Alice and The Rogue Wolf

Chapter 15

The anxiety of the night's events deprived me of having a good sleep. I twirled and turned uneasily on the bed wide-eyed and praying and hoping for the early rays of the morning to quicken its rise.

Even though the night seemed longer, the morning finally came and after fixing myself a hot breakfast, I marched out to meet with Brayden. He expressed surprise that I had decided to meet him that early but at the same time was excited.

"I thought you'd be coming with a mat as usual!" He exclaimed when he saw I was without my backpack.

I thought of a suitable excuse but none came to mind. My mission here was so urgent that it didn't occur to me.

"And to what do I owe this early visit?" He asked when he noticed that no answer was forthcoming.

"I wanted to tell you the truth," I had rehearsed how this conversation would go the previous night, but I seemed to have misplaced the words along the way. This was the best I could come up with.

"The truth? Which truth?"

I wanted to speak but the words remained stuck in 1pmy throat as I hadn't yet come up with enough trust for now. I knew I was supposed to trust him, but I was scared if he was still the same trustworthy fellow he was when I wrote that note. But, I didn't have much of a choice, so I decided to go with it.

"The truth is I fell into a coma two weeks ago." I paused for the message to sink in. "They said I was in some kind of accident and bashed my head. When I woke up, I lost all my memories from as far as three years ago and I have been looking for ways to get them back."

He had a sad look on his face. "You know, I always wondered what you meant by - when I woke up - but I never thought it was as serious as this."

"I need to get my memories back. It's been two weeks and everyone discourages me whenever I bring up the topic like it doesn't matter. If you could just…" My voice which had been shaky finally broke off, and I began sobbing.

The hot tears streamed down my cheeks and onto the trousers I had on. I tried holding them back but I nibbled so much on my lower lip that I would have dug holes for Brayden's quick intervention as he pulled me into an affectionate hug.

"I'm sorry!" He whispered. rubbing my back gently.

But that had little or no effect on the tears. Tears of anger, frustration, helplessness, and desperation drooled out in their torrents. I guess they had been bottled for so long and wouldn't cease until they drenched my entire face, and as it would seem, the top half of Brayden's t-shirt.

We held on to each other tightly, and only after my sobs turned to sniffles did Brayden disengage and cusp my face in his palms, flicking off the dots of tears that remained stuck in my brows. His arm was sending sparks up my cheeks, one that was enough to make my cheeks flush red, and make my knees feel weak beneath me.

"Listen, Alice. I can't tell how much this saddens me. I'm so sorry. But the little I can do is to try and help you get your memories. back. C'mon stop sobbing, it's gonna be okay."

The stare he held while he talked lasted longer than I should. I tried to break free of the situation but my body seemed to have lost touch with its defenses. I tried to look away, but he kept my head in place, his eyes begging for the one thing I wasn't supposed to say yes to. But the butterflies in my stomach felt otherwise.

Slowly, his lips parted and responsively, so did mine. This time our heads moved closer to each other in a matter of seconds glued together.

In truth, I felt nothing like this, not with anyone for as long as I could recall. Even when I was supposed to be loyal to Jonathan, there was something in Brayden that always held me hostage whenever I was around him. Not, his gentle touch, his unwavering and alluring scent, nor his handsomeness, but something beyond all that made me yearn. Just when I thought I had figured it out, I felt a tingle in my heart like something trying to break out, and then in my ears, I heard someone say "mate." In shock I forcefully disengaged the kiss, jumping to my feet.

"What did you just say?" I asked, in disbelief.

"Nothing. Our lips were locked a couple of seconds ago, remember?" He said, rising with concern.

The realization of how vulnerable I was once more hit me and out of frustration that he was using my weakness, I battled words out on him.

"So nice of you for being so sarcastic," I threw accusingly at him.

"What do you mean by sarcastic? C'mon, it was just a joke."

"A joke? I opened up to you and when I was at my weakest you saw just the right moment to satisfy your lust and you took advantage of it." I was annoyed. "I should've known you must have changed."

"What are you talking about? I would never consider taking advantage of you. Wh… why would you say that?" He looked innocent but I wasn't going to fall for that anymore.

No sooner had the words left his mouth, than I landed a slap on his right cheek which sent him staggering a step backward.

"What was that for?" He blurted out, holding his reddening right cheek.

"That was for trying to entice me into sleeping with you." He tried to speak but I was too boiled up to give him a chance. "You knew full well that shortly, when this madness of yours is over, I will be married to Jonathan and be the next Luna, yet you still try to push your luck. What sort of friend are you?"

He was silent still nursing his cheek with his eyes staring at anything but my eyes.

"Yes, that's what I thought. You wretched bastard!" I snarled. "May the moon goddess rip your balls off at night for what you did. You murdered my father in cold blood and now you think you can have your way with his daughter as well? Well, news flash, you better watch out cause you have it coming. You'll pay for what you did and I pray I will be the one that detaches your head from your neck."

After I was done, I stormed off, trying to soothe my racing heart. I chided myself for not trusting my instincts but I couldn't ignore the pressing urge to return to him. Perhaps The voice which was singing in my ears had something to do with it. With each step I progressed, the calls grew louder and this time it was accompanied by howling. I had previously thought it was from Brayden but now I was certain it was my inner wolf.

I turned back for one last glance at Brayden, but he was gone. My mind was incongruous. My wolf had never called out to Jonathan before, talking more of yearning for him. So why would it pick out Brayden of all persons? Gradually, the yearning for him wore off, and I dragged my now weary feet home.

It was a weekend so most of the pack could be seen chatting on their porches or tending to their overgrown gardens. The sun had started the day mild, shielded by plump clouds which signaled an impending outpour, but even so, the kids ran around in small groups, playing soccer. They,y however, were a few people who after breakfast, sadly watched all the bustling going on and I was one of them.

Jonathan had headed into town with his friends, and mother was on the rocking chair beside me knitting to pass time while I was outdoors still trying to comprehend what had happened earlier. But the more I thought of it, the more my understanding seemed to regress.

"Alice!" I heard my mother call. "Are you okay?"

I wished I could tell her, but after our previous encounter, I was beginning to get suspicious of her as well. I wasn't going to ruin the relaxed air so I gave an affirmative nod. But she kept going on about it that the only choice I had was to excuse myself and go for a walk.

Ever since I got into the whole Brayden entanglement, this was the first time I had the time to explore. I had taken a couple of walks but had never covered as much ground as I had today. Residents would occasionally stop me and engage in conversation which I responded awkwardly with nods and smiles to most, while to others I could still recognize, I stopped to catch up with them.

By the time I headed home, my mind was still heavy with thoughts of losing my memories. I knew waiting as doctor Tanner said would be a waste of time and I needed a quicker solution. But how I could get it proved to be a problem. I was still thinking about this when someone flung herself at me from behind.