Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Alessia’s POV

Walking into the room, I inch closer to the bed even as my mind screams at me to run away and never come back. To pretend that the man lying on the bed doesn’t exist and just live my life the way I’ve been.

world. living it before he waltzed in and imploded my

“Alessia,” he draws out. “Is that you?”

I swallow the lump around my throat and nod, but then remember that Caden told me that he lost his supernatural power. “Yes, it’s me.”

Stopping just at the edge of the bed, I sit down on the seat placed beside the bed.

“You came to meet me.” A smile graces his lips, making him appear less sick. “I want to see you. Can I?”

Biting my lip, I hold back an ugly cry and nod even though I know he can’t see it. Standing up, I walk over to the light switch mounted on the walk and turn it on, pausing for a second to get my bearing back before turning around.

He gasps, his eyes wide with wonder. “You look just like her,” he whispers, a faraway look in his eyes.

I could see himrclearly in the dark but it still didn’t prepare me for the image of him in a bright white light. As though it was possible, he looks even worse than he did a minute ago.

“Don’t look at me like that?” He says sternly and I drag my gaze up to his eyes to find strength in them.

“I can still get up from the bed and own myself in any fight.”

I laugh, pressing my palm against my mouth to hold in the bubble of laughter that’s trying to make its way

OUL

My father smiles, a laugh escaping out of his mouth. That laugh dies down when he erupts into a coughing fit that shakes his lithe frame.

I rush over to his side and reach for the cup of water on his bedside table, pressing it against his dry lips. He takes two sips from it before pulling away and dropping his head back on his pillow with an exhausted sigh. “I hate when that happens,” he mumbles.

“I’m guessing it happens a lot,” I say, dropping the water back on the table and taking my previous seat.

“I don’t see how you plan on fighting anyone when you have a coughing fit every few minutes. I dare say that it’s going to put a flaw in your plans,” I tease, drawing a soft smile out of him that has me smiling as well.

“Even your smile looks like hers,” he says with a wistful look in his eyes. “And you have her eyes and her hair.”

I smile at him and tuck my hair behind my ears, suddenly feeling shy. “How did you meet her?” I ask, interested in hearing about their story. My mother never even told me his name. There was no way that I could have coerced her to tell me about that relationship.

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Chapter 92

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He smiles, his gaze drifting away. “She was in a bar that I went to.” A pause where his face takes on a dark

1 look. I had just lost my mate and I went there to drown my sorrows in a bottle even though werewolves don’t get drunks, I didn’t care about that.

I sink into the seat, getting ready for the story about to be told.

“She was there alone. She had just moved into town and was on her first night out.” He smiles. “That’s when I saw her, dancing in the corner all by herself and unaware of the attention that she was drawing to herself.” He chuckles. “She was always so oblivious to those sorts of things. Never believed that everyone in the room had their gaze on her.”

I smile, imagining my Mom’s younger self in a bar, having the time of her life and unaware that she had just caught the attention of a grieving Alpha.

“I was bewitched from the very moment that I set my eyes on her. The rest part of the story is basically a clique. He blushes the first color that I’ve seen on his skin. “It was kind of boring from that moment.”

“I want to hear about it, I say and meaning it. I love hearing about their story. I want to know about everything that has been hidden away from me.

He looks over to me and I don’t know what he sees in my eyes but he nods in understanding. “She had a run-in with the wrong crowd and I swept in and saved her. I asked for her number afterward and she just turned on me. She said she didn’t need my help and that she had everything under control.”

I laugh. That sounds like something my Mom would do. The woman hated looking weak in front of

anyone.

“What happened afterward?” I’m so invested in this story.

He sighs. “She left and I didn’t see her after that until a week later. He coughs, causing my worry to rise but after a while, he quiets down. “Sorry about that,” he apologized, his cheeks had color in them but this time they were caused by his embarrassment.

“It’s ok,” I say, reaching for the glass on the table and feeding the water to him.

He thanks me and clears his throat as I place the glass back on the table. “So where was I?”

“You were telling me about how you two met again a week after the first incident, I remind him and he nods, his face brightening up a bit as he tells his story.

1

As I watch his lips move, his expression changing, and varying with the tone of whatever it is he’s saying, I realize one thing. I can’t ignore his existence and go back to the way things once were.

I stay in that room for an hour, letting my father talk about my mother and I laugh, smile, and frown in that hour. My heart feels full when I stand up from my seat and say my goodbyes to him.

Turning off the light that I’d previously turned on, I exit the room and close the door softly behind me.

Caden straightens up from the wall he is leaning on and arches a brow at me. “How did it go? Did you go

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Chapter 92

through with it?”

I had confided in Caden about what my plan was and though he didn’t try to convince me otherwise, I know that he didn’t also agree with me.

“I want to come back tomorrow.”

He smiles knowingly. “We’ll be back.”