Awake.

After one long restless week, Mei finally woke up in an empty room. Taking a deep breath she identifies the scent as her brother's, a hint of orange and cedarwood making her smile as she slowly sits up.

'How are you feeling?' Nixie asks her.

'Could be better.' She responds to her just as the door opens to reveal Kelly holding a cup of coffee.

"You really can't go without coffee huh?" She asks startling her causing her to let go of the cup and it falls to the floor crashing upon impact.

"YOU'RE AWAKE!" Kelly screams making her flinch at the high pitch of her voice as she runs across the room and embraces her. Hugging her tightly tears of relief roll down her cheeks. Mei returns her embrace smiling to herself for she's happy to be awake.

"How long was I out?" I ask her and she pulls tightens her hold on me.

"A week." Kelly responds pulling back from me just as the door opens and my brother enters.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me and I feel a small smile appear on my lips.

"I'm hungry and thirsty and also in need of a bath." I mutter.

"I'll get you some water." Kelly says then leaves us alone.

"What did I say?" I ask him.

"You don't remember?" He asks me and I shake my head.

"It was bad." He says then shows me what happened through our mind link and I tense up as I hear my own words are repeated back to me along with the horrifying scene of me sitting in a pool of my blood,

"Great." I say running my hands through my hair feeling restless.

"Hey, calm down sis." Alec says as he places his hands on my shoulders calming me down.

"You're going to have a bath then join me in the kitchen for breakfast." He says and I nod since I feel like I have no control. Kelly reenters the room then I feel a chilled glass in my hand and nod my head in thanks to her before I drain the glass in one go then I hand the glass back to her. I stand swaying slightly due to nausea before it passes then head back to my room.

With a refreshing bath, the remaining tension leaves my body as the small columns of water rain down on me. I change into a jersey and cotton shorts before I leave my room and head towards the dining room where I hear the chatter of my pack members making me smile. I enter and one seems to notice me and I just listen for their chatter silently.

"What's got y'all so excited?" I ask getting their attention. The room is silent for a moment then I'm wrapped in a large group hug hearing giggles and sniffles of joy.

"I take it I was missed." I say and everyone laughs with relief from the tension and stress of worrying about me disappearing. I take head to my usual seat at the table listening to everyone chatter silently until I feel a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"I'm glad to see you up and about, dear." Mama Kate says placing a plate of pancakes in front of me.

"Thank you." I say to her and she places a motherly kiss on my forehead before she moves away. After breakfast, Aec and I head up to the study so that he can fill me in on the events of the past week.

"They came here to form an alliance. They're bold." I say.

"And arrogant too." Alec says and I nod in agreement.

"It's because I saved his daughter." I say with a tired sigh.

"Well, I sent him away so no need to worry." Alec says to reassure me.

"He's planning something." I say my mind going into overdrive.

"What is he planning?" Alec asks and I shrug.

"I don't have enough puzzle pieces but be prepared for anything." I say to him as I stand and stretch.

"I need to go for a run. Nixie is anxious to be let out." I say making Alec laugh and I smile.

"You go ahead. I'll hold down the fort." He says and I give him a quick hug before I leave the room, running through the halls until I exit the house shifting mid-run and with a burst of speed head deep into the forest until I arrive at my spot, a cave that leads to a natural spring that's always warm. I lay down on the cave floor listening to the trickle of water as it runs down the cave walls until I get my mate's scent in the wind.

I leave the cave and follow his scent until I arrive at the clearing where we first met sensing his wolf. Cautiously I enter the clearing then I hear the crunching of leaves as he approaches and I stop walking. Gently he touches his nose to mine then he moves to my neck sniffing me gently so he won't spook me. I return the favor sniffing cautiously and both Nixie and I sigh contently.

'I wanna talk to him.' Nixie says to me as I feel an external force pushing gently against my mental walls.

'Sure.' I say letting her have control and she allows him into our mind.

'Hello, gorgeous.' A voice deeper than Nate's says making Nixie blush.

'Hi." She says suddenly feeling shy which makes me roll my eyes.

'What's your name?' He asks sniffing our neck again.

'I'm Onixia but everyone calls me Nixie.' She replies seating herself in front of him laying on the forest floor.

'A beautiful name for our gorgeous mate.' He says as he takes a seat beside us.

'Thank you.' She says wagging our tail.

'Where do you stay?' He asks and we immediately tense standing.

'Sorry.' She says before retreating to the back of my mind then I take off running and he doesn't hesitate to give chase but the one upside is that I know this part of the forest better than him. Taking the less-traveled route through rough terrain I'm able to cover up my scent by running through patches of mud losing him in the process.

'We're not ready yet. You have to be patient.' I think to myself returning to the cave to wash off the mud. I return to the packhouse a couple of hours before dinner but stay coupled up in my room trying to make sense of my warning.

'Hopefully, it's not as bad as it seems.' Nixie says.

"Yeah, hopefully." I say before heading down to the dining room.