KADEN’S P.O.VIt was shame that did not allow me return home to Amelia, shame that I had failed her, shame that I had somehow led her to believe that she was less important that she was. I didn’t know how to multitask, it wasn’t a skill I had learned very well growing up. I had been told to focus on one task- being Alpha. That was my life growing up and it had made me develop a one track mind.“She isn’t going to wake up anytime soon,” I heard Dr. Brown say from behind me. I didn’t turn to acknowledge her because I knew exactly where she was going with the conversation. “If you wanted to leave for a while then I would not mind taking over from you. I will watch over her and if anything changes, I will call you.”“I am fine.”She sighed. “I don’t want to intrude, Alpha, but you haven’t been home in days. Surely your mate wants you home as much as you want to be home. This is a case of a stranger versus your home life. You cannot be putting a strange woman on a higher standard than you
AMELIA’S P.O.VIan was a nice companion to drive home with. He was funny and his music taste was impeccable. He had the stereo on the entire time and was singing at the top of his lungs, I couldn’t stay frowning for long. By the time we got back to Kaden’s place, I couldn’t help but realize just how lonely and starved for human attention that I was.“Thank you for the ride,” I told him as I hesitated to get out. “It means a lot to me, you have no idea.”“It’s not a problem,” he waved me off. “If you ever need one then don’t hesitate to call. You know where to find me.”I got out of the car and waved him off. He had just disappeared down the driveway when I noticed another car driving towards me. I froze and blinked twice wondering if maybe I was seeing things but I knew I wasn’t. it was Kaden’s car with him in the front seat. I rubbed at my eyes and even went as far as to pinch myself because I wasn’t expecting him. I forced the hope back down in my chest because I didn’t want to jump
AMELIA’S P.O.VMarjorie was silent on the other end of the call for a minute and I started to fear the worst. For a second, I thought she had hung up but I could hear her steady breathing and I knew she had just chosen not to respond.“Just tell me if I’m right or wrong,” I said when she wouldn’t respond. “All of this thinking, all of this tossing and turning is driving me mad. Please, I need to know exactly what I am dealing with here. I need to know whether I am going to lose my mate.”“Will you stop whining for five seconds?” she cut me off and I froze. “If you are going to ask a question then you better be ready to wait for a response. I was thinking about how to respond. I don’t need your incessant whining in my mind.”I was stunned. I didn’t know whether to apologize or speak back to her so instead, I stayed silent. She let out a sigh and I could imagine her rolling her eyes at me.“She isn’t his first mate.” It was a straight forward response but I knew there was more to it. Th
AMELIA’S P.O.VMarjorie was in the house until late evening. By the time she left, I was exhausted and I didn’t want to see another human being. I could tell she felt the same way about me. Despite the many hours we had spent together, it was clear that we would never be friends. We just had too many differences and different ways of approaching things. She had suggested I create a scene in the hospital and threaten Kaden to get him home but I was adamantly against that idea.We couldn’t end up agreeing and just decided that it would be better if we just stayed away from each other and tried our various methods, mine was to give Kaden space until he decided that he wanted to come home. it hadn’t been working so far but it seemed to work this time because just as I was getting ready for bed, the front door opened.At first, I was terrified that someone had broken in. I carried a lamp and slowly inched down the stairs in the dark towards the source of the noise. I was about to bring the
AMELIA’S P.O.VI woke up the next morning to an empty bed and I could have sworn I felt the exact moment my heart deflated. I had to blink back the tears that gathered in my eyes as I reached out and felt how cold the bed was. It had been a while since I slept in or even had a restful night and I had been looking forward to seeing Kaden when I woke up. I should have known that it was too good to be true.I managed to drag myself out of bed and get freshened up for the day. A few tears may have leaked from my eyes but at least the water was there to wash it all away and I could pretend like it didn’t happen. By the time I finally gathered the courage to drag myself out, I wrapped myself in an oversized robe. It was one of Kaden’s and it smelled faintly of him. I made my way to the room and jumped when I noticed someone bent over my side of the bed.A small scream left my lips but Kaden turned and held up his hands to show that he meant no harm. I stared at him in disbelief not wanting
AMELIA’S P.O.VThat sentence broke my heart in more ways than anyone could possibly imagine but I still managed to plaster a smile onto my face. “Give me a minute so I can get dressed. We can go together.”“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”“If she wakes up then I want to be there.”He looked like he was itching to leave at that exact moment but he nodded. I made my way up to the room wondering if he was going to leave me if I wasted time getting dressed. It was a theory I wanted to test out but another part of me wanted to get to the hospital as quickly as possible so that I could see for myself what was happening.By the time I got back down, Kaden was packing impatiently and he muttered under his breath in relief once he saw me. He drove faster than I had ever seen him drive before and as soon as we got to the hospital, he sprinted past me and into the doors. I tried not to let it hurt considering the fact that he had spent the entire night and this morning with me but
AMELIA’S P.O.VI locked the bathroom door behind me and let out a ragged breath. I ran my hands through my hair and stared at my reflection in the mirror. If someone had told me one week ago that I would be in the bathroom of a restaurant while meeting with Aiden, I would have called them liars but yet here I was.“What do you think?” I asked my wolf, Tara rousing her from her sleep. “Do you think that Aiden was lying or Marjorie?”“I don’t think you should be here with Aiden at all,” she chided and I let out an exaggerated sigh. “ But to answer your question, I don’t think either of them was lying, that is what is so confusing about this.”My brows furrowed. “How is that possible? They are saying completely opposite things. It makes no sense that both of them would be saying the truth.”“I didn’t say that they were telling the truth, I said they were not lying,” she corrected and she must have felt my confusion because she explained. “Sometimes we tell ourselves the same thing over a
AMELIA’S P.O.VI planned to stay indoors for the rest of the day when I heard a knock. I went to check only to see Clara standing there with a small picnic basket in her hands and a smile on her face. When I looked down and saw her barefooted, I shook my head at her. I leaned against the doorframe with a small smile as I watched her.“To what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked and she stretched out the basket to me as if it was an answer.“I thought maybe we could spend some time together in the woods. What do you think? Caleb says that the rogues have basically disappeared so we have nothing to worry about.”“I’m not sure,” I began but she shook her head.“I’m not taking no for an answer,” she cut me off as she began pulling me towards the back of the house. “We haven’t spent any time together since all of this happened and I think we need it right now more than ever. What do you think?”“I think that even if I say no, you will drag me anyway.”She winked. “You’re a fast learner. I like
CHAPTER 195AMELIA’S P.O.VFor a moment, Kaden just stood there staring at me and I wondered if I had pushed him too far. Perhaps it was never about me being ready, maybe he wasn’t ready to be with me after everything that happened.I felt so incredibly stupid and attempted to turn away from him when he grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. I didn’t want to but we were like magnets, always drawn to each other and I couldn’t stop myself from staring straight into his eyes.“I’m only going to say this once so get this straight,” he began slowly. “I don’t ever want to see that fucking look on your face again. The only reason I said nothing is because I was thinking of how much of a bastard I would be if I fucked you right here instead of taking you up into a room.”I cracked a smile. “I don’t think I can make it upstairs.”“Me neither.”The words were barely out of his mouth before he kissed me again. I felt something akin to relief in the center of my chest. It felt good to be a
AMELIA’S P.O.VIt had been two days since Aiden came to visit and Kaden had not spoken about him. We acted as if it were a fever dream that was locked away in the far parts of our minds.I knew that Aiden wouldn’t give up anytime soon and I knew that one day, I needed to tell Kaden about what had happened but I couldn’t even figure out how to bring it up. It was unsettling and uncomfortable but I didn’t have solid proof that he meant for anything malicious to happen.“You’re thinking hard,” Kaden’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned to find him standing at the doorway to the kitchenIt was his presence that reminded me of what I was doing and I cursed as I pulled the oven open. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that my cake hadn’t burnt but if I had left it for a few more minutes, I wouldn’t have been able to say that at all.I rushed to get it out and put it on a cooling rack all the while I could see Kaden trying to hide a smile out of the corner of his eye.I was
AMELIA’S P.O.V“Hi,” I managed out as I made my way over to them and their conversation instantly ceased. I could see that Serena was itching to touch me but they both held back for my sake. “I’m not going to shatter just because you hug me.”That was all Serena needed before she rushed to her feet and threw her arms around my shoulders. She didn’t cry like the last time but I could feel her relief as she held me. I wasn’t sure how long that lasted but as soon as she pulled away, Clara’s arms were around me.“I’m so sorry,” she whispered and I could almost taste the guilt that was radiating off her.“It wasn’t your fault,” I assured her. “We were ambushed, we were sidetracked. Thar had nothing to do with you. I need you to know that.”“You were gone, for so long.”“But I’m back now,” I pulled away and grasped her shoulders. “All that matters is that I’m back now.”She gave me a small nod. I knew it would take more than that to deal with the guilt that she felt but it was a good start
AMELIA’S P.O.VIt was exactly one week since I had been back and I was yet to leave the house.Kaden had been patient with me, not forcing me to go anywhere until I was ready or making me do anything I didn’t want to but even I knew that life had to move on. I couldn’t just sit in here forever and pretend like things were fine and the constant state of boredom was driving me mad.We were having breakfast when I spoke. “I want to go out.”Kaden stopped eating, his eyes finding mine and I could see the worry in them as he slowly ran his eyes over me. He was more protective over me than usual and I didn’t blame him, especially not after what happened. If I wanted to go anywhere, especially now, I knew that there would be crazy rules to come with it.“Where do you want to go?”I shrugged. I hadn’t really thought that far. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be within the four walls of the house anymore. I wanted to talk to my friends, I wanted to be normal, I wanted to see people without
KADEN’S P.O.VWhat Amelia needed whether she realized it or not were her friends.Just those few minutes with Serena had brightened her day more than I thought was possible. It hurt that they could do more for her than I could but I didn’t care as long as it meant that she was fine, that was all that mattered to me.After the interaction with Serena, Amelia declared that she wanted to go home. I didn’t protest, didn’t even make any other suggestions, we just got into the car and drove. She didn’t hide from me when we returned which was a plus in my books, she simply sat on the couch, laying her head on my shoulder in silence.I wasn’t sure how long we stayed there but it could have been ten hours and I wouldn’t have minded. She seemed so peaceful, more than she had since she got back and I loved that for her.“I hate the silence,” she whispered and I turned to her. “When I was there with him, it was always quiet. I couldn’t go anywhere, couldn’t do anything, it was just the two of us
AMELIA’S P.O.VI didn’t want to leave the house the next morning but when Kaden told me that it was to say goodbye to Jackson, I forced myself out.Going to the pack house was terrifying and the entire time, it felt like someone was breathing down my neck and the worst was yet to come. Kaden was a firm pillar by my side the entire time, he never once took his hand out of mine and he never strayed from my side. I knew that I was safe with him but that didn’t mean I still wasn’t a little scared.“You look like shit,” Jackson drawled as soon as he saw me.Kaden stiffened, not liking his tone but waiting to see my reaction. I was silent for a second before a small smile pulled at the corner of my lips. I wrapped my arms around his center clearly catching him off guard.For a moment, he didn’t move and then, ever so slowly, he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed softly.“I would say you look like shit but you actually look better,” I whispered as I pulled back.He had clearly taken a s
AMELIA’S P.O.VI knew I was hurting him by not letting him in but I couldn’t.How could he help when even I didn’t know how to help myself? I was home and that should have been the most important thing but I still found myself terrified. In my nightmare, I was back in Blake’s little hideaway house. I was back with him and my baby was gone.How could I tell Kaden that knowing fully well that he was going to lose his mind and panic? I didn’t want him stressed- didn’t need him stressed right now. One of us needed a clear head and it was obvious that person wasn’t going to be me.“Amelia, baby, please look at me,” Kaden’s voice was soft and coaxing as he wiped my tears off my cheeks. “Please.”I wasn’t sure if it was the please or the sound of pure defeat in his voice that had me slowly opening my eyes. He gave me a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and I couldn’t help it, I leaned up to kiss him. It wasn’t a deep kiss of unbridled passion, it was soft, almost explorative, just
KADEN’S P.O.VI couldn’t bring myself to fall asleep.Amelia claimed to be fine but I knew her better than I knew myself. I knew every bit of her, every smile, every freckle, every curve of her skin, I knew her emotions better than I knew my own sometimes and I knew for a fact that despite her saying otherwise, she was far from fine.I could see it in the way she hardly ever met my eyes, in the hesitation in her voice and in her determination to avoid speaking about whatever she might have faced in that place. I knew the guilt that she felt, sometimes when she let her wall down by accident, I could feel it like a bitter poison at the back of my throat threatening to choke me.It didn’t matter how many times I told her that I was fine with what happened, she couldn’t forgive herself and if she couldn’t, there was no way she was going to move past it. I wasn’t a fan of the idea of her being with Blake sexually but she did what she had to in order to survive and as much as I hated it, I
AMELIA’S P.O.VI was discharged before the end of the day.Kaden clearly didn’t agree with my choice but I doubted he could bring himself to refuse me. I knew I was being a little irrational and illogical but I couldn’t bear to be anywhere else. I wanted to be surrounded by people I knew and by my home, I wanted to be surrounded by him.He carried me into the car despite knowing I could walk and for once, I didn’t protest. Clara and Caleb were nowhere to be seen by the time we were leaving, I presumed they were giving us our space and for that, I was grateful. I loved my friends but today was not that day.As we drove past the turn to the house, I turned to Kaden. “Where are we going?”“Our home.”“But it’s that way,” I pointed towards the turn that we had missed. “Kaden, where are you taking me?”“That was my house, I’m taking you to ours.”I didn’t realize what he was talking about until he pulled up in front of a familiar building. The last time I saw it, he was still trying to per