ANNA FELT INCREDIBLY OVERWHELMED, but these people seemed so nice that she couldn’t bring herself to tell them that. The most unsettling thing, however, was the need she felt to run. She couldn’t place it entirely and since nobody knew what happened to her before Collin found her, it made sense that she would feel that way.
At least … That was what the doctor told her. The doctor also told her that Collin was her mate, which was a very weird thing to say, wasn’t it? He found her half-dying in an alley. How could he have fallen in love with her without knowing who she was or where she came from? She, however, bit her tongue so she didn’t offend him. His voice was soothing. Almost as if she knew him before she was injured, and when he told her that he had spent every waking moment at her bedside the past two months, it made sense.
She must have actually heard him while she was in her coma. He told her about the people who lived in the commune with them and for a moment she wondered if she had ended up in the hands of some cult! It was so weird what she could remember and what she couldn’t. Why did she remember things that were basically useless information but she couldn’t remember something as important as her own name? She frowned at Collin as she studied him for a moment.
“Do you smell that?” She frowned, sniffing the air a second time and she could have sworn he looked curious, but he shook his head and asked what. “It smells like …” She sniffed the air again. “It smells like freshly ground coffee beans.” Still frowning, she noticed a spark of excitement in his eyes. He hesitated for a moment and then leaned forward enough for her to smell his neck.
It was Collin! For some odd reason, he smelled like coffee! Then she remembered that she liked coffee and the realization made her eyes grow wide. Everything wasn’t gone! If she just listened to the doctor and did what he said, things would get better. They had to. Anna couldn’t imagine living the rest of her life not knowing who she really was or where she came from. Did she have a family out there looking for her?
The strangest thing, however, was that she got tired pretty easily and they joked around as Collin told her that she had been asleep for over two months. She should have been completely rested. Thankfully, he didn’t pressure her to stay awake. He put on some music that sounded familiar to her and when Collin told her it was one of the songs he played for her while she was in her coma, she smiled. Collin tucked her in and she breathed in his smell before closing her eyes.
The music drifted through the air as she drifted off to sleep. Her dreams were filled with flashes of images and she woke up screaming in the middle of the night. Collin came running into her room wearing only a pair of satin shorts. Anna was soaked in sweat and Collin suggested that she take a shower before going back to sleep. She had not woken from nightmares the entire time she was in a coma and Collin felt frantic, but there was nothing any of them could do until she regained her full memory. His mother showed up just a couple of minutes later and she helped Anna to get cleaned up. Anna was grateful, but something was bothering her.
They kept calling her Clara, and that didn’t feel right. As if she knew deep down it wasn’t her name. Collin’s mother, Leah, then suggested she pick a name that she felt comfortable with. Anna nodded. She wanted to think about it first, but she liked the idea. Leah took away her dirty clothes and Collin returned to tuck Anna back into bed. He had just put the music back on when she turned to look at him.
“Would you mind staying with me?” Anna had no idea why she asked him that, but she felt safe with him. When Collin was around, she didn’t feel the anxiety as much and after she couldn’t remember the nightmares, she was really afraid that she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Collin slipped onto the bed behind her and pulled her into his arms. Goosebumps broke out all over her skin as she felt him sniffing her hair and she closed her eyes, listening to the music. It lulled her back into sleep and this time she slept through the night.
Anna was woken the next morning by the smell of food and her stomach growled as she yawned and opened her eyes. She wasn’t surprised to find Leah walking into her room with a tray of breakfast, but she was surprised when Collin stepped out of the bathroom. His hair was still wet and it was clear that he had just taken a shower. Watching the interaction between mother and son, she felt amused when she noticed that Collin was blushing.
His mother gave them some privacy which Anna appreciated and Collin helped Anna out of bed. They laughed when he tried to brush her teeth for her. He didn’t want to leave her completely alone in the bathroom, but he had no choice when she wanted to do other things. When Anna was ready, she stepped out of the bathroom and found Collin sitting at a small table with breakfast waiting for them.
His mother must have brought him some while Anna was in the bathroom, she realized, and it made her wonder why these people were so insistent that she spent her time in the room. Were they keeping her prisoner? Did the doctor perhaps lie to her? Anna shook her head as soon as the ridiculous thoughts popped into her mind. It was totally possible that she was a little more paranoid if you thought about what she had just been through.
She knew she had to trust her instincts and they were telling her that she was safe. She could, however, tell that there was something they weren’t telling her. She didn’t know why, but there was something. She nearly jumped up and down when Collin suggested they could go for a walk, and a young woman he introduced as his sister came to help her get dressed.
Her clothes felt strange. They didn’t feel like hers and Collin’s sister, Elana, let it slip that she didn’t have anything with her when Collin found her in the city. Everything they had in the drawers for her was new, which made Anna feel really guilty. Elana picked up a dress, but Anna scrunched up her nose and shook her head. WOW! Her eyes grew wide as she realized she hated dresses and as soon as she told Elana, Elana pulled all the dresses out of the closet.
“Why don’t we put them in the back of the closet.” Elana started to move things around and Anna laughed. “That way, if you want to put one on, they will still be there.” She winked at Anna and pulled out a jumpsuit in a soft pink colour. Anna really liked it and Elana helped her to put it on. Elana mentioned that Anna had told Leah she didn’t like the name Clara, which made Anna think about her name.
“My name is …” She tried to remember. She could remember she didn’t like dresses! Why couldn’t she remember what her damn name was or where she came from?! Shaking her head as it started to ache, tears sprang into her eyes. She had no idea how he knew, but Collin rushed into the room and started to fight with Elana. He seemed convinced that Elana had upset Anna, but Anna quickly explained that wasn’t what happened.
She was feeling incredibly frustrated! Why couldn’t she remember her name?! She cried in frustration, but as soon as Collin took her in his arms, she felt the frustration just melt away. He wiped the tears from her eyes and asked her why she was so upset and it just flowed out of her. She felt guilty the moment the words left her lips! How could she tell him that the name he picked for her didn’t feel right?!
“It’s okay,” He pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair. "You can pick a name that feels comfortable." She could feel her heart rate calming down as Elana excused herself. Once Anna was calm and had washed the tears from her face, she was ready to go for a walk. She might not have been awake while in this room for so long, but she could feel the walls closing in around her. It felt as if she had been awake the entire time and she really wanted to get out and get some fresh air.
As they walked down the passage, she could hear whispers coming from the rooms but she couldn’t see anybody. It was the strangest thing! Did she just have really good hearing or was she hearing ghosts?! As soon as they stepped out into the sunlight, all that was forgotten. She closed her eyes and felt the sun warm her skin and for a split second something felt really familiar, but it disappeared before Anna could grab hold of the memory. She didn't want to spoil their first walk, so she kept her thoughts to herself. The gardens were so beautiful that it quickly distracted Anna and she breathed in the incredible scents wafting over from the flowers.
ANNA COULDN’T SHAKE the feeling that she had to run, but it made sense after the injuries she sustained. It was clear that she didn’t injure herself, according to the doctor, but what happened to her? Who would have injured her so badly and then left her for dead? She could feel that there was more that Collin and his family weren’t telling her, but since she was a guest in their house, she didn’t want to push her luck. As they were walking down one of the garden paths, she noticed someone disappearing behind a tree and she was once again reminded of her previous thoughts about this being some kind of cult.“What religion are you?” The question was out before she could help herself and her eyes grew wide as she looked at Collin. “I’m sorry!” She gasped. She had no idea if she was someone who didn’t beat around the bush or not, but that was really way overboard!“It’s okay,” Collin laughed, putting her at ease. He looked ahead and pointed at a bench under a tree. “Shall we sit down?” H
HAVING DINNER WITH ANN by his side felt really great. Collin had to keep reminding himself not to stare, but she was just so damn gorgeous! His mom, of course, was incredible, and she had made sure that everyone knew the situation and behaved around Ann. He could see she was looking around a little frazzled in the beginning, but it didn’t take long for her to relax.Since everyone had heard that their Luna was going to eat with them, the dining room was pack to the brim for once. He had to admit that it did look really weird to have so many people together like this and for Ann to think they were some kind of cult was natural. He could just hope that it wouldn’t scare her off if she saw all of them together like this, but she seemed okay.“So how has your stay been so far?” His father smiled and Ann burst out laughing.“From what I’ve been told, it’s been good.” She laughed, making everyone around her laugh. “But since I’ve been awake everyone has been so good to me. I don’t know if I
ANNA WAS SO HAPPY that for a little while, she forgot what brought her there. Her family had been wiped out by the one man she thought she could trust. A man her father trusted so much that he made him the second most important person in the pack. Little did they know that he hated their entire family so much that he was planning to kill all of them.The memories of the day her parents were killed wouldn’t go away no matter how hard Anna tried to focus on Collin. She didn’t want him and his family fighting this fight on her behalf, but deep down, she knew they would. It was just the way things were in their world. She burst out laughing as she realized that she was part of this cult of being a werewolf!She decided to trust Collin and told him how she felt all the way through to being part of a werewolf cult. She knew that it was the mate bond that was pulling them together, but she also knew from what he had shown her these first couple of days that she could possibly fall in love wi
ANNA GROWLED AT THE BETA as her canines snapped and in the corner of her eye, she could see Collin smiling with pride. It distracted her just long enough for the Beta to charge and she felt his teeth piercing the skin of her upper leg. Howling out in pain, she couldn’t hear the gasps in the crowd around them. She had never been bitten before! Then again, she had never faced a fight to the death before and she shook her head to focus.“Well, well, well, the pup has a little mate.” The Beta grinned through the pack link as his eyes snapped from Collin to Anna. “Why didn’t you let him fight on your behalf? You know he is just going to take over control of the pack if you win.” Anna knew he was just trying to get under her skin and she charged. They clashed with a loud thud as their teeth snapped at each other, but this time nobody got in that one bite that was needed to end it all.“Poor little rich girl is going to find out what it means to submit to a man. I might just submit so I can
IT DIDN’T TAKE THEM LONG to find her father’s small safe behind some books. Anna tried her birthday and rolled her eyes when the safe opened. How stupid was her father using something so simple as his code?! No, how stupid was the damn beta that he didn’t change the damn code?! When she opened the safe, she saw the laptop right on top of everything else.She took the laptop out first and Collin pulled out all the files underneath it. While she tried to figure out what the beta’s password could be, Collin paged through the documents. There were a lot of emails printed that were from the same email address as the one they found on the desk, but none of them gave any indication of who the person could be. Anna couldn’t get into the encrypted laptop and she was on the verge of smashing the damn thing when Collin grabbed her hands.“I might have someone that can fix that for us.” He still looked calm, but a storm was raging inside him. There were a couple of emails in the files that confir
ANNA DIDN’T FEEL ENTIRELY AT home in Collin’s home yet. Even though she was going to stay in her room where she stayed before, now that she had her memory back, it all felt strange. She wondered if she had met Collin before she lost her memory and if it would have changed anything, and then she sighed. It wouldn’t have. This wasn’t her home.She spent some time with Collin’s mom to get her pack’s living arrangements sorted, but it was never an easy thing when you had to move an entire pack. Anna realized that that was probably the reason not many alpha females were ever born. It was just too much trouble to move the packs! She could see that this arrangement wasn’t going to work for long, and she would have to make her decision about Collin soon. She really wanted to be with her mate, but … Yeah, she would have to make a decision soon.Her pack deserved their own home, especially after what they had just been through under the rule of their previous beta. They were defensive even thou
Anna was stumped that Collin and his family were so understanding of her position. It made her feel really guilty. She was starting to feel as if she was being a total brat, yet all of them kept on telling her that she wasn’t. Life was indeed very strange at the moment, so she concentrated on the things she could do something about. As soon as she found where exactly the money went, she could figure out a way to get it back.She was in luck and quickly figured out that the beta was so stupid he saved all of his passwords on the computer. She could get into the accounts where he had stashed the money and she breathed easier when some of it was transferred back into the pack accounts. That meant she could give some money to Collin’s pack for her pack’s necessities, which would make her and her pack feel a lot easier being there.Collin joined her later in the day and he read through some reports while she figured out what else was urgent that might need her attention. There were a lot o
VICTOR SIPPED ON THE AMBER liquid in his class and nearly spat it out again. It had become clear that this backwater town wasn’t up to his high standards and he sent one of his men in search of a proper bottle of whiskey. Without it, he was going to have a hard time curbing his appetite. It truly boggled his mind that his brother Nathaniel lived here for so long without complaining!Then again, Nathaniel had his science and Victor never really understood how Nathaniel always seemed to be happy with that, but he was. Being in this human town, Victor and his men had to be careful who they spoke to and who knew they were there. By now, he knew that Nicolas would have sent out people to look for them since he didn’t ask for permission to come here, and they never arrived at the destination they faked.His scouts would be returning at any moment, and if he still had a beating heart, he knew that it would be racing right about now. It took longer than he anticipated to sort out their living