Chapter 3

Amelia's POV

 For the next 3 days my body battled with a fever and slipped in and out of consciousness constantly.

 It wasn't just the cold that got to me, days of living on the edge barely surviving while I was being chased relentlessly. My body had been running on nothing but sheer adrenaline but now that I knew that I was safe, it sizzled out and my body surrendered to the fever.

 Tala remained by my side, taking care of me. At least that's what the foggy bits of my memory told me, but she wasn't the only one, another less familiar face kept popping up.

 Alpha Kelvin.

 He'd saved me that night, expecting nothing apparently. It seemed so strange.

 “Amelia, now that you're feeling better you'll have to present yourself to Alpha Kelvin,” Tala told me as she-handed me a bowl of warm soup.

 “Okay, I have no problem with that,” I said, picking up my spoon.

 “By the way…” Tala's voice dropped by a decibel and she scooted over to me, “Have you remembered anything yet?”

 The soup suddenly became tasteless in my mouth, I slowly lowered this spoon in my grasp and shook my head almost regretfully.

 “No, not a single thing. It's like staring at a blank slate,”

 Tala's eyes swelled up with pity.

“Well who cares about the past when you have the future, right?” She said more optimistically. “The Alpha seems to be fond of you so if you ask him to make you a member of the pack I have a feeling that he'll agree easily, he took me in a while back and it's been great,”

 I placed the bowl of soup aside, my appetite all but disappeared.

 “I can't do that, Tala, I-i’m still trying to figure out who I am and–”

“You're Amelia,” She cut in sharply. “You're a kind person who would help a strange girl she's never met before when everyone else walked by,”

 Her words whisked me back to a memory that I did recall; how we met. Fresh tears welled up in my eyes and I brushed them off with the back of my hand.

  I’d found Tala in almost the same fashion her Alpha found me, cold and alone. She was scrambling through a garbage can next to a restaurant in a small town, searching for scraps of food, an unemployee had caught and chased her away like his next pay day depended on him driving her off as cruelly as possible.

  I had half the mind to pass by two, it was survival of the fittest. But my legs had made a beeline to her instead, handing her the prize of my own garbage diving–a half eaten burger. She took it and it disappeared in seconds.

  We'd been friends ever since.

 She'd changed since the last time I saw her; her eyes glowed brightly, her hair longer and gleaming then her smile finally reached her eyes–She was happy.

 “Pack life really suits you, Tala.” I commented soberly, she reached from my hands and grabbed it with determination.

 “That's why I want you to join me, who knows your memories might come back on their own someday if you give it time,” she was practically pleading at this point.

  I pondered on her words, searching for my memories; for something to trigger them had cost me a lot of wrinkles and worries and yet I had discovered nothing. Then they were the rogues chasing me, if I was under the protection of a pack I wouldn't have to worry about them.

  “Alright, Tala, let me meet the Alpha first and see if he's open to the idea,”

  The corner of her lips touched her ears as her smile broadened.

 “Oh, Amelia, you won't regret this!”

  Tala lended me one of her dresses. It was a light creamy brown with flowery design then she badgered me until I gave up stepping out of the room with my trusty go-to messy bun. All of this was topped with light makeup.

  When I looked at the mirror a stranger was staring at me, I'd never seen myself looking so put together and dare I say even pretty.

 “Alpha Kevin wants you to join him for breakfast,” Tala said later as she was needing me to the dining room. His intense eyes found me at the door the moment it cracked open.

  Tala was gone like the wind when I turned around for emotional support so I braced myself and pushed forward.

 “Good morning, Alpha Kelvin,”

  He didn't respond immediately, then he sharply sucked in a gulp of air and gestured to the seat adjacent to his.

 “You look nice, take a seat…”

  I followed his words, my eyes never breaking contact with him. This was the first time I was looking at him and my eyes were not distracted by the darkness of the night or a heaping fever.

  He was chiseled and fine like a marble statue. With overwhelming eyes that held anyone they locked on prisoner.

 As I sat down I remembered how rudely I had treated him, a delayed wave of shame crashing against my consciousness.

  Before the food was served I thought that I ought to apologize.

 “Alpha Kelvin, I…well I…”

 “Speak freely,” He said, “I actually prefer when you talk like that compared to you biting your tongue right now,”

 I blushed, “I'm not usually that rude, it's just that well as a lone wolf you can never be too safe,” that came out like the flimsiest excuse ever, but there wasn't much other than that to defend myself.

  I expected him to really give me a piece of his mind, now that I knew his rank, but he was strangely understanding.

 “I don't blame you, rethinking it. I wouldn't have gone along with a stranger just because they claimed to have good intentions,”

 I nodded, relieved he understood me.

 “I'm sorry, and I understand that I've probably overstayed my welcome, so I'll leave–”

 “No.”

 “No?”

 “Indeed, you're not leaving me, Amelia.”