"Kronos! Welcome back! How did you enjoy the amusement park?" Theo exclaimed, shooing me into his office with glee.

I frowned in confusion, "How did... you...?"

He must have knew what I was going to ask because he immediately responded, "Your father called in just to tell me. The worse part was I was busy pounding away when he called me. My mate was upset since I had to stop for a minute or so."

Blinking several times, I asked, "What were you ... pounding? Meat?"

Theo chuckled with a mischievous gaze, "You could say that."

I ignored Apollo for the sake of my innocent ears. Of course, he whined and pouted in the corner of my head but I still didn't budge.

His puppy gaze wouldn't work this time on me.

Having a seat across Theo, he held a clipboard in his hands and showed it to me. There, was all the recordings of what I said to him during the last session. From every painful memory to my feelings and thoughts, he wrote everything down.

"Why did you ... write what I said ... down?" I whispered, feeling unsure.

Theo handed the clipboard full of the writings to me, leaning back into the comfort of his chair. "I wrote everything down for the sake of your experience. You see, part of your recovery in Cognitive Processing Therapy or CPT, is to retrain your brain to have a different outlook on the trauma. That way, you'll move on step by step."

I nodded with a hard look, "Which means... you want me to ... read this out loud?"

"Yes, if you're willing to. I won't push you to do something you don't want to do."

Inhaling a breath, I begun reading without answering him. As my eyes skimmed over each and every letter, word from word of the paragraphs, I couldn't help but feel a weight lift off my chest.

At the same time, it felt overwhelming yet peaceful to see and read out loud from my own perspective of the experience.

It just felt unreal and helped me accept what happen to me.

As the seconds, minutes, and hours passed, I read it over and over again.

Training my brain to think differently.

There were a few times I cried a bit, feeling the sorrow and pain come back to me in full force from the text. It crushed my heart and soul, but I continued.

Theo didn't mind at all that I was taking my time. In fact, he was encouraging it. His smile never left his face as he knew I was healing by my own pace.

The recordings of my words were on the clipboards paper, and even though I knew of the pain, you could feel and read the hurt and suffering from the text. It was unbelievably dark, yet it helped me in someways than I thought it never could.

Such as...

Everything happens for a reason.

If my mother never did this to me, perhaps the love me and Rhea have now wouldn't have been as strong as just having the bond.

What makes a relationship is the hardships each couple has to go through. Every obstacle counts. Twists and turns, hill after hill.

As the last words of the paragraphs left my lips, my body felt so light. It was as if a unknown power I never knew existed within me welled up and finally took form permanently inside me.

Putting down the clipboard, I can see Theo grin proudly at me.

"Well done, Kronos. We'll do this everyday just to make sure it has taken full effect. We don't expect you to get better right away, remember that. However, we'll move onto the next stage." He explains cautiously.

I tilted my head, cocking an eyebrow.

"Like what?"

"Exposure therapy. Where your trauma began."

Exposure Therapy? You mean you'll ... try to make me less sensitive ... around the fear of the ... trauma or memories?" I asked, interested.

He smiles brightly, "Indeed. It ties into EMDR, which is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. I'll focus on your past disturbances, present triggers, and future anticipatory triggers. We'll find a way where your brain can no longer see the memories as a disturbance. That way, you can get through to your everyday life."

I nodded, rubbing my hands together in a hesitant way.

"Where do we ... begin?" I questioned, taking my steps of further recovery.

***

"What is ... this room?"

We had traveled from his office all the way upstairs to a room that was locked up with chains. It was difficult to describe how I felt about the room, because I haven't even entered it yet but it felt eerie and cold. Something bad happened in that room and I didn't like it one bit.

Theo turned to me, his face dark.

"Do you know what this room is, Kronos?"

"Somewhere I don't ... want to enter, but no." I responded immediately.

He blinked, eyes sad, "I'll unlock this door and I want you to go in. It's where everything began. Don't worry, I'll be with you the entire time. Understand?"

I curtly nodded at his vague directions, but observed as he took out multiple keys from his pocket and unlocked all the locks on the door. The chains fell down with a thud and sounded an echo. Stepping back, he motioned me to it, telling me to twist the knob.

As I reached for the knob, I started to sweat in anxiety. Once my palms landed on it, I twisted it open so fast that it creaked open.

The room was dark and quiet, yet Theo stepped into the room before me and reached over by the wall to flick on the light. Swallowing, I paced myself in after him and took my surroundings in.

The wall paper was unbelievably old, with mold and age decaying it. The floor was covered with dust and dirt, filthiness spreading it whole. There was a straw bed that seemed to be nearly nonexistent, along with torn clothing scattered all over the so-called bed.

And just like that, I fell onto my knees as the memories flashed through me.

I could hear the screams of a child, feel the pain, suffering, anger. The abuse and neglect, the hatred that shone and shined through the room. The coldness and loneliness, the draped over each and every corner, every speck of the bedroom.

The smell of wanting death.

Without even knowing it, my body was shaking.

I could see water droplets fall onto the floor, hydrating the dry ground beneath me.

Reaching for my face, I realized I was crying. The ringing in my ears got louder, and louder. I desperately covered it, but to no prevail.

Theo kneeled down to the ground next to me, but his words was something I couldn't hear. It was just the sobs of a child in the corner of the room, begging, pleading for everything to stop.

But they kept coming and coming and didn't care.

I felt the soft and warm touch of a hand, but I only flinched from it too. Then I felt angry, and then numb from it all. It switched back and forth until I went crazy and screamed, "GET AWAY FROM ME! STOP!! I'M SORRY, PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME ANYMORE!!"

I caused such a commotion that I could feel my pack members become alerted that their Alpha was in danger. They were all awake and looking for me, wanting to help me.

My eyes moved frantically across the room, as I recognized what Theo said in the beginning of where everything began.

I finally knew what this room was.

It was the room I grew up in when my father fell into a coma.

My prison and my torture chamber.

With that thought, I fell onto the ground limp. Black dots taking over my vision and taking me into the world of dreams, where no one can hurt me ever again.

***

"Kronos..." A voice said, echoing.

"Rhea? Is that you?" I asked, darkness surrounding me. It was as if I was drowning in an endless sea of loneliness.

That couldn't be here. She's been in a coma for months and I was just with Theo in that room. I couldn't do it. I couldn't make any progress.

"Kronos, if anyone can do it, you can." Rhea said, replying sweetly.

It was dark, and although I had longed to see her, hearing her voice was more than enough. "But... I don't know if I can. You're not here with me and I don't know if I'll ever be good enough for you.

She giggled, "You will always be good enough for me and I'll tell you as many times as you need to hear it. You don't need me to be who you want to be. You are everything and more."

"Now get up." She said, pushing me out of the sea.

***

"Dammit, Kronos! Wake up!" Theo scowled, poking me on the cheek.

I snapped my eyes open and sat up quickly, taking in my surroundings. I was still in the room, the area where might nightmares began.

I groaned, "How long have I been out for?"

"About 5 minutes, not that long."

Shaking my head, I was in disbelief. It felt longer than five minutes. Then again, there was always a possibility that the dream world was shorter than reality. Then again, it probably wasn't a dream. I just heard her voice only.

Getting up, I survey the room once more.

It felt surreal.

"I... saw Rhea." I whispered, almost in denial.

Theo's eyes widened, "What? How? You almost died and you saw her?" He exclaimed.

I nodded meekly, "I heard Rhea's voice. She saved me."

He was quiet for sometime and sighed finally. "It's my fault, partly. I dragged you into this room, knowing you would have some sort of reaction but... I didn't know it would be that bad."

I comforted him, "I'm alright. Can we continue to ... come into this room everyday?"

Theo seemed pleased at my words,"Of course."

He assisted me on getting up, as we exited the room. I gave the room one last look at the room the imprisoned me for years, gave me nightmares and tortured me endlessly.

You won't have power over me anymore.

I thought, closing the door and my demons.

Theo and I came to the room everyday. At first, I was still hesitant and took deep breaths, but as time went on, I could easily walk in with my head up as a bitter smile rose to my lips.

I'll get over my fears and be a proper alpha.

I promised her. I thought, squeezing Rhea's hand as I sat beside her in the hospital bed. Her chest rose softly and her vitals were stronger than before, noting me that her condition was doing better.

Kissing her forehead, I smiled.

"I'll wait for you, no ... matter how long it takes."