AMELIA’S P.O.V

I 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 to believe that he was actually standing in front of me. It felt like an apparition and I couldn’t believe it. I closed the gap between us and placed my hand on his arm. Once I felt the warmth of his skin, I threw my arms around his neck.

“I thought you were gone,” I admitted and I felt him stiffen against me before he finally held me closer. “I am so glad that you’re still here. Where did you go?”


“The plan was to serve you breakfast in bed but I guess that went right out the window,” he chuckled awkwardly as he pulled back from me. His hands tangled themselves into my wet curls as he angled my head back so he could stare at me. “I promised you that I was going to be here. Didn’t you trust me?”

“I did,” I began but he raised his brows at me. “I wanted to but I didn’t know if you would be here when push came to shove. I thought that if the hospital had called then you would have gone running. Can you assure me that you wouldn’t have?”


He stayed silent and I sighed. I understood, honestly, I did, I just didn’t have to like it. My fear was justified and we both knew it. He couldn’t even defend himself because it would have just been an obvious lie. In the past few days, Nadine and the hospital had always come first. It wasn’t a criticism, it was just the way it was.

“I would have gone, yes,” he said after a beat of silence. “But I would have made sure to wake you up and tell you first. I promised you that you were going to wake up to me with you and I always keep my promises, Amelia, you can be sure of that.”

“I’m sorry for not trusting you.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t give you reason to trust me. It was my fault.”

I loved that he was taking accountability and trying to be a better person. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a warm smile. “Why don’t we schedule the conversation for later? Breakfast might get cold.”

He let out a sigh of relief when he realized I wasn’t going to push the conversation anymore and kissed me softly. In that moment, I felt complete.

“We should go out for lunch,” Kaden called out to me much later in the afternoon. I

was going through the cabinets trying to figure out what I wanted to eat. I had a bowl of ice cream in my hands but that was it. Nothing seemed remotely interesting to me. I didn’t notice him come closer until he plucked the bowl right out of my hands.

“Your teeth are going to rot,” he cautioned as he placed the now empty bowl in the sink. “You need to have proper food.”

“I don’t know what I want,” I mumbled trying to reach out for another bowl but he gently steered me away. “Also, I really don’t want to go out today. I like the fact that we are indoors. It almost feels like no one can get us in here. Maybe we can heat up some pizza or something.”

“Is that what you really want?” he asked and I nodded.

“Or I could just heat up one of the many trays of food that Pamela gave to me.”

His brows furrowed. “When did that happen?’

“A while back, you were at the hospital so I spent the night at their place. I didn’t want to be alone,” I saw the exact moment that the guilt hit and I wanted to take back my words but it was too late. “I think I’ll just hit something up.”

The kitchen was filled with awkward silence and I knew that Kaden was berating himself for everything that had happened. I wanted to assure him that I held no grudges but I couldn’t even begin to think about how to start with that. For starters, I knew he wouldn’t believe me. It would take him forgiving himself for that to happen.

By the time I was done with the food, I served us both with a smile. Kaden took both plates out of my hands then placed them on the counter behind him. He walked me backwards until I was trapped between his body and the sink. He didn’t speak at first, he just stood there staring down at me with eyes filled with remorse and a million different emotions that I couldn’t place my finger on.

“How do I take all of this back?” he asked before running his hands through his hair. “Can I even take all of this back? My intention was never to hurt you, I swear it.”

“I know.”

The painful part of it all was that I did know. I knew he wasn’t doing it intentionally. Maybe if it was, it would have been easier to hate him but he was just so concerned with finding the truth that every other thing took a back seat and I knew that if Nadine were to regain consciousness, he would go right back to that cycle. I knew it was wrong but a part of me was praying that she would never wake up. I would prefer for her to be stuck in that bed and confined to tubes if it meant that I got to keep Kaden.

I knew wishing that made me a bad person but I didn’t care. I was finally happy and I didn’t want anything to take that away from me.

“Can we just forget about all of this?” I asked and he opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. “Even when she isn’t here, she dominates out conversations and still manages to push us apart. For once, I just want to talk about something else. Why don’t we talk about pack work?”

He looked like he wanted to say more but at the last minute, he nodded. He helped me onto the barstool by the counter then placed the plate in front of me. it wasn’t until I had taken the first bite that he spoke.

“I haven’t done much of it lately if I’m being honest,” he let out a sigh. “I need to get back in the office soon. Caleb has been handling everything and I know he is doing a fucking good job but he cannot handle the work of the Alpha and the Beta.”

“I could help,” I cut in immediately and he raised his brows in shock. “If I am to be your mate then surely I should know my way around the pack and its businesses. It would be great if I could help out while you had your hands full.”

“I don’t know,” he hesitated. “There are some things that you should never see. Some things are just not meant to taint your mind. The work of an Alpha is crazy.”

“You can veto it first,” I offered. “You can go through the files first and send me whatever you think is good enough for me to see. I just want to be able to help. As long as it takes a little stress off your shoulders then I would be fine with it.”

He stilled and stared at me as if I had grown three heads. “Do you really mean that?”

I nodded. “Of course, why wouldn’t I? It would help me get you all to myself.”

He pushed off his seat on the bar and pulled me in for a deep kiss over the counter. It was not the most comfortable position wise but I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel him against my skin and I wanted to kiss him deeper. Kaden had the exact same thought because he pulled away from me long enough to round the counter and pull me into his arms. He placed me on the counter and the front of my robe parted revealing inch after inch of creamy skin.

He ran his hands up my thighs and ghosted his fingers just over where I needed him the most. A plea was at the tip of my tongue when a sharp sound cut through the air. I instantly recognized it as Kaden’s phone and so did he because he pulled back from me. We glanced over at his phone at the same time. There was a limited number of people who could be calling him and it was unlikely that any of them would come with good news.

“Are you going to answer it?” I asked hoping that he would say no but to my disappointment, he nodded and took a step back from me.

The phone was closer to me so I picked it up and handed it over to him. I got a glimpse of the caller ID and was at least relieved to see that it wasn’t Dr. Brown.

“What’s the update?” Kaden asked and I heard the other person clear their throat. I couldn’t hear the words they were saying but from the shocked expression on Kaden’s face, I knew it was serious. “Thank you, I’ll be there soon.”

The moment he said those words, I knew that all bets were off. I jumped off the table and turned to him with a bland expression. It was a serious battle to keep the sadness out of my face.

“What is it this time? Is there another rogue attack? Is it Alpha business?”

“That was one of the guards that I stationed at the hospital with Nadine. He swears that she moved her hands and mumbled some words.”