Chapter 47

(Amelia POV)

The next day I was given the ok from the doctor to leave, and Liam had already gone ahead and packed all our stuff away. Olivia helped once he had gotten over his mental freak out and walked over to her house to see her and finally meet her family. They talked him into staying the night there and when he returned the next morning, he was sporting a not very well-hidden mark on his neck. I planned on not mentioning it, but Natalia made a point of congratulating him which made him immediately try and hide it, but it was too late.

“Why does everyone already know?” Liam whispers to me when we gather my stuff from my hospital room.

I laugh softly and turn pulling his collar away. “Maybe because you have a giant mark on your neck and looked like you rushed to get dressed this morning.”

He huffed and buttoned his shirt all the way up to the top button. “I don’t know if I like how nosey these wolves are.”

“First, they are nosey because it’s a small community and these things are obviously a big deal to them. Second, we are wolves too, so we need to learn and accept things here.” I remind him.

He sighs and throws my duffle bag over his shoulder as we start to walk out of the room. Thankfully my injuries didn’t leave me immobile and had been strictly around my upper body. My hands had several cuts on them from me trying to crawl away from my mother and defend myself. I had a minor fractured rib and a few bruised ones, but my face and arms got the most hits. They were sore and covered in bruises, but they had already started changing to that awful yellow green color that bruises make when they start to heal. My eye had healed enough that I could open it more without it hurting, but it still didn’t look great.

No one seemed to even notice the bruises, choosing to talk to me like they weren’t even there including Owen. I was grateful for them not drawing attention to the things about myself I couldn’t hide. Liam and I made it out the front doors of the hospital and we were met with Owen rushing toward us.

“I am so sorry I am late!” He says with a smile and grabbing the small items I had in my hands. “Your chariot awaits my lady!”

He points to a car parked awkwardly not far from where we were standing.

“Who taught you how to park like that?” Liam teased.

Owen huffed. “I was in a hurry, ok? Couldn’t leave my girl waiting.”
He gave me a wink and my brother groaned in disgust. “Please don’t talk about my sister in front of me!”

I laughed but loved Owen’s cute remarks and took the arm he offered to me with a bow of my head. I felt like a queen being led to her carriage, and even more so when he opened the door for me and closing it once I was safely inside. My brother took a seat in back and Owen joined me up front as this was his car and all.

“So, am I dropping you at your in-laws or your newly finished house?” Owen asks Liam glancing through the rear-view mirror.

“They aren’t my in-laws yet, but…yes.” Liam said crossing his arms and earning a laugh from both me and Owen.

“When do you and Olivia move into the new house.” I ask turning my head to look at him.

“Olivia is finishing the last of the décor and made me swear to not go there until it was finished. She wants to surprise me when its completely decorated.” Liam replies with a shrug like it was no big deal, but I caught a small smirk before it quickly disappeared.

It didn’t take long for us to pull up to Olivia’s old house and Liam jumped out of the car as Olivia’s mom stepped out of the front door.

“Hi son!” She called out to Liam who instantly blushed and lowered his head.

“Hi…mom.” He said under his breath earning a bright smile from the woman.

The woman stepped up and grabbed my brother’s cheeks and pulled him lower so she could place a gentle kiss to his forehead. I held back a giggle, but he shot me a glare when he heard it. Whoops!

“Good morning Alpha!” The woman calls out while my brother almost runs inside in embarrassment.

“Good morning ma’am! I hope your family is well!” Owen calls out in response.

“Very well! Stop by for dinner one day this week, ok? And bring your lovely girl along too!” He looks at me for a second before turning and agreeing.

We pull away soon after and we drive past several smaller houses along the dirt path. They all look like adorable little cottages and I let my mind wander into the memories of the house Owen had built us in my…mind space. I wasn’t sure what to call that place really, my ‘mind space’ seemed the least strange of all I could come up with. Owen and I hadn’t really had a chance to talk more about what had happened with all that. He and Liam got kicked out by Natalia at around 10 the night before so I could rest.

“What are you thinking about?” Owen asks suddenly offering me a sincere smile.

“It’s nothing.” I say with a shake of my head.

“Is it about…that place? The place you go to?” He asks carefully.

The doctor had come back to explain everything to Owen, since he had missed when the doctor talked it over with us. He wanted to be sure that if I was to go home with Owen, that he would be prepared if an episode were to happen. According to him, if I had a sudden memory and it was not a good one, it could send me to my mind space. Owen listened carefully and asked lots of questions on how to care for me, and I just sat back and listened. I admit I hated how I needed so much caring for as if I was incapable of caring for myself, but I quickly resized that I didn’t know how to care for myself in those situations yet.

I had no idea when they were happening, and I didn’t know how to pull myself out once I was in it. Maybe one day I would be able to understand it all better, but for now I was someone with severe emotional trauma and I needed the help. The doctor said there will be times when I feel completely fine and others when I could easily fall into a dark place. He promised to help me learn ways of dealing with those low times, and those would ease up over time.

I realized I hadn’t answered Owens’ question, so I shook my head to make it focus.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. It’s still so strange.” I say.

“What is?” He asks.

“The fact that all of this looks familiar and yet I have never actually been here. I guess it makes me wonder still if this is real.” I admit.

Honesty was something the doctor recommended as well, open honesty. He said I need to ask when I feel unsure and let people know when I feel unsure where I am and if what is happening is real or not. He told me to focus on small specific details that are constant in my life, those are my anchors.

“I can’t even imagine what that must feel like, but I promise you this is real. This moment, you really are with me.” Owen says taking my hand and placing it over his heart.

Soon my heart seemed to pick up the rhythm until they beat as one, and I let out a long shaky breath. This was real. This is real.

“There it is!” He said letting his hand fall from mine that still rested on his chest to point at the house snuggled in a small clearing.

Our house.

Liam had offered for me to stay with him until I was definitely ready to shack up with the Alpha, but I wanted to feel normal even just a little. In the world of mates and wolves everything was quick! I had asked Natalia a few questions when the boys left last night, even though I was meant to be resting. She protested but with my unrest begging and the biggest puppy eyes I could muster, she gave in. She told me all about mate balls and how with mates things moved fast. The wolves inside not needing normal human convention and tradition to dictate what nature had already decided. They find their mate and claim them, simple as that. She even said sometimes it happens in one night!

That made me a little nervous to willingly go home with my mate, but if that was true then I wanted to be his. I had no one except Liam now, but he had his own mate and needed to start his own life. I didn’t want him to put his new life on hold for me when Owen was ready to start our life together as well. What I really hated though was that he was stuck with me as a mate. I was broken goods, and there was no return policy since wolves took true mates extremely seriously.

My father had left his entire family when he found his true mate, if that wasn’t true then he was clearly just a bastard. Owen climbed out of the car and rushed over before I could open my own door, and swung the door open for me.

“Thank you.” I say with the sweetest smile I could muster.

I tried hard to smile around him when I could. He was so happy to have me here and so full of hope that I dint want to be the rainy cloud over all that happy. I know it wasn’t good to pretend like I was fine, when I was as big of a mess as always, but I just couldn’t hurt him. After all he hadn’t asked for me to be his mate, it was out of our control.

Before I could take two steps, he scooped me up in his arms and I let out a surprised yelp.

“What are you doing?” I ask grabbing his neck to balance myself.

He laughed. “Carrying you over the threshold my lady!”

Why did he have to be so sweet? So romantic? So kind? It was only making me feel more guilty. Even when he had been trying to speak to me, he had done that so that I would know he was there. He hadn’t even met me and yet he was exerting himself trying to reach me, and I never replied. He must have been crushed to hear only silence.