Six

Ten Years Later

/-Melucia-/

I woke up to a steady beep and a sharp sterile smell. My head was throbbing painfully and I felt a dull ache behind my eyes. I shifted a little, but everything felt heavy, like I was weighed down.

I could hear voices whispering, but I couldn’t make out the words. I decided to force my eyelids open but I immediately shut it. The lights were too bright, the ceiling above me was white and I figured that it was a hospital.

I turned my head just enough to see a machine blinking next to me, with wires connecting it to my arm. My throat felt dry, and I swallowed, but it didn’t help.

Why was I here? What happened?

The throbbing in my head made it hard to think, and I squinted at the blurry surroundings, struggling to piece together anything that made sense.

“Thank you nurse,” a woman squealed. “Oh, thank goddess.”

“I’ll get the doctor,” I heard a younger woman say.

Nothing felt right. I felt like I’d been pulled out of one life and shoved into another because I couldn’t grasp any details. My head was spinning, and every shift I made seemed to make the pain worse.

“Annabelle?” someone called from beside me in a gentle voice.

Annabelle? That wasn’t my name, was it?

I tried to speak again, but my throat felt dry, like I hadn’t used it in days. I blinked again, eyes moving from face to face. I saw a man and an older woman, and I noticed they were watching me, concerned expressions on each of them, but I didn’t recognize any of them.

“What happened?” I tried to ask, but my voice came out hoarse and unrecognizable.

“She's waking up,” the man said with a wide smile.

“You have some explaining to do, young lady,” the older woman said. “Look how much injuries you sustained because you were trying to get away.”

Get away? Injury? What were they talking about?

I tried to sit up, but the dizziness hit me hard, sending the room spinning. A sudden rush of nausea followed, and I collapsed back into the bed, pressing my hand to my forehead, trying to calm myself.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a man stepped into the room. I opened my eyes and looked at him with a sigh, praying it was a doctor. But my breath caught in my throat when I saw the tall man. He had an imposing build and his presence was heavy in the room.

His blue eyes were the first thing I caught my attention —cold and sharp, like they could see right through me. I maintained eye contact but noticed that he was staring at me with anger and… disappointment.

“Annabelle,” he called in a deep baritone voice. “How dare you abandon my sons?”

Sons? What was he talking about?

My mind was already a blur, so none of his words made sense.

I didn’t even know who this man was, but something in my gut told me that he was important. It was quite obvious from the way the man and woman by my side lowered their heads.

"You didn’t have to leave them by themselves," he went on with his accusations. "If you thought spending time was a chore, all you had to do was say so. You are not a child!"

His words hit me like cold water, but they didn’t connect to anything real. I wanted to protest, to tell him I didn’t know what he was talking about, but my voice wouldn’t come.

I looked up at him, and despite the confusion, I noticed how striking he was. The way his jaw tightened, the way his broad shoulders held tension…It was impossible to ignore.

I didn’t know why he was furious, didn’t know who I was supposed to be at that moment. But I knew one thing for sure—I didn’t know him.

The older woman beside my bed gently cleared her throat, throwing me a glance before turning to the mysterious man. Her face was tense, eyes pleading as she walked over to him.

“Please,” she whispered, casting a worried glance back at me. “Can we talk in private? Just over there?”

He didn’t budge, his cold eyes fixed on me. His gaze was so sharp, it felt like it could peel away my skin and see everything I was trying to understand. For a moment, it felt like he was thinking about it. But finally, with a reluctant sigh, he let her guide him a few steps away.

Their voices was low, but not enough to keep me from hearing them.

“The doctor said she’d suffered a serious blow to the head” she began, but he quickly cut her off

“How’s that my problem?” he spat in a harsh voice. “Just because she doesn’t want to grow up and be responsible, doesn’t mean my sons have to bear the brunt.”

“She’s hurt,” the woman said desperately. “Please calm down, Alpha.”

Alpha? I thought, looking him over as he turned and glared at me.

What was all this talk of abandonment and consequences?

I felt him watching me and I looked up to meet his gaze. He didn’t look pleased at all, his eyes were colder than before. “You’ll be hearing from me,” he said finally. He didn’t wait for a response before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind him with a hard, echoing thud.

The woman let out a shaky breath and returned to my side, staring at me with moist eyes. She sat down and looked at me with a mix of sadness and frustration.

“Why did you do such a thing?” Her voice broke. “Why would you just leave them?”

I could only stare at her because I didn’t even know what she was talking about.

“I…” My voice was barely there. “I don’t know.”

She shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. “You’ve always been difficult, but this…” She wiped her face with trembling fingers. “This was too much.”

I opened my mouth, searching for words that wouldn’t come. My mind was a blank, a swirling mess of fear and confusion.

Why couldn’t I remember? I didn’t know who I was and I didn’t know what I’d done. And that terrified me more than anything else.

“Please, get me a doctor,” I whimpered.