Having stormed from Micah’s home, I did not know where to go, nor what to do. Usually, when angry, I would allow Ciro out for a run, but right now I did not have my wolf to turn to. My wolf was missing in action. He had retreated, struggling with the situation we found ourselves in. Leaving me to battle it out alone. I felt I was drifting out to sea, barely keeping my head above the water right now. I did not know what to do.This was not a position I had ever been in before, and was never a position I expected myself to be in. So, it was not one I had prepared for. When I met Aria, I thought all my problems were solved. That my life was complete. Happiness and contentment had filled me and taken over... everything I had wanted was there, and my wolf felt the same. And now it felt like it had all been torn out from under me with no warning... had I done something wrong?! Did I deserve this pain and the suffering?I contemplated heavily as I wandered aimlessly through the familiar pat
It took no time at all for me to reach the training field. And as I sat on the wall that was close to it to wait for the imminent arrival of my Dad, my heart felt heavy. I didn’t know what to do anymore. I didn’t even know if I was able to carry on.I had always felt so capable as a man... as a werewolf. So strong. Confident. And when I came of age, my wolf only enhanced that. A Beta wolf was only second in strength to the Alpha, and my wolf, Ciro, was certainly a wolf to be proud of. A wolf to fear. So feeling the loss of him right now was like a bullet through my heart. Part of me felt like I was missing, and I did not know how to cope with that. It did not feel real. Was this what it felt like to fall apart?“Rocco?” I heard my Dad speak before I had even heard him approach, which told me just how distracted I was. Distracted by my own thoughts, and also clearly weaker in my abilities due to the lack of my own wolf right now.I looked up and met his concerned gaze. A sympathetic lo
I lay under the trees watching the night sky, stars seeming to move slowly above me. The peace and tranquility of the surrounding forest was almost calming. I felt content out here. I loved the feel of the forest floor under me, and the security I felt. With no other person around for miles. It felt the safest place to be.The sky was a deep shade of almost a deep blue-purple color, lit up by the gentle glow of the moon. I could see almost the full moon in the small clearing I had brought myself to, and it fascinated me. Something so far away, yet it brought light to our planet. It was truly beautiful lighting up our night sky and I felt blessed to be able to see it so clearly out here…As I lay admiring the natural beauty of the sky of stars, there was a rustle in the trees nearby, causing me to turn my head. I knew people did not come out here, so I did not feel panicked. This was my safe space, and I was sure it was nothing more than a small animal exploring the forest. But I hear
I pressed my eyes shut once more, urging sleep to wash over me once again. Perhaps if I could fall asleep then the dream would return... continue where it had left off, and maybe I could discover who the mystery man had been. The man who had shifted in front of me. Would he reveal himself to me again? I desperately wanted to know who this man was and if I knew him. He felt familiar. I needed to see him. Then I would know. I squeezed my eyes together even tighter, willing the sleep to come. But the harder I tried, the more wide awake I seemed to feel, and the more frustrated I became. It seemed I would not get my answer...I opened my eyes with a deep sigh, looking up at the ceiling, my mind running over the dream. Trying to relive every aspect. But, I came back to the same thoughts. It was too familiar. Something seemed recognizable about where I was. About the wolf. Like I had been around them before... Those blue eyes... yet my mind did not seem to want to work properly right now, a
After a long talk with my father, whilst walking through our pack, it was decided I would stay with my parents until the doctors decided Aria was able to move home. The thing I feared most about this plan was that even if they say she is well enough to be discharged, what if she continues to have no knowledge of me… of our home… then where would that leave her when it came to returning home with me? For I saw the look of fear in her eyes when I reached to touch her, and it was not a look I wanted to see again. So forcing her to return to a house with me… a house she would not know, with a man she deemed a stranger… well, it was asking for failure, wasn’t it?I had tossed and turned most of the night in the bed within the spare room, before taking a shower and edging my way downstairs, hearing my parents talk within the kitchen as I approached.“I don’t know Lucia. I will suggest he heads to work.” I heard my Dad saying to my Mum, and I had a feeling I had caught the end of a conversat
Sitting in my office, I was surprised by just how easily I had slipped back into work. My mind had repeatedly fallen to Aria, but I pushed her to one side as best as I could and focused on my responsibilities as the Beta. I needed to prove to myself I was still worthy of the title, because in recent weeks, maybe longer, I had allowed my pack to slip down my list of priorities, and that was not how a Beta should be.I was relieved that Micah and our pack Gamma, Madden, along with our warrior teams, had worked so hard after the attack to reassess all aspects of pack safety and security, all while rebuilding the pack, until our pack was now probably close to being the safest it had ever been. Maybe we had been lapsed. I didn’t like to think of that, but either way, unfortunately, many packs are weak to rogue attacks. It had just been the attack that came to our pack had been one of the worst ones…The door of my office opened, for Micah to walk in, mug of cof
I had been assisted once again to the washroom by the nurse, to be allowed a bath. The warmth of the water as it flowed over my body instantly made me feel more at ease. Relaxed and even a little calmer, which seemed crazy given my circumstances at present. But, I always loved a bath, and they were always my go to for relaxation. Admittedly, I would prefer to be in my own home and not in a hospital relaxing, but right now it appeared I could not be fussy. I was lucky they were allowing me this indulgence. And, even luckier that the nurse had been incredibly sweet and added some of the toiletries that the blue-eyed Beta had brought in for me, adamant they were my favorite, to turn my bath into a bubble bath. And I was able to relax.The delightful scent had filled my senses as I had laid in the bath, my eyes closed as I rested my head against the bath. I could understand why the Beta may suggest this as a favorite fragrance, it certainly did smell appealing… I had no recollection of i
As I looked at Micah, his words echoed through my mind. Aria had noticed I was not there then… that had to be a good thing, right? My mind began to spin with the possibilities of what it could mean... No. I could not allow my hopes to be built up. Anytime that happened of late, they seemed to be knocked down tenfold. Maybe it was more an observation that I was not there, rather than she was missing me…“Rocco, you have that in deep thought look on your face. Don’t overthink it. She appears to be missing you and I thought you would want to know. The doctor let me know, and I thought it might pick you up a little to know that being away is obviously working, because she is asking for you.” Micah said, that smile lingering once again upon his lips. He was evidently seeing this as a good thing.“She is asking after me?” I queried, noticing what he was telling me had slightly altered now. “You said she asked if I was okay.”“Details, Roc, details. All that matters is she was worried about
I woke up, my whole body aching. Wondering why the hell I was laying on the grass at the side of a road. A road the more I tried to look around me looked like the North Road outside of the pack. Why would I be here? A felt a sharp stinging to the base of my neck was irritating me, but then, the whole of my body was irritating me in one way or another right now. I had clearly been injured, I just did not know how...My eyes flickered between open and closed, trying to adjust to the light, and I could see the concerned eyes of my husband and mate, Rocco looking down at me. His icy-blue eyes darting over me... the eyes I adored so much... eyes that had drawn me in the first time I had seen them; and eyes that were always able to win me over... he looked worried right now though. What had happened?“What happened baby?” I whispered, hoping he may be able to give me the answers I was looking for. But my words caused his brows to furrow as I continue. “I ache all over!” I informed him, in
Ciro whimpered heavily in my mind at the sight of our mate in the arms of our friend, but I don’t think it was because of the fact she was being held by another man. A man that by all accounts would be considered stronger and more powerful than me, it was the way she had looked at us. The way her eyes lit up when they met mine…But, I knew I did not have time for emotion right now. Aria needed to know we were here for her. “Tesoro, are you okay?” I reached for her, but those beautiful eyes flickered closed once more, as Micah rushed her away from the car, just as a rush of heat englufed us. Flames were taking over the car, and we had done exactly the right thing in following my gut and getting Aria out when we did. A moment longer and it would have been too late. The thought does not bear worth thinking about...That heat from the increasing fire behind us was radiating across our bodies, so we moved faster. Micah using all her had to increase the speed with which he was moving, know
My eyes are darting over the damage to the car. This is not how I had wanted to find my mate. I had wanted to find her well. Be able to convince her to return with me. Tell her what a fool I had been. Knowing that in spite of everything she had fallen for me again meant the world to me. We had found one another once and fallen for one another, and in a cruel twist of fate, she had forgotten me, and fallen for me all over again... I had been blessed, not just once but twice. I could not let my girl die.I looked to Micah. His eyes were doing the exact same thing as mine. I could see the concern across the face of my friend, as his dark eyes took in the damage to the car. There has certainly been some sort of impact to it. Aria had to have been thrown around inside of her car. My heart ached at the thought that my mate may well be injured further... but I noticed my friend's eyes are currently lingering on that leaking fuel. The thing that is concerning me the most right now…‘We need t
Ciro ran. Faster than I think I have felt my wolf run before. His feet pounding along the floor of the packlands until we had crossed the borders onto the lands beyond. Micah’s wolf, Zane, had wasted no time in shifting and running alongside me. But I was paying little attention to the wolf by our side. My focus was through the eyes of my wolf. Looking for the car accident that my Alpha had mentioned.The car accident that my mate may well be laying in…The thought that Aria could be laying injured in a car somewhere tore at my heart strings. Knowing that she had been fleeing me when that had potentially happened made it even worse. This was not how my life was meant to go. Never how I envisioned meeting my fated mate would be. It had been enough of a shock to disover she was a human. But, I had thought I was strong enough to protect her. A matebond is everything to a wolf; and I truly thought ours would be. Evidently, I was wrong. I had
I stood from the bed, needing some space, but Micah blocked my way. “You think I am going to allow you to get away with this? Abandoning your fated when she needs you the most? That is not what we do, Rocco and you know it is not.” he demanded. “You know this is not the way to do this, Rocco. Yes, this has got tough, but as her mate you deal with the tough as well as the good. That is part of being a mate.”I shook my head at my Alpha, not willing to get into a grand debate over it all. This was not his choice anyway. My mind was made up. Aria had evidently made her choice the moment she wrote that letter. She had been planning to find a way to escape. She had made the decision in her mind that all of this was some sort of game. I don’t think there would ever be a way for her to trust me. I had known deep down all along, I would never gain my Aria back. The one I had fallen for was gone to me. The one in front of me all these we
I picked the second piece of paper up, and began to read. My heart aching at the thought my mate had been developing feelings for me once again and I had been oblivious to it, despite it being what I had hoped for all along. Or I had simply been too scared to notice…Well, you did not come back to me. I waited all day, and a great portion of the night in the hope you would come to see me. Not just upon one day, but many. Yet on each and every single one of those days, as my hope slipped away, all I received was a brief moment when you came in to place a coffee upon my table, before making some fandangle excuse before rushing off again. Anyone would think you did not want to be around me Rocco. And I have still to understand why - believe me I have tried. My heart dropped at her words. I imagined her sittng in her room trying to understand what was happening. Why I had been avoiding contact with her. I had stayed away, not because I did not want to be around her, but because I was wo
I looked to the nurse with confusion. “Letters?” I asked, and she smiled at me, all fear that had been displayed upon her face moments ago now gone, as she nodded at me.“Yes, Beta. I have not looked at them, but she must have been thinking of you to be writing to you these last few days. I think she missed your visits.” She suggested, and my heart twisted at her words. My rushed calls had been causing her pain? I know the reason behind my swift visits to the hospital was more to avoid my discomfort but I believed it would help Aria too. I thought she would appreciate the space. The awkward tension between us…“Do you think so?” I asked quietly, and the nurse smiled again.“I think the fact she was asking for paper each day to write to you says a lot, do you not, Beta?” she said, offering me the letters again. I tentatively took them, before sitting myself upon the edge of Aria’s bed, my heart inexplicably pounding as I looked down to the papers within my hands. “I will leave you in p
I paced the corridors of the hospital. Mindlink after mindlink being sent to as many people as I could think of to assist in my hunt for Aria. I needed as many of the senior people within pack, past and present to know she was missing. They needed to begin a hunt for her. My mate had been safe whilst we knew where she was. She had been safe within our care. Now, we did not know where she was. She was still healing. I needed to know she would be okay...I needed to know where Aria was. None of this made sense. My mind was spinning with the possibilities of where my mate could have gone. She had been mere steps away. Uable to walk at speed. I did not understand how she had got away from me. I cursed myself for even talking to those doctors now. I should have gone after her. I should never have given her the time she needed to calm down. Giving her space had been the thing that may have lost me my mate...There was no plan to my search. It was a franctic dash back and forth down as many
I had my outburst and I walked away. Admittedly, not all that fast, but I did my best to storm away. I half expected Rocco to rush after me, but instead I heard muffled voices behind me, making me assume he and the medical staff were discussing things… or more specifically, me. I had most definitely given them plenty to talk about.But, I had no intention of turning back. I kept walking, the pain in my legs still there, but not quite as bad as it had been, which I have to say was a relief. Each step I made I expected Rocco to appear, but he never did, and as I reached the bottom of the corridor, where it veered off into two directions, I was surprised to say the least. I had most certainly exected him to be here by now, it would not have taken him much to catch up with me.I turned to the right, opting for that corridor because it was the emptier of the two, hoping there may be an empty room I may walk past that I would be able to hide in for a time, until I was