All Chapters of Set me Free, Alpha: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

VALERIASomeone was beside me. I could hear the sound of deep, heavy breathing, could feel the featherlight touch of hands moving over me; checking my temperature with a hand placed on my brow, adjusting the covers of the bed I was lying in, fluffing out my pillows and so on.I struggled towards wakefulness. It was hard to do because I had a feeling I had been in the darkness for long, too long. But I did it. I opened my eyes. Although her figure was hazy at first, I saw Amelia staring at me. She gave a loud gasp of surprise, a sigh of relief and promptly burst into tears."Oh Valeria," she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You are awake. It's been two whole weeks and I thought you would never-"Her next words were drowned out by renewed sobs. I felt myself tearing up too. My heart burst with love for this woman who loved me as her own, who loved me to the extent that she had exposed her own daughter.She wiped my tears with her fingertips. "Don't cry," she said, even though

VALERIAI opened the door and there was Vance standing there, wearing a tight smile eyeing me dubiously."Hello," he said. "Can I come in?""Of course."I threw the door open at once and I could have sworn I heard him exhale in relief. Just before he came, I had been wondering what to do with myself. It was so nice to have company, even if it was just Vance and even though I knew Dimitri, who I was trying my damnedest not to think about was the one who had sent him. I smiled a little as Vance walked past me into the living room. It was no wonder he had looked wary when I had opened that door. He had probably been expecting me to throw him out or to tell him off like I had done Dimitri."What have you been doing with yourself since you got back?"With his hands thrust into his pockets, Vance turned to face me.I shrugged. "Just resting. Mostly."Was he going to talk to me about returning to Dimitri's house? I sincerely hoped not. To my relief, he didn't pursue the subject. After I had

VALERIAI opened the door and Dimitri was standing right there, at the front door of my house. I had not sent for him. I had not invited him. He had not told me he was coming and I had certainly not given him permission to. Several times I had clearly told him that I didn't want to have anything to do with him, and yet here he was."What are you doing here?" I bit off."Valeria, we need to talk," he said.Talk. I knew that was what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth."Leave now," I ordered.He gave no indication that he had heard me. I hurried to close the door in his face. My bare foot slipped on the tile. I put out my hand to grab something to regain my balance. My hands touched nothing but air and I went down. The force of the fall knocked all the breath from my body and I just lay there, panting, gasping for breath, riding the waves of pain that came from my waist region which had taken the brunt of the fall. Dimitri, calling my name frantically was at my side in

VALERIA"I need to see her," I told Amelia who nodded and slowly said, "Yes... you spoke of seeing her a while ago.""I did," I said. "I think I have put off my visit to her long enough. I need to ask her about my parents and my past. I need to know the truth."The look on Amelia's face clearly said she didn't believe I would glean much information from my proposed visit to my grandmother. But something told me that there was much to be learnt despite the evidence to the contrary."You don't think there is much to learn from her, do you?"Amelia hesitated, shook her head. "I am not against knowing all about your roots, Valeria, but I don't think this will reveal anything new about Grace.""I think it will," I replied, after musing on her statement. And then I again remembered what Grace had said. "I know I have probably told you this before, but when Grace kidnapped me, she said something about us being sisters. In fact she seemed to be quite sure of that. She had no reason to lie the

DIMITRIThe place where Grace had chosen to meet with Amelia was very like the place where she had kept Valeria captive. It was on the grounds of a building, a deserted one by the looks of it. The building was in a scarcely frequented part of the city.Silas, Amelia and I got there a full hour before Amelia's appointment with Grace. We chose good hiding spots where we could see and not be seen. Then we settled down to wait for Grace to show up.Thirty minutes before the time of the appointment, we all clearly heard approaching footsteps. A woman came into view. She was wearing a scarf that obscured most of her face and huge sunglasses, but I knew it was Grace. My hands ached with the effort of keeping them still and not going for her right there and then. Grace gave a sweeping look around the area."Get down," I whispered to the persons with me.Though I was sure we couldn't be seen by her, we all went down and peered at her from between the thick foliage of overgrown shrubs we were h