Chapter 1

Reene

"Is she going to be okay?" I heard a gruff voice ask as my eyes forced themselves open. The blinding lights, further enhanced by the hospital walls, made me shut them close almost immediately.

"She'll be... Oh! She's awake." Another voice said as the footsteps moved closer to me.

My vision finally got clear and I made to sit up. A sharp pain tore through the small of my back, upwards to my neck inducing a loud wince from me.

"Easy dear." A kind voice advised, as she patted my shoulders, tearing another shout of pain through my throat. That was also commendable considering the fact that my throat was parched and any liquid, warm or cold was welcome at that moment.

"I think the injuries would be healed in a week, considering your heightened genetics." The figure turned towards the other two I hadn't noticed the first time I opened my eyes.

I hissed as I studied the woman. She was dressed in a white coat, the insignia of doctors, accepted worldwide. Her hair was packed in a ponytail, and as she turned to speak to the other two in the ward, I spotted a beautiful tattoo of some foreign characters. Same tattoo that had always fascinated me.

She was our family doctor. The one who had and was still treating me, after my fall. The thought drew a loud groan, soft yet guttural from my throat.

"Reene, are you okay?" Another figure came up, and sat beside me, ignoring the vacant seat beside my bed.

"Mother," I croaked.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" She waved her hands exasperatedly.

I turned my face away, looking through the glass door at the individuals moving to and fro the floors of the hospital.

"You wouldn't speak, would you? Don't you owe us an apology? You jumped off a cliff young lady. Are you that desperate to render us childless?!" A manly voice yelled as he ran his hands frustratedly through his hair.

"Father, mother, can I get some rest?" I questioned, my voice raspy.

Both of them stared at themselves. I might have not noticed their nervous expressions before, but I did now. Beads of sweat covered their foreheads, my father more so. His hands were tucked in his black suit, his Alpha aura oozing from his being.

"Of course, you can get some rest, sweetheart. Your father and I have to go back to the pack house to sort out some things. You'll be good on your own, wouldn't you?" Although my mother was innocently trying to be considerate, that wasn't what I needed at that moment.

The rampaging thoughts running through my head didn't help matters. My lips parted to speak, and at the end, I ended up letting out few words,

"Where is Gabe?" I asked in a soft voice, which had thankfully cleared a bit not to sound like a caw.

My parents turned away simultaneously, avoiding my gaze. They literally looked everywhere. Everywhere, but my face.

Judging from their expressions, I knew the answer. My heart clenched painfully, as the last bit of my hope crashed. Hope that my mate will come back to me. That all that had happened in the past few hours was nothing but a nightmarish prank.

"Reene," my mother began.

"Please, don't... I will be fine on my own." I turned to the side, groaning as the pain on my injured side became more defined.

"Stop acting like a fucking child, Reene! Gabe chose his mate, aren't you supposed to be happy for him? Happy that your friend found his mate?" My father finally lost it, and snapped at me.

Without even turning, I knew my mother would try to soothe his anger by rubbing his shoulders.

My lips curved in a sneer. Of course. I had to be happy for my 'friend.' Hell, I was happy as it was. So happy that I wanted to cry. So fucking happy that I had jumped off a cliff after seeing the one I coveted as my mate enveloping my girlfriend in the most intimate embrace ever.

"Leave." I whispered, my voice barely audible. But I knew they heard. And that was because, the next minute, the door opened and they walked out.

I listened as their footsteps faded away on the tiled hospital floor. Listened until I heard nothing.

And then, the memories crashed in. I bit my lower lip hard as I tried forcing back my tears. No, I couldn't cry. I wouldn't.

Gabe... It was funny how the name invoked a foreign type of pain in my heart, that I would never have thought possible. The same name that had always made me happy.

I pressed a button at the side of my table, and waited as my bed slowly turned up, making me sit.

Leaning my back on the soft backrest, I finally let it out. The tears that I had been holding back ever since I woke up. Same tears that pushed me to the cliff close to the pack house as our pack members were focused on finding their mates. The happy shouts had drowned mine when I finally let myself fall down the cliff.

How the hell I had been rescued, and who rescued me, I didn't know. But then, whoever did had inadvertently become my worst enemy.

The door opened again, and I snapped annoyingly at my parents. Or not.

"I told you guys I wanted my-" The words stucked in my throat, as I stared wide-eyed at the intruder or intruders rather.

My nostrils flared, and I watched as the muscled bag of asshole, my best friend turned nemesis, walk in smugly hand-in-hand with his mate.

"What are you doing here, Gabe?" I snapped, ignoring the pang of hurt that enveloped my heart.

"Easy there. I never knew you were brave. Tsk, such wasted love." He remarked, as he helped his bitchy mate sit on the vacant seat beside my bed.

"That doesn't answer my question, Gabe." Making sure my emotions weren't noticeable in my voice, I calmly continued.

"Having fun with your mate, aren't you?" I added with a blank look on my face.

He smirked, and kissed the top of Sierra's hair, with an exaggerated show of affection.

"Of course, I am. But then, you can't relate, can you? Maybe if you had stayed back, who knew? Maybe you would have found your own mate." He played with his fingers as he threw an annoying smile at me.

Staring at his emerald eyes, same eyes that had made him irresistible to me in the past, I forced back my tears, my hands grabbing at the sheets tightly.

"Who knew? Maybe I would have. And maybe he have been less an asshole that you were." I spat venomously.

My words cracked his smile, and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"What the fuck did you just say?" He snapped.

"I believe your hearing isn't impaired, is it?" I threw back with a glare.

He didn't respond, but continued watching me with heaving chest.

His mate intervened at that moment. "We should go. Obviously she doesn't want us here." Sierra got up, and slid her arms into his.

"Sierra, you look quite beautiful." I remarked in a tone which we both knew wasn't sincere.

Her smile faltered and just like Gabe, she threw me an angry look.

They both walked out of my ward seconds later, Sierra's stilettoes making clicking sounds as they left.

And as the door shut close, I finally broke down in tears.