The winds howled outside with every turn of her head and groan from her lips, a clear indication that she was fully submerged within another nightmare, as if the winds couldn't stand it any longer, they caused the twigs of the nearby tree that grew near the hospital window, to continuously make a raping sound against the glass, in attempt to free her from the clutches of the memories that refused to let her go. The nature's mission proved to be a success as she woke up with a gasp, the top half of her body shooting up on the bed, further startling the figure that sat reading a cosmopolitan on the chair besides her bed.
"Holy sh-" the profanity faded into the air as he looked at the heavily breathing woman on the bed. It was obvious to him that she had woken up from a terrible dream, as he silently waited for her to realise that she wasn't alone in the room. Amoura worked to steady her breathing as she calmed her lungs down and when she had finally convinced her nerves that the situation didn't call for them, she made attempt to wipe away the beads of sweat off her face, only to hear the resounding sound of steel against steel when she moved her right hand.
It was then she realised the steel bracelet around her wrist that was attached to a long trail of chains, that were apparently attached to the foot of the bed that happened to be bolted to the tiled floors. Her heart couldn't help but skip a beat at the notion of being caged again, that was when she snapped her eyes on the figure that had cleared their throat demanding to be acknowledged. She recognised him as the young boy from yesterday, as if a trigger, the rest of the events that had happened came crashing into her mind.
"Well, I'm glad that you're finally awake" Jack finally spoke, fidgeting under the stare of her penetrating silver eyes.
"Who are you, and why am I chained to the bed?" she questioned, as she remained straight up on the bed, her gaze still on the Alpha's son.
"Uhm, Jack, and it's precaution, you know? since you killed eight rabids like it was nothing and all" he explained. She couldn't help the cold chuckle that escaped her lips at their show of gratitude to what she had done, then again she couldn't find it in her to actually blame them, she was a weapon designed to eliminate them after all, despite the fact that she found herself falling for the one in her dreams.
"And if I remember correctly, had I not even intervened, you along with your pathetic friends would be dead" she stated, though her face held no emotion, the fact that they had her chained was still grating painfully against her nerves.
"Or so the story goes, quite frankly, I still find it hard to believe that you did what they say you did, yet the evidence is on their side, which begs the question, what are you, exactly?" a new voice joined the conversation as the man walked into the hospital room. By the imposing aura that wrapped around him, and the power that reeked off of him, she could tell that he was the Alpha, and based on the brunette hairs and dark brow eyes, along with the face structures, they were clear indications that the two males in her room were related. She found that she had been right to assume him the leader of the teenage group and apparently the Alpha's son. Amoura merely looked at the man and spoke
"I don't see how what I am concerns you, but in case your werewolf senses are failing you, which would sort of explain how you couldn't tell that rabids were around your territory yesterday, I believe it's clear enough by the fact that I haven't gotten out of this beautiful bracelet, that I'm a human" she replied, her tone a strange calm. The Alpha seemed to take offence as his eyes seemed to darken and she knew that his wolf wasshowing.
"Listen little girl, I have no time for games" he started, his voice a near high note, when
she interrupted
"Neither do I, so if you could just do both of us a favour and get me out of these, then I'll gladly be out of your hair" she said raising her hand motioning to the chain that made a clinking sound as if in agreement. Jack wondered if whether the woman had a death wish to interrupt an Alpha like that, being that they always demand respect, she was obviously showing him none and he knew that if he didn't intervene, then the poor woman would be dead, sure she had killed a few rabids but an Alpha was another thing, he thought to himself.
"Yea, I think I'll do just that" Jack stood up with the key taken out of his pocket and
made to take a few steps toward the woman, only to be halted by his father's command
"Son, don't, not until she has answered my questions" he said as he glared at the woman who seemed adamant on keeping her own gaze clashing against his own, something he could take as a clear challenge just to see who was the dominant one.
Their interaction that had resulted in tension suffocating the room as the Alpha released his power in attempt to dominate Amoura, which hardly worked as she still held her gaze as if entirely unaffected, was interrupted by the doctor that had entered the door. His state of surprise seemed to be greater than the stifling air in the room, and he couldn't help the word that escaped through his lips in an almost whisper
"Amoura?" the doctor couldn't believe his eyes, earlier when a colleague of his had asked that he check on her patient that happened to be human, he hadn't thought that the human would turn out to be one he hadn't seen in years. It didn't matter that her image had faded into nothing, for the appearance of the woman that sat on the bed frighteningly resembled the five-year-old that had disappeared sixteen years ago. At her name being uttered, her gaze snapped from the Alpha's to the doctor's that still stood before the closed door. She didn't recognise the blue eyes nor the peppered shot hair that seemed to have recognised her.
"I'm sorry but, do I know you?" she questioned, her brows furrowed in confusion totally ignoring the other two males in the room.
"So you are Amoura?" he asked.
"Last time I checked" she replied, sure that it was her name, for although she had forgotten her life before being caged, it seemed they had kept her name rather than replacing it with a mere number and alphabet scientists used for their experiments.
"Oh my goddess, I can't believe it" he said
"Hold on, you mean to say you know who this girl is?" questioned the Alpha as he looked at the doctor with questioning eyes
"Uh, yes Alpha, I believe there's no mistaking the silvery white hair with those penetrating silver eyes, she used to be part of the Mooncrest pack, until she disappearedwithout a trace" the doctor explained.
"As in Alpha Maximus' pack?" Jack enquired in shock, to which the doctor couldn't help but chuckle.
Amoura realised she had just stumbled upon another piece of her forgotten life, and her heart just about stopped beating when she heard Maximus' name. It seemed the flashback she had had was real, she had known Maximus before, not only from her dreams. The revelation alone had her confused, she had grown a sense of love for the man when he had stumbled into her dreams at sixteen, just about the only reason she could hold on after Anna died.
It hadn't truly occurred to her that he was real and not just a figment of her imagination and the affirmation was overwhelming beyond the hope she had had. She had thought it ridiculous to love a man made up by her own mind. Sure she had felt as if she had met him before but it had all been a dream then, a dream she had hoped was attached to a sense of reality, for making him real meant she had something to cling to, to look forward to beyond the white walls.
"So Maximus is real?" she couldn't help but ask
"Alpha Maximus to you" the Alpha spat, only to incite yet another chuckle from the doctor as he shook his head.
"Yes, he's real, and I don't think he would mind her calling him Maximus, Alpha, because they were quite close" he said this as he faced the Alpha "in fact, Alpha Max had been the one to find little Amoura when she was but a babe, they grew attached to the hip then, didn't matter how much trouble she caused, oh and believe me she caused a lot, but to him, she could do no wrong, that was when we realised that they could potentially be true mates" he said, he wasn't privy to the fact that they truly were and the adoptive father that had been the Alpha at the time, had chosen to keep it to themselves considering who Maximus was.
Amoura couldn't help a smile that yearned to escape from her lips, for apparently Maximus had seemed to adore her just as she had grown to, however, she couldn't think up any trouble she could have possibly caused, for she thought herself to possibly have been a docile child, yet the thought seemed ridiculous she almost scoffed at herself. Her mind drifted off to the notion of mates, a concept she had come to understand from the knowledge the voices in her head had fed her.
{Well I'd say they have ruined the whole surprise of it. Technically, you're supposed todiscover it all by your onsey. You know, be immersed within the magical moment as your eyes collide and you realise that you have finally found your better half.} Said the lad's voice in her head
[Yes, it's quite a special thing for werewolves dear, and it seems you might come to experience it yourself] said a motherly voice, and her heart couldn't help but blossom at the notion of having Maximus for a soulmate. Yet she couldn't help but wonder if
dream Maximus was the same as the real Maximus, the very thought of them turning out different sparked a spec of fear within her. Shaking her head as if to rid off the thought, her ears tuned back in into the conversation when she heard her name being called
"Where did you dose off to?" questioned Jack with a curious smile, turning her head back at the Alpha with a questioning look, he repeated his question
"I asked, how you came to disappear? Tom said you did so without a trace" she figured there was no use holding guard over the truth, and with a sigh she answered
"It was the hunters, their leader was quite the scientist too, I won't go into detail, I managed to escape a month ago, and I've been on the run since"
"What happened to the leader?" he questioned, although he had a sense that he already knew the answer from the look that came on her face when she mentioned him, hence he asked
"Killed him" her response was cold as her eyes at the thought of the hunter
"So, I take it you were heading to the pack?' it was the doctor, Tom that questioned, to which Amoura couldn't help but furrow her brows in confusion
"No, well I hoped I was heading to wherever home had been before they took me, since I have zero memory of everything before then" she said with a shrug, marvelling at the fact that the tug she had been listening to was possibly leading her to the pack.
"Wait, so you've been driving aimlessly hoping you were heading the right way?" Jack questioned
"And you've forgotten everything before you disappeared?' Tom added, to which she hesitantly nodded, causing the Alpha's eyes to squint in suspicion and Amoura didn't miss the look and figured she might as well sound crazier than she presumed theyalready thought her to be
"Well, there's this thing, a pull, quite a painful tug really, started when I was sixteen and only got worse till I couldn't take it anymore, it's the thing that's led my way" she trailed off as she watched Tom's face turn from one of astonishment to one of certainty
"Huh" the doctor huffed out "well I'll be damned" he lightly laughed out
"I guess I better get on a call with Max then" said the Alpha shaking his head, he himself refusing to believe that the mate of his long-time friend sat on his hospital's bed.
"Jack, show Amoura to a guestroom, until I find out what to do from Max, you'll have to stay here a little longer" the Alpha added as he stood by the open door
"And why can't I just drive my way as I had planned?" she questioned, not liking the fact that the Alpha had made a decision without consulting with her first
"Well, last I heard, he was at the castle, and if he's still there, we don't know how his pack will receive you, being that you're human and the king has a special dislike for your kind, I'm sure you've been aware of people's reaction toward you since you got here" the Alpha offered, Amoura could only nod
"You do have a point, but I'm still not staying"
"Do you have to be so stubborn?" jack questioned
"How about you ask the bloody tug that won't give me a rest mhmm?" she spat his way.
"Now, care to tell me where my clothes are? please" she asked still looking at Jack, who shook his head in disapproval.
"We can't force her to stay Jack, she'll deal with the consequences herself, Max better not blame me on this one, and you two are my witnesses" he said pointing at both Tom and his son before disappearing into the hallway.
"Well, it has been nice seeing you again Amoura, I'll try to do some research on your memory loss, see if I can find something that might help" he said to which she thanked him as she watched him walk out as well. She turned her head to look at Jack expectantly, who raised his hands in mock surrender and motioned toward another doorthat was within the room
"Bathroom" he said.
Amoura clambered out of the bed, and her feet found a sense of odd comfort from the cold, when they met with the chilled tiled floors. She padded her way toward the bathroom, feeling her muscles reacquaint themselves with movement again after having remained immobile for hours. Upon entering the hospital bathroom, her eyes immediately landed on a neatly folded pile of clothes on the basin counter, and she could tell that they had been washed, from the lavender scent that wafted toward her. Her eyes the landed on her coat hung behind the door as she closed it. Her hands immediately went to feel for her weapons only to find them gone and she couldn't help
but grate her teeth in annoyance. She truly didn't like people touching her things without her permission, the rule applied most to her weapons.
She padded away from the door and stopped before a mirror, her reflection made her regret having even looked at herself, she looked worse for wear as her hair was a muddled mess that still seemed to have red stains on it, compared to her clean body, she could only hope that it had been a female nurse to attend to her when she was unconscious. Discarding the flimsy hospital gown from her body, she walked into the shower and she barely reacted when a rain of cold water washed over her before it could start warming up. She took comfort in the water as it washed over her with a sense of warmth she needed. Her mind ran over every discovery she had just had a few minutes ago. She had been abandoned as a baby leading to Maximus finding her in the woods.
She had been close with the man and he was actually real. That reality was somehow hard to grasp the more solid it became. The tug had been linked to something in her past as she had hoped, her apparent home that she would soon come to rediscover as soon as she got back on the road again. She knew that the Alpha had a point, Maximus' pack might not turn out as welcoming at the fact that she was human, or maybe they might recognise her and be okay with her presence there as they had clearly been before, hopefully. When she was all dressed and her hair tied in a bun on her head, she shoved on her boots and threw on her coat as she walked out.
"I take it by the sour look on your face you noticed that we've disarmed your coat?' Jack questioned, his voice laced with humour and amusement as he jested. He still couldn't wrap his head around the existence that was Amoura and he couldn't help but find himself intrigued.
Having come to discover that she might possibly be mated to Alpha Max, he couldn't help but chuckle at what a pair they were, having noticed her skill first hand, he found it fitting for it had always been obvious that Alpha Max surpassed all wolves except the king, which had had some wolves speculating that perhaps he was even the son of the king. Although judging by how he had made it obvious that he never liked the king and perhaps loathed him, him turning out to be his son was less likely to ever be true.
"Where are my weapons exactly?" she questioned
"What, you aiming to challenge another group of teenagers in the woods again?" he smirked. Amoura couldn't help but chuckle at that
"Well, do you know of any that aim to corner a girl alone somewhere in the woods again?" she enquired, with a chuckle he answered
"No, I don't think they would dare after having witnessed how terrifying you could be" they walked through the corridors hopefully leading to the hospital's front doors.
"Good then, I've had enough killing, I think" she shrugged glancing at Jack, who had an amused smile on his face
"I have to admit though, those red eyes would have even me terrified if they were aimed my way" his confession brought her to an abrupt halt, not because she was shocked by the fact that she could scare the teenage boy, however, it was the mentioning of her eyes that made her scrunch her brows in confusion
"Red eyes?" she questioned, Jack could see that her confusion was genuine, and couldn't understand how she hadn't known. Amoura knew that after killing a rabid she became clouded by red and that's all she saw, blood, but it hadn't occurred to her that her eyes changed to bear the same crimson haze she saw through.
"Yea, your eyes turned this vibrant red, it was quite gnarly." He explained. "So you didn't know that your eye colour changes sometimes?" he asked
"Uh-Uh" she shook her head in denial.
"Are you maybe, feeling up to telling me just what you are? I mean no human's eye colour can change like that" he prodded, his tone cautious as if he was teetering on egg shells. He knew then by her instant cold expression as she faced forward to walk again, that he shouldn't have asked the question as it killed the light mood that had surrounded them.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I really am nothing but human" those were her last words as they walked on the secluded walkway. It was when they reached the most active part of the open area, when houses came into view and children ran around in gleeful laughter playing games, and a few grown ups walked around, and a group of teenagers halted their conversation to gawk at them, which caused a domino effect as more eyes fell on them. Only then did speak up
"I need my weapons Jack, the sooner I can get back on the road the better"
"Yea sure, follow me" he nodded as he directed toward a house that was bigger than the rest. It was a beautiful mansion, the bottom of it was surrounded by plants and flowers of all colours, it was a three story towering building, the second and third story had balconies, two on the second floor and one on the third floor. Most of the first floor however, seemed that walls were mostly glass, except for the beautifully bricked columns that held the structure up.
From where they walked, she could see the lounge on one end that had a big screen tv that occupied most of the bricked wall, then an ensemble of leather couches. On the other end of the mansion was a dining room that had a long rectangular table along with chairs that matched the wooden table. Before she could take in more of the house, a figure blocked her path, it was the girl from the woods, and she seemed nervous as she stood before them.
"Uhm, hi" her tone was low and sweet and Amoura couldn't help but smile at her
"Hi" she said
"Uhh, I just wanted to come and say thank you, for what you did yesterday" the girl hurried through the words as an adorable blush dusted over her pale skinned cheeks
"It's okay" Amoura told, "Does that happen often?' she asked the girl, whose eyes seemed to flick toward Jack before looking back down, and Amoura knew that she didn't need an answer from the girl if she took so long to answer and judging by her reaction, she seemed afraid to even answer as she looked at Jack beside her. Amoura turned to face Jack, a questioning gaze toward the teenage boy
"To be fair, it's not my fault that my friend sucks at wooing the girl he likes" he raised his hands in mock surrender, only to say 'oops' when he realised he just outed his friend in front of his friend's love interest.
"I'm so dead" he groaned as Amoura let out a chuckle at both Jack and the girl's wide eyed face, which turned darker shade of red at hearing her future Alpha's insinuation.
"Well, it seems he'll have to grow a pair and talk to her" Amoura said toward Jack "properly" she added seriously "because I don't care if he's your friend and you're the Alpha's son, if he so much as harms her in anyway, well, we both know what I can do" Jack could tell her threat was heavy with promise as he nodded seriously.
"And you sweetheart, seem to have discovered that you have an admirer, are you okay with that?' Amoura asked the girl, seeing hesitancy she faced Jack again 'I'll catch up" and as Jack walked on, she looked at the girl again and hummed in question
"Uh, well, I find Thomas to be quite intimidating" she admitted
"That can be fixed, but do you like him?" Amoura clarified, and as the girl seemed toredden further with a nod, Amoura smiled
"That's good, as for the intimidation, he'll just have to work real hard to gain your trust and to change how you see him mhmm?' Amoura offered, to which the girl nodded. Admittedly, Amoura knew that she had zero knowledge when it came to such matters, but she hoped that with their common feelings, all it would take for her to not see him as intimidating, would be for him to get her used to him, in order to change her perception of him with regard to feeling inferior to him, which she was sure had been induced by his Neanderthal ways of approaching her, when he could have simply talked
to her.
"I'll see you around" she said as she walked away from the girl who gave a timid wave.
"Anna" she whispered underneath her breath. She hoped the girl hadn't heard her, she hadn't asked for her name, part of the reason being that she liked the notion of thinking her as her Anna, it gave her heart a semblance of peace, even though she knew that her little girl rested somewhere better than the ailed world. When she reached the porch, both father and son stood apparently waiting for her. She could see that Jack held her bag, which if she remembered correctly, had left along with her bike, which made her realise that they must have found it. Climbing up the less that ten steps and onto the porch she stood before them, outstretching her hand for her things.
"You nik nacks are in there too" jack said referring to her weapons when he handed the bag over to her.
"For some reason, I couldn't get hold of Max, but based on the fact that it was the third princess that answered it, says that he's still at the palace, can you really not stay until I can get a hold of him?' the Alpha offered. Amoura refused to acknowledge that another woman had answered Maximus' phone and she shook her head at the Alpha.
"No, I have to go" she said with steel determination.
"Okay then, your keys, the bike is in the garage out back" the Alpha sighed out as he handed her the keys to Jazz.
"Can we at least drive you?" Jack offered, Amoura merely sent him a tight-lipped smile and said
"I travel better alone, but thanks" About as little as a day later, an anxious Beta and the king's warriors showed up at Crimson pack and enquired if whether they had encountered a human with white silvery hair and eyes. The Alpha having known the Beta well for years had no trouble telling them where she had gone, oblivious to the chaos that would soon embrace the werewolf world.