AMELIA’S P.O.V

My head was pounding. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull and had turned it into their personal construction ground. I lifted a hand to my face trying to block out the bright rays of light hitting me. I wasn’t sure what had happened but I felt immensely weak. It felt like a chore to even open my eyes.


I couldn’t feel my wolf which was weird. That sound have been the first red flag to me but I felt too weak to even think about it. I peeled my eyes open slowly expecting to find myself in my room but I didn’t recognize my surroundings. I immediately shot to a sitting position ignoring the pounding in my head.

I was in a room, but it wasn’t mine. The walls were made of wood that was chipped, the bed looked like it was barely holding onto itself. The place looked old and dusty. I looked around wondering what the hell had happened when the memories slammed into me at record speed. I remembered Clara telling me that someone was coming and I remembered the wolf running into the road. Everything after that was a blur.

I muttered a curse under my breath dragging myself out of bed. My legs were shaky but I still managed to pull myself to my feet. I didn’t know who brought me here but I just wanted to get out. My wolf was still unreachable which only made things more difficult. I tried to ignore the fear that was bubbling inside of me but I couldn’t.


Thankfully, the door was open and I dragged myself out into the hall. The rest of the house looked significantly better than the room at least. It looked like someone had cleaned and made it presentable but for some reason, the blinds were drawn and the house was dark. Without my wolf, it was hard to adjust my eyes to the darkness. I didn’t know where the switches were and I didn’t want to risk drawing attention to myself.

“Now would be a good time to show up, Tara,” I ground out to my wolf and I felt her rouse slightly inside of me but there was something blocking me from being able to completely reach her.


I managed to get to the door but it was locked. I could have screamed in that moment. I ran my hands through my hair wondering what I was going to do next when the lights came on. I froze like a deer in headlights not wanting to turn around. I could smell him. I didn’t want to face him because that would have meant that what I smelled was real.

“You’re awake,” I squeezed my eyes shut trying to get his voice out of my head. “It is just me, Amelia. I would never hurt you.”

I slowly turned to face Blake. He looked different from the last time I saw him. He seemed harder, tougher, he had grown out some muscles and he had a light dusting of facial hair. There was something off about him, I didn’t need Tara to tell me that.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “How did you get me here? Where are we?”

“I know you are worried but please take a seat,” he gestured to the couch. He wasn’t trying to hurt me but I was scared of how quickly that could change.

I slowly made my way over to the couch and sat down making sure to keep my eyes on him. He smiled at me, almost patronizingly before leaving and returning with a plate of pasta. It smelled good and my stomach rumbled. I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was until I saw the food but I couldn’t eat it. I didn’t even know if it was poisoned or not.

“Please, Amelia, I know that he must have done a number on you but I am here now,” he reached out for me but I pulled away. I saw annoyance flash in his eyes but he said nothing. “I saved you, Amelia. I got you out of there.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He was keeping you hostage. I heard how he got you put in the hospital. He wasn’t good for you. He was keeping us apart but you don’t have to worry about him anymore. I took care of everything. He won’t be able to find you. Someone cleaned up after us, Kaden cannot track us anymore.”

I couldn’t speak. He sounded insane but all I could think about was how the hell he knew that I was in the hospital. We had a spy and we didn’t even know. I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. He was under the delusion that I needed to be saved.

“Kaden didn’t put me in the hospital,” I began trying to explain when he reached out and grabbed my arm.

“I know he lied to you and he made you believe that but you don’t have to lie to me anymore. You will never see him again,” with each word, his grip grew tighter until I was squirming. “We can be one now.”

“You’re hurting me,” I ground out and he released me. I rubbed at my wrist and I could see the remorse in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, I just get very upset when I think about what he did to you. Especially that mark, he must have forced it on you,” I opened my mouth to speak but he didn’t let me. “I’ll get it off, I promise you and then you can carry our mark and we can be together.”

“What about Brittany? Aren’t you mated to her?”

His eyes darkened. “Let me worry about her. For now, you need to eat and rest.”

He gestured to my untouched plate. It was clear he wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I had never dealt with something like this before and I knew that until I found a way out of here, I was going to have to play his game according to his rules. I wasn’t sure if he was bluffing about the mark but I didn’t want to find out.

I gave him a small smile and picked up the plate. “Thank you, Blake. You really saved me.”