AMELIA’S P.O.VBlake hadn’t touched me again since that day but I couldn’t shake the guilt that I felt. I knew why I had done it but that didn’t seem like enough of a justification to me. I had kissed another man, I had let him kiss my skin and even though an entire day had passed and I had scrubbed my skin so hard it turned red, I still felt very dirty.Blake had been whistling around the house since yesterday. I could tell that he was happy with himself. I was starting to wear him down and he was starting to believe that I truly loved him but I still hadn’t won him over enough to make him believe that he could let me out. I hadn’t asked yet and I wasn’t going to so I didn’t rouse much suspicion.“Aren’t you hungry?” he asked snapping me out of my thoughts. He was sitting on the table next to me. “You haven’t even touched your food. If you want something else-”“No, this is fine,” I stared down at the plate of pasta. It was good, I just didn’t have much of an appetite. I forced a for
CHAPTER 168AMELIA’S P.O.VBlake sat beside me. He claimed it was because he loved my company but I knew it was because he wanted to make sure I didn’t write anything that gave away our location. He didn’t fully trust me yet and I couldn’t blame him but I was a lot smarter than he gave me credit for and I had a plan. I just hoped that Kaden would be able to understand everything that I had written.“Can you read it out?” I asked Blake. “I want to make sure that it is direct enough and that he understands everything.”“Of course,” he took the paper from my outstretched hand and opened it up.Kaden,I heard that you were looking for me. You always had a funny way of trying to prove that you are the hero.Life has a funny way of giving you what you want and what I want is Blake.One day, I hope you understand and I hope you learn to forgive me. I left of my own accord. I asked Blake to come get me.Very often, I would find myself dreaming about Blake, about our love and what could have be
KADEN’S P.O.VI walked into the room with all the guards watching them squirm as their eyes landed on me. I didn’t end up going yesterday like I planned, I went to see Clara instead, hoping she remembered the faces but she didn’t and that put me in such a bad mood that I couldn’t afford to see anyone else.There wasn’t a lot of confusion from the guards, they all knew why they were here. I was just looking out for the guilty parties. The problem was, I had at least thirty men in this room.I took the seat that had been kept aside for me while they all stood with their hands clasped behind them. “You know why you are here.”“Yes, Alpha,” they responded in unison.“I don’t want to be here as much as you all don’t want to be here so why don’t we make this easier on all of us. If you know that you were not at your designated post, step forward,” no one moved. “I asked out of courtesy, I already know who was there and who was not. You have one more chance before I-”I didn’t even finish my
KADEN’S P.O.VI practically knew the entire letter by heart now. I spent almost every waking hour reading the words over again and trying to figure out any hidden meanings to it. There was also the fact that it was her writing and it smelled faintly like her. I could almost see her bent over a desk, scribbling the words. It was the closest thing I had to her right now and the only assurance that she was alive and well.So far, the only thing I could come up with was the hidden love declaration and the fact that she wasn’t touching Blake because she wanted to but because she had to pretend.It broke me knowing that she was in that position having to deal with that because I hadn’t found her yet. In the past two days, I had felt that pain no less than three different times and each time, I wanted to kill myself even more. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t think or even breathe, all I knew was that she wasn’t safe and I needed to get her as soon as possible.I hadn’t been to see Aaron since the
KADEN’S P.O.VAgainst my better judgment, I found myself getting ready to meet Brittany tomorrow. I knew it was an incredibly stupid and rash decision- Caleb told me as much as well- but it wasn’t much of a choice. I needed a man inside the pack and she was the only one I could get my hands on. I didn’t trust her- it was becoming too much of a pattern to be around people that I didn’t trust- but I could tolerate her until I found Amelia.I followed her instructions to the letter and it wasn’t long before I found myself inside the goddess’ temple. I found some spare priest clothes at the back and quickly changed to finalize the plan. It didn’t take long before four rolled around and I saw her walk in. She had three guards behind her and I watched as she stopped in front of a marble statue.“Are you going to follow me around the entire time?” she spat in their direction. “Can’t a girl just pray on her own?”“We were instructed not to leave you alone. The Alpha doesn’t trust that you won
AIDEN’S P.O.VIf I had known that Amelia going missing was all that it would take to make Kaden spiral then I would have helped Blake take her a long time ago.Kaden never went anywhere without adequate protection, especially not another pack and especially not in the middle of the night. He was always careful but since Amelia was taken, he had been sloppy and I knew it was only a matter of time until I would be able to catch him unaware- today was that day.I watched him sneak into the pack and for the longest time, I debated on whether I should inform Blake or not but I figured it had nothing to do with me. If Blake were to find out, he would probably confront Kaden and I needed this secret meeting to go perfectly so that I could do my own part.The rogues were waiting in the trees. It was amazing how well they could hide. I suppose when you’ve lived your entire life in the shadows that it almost becomes second nature. I wasn’t sure if they were that good or if Kaden just wasn’t pay
AMELIA’S P.O.VBlake came in the next morning whistling and skipping the entire way in. I knew without a doubt that whatever news he had to share could not be good. He left two days ago, it was the longest he had left me so far and he once again had Jamal stay with me. I couldn’t wait for the time the time he would leave me on my own.Jamal mostly stayed out of my way but it was clear that he didn’t trust me. I was shocked that he hadn’t told Blake yet, it was clear there was some form of tension between the both of them and I wanted to find out what it was about, maybe I could use it to my advantage.“You look happy,” I began slowly as he made his way into the kitchen with a paper bag filled with groceries. “Do you need help putting those away?”“No, you just sit pretty while I make us lunch,” he was grinning from ear to ear. “You can leave, Jamal.”Jamal leaned against the wall with a raised brow. “Don’t I deserve dinner and good news?”His tone was teasing but Blake either didn’t k
AMELIA’S P.O.VI heard his words but it was almost like they had floated off my hearing. I should have felt it, I should have known. If he was hurt, my wolf would have felt it in some way. She had been more quiet than usual but I hadn’t seen it as any big deal, she didn’t like Blake much and mostly faded into the background when he was present.“You’re not excited,” Blake noted and I blinked up at him. “You should be happy. The more we keep him away, the easier it will be for us to come out together. You should be excited.”“I’m just shocked,” I managed out. “I thought I would have at least felt it because of the mark. I still have it.”His eyes darkened at the mention of the mark. He liked to pretend that it didn’t exist but nothing was going to change the fact that I was Kaden’s mate, at least not while I was alive. Blake didn’t say anything about my observation, he just looked away and that was when it hit me- he knew I wouldn’t feel it- but how?He wouldn’t meet my eye and I scram
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