It has been two weeks. Two weeks of waiting by his side and he has still not woken up. There have been a few times that Ihave felt a finger twitch or he would attempt to squeeze my hand, but nothing else. I have not been able to bring myself toleave this room.
His parents have become frequent visitors, as well as my family and Oliver. They have tried relentlessly to get me to leavethis room, but I have refused. Not until I could see with my own eyes that he was well. I need him to wake up. I need to feelhis arms around me, his lips on mine, and to hear his voice. F**k, I would kill to hear his voice.
I have not been eating. I have not been sleeping. I stare at myself in the mirror and I can tell that I have lost some weight.They bring me food all the time and my mom goes as far as to bring me food from home, but nothing seems appetizing. I feelas if I would have better luck if they just stuck an IV in me, which Emily and Leigh have threatened to do to me. Sleep comesand goes. In the past two weeks, I have probably had about ten hours of sleep-in total. All cat naps that take place atrandom points throughout the day.
Today, is my 2Ist birthday and my parents have begged me to leave the room for a few hours, but I have still refused. Todayshould have been a happy day, but it isn't instead I am still stuck in this hospital room because my mate won't wake up.
I punch my fist through the mirror and hiss as the shards of glass slice into my hands. I have been angry lately. To the pointthat Michael and Oliver have taken to telling me that I have been volatile and they are scared to say something around me,for fear of saying the wrong thing to me, but I cannot help it. I am mortally terrified of what is going to happen to my mate.Aziel rushes into the room, âWhat the fuck happened?â He looks between my hand and the mirror that is laying in piecesbeneath my feet.
âKat, maybe you should take a break. You are no good to any of us in this type of state. You aren't able to help Justin if youare losing your temper at the smallest of things. I will stay with him for you. Go home, get some sleep, maybe grab a granolabar or a banana and then you can come back. Justin is going to be upset when he sees that you have not been fully takingcare of yourselfâ
The more I think about it, the more I know he is right, but I just cannot bring myself to leave his side. I need him right now...need to know he is okay.
âI am fine, Aziel. It was just a small lapse in my judgement, I promise. Will you stay here with me for a little bit? I could usesome company. It might take my mind off everything going on with Justin I whispered to him, looking at the ground. I wasembarrassed about my lapse in judgement. I knew I should not have done that, but it felt so damn good to do it. It helpedme release some of my pent-up anger and frustration.
He nodded his head towards me, âOf course, I will stay with you. We all want him to wake up as much as you do, Kat"
The warriors have been switching out periodically, taking turns guarding the corridors and making sure no one that isunwanted comes to bother us.
Several hours pass and we continued to sit there in silence. Aziel was playing games on his phone and I continued to holdJustin's hand and pray that a miracle would happen.
Come on, baby. I would do anything for you to come back to me.
**Justinâs POV**
Darkness. I was surrounded in complete darkness.
âAres,â I called out. I was met with silence. âKat?â Nothing. There was no one there.
Time passes weird here. I don't know how long I have been here. I canât remember anything that has happened. The silenceis killing me. I need to know what is happening.
Just open your eyes.
But I canât seem to get them open. I am struggling, but it is a fruitless struggle.
Sparks. I feel sparks. My chest is tingling. âKataleyaâ I called out again. Still, nothing.
âAres?â
Fuck! There is a sharp sting in my neck by my marking spot. I touch it and I feel the sparks.
âKataleya?â I called out again.
Goddess, this is so f*****g frustrating!
I heard something behind me and I am met with a feral wolf.
F**ki This wolf should be familiar to me, but. I can't remember the significance this wolf is supposed to have to me..
I run in the opposite direction from the wolf. I can hear my heart thumping in my ears and my adrenaline racing.
What is going on?
Why am I being chased?
I have been running for what feels like hours. All of a sudden there is this bright light emanating. It is blinding. I hold myhand, shielding my eyes from the light. I looked towards the ground and see that I am standing on a grainy, sand substance.it feels like sand at the beach, once it has been wet.
I turned around and all I can see is the blinding light and the wolf standing in front of me.
I felt the urge to close my eyes and I stood there for a second. My eyes fly open and I suddenly remember who the wolf isstanding in front of me. I glanced at him and I saw the recognition in his eyes as well.
Ares.
My wolf.
I ran towards him and wrapped my arms around his next. I missed him so much. You never realize how good something isuntil it is no longer there. It is too quiet here. I was going crazy with nothing but my thoughts occupying me.
Now, I need to remember what happened to me...I need to remember what happened that landed me here. How do I goback? I can remember Kataleya, my family, friends, pack. I remember her telling me she loves me, but everything after that isa blur. I can't remember any of the rest...
âAresâ I whispered, âDo you remember how we got here?â
âYou donât remember anything?â he asked me.
âLast thing I remembered was Kataleya told me she loved me. After that, everything is blankâ
Ares told me everything that had happened the night she told me she loved me. He told me about the battle with the roguesand how Kataleya jumped in to help us. He ended with my injury and how there was too much blood loss to heal me. Thatwas the last thing he remembered before we fainted and then he felt that we were separated. Then, when he was placedhere with me, he couldn't remember why I was important to him, but it was important that he chased me.
â*What feels like several days later I have been making marks in the ground with my fingers, keeping track of how many days I think I have been here. I amcurrently at day I3.
The silence is killing me. The only company I have is Ares, while he is good company, he is not what I crave right now. I cravehearing Kataleya's voice and seeing her smile...her laughter, feel her touch...
Most of the time, I feel the sparks on my hands and chest, sometimes my forehead and lips.
The other day, or what I am assuming is the other day, I heard a voice calling for me to come back, but no matter how hard Itried, I could not reach the voice and I always end up back in the same spot.
I miss her. I want this to end. If this is how I am going to feel, I just want it all too end.
All of a sudden, there is another bright light. Ares begins to go crazy.
A beautiful woman appears, but I cannot make out very many of her features. She seems ethereal almost.
âAres, what's wrong?â
âMother. It's mother.â
âWhat do you mean it is your mother, you crazy wolf?"
âMy children stop bickering. Young Justin your wolf is correct. I am his mother, even though you may not see me as yourmotherâ
âshe is the Moon Goddess!â Ares shouted excitedly at me.
âMoon Goddess? Why are you here? Where am I2"
âYou are in the in-between. You are halfway here, but halfway there. Your mate and the doctors have done everything theycan to save you, but now the choice is up to me...ultimately, I am leaving the choice up to you?
âWhat do you mean?â
âI can let you go back to your family, pack, and mate or I can bring you to the other side with me. You will be happy andnever have another worry."
âWhat about Kataleya, though?â I asked.
âKataleya may never move on. I took a chance when I made the decision to pair you with her. See, Kataleya, had severalpossible outcomes for her life and I decided to intervene in fate, which I usually try to stay out of. Whenever, I make thepairs, it is usually easy because the pairs typically âchoose each otherâ because of them being like-minded. With Kataleya,though, I had made a mistake and paired her with someone she should never have been paired with. I broke their bond, sothat I could pair her with you. See, I needed someone that would help Kataleya. Someone who would push her boundaries,but most importantly, someone that would not let her continue to succumb to her traumatic past.
I wish I could have change what happed to her, but I always let my children make their own choices, and sometimes mychildren go down dark and dangerous paths. Now, onto your choices. You can either choose to go back now or you canchoose to come with me. What you choose, will alter Kataleya's fate, so choose carefully.
You have been here for I5 days in the human world. Many have lost hope that you will wake, but Kataleya has held out hope.She has remained by your side the entire time. She isn't eating, she isn't training, and she hasn't taken care of herselfââThe obvious choice is I would go back to her. I need her, just as she needs me, right?â
âLet me show you a snippet of what has been going on while you have been stuck in this in-between stateâ She waved herhands into the empty space and a small projector like screen appeared.
I see a hospital room. In the center of the bed, I laid their motionless and Kat was curled into my side, tears running downher face. âPlease wake up)â she whispered. She was holding my hand. That must have been the sparks I was feeling. It washer. She was touching me, trying to wake me up.
The door cracked open; Michael walked into the room. âKataleya, come on, it is your birthday. Please leave this room. Hewould not want you hiding here. At least come have dinner with us. Mom made your favorite. She shook her head no. Michaelsighed lately. âKataleya, you have not eaten in days and a nibble of a banana doesn't count. We know what you do with thefood you are brought...Please, we miss you. Justin will still be here in an hour. Mom has been looking forward to yourbirthday for weeks.â She growled at him. Actually, it was Skye that growled at Michael. âI am not leaving this room until hewakes. I need him.â The scene fades away and I am left looking at the Moon Goddess.
âHow will me staying here help her? How would it hurt her if I go back? What sort of fate awaits Kat based on my decision?â Iwhispered brokenly.
âFate is a fickle thing, child. Just know, if you choose to go back to her, it will not be easy. There are going to be manychallenges to come your way and they will not all be easy. Choose wisely, my child?â
My chest begins to tighten and I am struggling to breathe. I looked over and I see Ares on the ground whimpering.**Kataleya's POV**
âHe is coding! Get someone in here!â Emily yelled out the door.
I sat in the corner with tears rushing down my face. Michael and Oliver are holding me back, out of the way of the doctors.Please don't let this be the end.
I hear the final beep of the monitors flat lining and my heart stopped.