I could make sense of anything, Rebecca stirred beside me. She moved closer, resting her hand against my stomach as she made a sleepy sound.
"Melvin..." she murmured.
I froze. She thought I was Melvin? I stared at her in disbelief, but before I could say anything, she slowly opened her eyes. A faint smile appeared on her lips, only to disappear the moment she looked at my face.
"Kaden?" she whispered.
"Rebecca..." I answered, although I barely recognized my own voice.
She immediately sat up, clutching the sheets against her chest as she stared at me. "What the hell are you doing here? Where’s Melvin?"
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Rebecca looked around the bedroom, her confusion growing as she noticed the wedding decorations and our clothes scattered across the floor. Then she looked down at herself and lifted the sheet slightly.
"What the fuck?" She quickly covered herself again before turning toward me. "Why am I naked? Kaden, what the hell is going on?"
"I don’t know," I answered, still struggling to understand everything myself.
"You don’t know?" she repeated incredulously. "I went to bed with Melvin last night! How the hell did I end up here with you?"
"Rebecca, I woke up expecting to see Rola beside me, not you!"
She opened her mouth to respond but suddenly stopped. Her expression changed, and she pressed a hand against her forehead as though something had just struck her. I watched her carefully, recognizing what was happening. The memories were returning to her, too.
For several seconds, she remained completely still. Then she slowly lowered her hand and stared at me. "No fucking way..."
"Rebecca?"
She shook her head. "I just remembered something. Yesterday, when I walked down the aisle, I thought Melvin was standing at the altar. But now..." She stopped, looking at me in disbelief. "It was you. You were the one I married."
I swallowed hard. "I remember the same thing."
"What?"
"I thought I was marrying Rola, but now I remember you standing beside me."
Rebecca stared at me for several seconds before looking down at her left hand. The wedding ring was still sitting on her finger, and I recognized it immediately. It was the same ring I’d personally chosen for Rola. She grabbed my hand and examined the wedding band on my finger.
"Holy shit!" she exclaimed. "I remember putting this ring on your finger!" ℴ
I looked at her, unable to say anything.
Rebecca released my hand and ran her fingers through her hair. "What the fuck happened yesterday? How did we end up marrying each other without even realizing it?"
"I don’t know, Rebecca. Something must have happened during the ceremony."
"Something?" She stared at me incredulously. "Kaden, we got married! I was supposed to marry Melvin, and you were supposed to marry Rola! How the hell did we end up together?"
I didn’t answer because I had no explanation. Then Rebecca suddenly looked toward the clothes scattered across the floor. Her gaze moved back to the bed, and I watched another realization cross her face.
"Oh, fuck..."
I knew exactly what she was thinking because the memories were returning to me, too. I remembered carrying her into the bedroom after the reception, kissing her, and spending the night with her. Every moment I’d believed I’d shared with Rola had actually been with Rebecca.
She turned toward me sharply. "Kaden, don’t tell me we..."
I swallowed. "Rebecca..."
"Did we have sex?"
I hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes."
She stared at me, looking completely horrified, before throwing her head back. "Oh, for fuck’s sake!"
I ran a hand down my face, unable to believe what was happening.
Rebecca looked at me again. "I remember everything! I remember you carrying me into this room, and I remember what happened afterward. But I swear to the Moon Goddess, I thought you were Melvin!"
"And I thought you were Rola!"
"Then how the hell did this happen?"
"I don’t know!"
Rebecca stared at me for another moment before throwing the sheets aside and getting out of bed. She immediately grabbed her wedding dress from the floor and held it against herself.
"Unbelievable!" she muttered, looking around for the rest of her clothes. "This is absolutely unbelievable!"
"Rebecca, where are you going?"
"To find Melvin, obviously!"
"You’re not going anywhere until we understand what happened."
She turned toward me so sharply that I almost regretted speaking. "Excuse me?"
"Rebecca, listen..."
"No, you listen to me, Kaden. I was supposed to wake up beside my husband this morning, not my ex-mate! I don’t know what kind of sick joke this is, but I’m not staying in this room for another second!"
I climbed out of bed and grabbed my trousers from the floor. "Do you think I wanted this to happen? I was supposed to marry Rola yesterday!"
"Then where the hell is she?"
Her question made me stop. Until that moment, I’d been so focused on finding Rebecca in my bed that I hadn’t properly considered what might have happened to Rola. And what about Melvin? If Rebecca and I had somehow ended up marrying each other, where had the other two been throughout the ceremony?
A terrible possibility suddenly crossed my mind, and I looked toward the door, my heart beginning to pound again.
Rebecca must have noticed the change in my expression because she stopped searching for her clothes. "Kaden?"
I turned toward her. "What if..." I swallowed. "What if the same thing happened to them?"
She stared at me, and for the first time since waking up, neither of us said anything. I could see that she was thinking about the same possibility, but before either of us could speak, a sudden knock came from the bedroom door.
Both of us turned toward it as another knock followed, much louder than the first. ℴ𝒗ⅇ𝑙.
"Kaden!"
It was Logan.
Before I could respond, he began pounding on the door again.
"Alpha Kaden! Open up! Kaden, open the door!"