Axton’s P.O.V
“Gus…You need to stop. It wasn’t me! I didn’t kill Lily!”
“I know.”
…
“You’ve always been privileged, my dear litter brother. That’s why you never noticed how much I’ve suffered all my life.”
“Gus…what are you talking about?” I managed to stutter out.
…
“You’re a pathetic weakling that got everything served on a silver platter.”
“You don’t deserve to be Alpha.”
“Gus…”
“I know, you weakling. I know.”
…
“Because I killed her.”
*
*
I jerked up in bed, my hands and legs trembling and my whole body covered in perspiration.
I closed my eyes momentarily, fisting my hands to stop the trembling.
It was all just a nightmare, right? Lily couldn’t possibly be dead, right? And Gustav? My older half-brother? The man who had always been my biggest supporter, my guide…he couldn’t…no…he couldn’t!
But then I noticed that my entire body was aching, and the area around my neck and my shoulder burned.
I opened my eyes slowly and found myself in a completely different room. This wasn’t my house. Nor was it any place I knew. Then where was I?
And then I brought my hand to my neck, to find it bandaged up, as was my shoulder.
So it wasn’t a dream after all. Lily truly was dead and Gustav had not only killed her…he had framed me for her murder. All because he thought I was privileged? Because he envied me enough to want me dead?
No…I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.
But before my mind could wander on about what had gone wrong between me and my brother, a delicate scent filled my nostrils. It immediately helped me calm down my nerves.
I took in a deep breath, trying to get more of the scent into my lungs. What was this scent? It was a bit like fresh lemons and the scent of the soil after the first raindrops hit the ground.
I got up from the bed, wanting to follow the scent. Somewhere at the back of my mind came the realization that I was in an unfamiliar environment and I could very well be a captive. But that thought was lost between one heartbeat and the next. I needed to follow that scent. My wolf urged me to follow that scent.
I moved on stealthy feet, making sure I didn’t make any noise as I followed the scent to the living area.
It was a woman.
I couldn’t see her face since she was taking things out of the cupboard, but the scent was definitely coming from her. Her dark hair was tied up in a messy bun and she wore pink pajamas. She wasn’t very tall, around five and half and had a nice figure. But her scent…it was intoxicating…to the point where I wanted to pin her to the counter top and have a bite out of her.
That thought alone was enough to slap me back to my senses.
Lily just died and I was thinking about fucking another woman? What on earth was wrong with me? Did this woman bewitch me? Was she my captor?
Gritting my teeth to fight the temptation of her scent, I dashed forward on silent feet and was behind her in an instant. I wrapped an arm around her neck and hauled her to my chest.
“Who are you?” I gritted out, my voice sounding rough.
But before I could get a reply, I felt a sting on my palm…and then the sizzling heat of my skin being burned.
“Fuck!” I let go of the woman and fell to the floor, clutching my hand. When I opened my palm, it was seared and forming blisters.
“Oh my god!” The woman jumped back and away from me. “What are you doing? I literally saved your life?”
“Saved me?” I looked at her confused.
My head was spinning and my entire body felt weak. And the fact that she was wearing silver around her neck…no, she wasn’t a wolf. Then who was she? What was she? And why was she helping me?
This had to be a trap!
Growling low in my throat, I grit my teeth and stood up from the floor, watching her back away from me immediately.
“Who are you?” I shouted at her. “Who sent you to me? Where am I?”
“Look, mister, you need to calm down!” She frowned, backing herself up against the counter. “I found you in the middle or the road, naked and bruised! I don’t even know who you are?”
“Then why did you help me?” I asked her suspiciously. I remember falling from a height and then the tall trees of the forest breaking my fall, but I got injured from the branches.
Normally, werewolves heal faster than humans, but I did have superior healing since I was a child. I remember Gustav being jealous of that too. But I hadn't really thought about it too much at that time.
The thought of Gustav made my wolf howl inside my head, as it clawed at my skin to burst out. The rage that took over me was feral and instant and before I could control myself, I was back in front of the woman with the alluring scent, my hands around her throat in a vice grip…before I felt the burn of silver against my skin once again.
“Stop! Help!” The woman choked out, struggling to get my hand off of her neck, but I was forced to let go when the burn of the silver became too much to handle.
“Help!” She yelped one last time before I pushed her back and fell to the floor once again, this time with little to no strength left in me to get back up.
I clutched my hands to my chest, trying to stop the burning, but my skin was seared raw and there was no way this wound was going to heal soon enough for me to hide it.
“Oh my god!” I heard her whisper and I knew she had seen the burns. But when I thought she would either run or call for help, she knelt beside me instead, taking my hands in hers to inspect the wounds.
“Shit!” She brought my hands closer to her eyes to inspect them, blowing on them gently to ease the pain. “That’s a second degree burn. How on earth…”
I looked up into her face, my own face probably a mix of anger and pain, but I only saw concern in hers. What was wrong with this woman? Why hadn't she taken off running yet? Didn’t she shout for help just a second ago?
“Hold still.” She commanded and got off the floor, heading over to the two large suitcases on one side of the room, from where she retrieved what looked like a first aid box and brought it back to me.
Taking my hands once more, she applied a cooling ointment that immediately stopped the burning and once she was done, wrapped a thin bandage around the wounded areas, before she scooted back away from me and taking off the silver chain from around her neck, held it in front of her like a shield.
“Now talk!” She said in a mean sounding voice that just made me raise my eyebrows at her. “Who are you? And why did you try to strangle me…twice?”
“Who are you?” I shot back frowning. “Where am I?”
She sighed, rubbing a hand down her face before she looked back at me. “I’m Dr. Anika Mehta. I’m the new Resident doctor at Sapphire Medical Clinic and I just got transferred tonight. I found you in the middle of the road as I was driving to this cabin. You were badly injured…still are. That’s why I brought you here with me, to treat you and help you get better.”
I was still in the Sapphire Mountains? Shit! I was still in the middle of my pack area…which was now enemy territory.
“Now, I’ve told you my part of the story.” She told me, breaking me out of my thoughts. “So it’s your turn to answer my questions.”
“I…” What was I doing? Was I really about to tell a stranger who I was? Could I even make her believe in my story? No! I couldn’t tell her yet. I couldn’t let anyone know that I’m alive. If Gustav or his men find out, I’ll be hunted down and killed.
“I…don’t remember…” I told her slowly, thinking about how to make my lie sound convincing.
“Pardon?” She raised her eyebrows, not looking convinced at all. “You don’t remember how you got to the middle of the road or…?”
“I don’t remember anything,” I blinked a few times, looking around the room as if seeing it for the first time. “I don’t…remember my name.”
“You have got to be kidding me!” She wined, throwing her hands in the air. “You can’t be serious!”
“What do you mean?” I sat up on the floor slowly, realizing then that I was wearing a pair of tight pajama bottoms that didn’t even reach half-way down my calf. “Who dressed me?”
“I did.” She sighed, rubbing at her temples. “Look, if this is some kind of a joke…”
“Where is this place?” I asked her out of the blue. “What country am I in?”
Anika blinked several times. It looked like she just might start screaming at any moment, but she was keeping calm to the best of her ability. But then, without another word, she held out he hand with the silver pendant, almost like she was about to throw it at me.
“No!” I yelped and covered my face with my hands, but I didn’t feel the burn. As a few seconds passed and nothing happened, I removed my hand to find her studying me like bug under a microscope.
“Interesting. You seem to have an allergy to silver.” She tilted her head to the side and the bun on top of her head unwound itself and her hair fell around her in waves like slivers of dark silk.
It was a mesmerizing sight, watching her long hair fall over her shoulder. It changed the way she looked almost completely. It was the first time I noticed the depth in her chocolate brown eyes, the arch of her long neck and her dark pink lips, so plump…so kissable.
I blinked. What was wrong with me? Why was I suddenly feeling this attraction towards her?
“Fine then,” she sighed and got up from the floor. “I guess…till you regain your memories, you’re stuck here with me.”
“Thank you.” I told her almost in a distracted voice.
The scent…her scent was getting stronger, even more addicting by the minute. Was it because it was a new moon?
And that was when realization came to me and my eyes widened in horror, making me feel like my world was crashing down around me all over again.
This woman…this doctor who had saved my life…was my mate. My very human mate.
She turned to face me from the kitchen then, looking over her shoulders. “Do you want to eat ramen with me?”
To all my K-drama fans out there, please translate the last line to Korean! I was very much tempted to do so myself, but I held back XD XD P.S- Any and all comments are highly appreciated and highly encouraged. And lastly... Ramyeon meog-eullae?
Anika’s P.O.VI felt my eyes twitch at the corners as I gave my patient a forced smile.“So, let me get this straight?” I told him through my forced smile. “You remember that you’re a size XXL; hate the colors pink and orange; have to eat meat every single day and cannot stand the scent of lavender. But in all of this, you don’t remember your name or any of your personal information?”He raised his head from his bowl of ‘my’ noodles temporarily, to give me a nod, before going back to devouring the bowl like I was an irrelevant fly that he couldn’t even give two shits about.I was getting ripped off, wasn’t I?I was certain that this man was a conman in disguise and that he had probably faked his injuries to catch any person who came down that road. And now that he had his victim, he was going to leech me dry until I was bankrupt and on the streets, before he moved on
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Anika’s P.O.VAfter forty minutes of stitching up the nerves and blood vessels, Fin and I were finally able to get the patient into a stable enough condition where he could be transferred back to New York City where further operations can be performed on him.“Why don’t you go shower and change?” Fin suggested as she saw my form. “The patient’s father is here, so I’ll go meet with him and discuss the insurance and bills. Leave the rest to me. You should go clean up.”“Thanks Fin.” Grateful for her help, I immediately rushed to the small bathroom attached to my chamber and got rid of my dirty scrubs before jumping into the shower.The water was freezing cold and there was hardly any fragrant soap to wash away the scent of blood with, but I had to make do with the antiseptic soap bar and managed to clean myself spotless. Seeing the blood flow out the drain reminded me of the way we had to
Anika’s P.O.V“Whoa! Back off, Raaz! What the hell has gotten into you?” I pushed at his chest to move him away from me, but he didn’t budge an inch.“Raaz!” I looked up into his eyes to give him an earful about respecting personal space, but the second I saw his expression, I stopped. “What? What is it?”His green eyes were wide and there appeared to be gold specks in them that hadn't been there before. His jaw was clenched tight and I could hear his teeth grinding together. Was it just me or did he appear more than a little afraid?“Raaz?” I touched his shoulders lightly, feeling the tense muscles bunched up and ready to snap.But my touch seemed to snap him out of his trance…but not in a good way.Raaz pushed on my shoulders and my back hit the counter, trapping me in between. And before I know it, his fingers were around my neck. But just whe
Anika’s P.O.V“Gustav?” I stared at the handsome face of the Sherriff, as he smiled at me warmly.“I’m sorry to disturb you,” he looked at me up and down, taking in my panda PJ’s. “I should’ve called, but I didn’t have your number.”“Oh…no, it’s alright.” I moved aside to make way for him. “Would you like to come in?”“It’s alright, really, I won’t be troubling you.” Gustav shook his head and then he held up a large takeout bag from Magnolia bakery. “I got back really late last night so I decided against visiting you, but I didn’t want these to go bad either.”My heart almost melted right then and there. “You brought me baked goods from Magnolia bakery?”“Not quiet…” Gustav scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “It was a gift fro
Anika’s P.O.V“Raaz?” I blinked several times to make sure that my eyes weren’t deceiving me. “You’re back?”He gave me a confused look. “Until I have my memories back, I don’t think I have anywhere to go, so…”My surprise…and a bit of relief, immediately turned into annoyance. “Has anyone ever told you that you sound like an entitled brat?” I asked with raised eyebrows.Surprisingly, I saw his cheeks turn a light shade of red as he looked at the ground. “Do I?” And then he noticed the goodies on the counter and on the coffee table. “Did you go into town?”“No, the Sherriff dropped these off just now.” I went to put the rest of the desserts inside the fridge to have later, when I suddenly realized something. “Shit! I should’ve asked him to look into you! He could’ve helped-”&ldquo
Axton’s P.O.V NO! NO! NO! NO! What have I done! I watched the color drain from Anika’s face as she looked at me in shock. Neither of us had planned that kiss…it had just happened. And now, both of us would have to face the consequences. Anika covered her mouth with her hand and ran down the stairs, leaving me alone on the roof top to deal with my feelings alone. Fuck! I felt the stretch inside my mind. It the mating bond stretching out my tiny tendrils in search of the other mind that was supposed to be my mate. And this all happened because of the kiss! How could I have been so stupid! I had thought a little harmless interaction; a little mindless flirting was going to be no big deal. But I had forgotten that this wasn’t just any woman I was flirting with. This was my mate. When I had been with Lily, for several months and that too sharing a very intimate relationship, there had been no such bond and t