His scarred mate

CHAPTER 12

Aria

Everything is dark. An inky blackness surrounds me. I hear a gentle warm voice calling me, telling me that it is safe and I am alright. Daddy? Is that you? I groan as I open my eyes. It’s bright and everything is blurry. I feel a warm hand holding mine and see a white ceiling. Am I in the hospital? Where are my parents? What’s happening. I look over and see a strange man and I just.... scream. I feel frantic and see that there is a tube in my arm. Are they drugging me? Are they helping me. I am so frightened. Where is Jackson. I saw him a little while ago. Is he here? Does he know where I am? I can’t let him find me. I yank the drip out of my arm and feel a sting as I give it a shove. It falls to the floor with a sharp clang. That strange man keeps trying to touch me. I push his hands away. 2 women come in the room in white coats and hospital uniforms and quickly inject me with something. My mind goes foggy as I collapse back to bed. So ...... woozy.........

I wake up and look around. A woman I vaguely recognise is sitting next to me with a gentle smile.

“Hello Aria. Do you know where you are?”

“uh.....um.... Am I.... in a hospital? Wait. What happened?” As my mind clears I sit up with a start.

“It’s ok. You are safe here. Nobody can get you. Yes. You are in a private hospital. Can you tell me the last thing you remember?”

“Jackson. He grabbed me and took me somewhere. It was cold and dark and wet. He was saying all these crazy things and he....he......he cut me. And stabbed me.” I let out a gasp of horror as my hand flies up to my face. Instead of the bandages I am expecting, I feel a scar. My fingers glide across it’s smooth, raised edges and bumps.

The face on the Doc is odd. “How long have I been unconscious?”

“ Aria, do you have any other memories? From after the attack?”

“no, it’s all dark and fuzzy. Why? “ A strange feeling is sitting in the pit of my stomach. “How long ago was it?”

“Aria. It has been a long time since then. I want you to take a deep breathe and remember that Jackson can’t hurt you. He died. I know this is confusing and scary. The attack that you remember happened a few years ago. Recently, he found you and attacked you. You were rescued and he was killed. However, I believe that the trauma of this event along with the head injury you sustained has led to some partial memory loss. This could be temporary. The main thing to remember is that you are safe and nobody here is going to hurt you. “

My mind spins in a flurry of thoughts and feelings. I have lost some memories? The attack was years ago? Jackson is dead. Jackson.....is dead. Relief hits me and I laugh. I just.... laugh. Tears start flowing down my cheeks and the weight that has been pressing on my chest is just.... gone.

“Is he really dead?”

As she nods, I finally stop. I catch my breath and wipe away my tears.

“when I first woke up.... there was a man. Who was he? Why was he with me?”

The Doctor has an uncomfortable look on her face. “Aria, that man is Cam. And his is your m......boyfriend. “

I am shocked. Completely startled by this revelation. Why would I be dating anyone?

I hear a soft knock on the door and turn to see a handsome face peer in. It’s the man from before.

“Hey Doc. Is it ok for me to come in? “

She looks at me and I can only give a hesitant nod.

He enters the room and my heart leaps. I don’t know what this feeling is, but it scares me. I pull the blanket up around me more as he slowly walks over and sits down by my side. He is very careful not to touch me or make any sudden moves. His consideration helps to calm me.

I stare at him, barely hearing a word the Doc says as she explains to him about my missing memories. As she speaks, I can see the worry, sadness and fear flit across his face before he finally turns to me with a soft smile. “It’s going to be ok Aria. I know you don’t remember me right now, but I remember you and us and I know we can get through this. He starts to move his hand over as if to hold mine before he suddenly stops and puts it in his lap. His other hand clutching it tight as if they are trying to stop each other from reaching over to hold me.

I can’t take it. My head hurts. My chest hurts. Everything feels wrong. I don’t like it. Make it stop. “LEAVE! EVERYONE JUST GET OUT. Please...”

Cam

It takes everything in me not to hold her trembling body in my arms and tell her that everything is going to be alright. She looks so lost. So scared. Doc and I left once she started screaming.

I prowl the halls, stopping at her door multiple times a day. Doc, my beta, my parents... everyone keeps saying she just needs time. But days are passing and nothing changes. She is there, but she is not. My wolf whimpers as we open the door a crack and watch her flinch when she see's us.

I finally can’t take it anymore. I need to be by her side. I knock on her door and open it, standing in the doorway. She looks at me with empty eyes that tear at my soul. “There was a wolf that lived with you for a while. He was hurt and you helped it recover and it sort of.... stuck by your side. I thought that maybe.... maybe you might want him to visit? Would that be ok?”

She looks at me with a quiet curiosity. “A wolf? Like a wild animal? I had a pet wolf?”

“not exactly a pet.....” I shuffle uncomfortably while I try and figure out what to say next when “Ok. It might be nice to have company....” I smile and tell her I will send it in before I head into the room next door and strip off before transforming and padding back into her room. I slowly walk in, waiting to see if she will panic. She just looks at me with wide eye wonder. Completely entrance by my appearance. My wolf bursts with satisfaction at her interest in him. I stop at her side and nuzzle her hand with my snout. She brushes her fingers through my fur in a way that feels so family that it makes my heart ache. My front paws reach up and rest on the bed while I reach up and lick her cheek. The moment she smiles at me I can no longer hold back and get up on the bed completely before lying next to her and putting my head on her lap. She continues stroking my fur in an almost rhythmic fashion. Over and over and over again. The repetitive movements seem to act like a meditative motion. She is so calm, more so that she has been since see first awoke. Being by her side, even in this form is also granting me some solace and I quickly fall into a peaceful sleep.

Aria.

He is beautiful. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be able to even touch a wolf, let alone be stroking one as it sleeps with its head in my lap. It fills me with comfort and a sweet, niggling pain that I can’t describe. All I know is that I could stay like this forever. His silky fur slides through my fingers and his warm breathe breezes over my arm. I embrace the comfortable, familiar feeling he gives me as I join him in sleep.

When I wake up, I am greeted by his crystal clear eyes gazing at me and his face pressed against my neck with his breath tickling my skin. I wrap my arms around him and hold him close like a child with her teddy.

I don’t know how that man.... Cam got the staff to be ok with a wild animal in the clinic, but there have been no problems. They are actually weirdly polite and respectful to this wolf. He stays with me in my room, when I go outside for short walks, for everything really. Aside from the bathroom, he is by my side 24/7. I am revelling in his constant companionship. The only oddity is that since the arrival of this wolf, Cam has been noticeably absent. At first I was relieved. His presence outside my door and his brief check ins left me with knots in my stomach and a guilty feeling but now that he isn’t around.... I oddly miss him. I don’t understand these feelings. We’re they hers? This other me that I don’t remember. They brought me my computer and I have been combing through everything. All my novels and emails giving me a glimpse of my life for all these years. I also found a few scant diary entries. Reading about the Death of parents broke my heart. I wrote about meeting this wolf and there was the page devoted to my first time. How gentle and kind Cam was. How he made me feel. Brief snippets of a life I lived but don’t remember leaving me to feel like a voyeur to my own life. I have never been a journal person, so why these 3 moments made me put them in words leaves me baffled.

The weather is stunning and the fresh breeze brings a gentle floral scent that just makes me want to be outside. My wolf join a me on my walk, not that it surprises me. I have started to take for granted that his attention is limited. A wild animal belongs in the wild and soon, he will leave my side and return to the woods. Since I don’t want to dwell on that, I play ignorant and ignore that reality.

The walk is lovely. The sun, the air and the scenery reinvigorate me and I am really surprised by how comfortable I am. I don’t know if it’s the knowledge that Jackson is dead and gone or having a wolf by my side or this place or even all three. Either way, I push myself to continue because of how good I feel. As we wonder, the wolf starts to circle me and whimper. Occasionally grabbing my clothes with his teeth and gently tugging. I gave His face a stroke, “I know. I should be heading back. You're right.” I chuckled as we turned around to start heading back. I hadn’t taken ten steps before I felt like the ground way moving beneath my feet. As I start to fall, I see the wolf change into a very naked Cam. He calls my name and catches me in his arms before everything turns black.

Cam

As we walk, I can tell that her energy is dropping. I try to pull her and signal that we should go back to her room in the clinic. She runs a hand over my head as she lets me know she understood my hints. We head back and I see her slump and start to collapse. I shift and yell her name as I catch her in my arms. She doesn’t respond to my calls and I run back to the clinic, calling for the Doc as I burst through the doors. As she checks over my mate, I grab some spare clothes I have stashed away and wait for an update.

Aria

As I lay on the bed, my mind whirls as visions flash past. An injured wolf. Cuddling up with it on the couch as I write. The first time I see Cam. His care of me while I was sick, the feeling of his lips pressed against mine, the touch of his skin and the feeling of him holding me in his arms. These warm, beautiful memories fade as the memories of Rogues attacking flood in. Jackson at my door. The pain as my head split and blood dripped down my face and the sound of violent growls as wolves fought and the faint feeling of Cam saving me. As it all came flooding back, my heart burst with love for my gentle wolf. He was by my side. Head down and breathing deep.

Cam

Sleep comes for me. No matter how hard I fight it, I eventually succumb. I am in this fuzzy space where I am asleep, but only drifting. I can still hear her softly breathing, the faint hum of the machines, the rustling of leaves as the wind blows through the trees outside. I feel a gentle touch on my face. Soft skin brushing against my cheek and running through me hair. My eyes open and I see her looking at me. Her eyes are open and seem to glow with warmth. My beloved mate is awake.

I listen to her whisper softly, “You came for me. You saved me.”

I cant imagine a single thing that could stop me. As long as she needed me, I would be there for her. “Always.”

“ I love you.” I feel like my heart stops before starting again and racing a million miles an hour. I can only stutter out “ So.... do you remember? Everything.”

She smiles and softly nods. I kiss her forehead before pressing mine against hers.

“When you feel better and the Doc gives the ok, I have a place I want to show you. But only when you're ready.” I desperately want to show her our new home. The flowers are blooming so the ground looks like carpet of blooms. I hope she loves the place as much as I do. I have imagined her in it over a thousand times and seeing that it can now happen in real life, I am beyond nervous and excited.