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
AMELIA’S P.O.VI waited for Kaden to return but he never did. I set the table and sat down anxiously waiting for him to appear from the room he had disappeared into with Nadine but he didn’t. it took one hour, one long hour where I felt like the most stupid person on the planet before he finally emerged and when he did, he wouldn’t even look at me. Nadine walked out after him and I couldn’t help but notice that her hair was messier than usual. She had a cruel smirk on her face as she winked at me. I wasn’t stupid, I knew exactly what had happened in there.Despite the tears threatening to pour from my eyes, I steeled my shoulders and addressed Kaden. “Aren’t you going to have dinner with me? I waited for you.”“I don’t want it,” he said simply without even looking at me but I wasn’t going to let it go just like that.“You said you wanted it earlier. If you want something else then maybe I can-”“Maybe you can leave me the fuck alone,” he snapped finally turning to me and I noticed tha
AMELIA’S P.O.VI was at Caleb’s faster than anyone could have thought humanly possible and the entire way there, my brain conjured all the possible scenarios. He sounded excited over the phone which I chose to interpret as him having good news for me but I couldn’t be sure until I actually saw him.He was waiting for me outside the house and the moment he noticed me, he pulled me in. It was just Caleb, Clara and I in the living room and I noticed some papers scattered all over the table. There were over twenty of them and I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was going on.“I think you might want to sit for this one,” he told me and I hesitated before doing as he asked. I was itching with curiosity but I forced myself to remain silent. “I did as you asked and I spoke to Kaden’s mother. It was not easy and she was not the most accommodating but she told me where Kaden had met Nadine. I couldn’t go myself but I sent some pies to get some information and they came back with something
KADEN’S P.O.VMy mind felt like it was being split open, like someone had put their hands into my skull and was trying to tear my brain in two. Everything burned, everything hurt and it felt like I was watching from outside of my body as my own hands choked the life out of her. I couldn’t move, couldn’t stop the calamity that was about to happen until I heard her voice in my mind, soft and coaxing. I wasn’t sure how she managed to break through that haze in my head but she did and I felt it snap. My hands released her and she fell to the ground. I stared at what I had done in horror. She was breathing but barely.“You did so well, Kaden,” I heard Natasha say from behind me and fury bubbled in my chest like a raging inferno. I turned to her and she wasn’t even looking at me, her eyes were fixated on Amelia’s unconscious body on the ground.I slowly walked over to her trying to rid my eyes of the image that was permanently seared beneath my lids, the image of my own mate thrashing in my
AMELIA’S P.O.VThe drive to the hospital was quiet. I could feel Caleb and Clara’s eyes on me. They held varying degrees of pity and worry but I couldn’t even look at them. The moment we arrived at the hospital, I was out of the car. They tried to follow me but I ignored them and heads straight for Dr. Brown’s office. None of the nurses tried to stop me, they all recognized me easily from all the times I had been here with Kaden. I felt their watchful and curious gazes but I ignored it.Without knocking, I pushed open the door. Dr. Brown was furious to say the least but as soon as she saw me, all fight deflated from her. “Are you alright?”I nodded. “I need you to check and ensure nothing is broken. Then I also need you to make sure no one comes into my room tonight, I want to be alone.”“Amelia-”“Can you do it or not?” I snapped. I knew she was not the reason for everything that happened but I was on a tight fuse already and she was making it worse by not answering. “I don’t need yo
AMELIA’S P.O.VI was released from the hospital after two days. I had a feeling the only reason I stayed that long was because of Kaden. For some reason, he seemed insistent on keeping me away. I knew he was trying to fix what he broke and sometimes, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe we were beyond repair. He had been so busy with the pack work that he had abandoned but he made time to be in my hospital room every night when I thought he was asleep.“What are you looking for?” Clara asked when she noticed me looking around the hospital while she signed my discharge forms. I gave a dismissive shrug but she could clearly see through it. “We asked him not to come. I thought it would be easier for you if he wasn’t here today.”“He actually agreed to it?” I shot back and she nodded but I didn’t believe her. Kaden wouldn’t just agree, it wasn’t in his nature and I couldn’t shake off the feeling of eyes on me. Kaden was in the hospital and although I could not see him, I could feel him.Wh
AMELIA’S P.O.V“I’m sorry,” he apologized profusely before stepping aside.I tried to hide the small smile on my face as we made our way in. She held onto my hand and I was greeted with the smell of paper and ink. It was a rather distinct smell and wasn’t what one would usually enjoy but I loved it because it reminded me of peace and tranquility. Once we were away from the guards, I turned to her.“Thank you, you didn’t have to do that for me,” I whispered. “I would have just left. I am truly grateful.”“Please, you are Kaden’s mate, I would do anything for you,” I tried not to let my disappointment show but she saw it. “Ah, I can see that look. You are doubting your relationship after everything that happened.”“You heard about it?”“Darling, the entire pack knows about it.”I buried my face in my hands in embarrassment. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. It was bad enough that a few people knew but knowing that everyone knew was even worse.She led me towards a chair and
KADEN’S P.O.VI wanted to go to Amelia but I felt like enough time had not passed yet. She hadn’t reached out and I thought she would do so at her own pace and when she felt ready. I made sure to send her flowers every morning but I never got a response back as to whether or not she got them. As I stared at her name on my screen, I had to fight the urge to click dial.A knock on my door snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up just as Caleb walked in. Our friendship had taken a hit since what happened and I couldn’t blame him. I had hurt someone he loved and it was unforgiveable. If he was in my shoes, I wasn’t sure I would be able to forgive him either.“The guards are back in formation and the border is clear, although there have been some suspicious rogue sightings,” he rattled off the news as if he was reading it off a piece of paper. “I have asked the guards to keep an eye out and I will let you know if anything changes.”“Thank you, Caleb.”He turned on his heels to leave a
KADEN’S P.O.VAs soon as Caleb drove off with Amelia, I felt someone slap me upside the head.There were only a handful of people who would dare to do that- my mother, Amelia and Pamela- I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.“You idiot,” Pamela hissed. “What were you thinking? She told you to stop multiple times and you kept going. Did you not hear when she said she would hate you?”I did hear her actually, I just convinced myself that she was upset and it would be fine after. I didn’t realize that she meant it or I would have stopped. It was a shitty excuse and I knew it made me a fucking terrible mate as well.“I know I messed up,” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. “I’ll make it up to her.”Pamela scoffed. “You stupid child, this is more than just making it up to her. After everything she went through, you were meant to be her safe place and you hurt her. This isn’t just about you outing her in public, you betrayed her trust. She has no one right now.”“That’
AMELIA’S P.O.VI walked out of the dining room and out the front door.I knew I was being a tad bit unreasonable but it pissed me off to no end that he couldn’t just trust me. I didn’t want to have that conversation in front of everyone, I didn’t want that part of my life out there. We were having a child together for goddess sake and yet, he couldn’t just listen to me.“Amelia!” Kaden’s voice echoed through the air as he rushed over to me. “Baby, please, just wait.”I ignored him and heads straight for my car. My guards were nowhere to be seen. They must have left after Kaden arrived. It didn’t matter to me anyway, I could drive. It was a terrifying thought to go home alone but I was going to do it. I wasn’t going to sit back and give him the satisfaction.I got to the door of my car when he placed a hand on the car door. “Please, Amelia, let me just talk to you, please.”“I have nothing to say to you,” I crossed my arms over my chest without looking at him. “Just go, okay? I don’t w
AMELIA’S P.O.VClara didn’t say a single word regarding my conversation with Aaron. I could tell she was thinking about it though. She was many things but stupid was not one of it. She knew exactly what that conversation was about and I expected more questions from her but there was nothing.“Do you want to come in?” was the first thing she asked when we got to her house. “My grandparents are home but that’s about it. They’ve missed you. They might want to say hi.”I didn’t want to take the offer but I also realized how cruel it was that I hadn’t come to see them yet. They took me in when they didn’t have to and treated me like their own grandchild. Before I could talk myself out of it, I nodded and followed her up to the front door.My palms were clammy and it felt like my chest was closing in on me but I forced myself to walk into the house. It smelled the same and looked the same, nothing had changed since the last time I was inside. It almost felt like I had never left.“Clara are
AMELIA’S P.O.VClara and I sat down on the wooden chairs while Aaron remained at the edge of the bed. He looked better than the last time I saw him, much better actually.“You haven’t used your powers in a while,” he didn’t waste any time before going straight to the point. “Both of you, not just you, Amelia.”I shrugged. “My wolf was drugged for weeks and I just haven’t had a reason to recently.”“You will soon.”It sounded more like an ominous warning than anything and I wanted to ask more about what he meant but he had already turned away from me and was facing Clara. She had her hands folded neatly in her laps and her face was cast down.“I just didn’t want to,” she shrugged. It was clear she was very uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.She already told me why so she didn’t need to tell him, especially if she didn’t want to. Besides, I was concerned with how he knew that we hadn’t used our powers in a while. We didn’t talk about it outside his door so there was n
AMELIA’S P.O.VI regretted my words the moment I saw the three guards that Kaden had arranged for me.He had a smile of pride on his face once they arrived and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. They were quite possibly the biggest and scariest men I had ever seen in my life. One of them had tattoos all over his arm, the other had a mean resting face that could make a grown man piss his pants. The third didn’t look as scary as the others but his sheer size alone was enough to make a person pause.“These are your guards,” he gestured to the men in front of me. “They’ll take you to Clara’s house first and you can go wherever you want after.”I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him blankly. “Are you serious?”“You said as many as I want. I wanted to get you four guards but I figured it would be too much.”“And you don’t think three is a little over the top?”“It’s this or nothing, baby.”I let out an exasperated sigh before turning to the guards. “Fine.”Neither of them broke
AMELIA’S P.O.VI was done hiding.If Blake was willing to leave his pack despite not having his wolf then he was a greater foe than I knew and I couldn’t just sit on my ass and wait for him to attack whenever he felt like. He wasn’t backing down anytime soon, I knew that much. I saw the look in his eyes yesterday and I knew what it was. It was a look of pure determination. I knew that it wasn’t about what I wanted anymore or about what he presumed to be a mate bond, this was about an Alpha whose ego was just bruised.I embarrassed him and made him look weak and he wanted me back to show that he wasn’t. I was the shiny trophy that he wanted to keep in a display and I’d be damned if I let him do that to me. He couldn’t control my life- not anymore at least.For the first time since I returned, I woke up earlier than Kaden and made my way down to the kitchen to make breakfast. It felt so good to be back in my own house, barefoot in my kitchen and able to do whatever I wanted.I had bare
KADEN’S P.O.VBlake was a fucking coward.For someone who was brave enough to keep my mate for days, he ran off like a fucking wuss when he realized that he didn’t have his wolf to fight for him.I made sure to comb the entire border to ensure that he was not lurking around. The last thing I wanted was for someone else to go missing. It was torturous enough searching for Amelia, I wasn’t sure I had it in me to search for someone else.As soon as I was sure that Blake wasn’t hiding anymore, I rushed over to Amelia. Her mind was quiet which wasn’t unusual. Ever since she returned, she preferred to stay on her own with her thoughts. I hated it but I knew it would take some time before she went back to the way she was- if she ever did. If she never went back, I didn’t care, I just wanted her.The moment I got to the car, I knew something was wrong. Caleb was standing next to the car but his brows were furrowed in deep thought. He looked somewhat relieved when he saw me but when I asked, h
AMELIA’S P.O.VI didn’t realize just how badly my legs were shaking until I got to the car. I had barely reached it when my legs gave out and I had to grip it so as not to hit the ground.“Shit, are you okay?” Caleb was at my side in an instant but he hesitated to touch me. “Do you need me to call Kaden?”I shook my head. “I’m fine, I swear, I just- I didn’t know how scary it would be to see him after everything.”Caleb assessed me warily but said nothing. I slowly sank to the ground not having the energy in me to open the car. Besides, the grass was much softer and it was fresh, the wind was blowing and I could feel the breeze on my face. I didn’t feel caged anymore and I needed to remember that.“Do you want some water?” he asked and I nodded.I watched as he reached into the backseat of the car and retrieved a water bottled. It smelled like him so it was obviously his but I couldn’t bring myself to be picky. I just uncapped it and downed the water. My heart was pounding violently i
AMELIA’S P.O.VWe sat in the tub until our skin started to prune. True to his words, Kaden didn’t say a word as we got out of the tub. He didn’t even speak as we ate lunch or dinner. I thought he had forgotten and a part of me was relieved because I knew that whatever he wanted to say had to do with Blake.My relief lasted until sometime around ten when there was a frantic knock on our door. I glanced at Kaden who looked to be as confused as I felt. He gestured for me to remain seated while he went to check it out but he should have known better because as soon as he was out the door, I was behind him.“Amelia,” he hissed but I waved him off.I was dressed in lounge pants and a loose shirt. I was prepared for whatever it could be. He muttered something under his breath that sounded similar to ‘goddess help me’.“Stay here,” he told me once I got to the bottom of the steps. I pursed my lips but I was close enough to see the door so I waited.He pulled the door open and I could feel th