______________________________

Chapter 24

I slowly stirred my head when I heard a loud voice booming through the air. This voice held anger yet worry in it as they shouted at something. I was still half asleep so I didn't know exactly who this voice belonged to but it was a familiar voice that I knew. After a while, I slowly opened my eyes but immediately shut them in pain when the light hit my eyes. I winced in pain when I tried to move my head even more but stopped.

After I was fully awake I was conscious of the voices around me and realized that everyone was in some kind of argument. I didn't want to open my eyes yet and confront them because my head was still in pain and spinning and I was too tired to move. But instead, I listened to the argument that they were having that made me question why they were having it until Mason answered my question and made me remember what exactly happened.

"Mason, calm down," Lina spoke. "She's going to be fine, she just needs to rest."

"How do you know that, Lina? You're not some pack doctor." He growled at her. "Look at her," he exclaimed. "She's unconscious, she's not healing as fast as she's supposed to. That isn't good."

"She hit her head when she fell, Mason. Of course, she's unconscious. But she will heal soon, so give it a little time, and going back to the pack isn't worth it." She told him. Mason growled and I could hear the frustration in it.

"She's already supposed to be healed, it's been a God damn hour and she hasn't woken up yet. That's not right, her wolf should have healed her by now," he exclaimed in a rough voice. Lina sighed and I just stood there silent to see what was going to happen next.

"There is a reason for that, but I'm sure Tiana would be happy to tell you that and not me," Lina said.

"Yeah, Lina is right. Tiana's wolf heals slowly than ours so she'll wake up soon but I don't think going all the way back to the packhouse is worth it," Adam cut in.

"And why is that?" Mason asked. I slowly opened my eyes to see everyone in front of me but not looking at me. I figured that right now was the perfect time to make my appearance and explain what I really was to him.

"Because I'm a hybrid," I said. All heads turned over to me and every one of them sagged their shoulder in relief as Lina smiled and placed her hand on mine.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake," Lina said. I slowly got up but winced when my head throbbed in pain but Lina helped me sit up. "This guy over here acted as if you were dying and wanted to take you to the pack doctor." She said and pointed at Mason.

"No, it isn't worth it." I shook my head. "I guess the hit to my head just made me blackout, but other than that I'm completely fine."

Lina nodded her head and smiled at me. I looked up at Mason to see him looking at me in surprise.

"You're a hybrid?" He asked lowly. I slowly nodded my head at him.

"Yes, I'm a half werewolf and half-angel. That's why it takes me a little longer to heal compared to you guys." I said. He nodded his head and placed his hands in his pants pockets.

"That explains it," he muttered.

"Yeah, if she was a full werewolf the hit to her head shouldn't have affected her," Adam spoke and gave me a slight smile. I returned it and nodded my head in agreement.

"Are you ok? Does your head still hurt?" Tyler asked. I looked at him and nodded my head.

"I'm fine, it hurts a little but I should be completely healed soon," I answered. He nodded his head and gave me a smile as well. I looked up at Mason to see him looking intensely at me.

He turned his stare at the others and spoke.

"Tomorrow we are leaving, we stayed here long enough. So pack your bags and be ready." He said in a low tone. Lina was about to hesitate but Mason gave her a warning glare and she sighed out in frustration but then nodded her head.

"Fine," she grumbled out lowly. The rest nodded their heads and Mason turned to me one more time before stalking out of the room. Once he was out of sight I brought my attention to the rest. I gave them a weak smile as they walked closer to me.

"You gave us a fright back there," Ryder spoke with a hint of amusement laced in his voice. I pouted at him but my pout soon turned into a smile when he pouted as well.

"Sorry, it wasn't really my intention." I told him. By now Adam and Lina were sitting by me on the bed while Ryder and Tyler were sitting on extra chairs in front of me.

"Yeah, I know. It wasn't like you purposely fell off that steep hill and blacked out just to frighten us, more like Mason," Ryder joked. I rolled my eyes at him as Lina and Tyler chuckled. I looked over at Adam to see him staring intensely at me. I raised my brow at him but he shook his head then gave me a small smile. I soon looked over at Tyler when I heard him speak.

"Besides, what caused you to fall?" Tyler asked. My eyes widened for a split second when I remembered what exactly happened with Mason and I and I immediately wanted to forget about it. My wolf started purring in delight at that memory while I wanted to shove my head into the ground and not come out from embarrassment. Like, how did I go from kissing him one second, then falling down the hill another second?

Stupid, Tiana.

I brought my attention back to Tyler and saw that they were all giving me curious looks. I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't really know. I guess I tripped." I answered Tyler's question. He slowly nodded his head not looking too convinced but shook it off.

"Oh, well it's good that nothing worse happened," Tyler told me. I nodded my head at that and smiled.

"Thankfully nothing did," I said. I looked over at Lina when I felt her get off of my bed.

"Well, since my thick-headed brother wants us to leave tomorrow morning that means we'll have to wake up early so I might as well sleep early," Lina grumbled. Adam nodded his head and stood up as Ryder crossed his arms against his chest.

"Why does your brother always have to poop on our parade?" He asked. Lina pouted and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, but I hate it." She whined. Tyler shook his head in amusement and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, we can tell," he spoke out. "Now let's go and leave Tiana to rest, I'm sure she needs it." Lina nodded her head and said goodbye to me and gave me a wave then walked out the room with the rest. Adam was the last one to leave as he gave me a small smile then left but I couldn't dismiss that look he gave me as if he wanted to tell me something. I shook that thought off and stood up to change into my pajamas.

I opened my closet and took them out then changed into them. I fixed my bed and laid down then placed the blanket on top of me. I wasn't planning on going to sleep any time soon. I wasn't sleepy, especially after what happened so I just stayed there staring at the ceiling thinking about everything. I thought about how my life changed in an instant and thought about my loved ones that I haven't seen in so long but knew that they're safe out there somewhere.

I thought about my mom and dad. I knew they were ok. After that dream I had when we were in the dungeons I knew it wasn't just a dream. It was some sort of message they sent me to let me know that they were ok. I don't know how but I know they did. I also don't know where they are but I miss them deeply. Who knows when I'll see them again. With all that's going on, I mostly forgot about what happened not too long ago but they're always in the back of my mind.

A tear slipped out of my eye but I quickly wiped it away. I need to be strong for them. They wouldn't want me worrying over them like this. I sighed out as I thought about Mason. Mason was so weird. I don't know if that's supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing but it's like he has different personalities. He changes in the blink of an eye. Like what happened today, he goes from chuckling to growling in anger in a split second. He's so hard to understand. But I don't really know if I want to understand him.

And kissing each other isn't helping at all. It's just I can't stop myself. When we're in the moment I can't back out like there's something pulling me towards him. And just thinking about it makes my wolf purr. She isn't helping either. I wish things weren't so difficult.

I sighed out again and my mind continued to think about endless things as I stared at the blank white ceiling. I don't know how long I stayed like that but after a long time, I heard a small soft knock on my door. I raised my brow in confusion and sat up. Who would that be at a time like this?

Before I could stand up and open the door, the person behind it opened it and slowly walked into my room.

I gave Adam a confused look as he came into sight and gave me a small smile.

"I had a feeling you were awake," he spoke out softly. I nodded my head and he sat on my bed next to me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked confused. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

"I couldn't really sleep, also I figured you wouldn't be asleep either," he said. I nodded my head at him.

"And why is that?" I questioned.

"Oh, I don't know. I guess I know you well enough to know you usually stay up late at night," he answered. I returned the smile as I nodded my head. He became silent and I observed his face carefully to see if there was something wrong with him and that's exactly what I saw.

"Adam," I spoke.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Is there something wrong? I know there's something going on in that head of yours," I whispered. He looked at his hands for a couple of seconds then sighed and looked at me.

"No, not really. But I do have a question that I've been meaning to ask you," he answered. I nodded my head and gave him a small smile.

"Go for it."

He sighed and nodded his head.

"Are you and Mason a thing now?" He asked. My smile immediately dropped and I looked at him in confusion.

"What? Why are you asking that?" I asked him. He sighed out again and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, it's just that I've been noticing that you guys have been really close to each other," he replied. I shook my head at him.

"No, we're not even close to each other," I whispered. He nodded his head at me. "Besides, you know I can't repeat that ever again," I said softly. I held myself back from letting a tear slip out of my eye just by thinking about that memory. Adam looked at me intensely and immediately knew what I was thinking about and placed his hand on mine.

"Tiana," he whispered. "It's been about 2 years."

I nodded my head at him.

"I know," my voice cracked. "But it still hurts, no matter how long it's been I can't forget the pain."

Adam pulled me into a hug as I placed my face into his chest like a couple of tears fell down my eyes.

"It's ok, Tiana. Trust me, things will get better, you can't let memories like those bring you down again." He whispered. I nodded my head and soon pulled away.

"Yeah, you're right and I hope so."

Adam gave me a weak smile as he wiped my tears off my cheeks in a soft gesture. I placed my head on his shoulder as we talked about our memories back in our old pack. We stayed like that for a while until he stood up.

"Well, I got to go. It's getting really late. If you need anything make sure to tell me, ok? Know that I'm always here," he told me. I nodded my head at him.

"Ok, thank you, Adam," I whispered.

"You're welcome, Tiana." He said.

He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and then walked out of my room and softly closed the door behind him. I sighed out and placed my head on the soft pillow.

I closed my eyes and forced those bad memories away. I don't want to think about that ever again. It just makes me weak and I don't like that at all. My body soon relaxed as time went by and my mind soon calmed down. After a while of just closing my eyes and trying to go to sleep my body started drifting off into the abyss.

My mind was almost shutting down and I was so close to falling into a deep sleep when I heard my bedroom door slowly and gently open. I was too tired to open my eyes and see who it was but I figured it was Adam and he must've wanted to tell me something or have forgotten something and came back.

However, my mind was immediately awake when Mason's scent hit my nostrils. I forced my breath to remain even and act as if I was asleep to see what he was going to do. Why is he in my room at a time like this? After a couple of seconds, the room went silent but I knew he was still there because of his scent that roamed around the air and hit me strongly as I inhaled.

After a moment his scent became stronger as he slowly walked closer to me. I was so confused but I continued to act as if I was sleeping. After a minute or two of complete silence and nothing, he placed his finger on my cheek which made tingling sparks erupt from our skin contact. His finger roamed my cheek very gently for a while and then found its way to my hair. He softly touched it with his hand and let his fingers gasp the end of my hair softly and then sighed.

I then felt my bed lean to the side when he sat on the edge of my bed. Millions of questions ran through my head as he stayed there next to me in silence. I could feel his stare burning through my eye lids and it took me all I got to not open them.

His scent soon became stronger and the next thing I know is that his lips are on mine. His lips pressed against mine in a soft manner. It didn't last for long as he soon pulled away and sighed. I didn't know why he did that but it left me shocked. His hand cupped my cheek in a gentle manner for a moment before he pulled away.

"Dammit," he cursed lowly and slowly pulled away and got off of the bed. His scent soon weakened and then disappeared into thin air as if it was never there. I immediately opened my eyes and placed my finger on my lips in shock as my mind registered what he did.

And then and there I knew that I wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

____________________________