Her Mortal Mate

Chapter Nineteen: Repressed Memories

Jadea

"Jadea, what was that?" Garret's tone was more concerned than frustrated. And rightfully so. I'd never frozen like that before.

I'd acted excessively rash today, placing not only myself in danger, but several of the other wolves in harms way, all because I'd acted on my emotions. However, that wasn't the most worrisome part.

I knew that alpha, and I hated the very familiar emotions ripping through my chest, tearing open wounds I thought were healed.

"Jadea?" Garret's face appeared before mine, but I couldn't focus on him. My mind was dragging me back to the past, and there was no way I could stop it. "Jadea... Jadea ..."

***Flashback***

"Jadea!" My father's furious voice broke the serene silence.

I instantly cowered and hid, not caring about the deer I'd been focusing on in the clearing.

My brothers and I had been tracking down a deer, as instructed to do by our father. He was a mean man. A bitter man. And none of us understood why. He'd snapped earlier when we'd been roughhousing over a bone. None of us had been using our powers. None of us had even broken skin with our sharp baby teeth. But, something about our play had irritated him.

Again.

And he'd told us if we wanted to ever eat, we needed to start pulling our weight. That we needed to hunt down our own meat.

Knowing our father meant business, Harley had taken the lead--which made sense because he was the oldest--and had instructed Benji and I on what he'd wanted us to do. The deer was too fast for our little legs to chase down, so we had to think outside of the box. He and Benji were going to settle themselves downwind of the deer while I used my powers to manipulate the deer into staying calm, even when they attacked. It seemed like a solid plan, and I knew I could trust my brothers not to say anything to our father about me breaking the rules. I mean, this tactic had been Harley's idea all along. He wouldn’t risk father’s ire like that unless he planned to keep it a secret.

We tracked the deer.

We'd found the deer.

But, as I was weaving my spell so they could attack it and have a fighting chance of actually killing it, my father's voice ripped through the stillness and frightened away the deer.

What had I done?

I heard his curses as he stomped his way through the forest, looking for me. "You thought you could use your powers without me finding out, you little ..." I didn't hear the mean names he was calling me, my frantic heartbeat pounding loudly in my ears drowning out his voice. I hunkered down in the brush I'd hidden in and covered my ears with my paws. I forced myself to stay silent, to not whine in fear. One little sound would instantly give away my hiding spot. I knew my father would find me, regardless. He always did. At least this way, it would delay the inevitable.

Using my powers was something he despised and forbade. I didn't understand what was so bad about them, and why I couldn't use them. Other wolves in his pack could use their powers during the hunt. But, he'd beaten me within an inch of my life for daring to even think about using them, let alone actually using them.

So this, right here, was a big mistake on my part.

How had he found out?

As he stomped nearby, I saw Harley following him.

Had my brother intentionally set me up and ratted me out?

It didn't make sense... There had to be another explanation, right?

However, I soon found out he had intentionally set me up because he was just as spiteful and malicious as father was.

***End Flashback***

I flinched when a nose pressed into my neck.

"Jadea, you're safe," Garret's voice filled my mind soothingly, bringing me back to the present.

I looked around and saw several sets of eyes watching me curiously, and I instantly felt guilty. Though, exactly what I felt bad for, I couldn't say.

I'd closed my mind off to the pack when the flashback had started, which meant Garret was the only one who had been privy to my memories because of his mind reading abilities. I hadn't had a flashback since my time in my father's pack. Working with Caden and my therapist, Dr. Andrew, I'd thought I'd gotten past all of this.

Though, thinking about it now, Dr. Andrew had mentioned I might have repressed memories that could get triggered.

This had to be one of them.

Taking several deep breaths, I calmed myself down and chased away the remnants of that repressed memory. It made sense why I was having these now. I'd experienced several traumatic events over the course of a year, starting with Valdis. Then there had been Anika's kidnapping. I'd left my mate. My pack and I had suffered through a smear trial. And just months after all of that ended, my mate had been captured and his family almost murdered because of my world.

When I had a moment, I would have to give Dr. Andrew a call and talk to him about what I'd remembered. I knew what I'd remembered right now wasn't the entire memory, and I was afraid of what else would get shaken loose. Especially if I was to hunt down my genetic family who was obviously out for blood.

"You know the white wolf?" Nikolai asked gently, understanding something had just happened.

I nodded a bit numbly. "Yes. He is my brother." I admitted.

This was indeed a family affair, as I had initially been worried about.