Opening my eyes, I came face to face with Drew. His eyes were shining with amusement and happiness. That’s when all the past events flooded back into my brain. I’d finally done it. I finally confessed to my problems and mated Drew. My thoughts drifted to our kiss after the mating. I was so incredibly happy to finally be connected with Drew fully. 

“Babe, I’m thinking about our kiss too,” Drew whispered into my ear, sending shivers of pleasure run through my body. 

Wait, how did he know that? I thought. 

“Ari, we mated yesterday. I marked you, and now I can read all your dirty little thoughts about me,” Drew wiggled his eyebrows at me and smirked. Pushing him playfully, I got up and stretched, my shirt rising up to expose my flat stomach. A groan echoed to my ears, which caused me to smirk.

“Like what you see?” I suggested. Woah, since when did I become so forward and flirty?

“Every damn inch babe, and don’t worry, you can flirt with me all you want,” Drew pushed himself off the bed and wrapped his arms around my waist. I snuggled my back into him, which ended up with him groaning again. I giggled quietly, before slipping out of his arms and running into the bathroom.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My brown hair was still the usual brown, but it had more of a shine in it. My skin looked flush and healthy, and my eyes were glittering with happiness. In all my life, the only time I ever looked this happy was on my 10th birthday when my parents, Ethan, and I went to the amusement park. We’d laughed and rode tons of rides. Back then, everyone was happy. My mom and dad were completely in love, and our family was perfect. Just a year after, Sam was born, and our whole family was complete. I smiled at myself in the mirror, as a lone tear slid down my cheek. I wiped it away and smiled softly. Everything was done, everything was over now. Just because mom wasn’t here anymore didn’t mean I didn’t have love.

But something still nagged at my brain. Back in the accident, it was like my mom was expecting what had happened.

Flashback

“Mom, slow down! You’re driving too fast!” I yelled as I clutched the dashboard for dear life.

The highway trees and surrounding cars passed by in a blur as the speed limit on the car reached 100. 

My eyes darted back and forth between my mom and the road. Even if I was only 14, I knew that driving on the highway at that speed was still really bad. My mom’s face was stricken with panic, while she kept throwing seemingly reassuring smiles to me. But something in my gut was telling me something was wrong. 

All of a sudden, the car lurched forward. I reached out quickly, balancing myself against the dashboard. Looking over to my left, I saw my mom against the steering wheel, blood oozing from a gash on her forehead. Her eyes were closing, barely conscious. 

“No, no, no. Mom, Mom please wake up!,” I pleaded, on the verge of tears. I tried to wake her up, until I realized we were slowing down. I grabbed a hold of the steering wheel, and tried turning it. All of a sudden, a blow from the left side sent my mom barreling into my arm. The force of the impact caused me to turn the steering wheel to the right. From then, everything seemed so surreal.

We began rolling down a large hill. Tumbling, and tumbling down. Glass shards from the windows pierced my skin, and loud crunches of metal greeted my ears. Almost like time in slow motion, I could see my mom being tossed around like a rag doll in the car. My eyes welled up with tears. We were going to die.

And just like that, everything stopped. I looked at myself, ignoring the injuries, and just feeling an overwhelming sense of joy that we survived. But it was short lived, when I looked back at my mom. 

That’s when I realized that my mom had somehow covered me with her body, and was now limp. My mom had protected me. Because of her, I didn’t get too hurt. But looking at her, I let out a horrified gasp. The blood on her body, the glass shards in her skin, the pale lifeless form that was her: all because she tried to protect me.

****

Soft arms wrapped around me from behind. I couldn’t help but lean into them. 

“Hey,” Drew turned me around in his arms to face him, “what’s wrong?” He gently kissed my tears away. I smiled at him softly, before looking up at him.

“Nothing,” suddenly, I jumped out of his arms and playfully glared at him, “Now get out of the bathroom! What if I was changing in here!?” 

“Then, I wouldn’t mind one bit,” he smirked at me, before kissing my lips and quickly darting out of there. I chuckled. Smart boy.

Now, to get ready.

********

10 minutes later, I sat at the kitchen island, while Drew insisted he make me breakfast. 

“Drew, it’s okay, I can make breakfast,”

“No, you need rest. I’ll make breakfast,” he pouted.

“Alright,” I giggled. He grinned, before turning around and grabbing things out of the fridge. I watched him in amusement, as he tried to make eggs. 

“Drew, maybe I should make breakfast,” he smiled at me sheepishly before sitting down beside me.

I grabbed the eggs he was making and finished them up. Along with the eggs, I poured some orange juice, made toast, and cooked bacon. I could feel Drew watching me the entire time. Just out of curiosity, I decided to read his mind.

Damn, why didn’t I see how special she was before? She’s so sweet, caring, friendly, kind, and on top of that, she cooks like a chef! I’m such a jerk. I don’t deserve her at all. Stupid asshole! 

I whirled around to face him, and saw him glaring at the countertop in front of him. His face looked so guilty and remorseful, that I could instantly feel it. 

Walking up to him, I gently took his face into my hands, forcing him to look at me.

“Hey,” I said softly, “you’re not a jerk. You just couldn’t accept having a mate. I understand that. But that’s all behind us now, okay?” I smiled up at him, “Now smile or I’m not giving you extra bacon, and I know that’s your favorite!”

Drew grinned and swooped me up, placing me on his lap. He nuzzled my neck, smelling my hair, and I couldn’t stop the stupid grin on my face. I lifted his head off my shoulder and planted a quick kiss.

“I love you,” I whispered against his lips.

He growled approvingly, before kissing me back with just as much hunger. His lips were moist and soft, his hands roaming my back and sides, while I placed my hands on his face. 

“I love you too,” he whispered back to me. Sighing in content, I kissed him one last time before jumping off of his lap and returning to my cooking.

Drew and I talked animatedly after I finished cooking breakfast, with me sitting on his lap. 

“Drew, I’m perfectly capable of sitting on a stool you know,” I pouted when he placed me on his lap after I tried to get off. 

“Ari, just sit,” he smirked at me as I crossed my arms and glared at him.

“Alpha Drew, we were just warned that there’s been a rogue on our territory. He looks to be very dangerous. The guards already contained him and moved him to the basement.” One of Drew's guards, Justin, told us after barging into the kitchen.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a second.” Drew slid me off of his lap and placed a quick kiss on my lips. “I’ll be back in a bit, I need to go take care of this,” he brushed a strand of hair back, “and then, I have a little surprise for you,” he grinned at me.

“No, let me come with you!” I begged. 

“Sweetheart, please. Just stay here. I can’t let you deal with this rogue. What if he’s dangerous? I can’t risk it if the rogue has a chance of hurting you,” he replied softly. I nodded, and watched him retreat to the basement.

As I sat there, stirring around the spoon in my bowl of cereal, I felt someone behind me. Turning around, I came face to face with my father.

“D-dad?” I whispered, shrinking as much as I could into the island countertop. 

My dad’s eyes softened, holding grief, regret, and sadness within them. I was surprised. My dad never showed me as much emotion as now.

“Arianna,” he whispered. I backed up into the countertop, trying to keep as much distance from him as possible.

It was truly funny, how someone so important drove me to where I was now. Scared and cowering from my own father. I remembered when he would carry me on his shoulders, call me his baby girl. I remember when Christmas came around, and I always got the perfect gifts, like the latest collection of barbie’s or a gigantic dollhouse. But now, all those memories of my father were blurred, like when you drop a camera into water and the screen is faulty. It’s there, but it’s not. That’s exactly how I felt with my father right then. All those memories just fragments that took up space in my brain, but nothing more. I wanted to show him how much he hurt me, but I knew it would be wrong. The kind of torture he put me through was just a phase, and I knew, that I’d love him always. 

“I heard you confess about what I did. I know I’m not proud of what happened, but I want you to know that the pack did punish me for it. Even though I’m sure you probably wanted something much more worse. Look, I just wanna say that, I don’t deserve you as a daughter. I’m sorry for all the beatings, for the disrespect. But what I’m sorry the most, was for forgetting who you were to me. This apology can’t even measure to how sorry I really feel, but...” small drops of liquid trailed down his cheeks. The look on his face was filled with so much sorrow, as if he was recalling every beating, every harsh punishment, that he dealt out at me, and all I could do was stand there, staring at him.

Finally, the conscious part of my brain kicked in, reminding me that he was standing there, waiting for an answer. I looked up at him, meeting his eyes, and then, I just turned around and walked away. Head held high, feet moving at a smooth stride, I left him. An audible sigh was heard from behind me, and all I could think was he deserved it. Too much seemed to be on my plate right now, and I didn’t need my dad added to the list.

Walking towards my room, I passed the basement door. From inside, I could hear the guards talking to one another about the rogue. Curious, I crept inside. The rational part of my brain seemed to be malfunctioning today, with the whole dad problem, and now this. But I inched myself closer, the now audible sounds of Drew talking to the rogue. Slowly, I found myself down to the last three steps as I listened intently for what was happening.

“Look, I don’t wanna hurt you, but if you don’t answer my questions, my guards here won’t be so friendly when they address you,” Drew sighed. The creaking of a chair sounded, which I could tell, was Drew leaning back in his chair. A grunt came afterward, presumably the rogue. 

Just as I was about to hightail it out of there, the rogue spoke. 

“You don’t know why I’m here. But maybe you should ask your beloved mate, Arianna” he spat, his vile words forcing my limbs to freeze their ascent up the stairs. 

I wasn’t so much afraid that they had caught me, because with all my expertise on sneaking around without the pack finding out, I knew they couldn’t hear me. But what did worry me, was the fact that the rogue’s voice was awfully familiar. His earth-shattering, ice cold, demonic voice that sent eerie chills up and down my spine. His so called cackling laugh echoed through the dungeon. I could feel the amusement and utter hunger in his voice. That voice. The one that shook my bones, that rattled my nerves, that collapsed my lungs. It was that very rogue.

Him.