Chapter 44

(Amelia POV)

“Mmmm…ah..ouch…” I suddenly feel a rush of pain hit me as I start to wake up.

Wait…I was waking up…I’m not…dead? Memories of my mother beating me and holding a knife above me flash through my head and start to panic.

“Hey…hey calm down now, you are hurt pretty bad and we don’t want you causing any more damage by thrashing about like that.” I hear a woman’s voice say.

I slow my panicked movement at the sound of her soothing voice, and I try to slow my heart, but where was I? Where was my mom? What happened?

“W-where am I?” I ask trying to open my eyes and take in the room around me.

One of my eyes barely opened and I figured it was because it was too swollen, so I give up and work with my one good eye. I blink a few times but the woman standing near me still looks like a blurred figure, so I turn my heads to try and distinguish something familiar. The room was a white blur with bits of metallic shining under the overhead lights.

“W-where am I?” I ask again feeling the panic build up again and the sounds of something beeping loudly beside me.

I turn my head and the only thing I feel is fear, and an urge to run away.

“Amelia, hun, I need you to try and stay calm ok? I know you are scared but you are completely safe here. No one will hurt you I promise.” Her words work to calm me a bit, and I nod my head.

My vison has started to clear and I blink a couple more times and everything starts to become clear. But I soon wish I couldn’t see at all because the face I saw looking back at me was someone I knew….or thought I knew.

“N-n-natalia?” I ask with a shaky whisper.

“Yeah! How did you know? I thought you were completely out when I introduced myself to your brother!” She says with a smile.

No…no….no…not again! No wake up! This isn’t real! She isn’t real!

The machine next to my bed begins to beep loudly again as I start to hit my head against the bed trying to wake myself.

“Hey hey…Amelia…”

“No…no….you aren’t real! I-I am still asleep! I blacked out and I am imagining things again…none of this is real!” I say over and over like a mantra.

“Amelia, it’s ok! Just breathe.” Natalia says taking my wrists and trying to hold them.

I pull away from her touch and start to cry. Why did this world have to be so real? I felt like I was going crazy! What was real and what wasn’t? I couldn’t tell any more.

“Please…wake up! WAKE UP!” I cried out and hit my fists against my head trying to think clearly.

“ok…ok…” Natalia says trying to sooth me as she reaches for the phone beside my bed.

“Hi Marie, can you send Liam in?” She says into the phone. “You better call the alpha as well.”

She hangs up the phone and wraps her arms around me and speaks softly while I cry loudly into her shoulder repeating the same words over and over.

“Amelia! What happened?”

LIAM! That’s Liam’s voice.

“Liam!” I cry out and he immediately climbs onto the bed and pulls me too him and I cling onto him for dear life.

“She woke up and started to panic, she seems confused. It may have to do with the trauma to her head, I will have the doctor run some tests to be sure.” Natalia says but I try to tune out her voice because it just reminds me that I must be imagining all this, and she isn’t actually there.

“No. It’s not the trauma.” Liam says with a sigh, brushing his hand over my hair gently.

“What do you mean?” Natalia asks.

“This happens to her whenever our mother would hurt us. She goes into some kind of trance and doesn’t speak or move at all…she just looks lost.” Liam tries to explain.

“I see…” Natalia says softly. “We may need someone from psych to speak to her then.”

“Whatever she needs.” Liam says firmly.

“I’ll be back shortly.”

There is silence for a moment, and I feel my breaths grow steady and my heart becomes regular and rhythmic. It’s like I suddenly feel completely calm.

“Mia? Talk to me, hm?” Liam asks gently.

“Where is mom?” I ask in a flat voice.

“She was arrested.” Liam says, his voice sharp and angry. “One of the neighbors had called when they heard you screaming in the back yard. There was a patrol car only a few minutes away and walked in on my holding a knife above you. They got to her before she could…” His voice trails off.

“Where were you?” I asked him.

“God I’m so sorry Mia! I should have been there! I should have never left you alone! Mom was on one of her benders and I saw a chance to run and I took it. I hoped to find a place to stay for the night and come back and sneak you out after she passed out. I was on my way home when I saw all the police and ambulances. I got there in time to ask them to bring you here instead, since we can’t go to a real hospital and all.” He squeezes me tighter but is still carefully not to hurt me.

“Why did you run Liam? Why now?” I ask.

“Because I met someone, and I felt something I had never felt before. A pull to her…I can’t explain it.” He says with a weak laugh.

I squeeze my eyes shut because I have accepted that I have slipped back into my mind again, and I just needed to play along. This was just another world in my mind, and soon I would wake up and this all would disappear. Just like before….

“Olivia…” I whisper softly.

“Y-yeah…how do you know her name?” He asks pulling away and looking at me in confusion.

“Because she is your mate, and you are destined to be together…like fate or whatever.” I say casually with a shrug.

I sit up and lay back in my bed, brushing the hair from my face and try to compose myself. The story has started again, and I am the main character! Time to play the part!

“S-she is m-my mate?” He asks, looking away as if to let that though sink in.

He stands and laughs a little. “Oh my god! S-she s-she…she is my mate!”

I nod along. Why couldn’t I skip all these bits and just get deep into the world-shattering drama already. No wonder I was so confused, these side and back stories made this illusion drag on way too long.

“B-but how do you know this?” He asks turning to me.

“Because this is how everything always starts. Your un away to be with Olivia in her pack, and I come later when I finally break free from mom. I start a whole new life in a new state, a new apartment, a new job and I meet my mate or mates and then all hell breaks loose and I either die or I wake up.” I explain with annoyance in my voice.

“Mia I-I don’t understand. We are still home; I mean Olivia’s pack is only 20 miles from our house.” Liam explains.

I shrug. “I guess that’s new.”

He starts to say something but is interrupted when a doctor and Natalia walk in.

“Hello, I am Doctor Cole!” Brittney’s dad? Why was he the doctor?

“Alpha Cole? Since when are you a doctor?” I ask in confusion.

He looks to Liam with a questioning expression but my brother shrugs.

“I am Dr. Cole Miss, not Alpha Cole. I am the psychologist on staff here, and I wanted to ask you a few questions. If that is ok!” He asks glancing at Liam.

“Sure, ask away Alpha Cole!” I say with a small laugh.

This version of my illusion was a bit strange, but I was fine with that, since I was clearly going crazy.

“These episodes she has are in congruence with the times your mother has become violent?” He asks Liam.

“Yes. Although right now I am not exactly sure what is happening. She is saying things that don’t make sense.” Liam tries to explain.

“Like how she recognizes the nurse and I?” Doctor Cole asks.

“Yes, and she said that Olivia and I are mates, which makes sense to me only just now…but how would she know that?” Liam asks with clear worry.

“Her mate must be part of our pack as well…” Natalia says softly, but I hear her and smile.
“Ding ding ding!” I call out! “Ten points for you madame! My mate is Owen, future alpha!”

I let my head fall back and I laugh a little. Maybe if I speed all this along, I could get this over quicker.

The room falls silent.

“Alpha?” Natalia asks looking to the doctor.

“It would be the only way she would know any of us, but she seems to be confused about who we really are. We have somehow been associated with her delusion when she falls into her dissociative episodes.” Doctor Cole says but I just hum to myself and let the characters of my mind do their thing.

“Wait what? What does that mean?” Liam asks.

“Sometimes when a person is repeatedly abused either emotionally or physically, they can experience something called Dissociative episodes. They pull their conscious mind away from the situation and go to a place that makes them feel safe. In other words, when your mother would hurt your sister would hide in a part of her mind that let her forget what was happening.” The Doctor explains.

“But then how does she recognize you both and know about Olivia?” Liam asks.

“You both grew up with a human mother and may not understand the link between wolves in a pack and mates. If you have never shifted or been tough to understand or control these parts of you then it can be hard to understand what’s happening.” Natalia says.

“I’m sorry I still don’t understand.” Liam says with a frustrated sigh.

“Ok, wolves are able to communicate with the pack through our link. We are linked when we are accepted into the pack and can communicate telepathically pretty much anywhere. When we search for our chosen mate, sometimes we are able to reach out to them with this link that all wolves have. It can often help mates find one another if they listen hard enough. Our Alpha has been searching for his mate for over a year, and he must have been trying to lead her to our pack. He may not have realized how strongly he was projecting his thoughts, and if your sister is right…then she was hearing him.” Natalia says almost in one breath.

“This is crazy! So, you’re saying my sister saw you in her delusions because her mate was…speaking to her?” Liam asks in disbelief.

“In a way it would explain some of this. Although she must have warped whatever she was hearing into a different reality.” The physiatrist says stepping closer to me and shining a light in my eyes. “Pupils nonresponsive…”
“It’s happening now?” I hear Natalia ask.

“Yes.”

“Can she hear us?” Liam asks.

“It’s hard to know without being able to talk to her. It’s hard to tell how deep she has retreated…”

Before he can finish the door to my room slams open and he steps in. The man of my dreams apparently, in all his alpha glory!

“What’s going on in here?” Owen asks, his breath quick and heavy like he had run here.

“Who are you?” Liam demands.

“Liam this is the alpha of our pack Owen Rivers.” Doctor Cole says.

“I-I’m sorry alpha.” Liam says lowering his head.

“It’s ok. I’m sorry for just barging in but s-she told me she was here.” Owen says stepping closer to me.

He was so handsome, really a dream come true!

“She was calling out to you?” Natalia asks.

“Y-yes. Then I felt something, like she was close. Closer than I had ever felt her before.” Owen says reaching out and brushing the tip of his finger along my cheek as if to see if I was real.

When our skin touched, he gasped and laughed a little in disbelief.

“She is really here.” He says, his voice cracking from emotion. “But w-what happened to her?”

“She was beaten…by our mother.” Liam replies bitterly.

The air grows thick with anger, and my eyes start to water.

“Where is she?” Owen growls out.

“They are holding her downtown.” Liam replies.

Before anyone can say another word, Owen is storming out of the room.