Current day Time felt frozen. His words continued to echo within my mind. Rocco had told me my parents had died. But a new thought developed alongside these words... did this mean he killed them? I felt a tear sliding down my cheek, and soon he was sitting alongside me on the bed, reaching out to wipe it away. I could see the anguish upon his face as he saw me cry. He did not like to see me in pain, it would seem. But while he wiped a tear away, more would come... attempting to wipe away each tear that followed. But they came too fast. Too often…I could not shake the thought that this man had played a part in the disappearance of my parents... the death of them that he spoke of. I most certainly did not want this monster to touch me… I began to thrash at his hands. Yet he continued to reach for me. Going from trying to wipe my tears away, to trying to pull me close to him.“No!” I sobbed. “No!” I slapped at his hands as he tried to embrace me.I could hear him sobbing now. “Aria, p
Morning had come around sooner than I had expected, despite barely sleeping in the uncomfortable hospital seat. Every noise that Aria made had me sitting up to check that she was okay, yet she had seemingly slept soundly. As soon as the clock upon the wall had reached a reasonable hour I had showered in the small washroom next to Aria’s room, and freshened myself up like I did most days. I think I have returned home only a number of times since the incident now, and that had been simply to bring clothes, or deal with things that were urgent. All of my duties as Beta were falling to the wayside right now, but thankfully, I had an understanding of Alpha and friend.My mind was upon bringing my mate back, and that had been all. Completing any duties would be an impossibility. I feared what was happening with my mate, and I needed to be close to her. In the time since the attack, our pack had begun to slowly return to itself. Any evidence of an attack was now gone. Or physically at least.
The blue-eyed Beta is here again. Or I assume he is the Beta. I am sure I have heard them refer to him as Beta… but irrelevant of that, he is in my room once again. In fact, I am beginning to wonder if he ever leaves. He seems to be here when I fall asleep, and he is here when I wake again. Watching me. Trying to make conversation with me. Acting like we are some sort of friends. Why, I have yet to work out. But he is here. And his eyes appear to struggle to tear themselves away from me.I don’t think my brain feels capable of working that sort of thing out right about now. He acts so peculiar, and I have never met a man quite like him, that I can remember... the way he acts confuses me... My whole body aches, and my brain just feels kind of fuzzy… slower than it ever did before. I had to hit my head. But the doctor hasn’t told me I did. Although I don’t think the doctor has told me much at all… something about memory… but I think they have to be wrong, I can remember just fine. Other
I had been for a walk to grab myself a coffee, and also to give Aria a little space. Now she was awake, I did not want to overwhelm her with my presence. Especially when she seemed completely unaware of who I was to her. It gave me the opportunity to attempt to compose myself too... get a control of my emotions... because they seemed to be so all over the place right now, and with my wolf so in and out... usually missing, having been so since soon after Aria had been hurt, I struggled to cope. It was in dealing with all of this that I had realized just how much I had relied upon my wolf. Upon, Ciro.And, it would appear Ciro depended upon his mate to level and calm him more than we ever realized too. It can be said a werewolf can become rabid when they lose their fated mate... lose their mind... but I seemed to be losing my wolf while my mate was still here... or at least she was here in person, perhaps not yet back in soul. And I believe that is what Ciro was struggling with. Leaving
Having spent the day sitting by Aria’s side, I had received a mindlink to visit Micah. Being my closest friend, and of course, the pack Alpha, him mindlinking was not out of the ordinary. He would check in with me most days. Wanting to know how my mate was doing. But, him asking me to visit was something that seemed out of the ordinary. He knew I did not like to leave her side.But, I knew I should do as my friend and Alpha wanted, as he was already showing me a lot of lenience. And, in truth, I was more than a little curious what it was he wanted with me. Had they found more information on the rogues who had attacked us the day my beautiful girl was hurt? If so, I was ready to take those fuckers down and make them suffer the consequences...So, I waited until Aria had dropped off. Having shared a story with her of our first Christmas together. Her eyes flickered over my face as I spoke, like she was interested in my words, but there was that emptiness behind her gaze that told me she
Had I heard that right? I felt the anger building. No, this cannot be right. How can I be scaring her? This is my fated mate. The one chosen for me. What irritated me more, was that my friend, my supposed best friend, had called me away from my mate's side to tell me this. Could he not have done this via mindlink, or on the occasional visit he made to the hospital?! He had to know the pain this was going to cause.“No.” I murmured, anger evident in my tone, as my hands shook. “Just no, that is not right. I would not be scaring her. I am being there for her. The way that I should as a fated mate.” I snapped, standing suddenly from the stool I was sitting on, causing it to fall loudly to the floor.“Rocco, come on, calm down.” Anna was by my side. “I know this likely came as a shock, and it hurt, but you need to try to understand how Aria is feeling. She is likely scared by everything right now…” her voice faltered, as my eyes focused on her angrily. Was she agreeing with all of this?!
I had awoken in the night, like I so often did, the downside, I suppose, of drifting off to sleep during the day. But as my sleepy eyes adjusted to the dim lights within my room, I guess I was expecting to find those big blue eyes upon me, but my room was empty. The thing that shocked me the most, was that I felt strangely lonely.I could not help but wonder where Rocco might be. I believe he has been here every time I have woken, since I came around in this very room… had something happened to him? But as I pondered this, I knew this could be of my own doing. I had spoken to the nurse when she had helped me bathe, expressing that he scared me a little. Was I wrong in saying that though?I did not think it was in such a terrible way, just that his gaze was intimidating. So intense… I believe that stare could scare even the strongest of men. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if maybe the nurse had spoken out? Could something have been said to him? Had that stopped him f
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
I had awoken in the night, like I so often did, the downside, I suppose, of drifting off to sleep during the day. But as my sleepy eyes adjusted to the dim lights within my room, I guess I was expecting to find those big blue eyes upon me, but my room was empty. The thing that shocked me the most, was that I felt strangely lonely.I could not help but wonder where Rocco might be. I believe he has been here every time I have woken, since I came around in this very room… had something happened to him? But as I pondered this, I knew this could be of my own doing. I had spoken to the nurse when she had helped me bathe, expressing that he scared me a little. Was I wrong in saying that though?I did not think it was in such a terrible way, just that his gaze was intimidating. So intense… I believe that stare could scare even the strongest of men. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if maybe the nurse had spoken out? Could something have been said to him? Had that stopped him f