AMELIA’S P.O.VI tried to ignore the pang of pain in my chest knowing that it was a stranger who was helping me and not my mate who was meant to be by my side through it all. First it was acute embarrassment that someone had to see me like this, helpless and without anyone to turn to. It brought back bad memories that I never thought I would have to experience again.As the embarrassment faded, it gave way to anger. It was more than just anger, it was rage. I had trusted him, in my lowest moment, despite everything that was happening, I still believed he would come and he didn’t. I wasn’t sure if it was something I could forgive. I was silent the entire time that Ian taught me to stand and to run. I could barely bring myself to enjoy it because of how pissed I was.He must have realized as well because after a while, he decided to cut things short and he offered to take me home but I wanted to return to the hospital. I wanted to see exactly why Kaden couldn’t be bothered to see me.“A
KADEN’S P.O.VNadine was seated up when I returned and she had a look of concern on her face. “Is everything okay? I hope I am not causing any trouble between the both of you.”“Of course not,” I whispered brushing her off. She just woke up, the last thing she needed was to be worrying about Amelia and I. We would sort ourselves out, we always did. “How do you feel? Do you need the doctor? Do you need anything?’“No, just you.”She reached out and placed her hand on my arm and something in me balked. I wanted to push it away but my wolf almost seemed drawn to the idea which I thought was absolutely insane considering the fact that he was against it just a few days ago. He wanted nothing to do with Nadine and was head over heels in love with Amelia but now, it was almost like the table had switched. Even the argument I just had with Amelia was instigated by him. Something about her presence seemed to annoy him.I wasn’t sure if it was the mate bond but that seemed an unlikely reason be
AMELIA’S P.O.VI had been beaten, maltreated, insulted, had drinks thrown on me and made to feel like shit but one thing I had going for myself was that Kaden had never hurt me physically. It was something I had pride in and I could have bet all my life earnings on that fact. I could be free with him, I could say whatever I wanted especially when he was wrong because he never resorted to violence or so I thought.As he pinned me to the wall, the look in his eyes was something I could only describe as death. His eyes were pitch black and there was not one ounce of life in his irises. I had never been so scared in my life. Fear- raw and unadulterated- filled his eyes and for a second, I could not breathe. I tried to claw at his hands but he wasn’t letting me go at all.“Kaden,” I managed out as I struggled to keep my eyes open. “You’re hurting me.”“Keep Nadine’s name out of your mouth,” he snarled. His voice didn’t even sound like his own. It was too deep, too guttural and too eerie. I
KADEN’S P.O.VI felt like shit and what was worse is that I had spent the entire night seated in the living room trying to figure out why my wolf had acted the way that he did but I couldn’t. He had completely shut me out after I tried to glean an answer from him. He was out of control and nothing I did could bring him back to order.I kept replaying the incident over and over again in my head but it still didn’t make any sense. My wolf wasn’t violent, it was one of his defining traits. He was a delegator and he knew how to compartmentalize. He didn’t just attack people much less Amelia who he was meant to be obsessed with. Something was wrong and I needed to figure it out. I should have noticed it since the moment he started compelling me to spend more time at the hospital. I took it as him being worried, I didn’t realize that it could escalate this badly.I was at risk of losing Amelia. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me and if I lost her… I couldn’t even think abou
AMELIA’S P.O.VI couldn’t bring myself to go to school. I woke up early, I got dressed and I even went as far as to get into my car but I just couldn’t turn the ignition. I felt like a failure, like my destroyed relationship was written across my forehead in permanent marker. Shame filled me which was ironic because I wasn’t the one who did anything worth being ashamed over.There was a knock on my window and I turned to find Clara standing there with a small smile. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. You can afford to miss one day.”“It isn’t just one day. I missed weeks worth of classes because of them. I cannot afford to miss any more. I had a plan, I had everything set out in front of me and now it is going down the drain. I need something that I can hold onto. I need something that is wholly mine and not his.”She sighed deeply. I was sure I speaking a whole lot of rubbish but it made sense to me and that was all that mattered. She pulled the door open and I watched as sh
AMELIA’S P.O.VAs much as I hated to admit it, Caleb was right and although I wanted nothing more to do with Kaden, I knew I would never be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to him and I could have done something to stop it. All eyes were on me but the room was as quiet as a graveyard as everyone waited to hear what I decided.“Find out whatever you can on her,” I said finally to Caleb and he nodded. “If there is anything remotely suspicious then let me know. As Kaden’s mother whatever you need to know and tell her that I sent you, she will give you answers.”“What else?”“That’s all we can do for now. We cannot do anything until we know that there is something suspicious going on. Just make sure that Kaden doesn’t get a hint that anything is wrong or it could go very badly.”“Thank you,” he began but I cut him off.“I am not doing it for Kaden. I am doing it because if there is nothing wrong with him, then I have what it takes to finally leave. I will have enough pro
AMELIA’S P.O.VSerena and I sat alone in the middle of her living room drinking vodka and taking ice cream. To be fair, she did most of the vodka and I stuck with ice cream. I had never truly been a fan of alcohol, the first sip was just out of solidarity for her. Thankfully, she didn’t get drunk seeing as it was just plain alcohol. Our systems didn’t work the same way humans did and it took a shit ton to get any wolf drunk.It was sometime around evening when the door opened and I saw her parents walk in with a little girl. She was the splitting image of Serena but she had the same eyes as Aiden. There was no denying that she was their child. Her parents froze when they saw me and I saw brief panic in their eyes. They were not sure how much I knew so I gave them a gentle nod to let them know I was aware.I glanced over at Serena but her eyes were fixated on her daughter. I could tell she wanted nothing more than to reach out and grab her but something kept her still and I realized I
KADEN’S P.O.VI sat in my driveway staring and unblinking wanting to be sure that what was in front of me was not an apparition but real. I was terrified that if I even risked a blink, it would disappear but it never moved. I blinked once fearing the worst but that car remained seated in the driveway unmoving. I slowly got out of my car for fear that any sudden movements would suddenly make everything go sour but it didn’t. Amelia’s car was here which meant that she was too.I felt something akin to relief and joy bubble up in my pit. As usual, my wolf was unbothered and chose to isolate himself in the corner of my mind. Nothing seemed to interest him much nowadays except it was Nadine. I found that extremely weird and I had done everything remotely possible to find out why but nothing made sense. Caleb hadn’t said anything since I told him about my concerns and if I couldn’t count on Caleb to help me then I couldn’t count on anyone else so I kept my secret to myself.I put up a firm
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