Chapter 105

• ALPHA ZACHARY
• The light but severe weight on my head was crushing my skull painfully. I wasn't fully conscious of my environment but I could bitterly sense my discomfort in every part of my body. My eyes were clenched tight as I groaned out in pain due to everything that felt painfully out of place. Naturally, I tried to reach for my wolf as I rubbed my head but I couldn't feel Serge like I was supposed to. My mind was blank of every other emotion that wasn't pain and uncertainty. I wanted to keep my eyes closed and remain in the same position but I was uncomfortable due to the rocks that were pricking my back. I changed my position slowly but without gritting my teeth in pain. The process was slow but thankfully, I was able to control my arms which had been laying limply beside me. I used my hand to reposition myself into a sitting posture as I fluttered my eyelids with caution. All of my other senses as an Alpha seemed to be failing me because I was unable to sense the scent of my vicinity nor could my hearing abilities cover much distance which made me wonder what the hell was happening to me. The moment I opened my eyes fully to take in my surroundings, I found out that even my sight had failed me. My vision was blurry and I couldn't get rid of it for some minute. I had to open and close my eyes multiple times before I could see clearly and the sight before me triggered the feeling of deja vu all over my mind. The huge mountain before me practically screamed "I knew you" as I took it in with my eyes. The smaller but sharp particles of rocks that had broken off and away from the mountain also sent the same message to my brain. I was confused as hell. I mean, how did I get here and why did I feel like I was supposed to recognize this place? My head began to throb when I tried to think about my predicament and I was forced to touch the part of my head that hurt most. Wet sticky liquid coated my fingers when I touched the back of my head. Although I wasn't surprised by the sight of my blood when I brought my fingers forward for observations. What surprised me was the fact that I was bleeding without healing. I was feeling too much pain for someone who was meant to be an Alpha, not just an ordinary Alpha but the best in the woodlands. That's who I was supposed to be right? My head was a mess. A huge messy mess if there was something like that because I couldn't even concentrate on a particular issue before another bump in to destroy whatever headway I had managed to make. Scanning my surroundings again, I tried to remember how I got here or when or even what happened before that my head was as blank as the word "blank" itself. My eyes finally shifted to the motionless frame of a person a few feets away from me. I couldn't believe that the body was right behind me all this while and I didn't know. I tried to breathe the person's natural scent but my nostrils couldn't differentiate between normal oxygen and my intention. I pushed myself to my feet, walking or more appropriately, dragging myself to the motionless body that seemed like the only company I had in that strange but familiar environment. "Are you alright?" The question sounded stupid to me but I had asked anyway and I couldn't take it back. I was yet to see the face of the person but I was close enough to figure out the gender of my company. A woman. A woman who appeared lifeless from where I was standing but the moment I touched her, I knew fully well that she wasn't just any woman. She was her. Flashes of how I had tried to wake her up flooded my head but I couldn't understand them completely until I turned her hidden face to my sightline. My head rang painfully as tingles and sparks came to life where I was touching her skin. My senses began to function again, starting with my sense of smell which was activated by the sweetest scent of all. My mind might be a mess but I knew well enough what the tingles and her scent meant. She was truly her. My mate. I gathered her in my arms to check for any injuries despite the pain I was feeling but it seemed she was healing fine unlike me as I couldn't see or smell her blood. Something came alive within me, pushing and nudging me just to connect with my consciousness. I knew too well who it was and I opened up the link instantly. "Serge! W-what's happening?" I asked simply despite the truckload of questions rambling in my head. I wanted to ask him why I wasn't healing. Why I felt like I had been here some time ago but with no clear memory of how or when it happened. I also wanted to ask him why my brain was telling me to call the woman in my hands "mum" instead of who she really was to me but I made do with a question that covered all of these. "I should be asking you that. Why on earth did you block me for that long?" Serge barked at me which made my head throb painfully. Another series of flashes that I couldn't comprehend attacked my mind with a full force that made me cry out my agony. "You blocked me completely from your life when I'm supposed to be part of it!" Serge yelled again, causing the unclear mental images to vanish which also snapped me out of the unbearable daze I was locked in. No words can begin to describe the level of pain that consumed me at that moment...from my head to every joint of my body. "S-serge..." I whimpered to my wolf, expressing my pain to him with the hopes that he would share them with me because it was unbearable. "I knew this would happen. For you to be able to block me completely, you must have blocked most of your abilities too." Serge murmured before aiding the process of my healing. Most of his words confused me further because they made me question why I would have wanted to block my wolf and my abilities. It was insane. I kept mute as I tried to unlock my abilities one after the other while Serge concentrated on stopping the bleeding from the back of my head. "So you don't know how we got here?" I asked Serge when I felt a little bit better. "I don't understand all these questions but as far as I know, you both must have fallen again." Serge answered. His tone transmitted the anger he felt towards me as it filled my mind but I was more interested in his affidavit. "What do you mean by again? Have I been here with her before? When and how? I'm going cra-" "Of course. You and Haera fell off the cliff when she tried to save you from Tybalt's sneaky attack. The fall must have jumbled your memory." My wolf cut in. I heard his words clearly but the only one my brain chose to register was her name. HAERA... Everything changed the moment I called her name in my head. Everything changed as they began to fix themselves into the right hole in my head. The flashes weren't unclear anymore and the pain was somehow bearable which I assumed was because I had unlocked my abilities and unblocked my wolf. Serge questioned the situation but I was too focused on the mental scenes that were playing in my head like a video recording. The first scene I saw was that of an argument between Haera and me. It pained me to see her walking out of my life with two people that I instantly recognized as the Alpha and Luna of the moonstone pack. Were they taking her back? but she was wearing a dress fit for a princess. Princess? Princess Ilvira... I became confused again because I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to be mated to Princess Ilvira, not Haera. She was supposed to be a gift given to me upon my marriage to the Princess of the Moonstone Pack. 'Why are you thinking about that traitor? Don't you remember what she and Tybalt did to you and Haera? What's going on with you?" My wolf reprimanded me, fueling the flame of confusion that had successfully clouded my mind. I asked Serge to tell me what I was missing because I was tired of forcing myself to think only to end up in the spiral web of confusion. Before my wolf could start, fragments of broken rocks fell from the huge mountain and I was forced to think of a way to move myself and Haera away from the mountain. It was strange that my leg seemed to know the way around this place and my mind wasn't confused about where to go. It came to me naturally. Serge began to tell me about what happened but not without hesitation. I walked with Haera in my arms while serge spew some gibberish into my head. My wolf's words weren't what caught and kept my whole attention...it was the face of the woman in my arms and the familiarity of everything about her and around us. "I've been here before. I know her." I chanted to myself and another wave of the mental flashes that I had been experiencing washed over me as I sank to my knees under a big shady tree. Serge's attempts to help me were futile and I could sense his dilemma. He didn't know what I was experiencing. I didn't know what was going on with me. The painful jab in my head that I assumed I had overcome started again with full force and without prior warning. I placed Haera as gently as I could onto the ground as I stumbled away from her body when the urge to cry out became uncontrollable. I opened my mouth to release my agony but my ears couldn't pick up the sound I made and Serge's voice sounded faint. I could barely hear him or myself. The voices in my head were louder and stronger than anything I had ever experienced in my entire life. The voices were accompanied by faces of people I was able to recognize and together they went like a bat out of hell through my mind and my head, filling the right memory hole. It was a painful process but I began to understand everything Serge had been trying to explain to me. I remembered how I killed Gennora and banished Ilvira. I remembered how I pushed Haera to her limits which made her leave me. "Haera..." I called out as I fought the fatigue that replaced the mental images and voices after I recalled how I struggled due to Haera's absence in my pack. The fight with Tybalt was the last thing I remembered and I simply assumed I lost against my brother. But how did Haera get here? When did she return from her parent's pack? I needed answers because a lot of my memories were still out of place but I couldn't think anymore because my body finally crumbled on the dark weight of exhaustion. My body couldn't fight it....so it welcomed it. "Zach! Oh no, Zachary." Her voice which I had missed during her absence woke me as if we have been friends for ages. It was casual, light but filled with worry. She was worried about me. "Open your eyes, please. I'm sorry for-" "Shouldn't I be the one to apologize?" I stated slowly, opening my eyes to see her beautiful amber orbs. Haera was staring at me with tears in her eyes but all of a sudden, her gentle and worried eyes changed as anger replaced them. Why was she angry? Or was she still mad about my fake relationship with Ilvira? "Who permitted you to risk your life like that? Why did you follow the bad dangerous guys when you know they could have killed you?" Haera gritted furiously yet her tears continued to drop freely. I was speechless because I didn't understand the reason behind her anger nor did I understand her questions. "What are you talking abo-" "I failed to protect you but you could have protected yourself instead of coming to save me, Zach! The f-fall could h-have ended your life! Why do you make me worry all the time!!!" My destined mate attacked me with numerous questions but instead of replying immediately, anger began to come alive within me. She might be of Alpha blood but that doesn't give her the right to disrespect me by yelling at me. I'm the Alpha of the strongest pack after all.