"Stop provoking him, Veronica." Erik mind-linked. "He might not have his wolf, but he is stronger than us both. If he comes after you, he will kill you."
Looking at him I could see that he was not the same Sebastian I had fallen in love with. His eyes were lifeless, dark. Even his scent was different.
Exhaling loudly I looked toward Erik. "Stand down." I whispered, allowing him to submit to his Alpha. His wolf bowed, then carefully retreated to the back of the room.
"I told you," Sebastian started before I interrupted him.
"No, I told him to stand down. He did not follow your orders, he followed mine." I said as a small stabbing pain shot through my stomach. The pain from being in heat was returning again, but I wanted to make a point before I hurried off to cry.
"I will no longer cry over you Sebastian Cross. I will no longer wish that you would remember me. From this day forward, I will be this pack's Luna, but I will not consider you my mate. I guess my grandmother was right, we were meant to be with our own kind."
As soon as the words slipped off my tongue, I instantly regretted them. How could I be so stupid as to let my anger blur the love I have for this man? My heart literally ached, like a small piece of it broke.
Sebastian just stood there looking like a deer caught in headlights. He raised his hand up to his heart as his face contorted the smallest bit. His heart just broke, the same as mine.
"Leave us, now." Sebastian ordered to Erik who was back in human form.
Erik shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't in good conscience leave you alone with her. I don't trust that you won't hurt her."
I smiled internally, happy Erik was sticking up for me. I really did have a family here in this pack. "It's okay, Erik." I interrupted. "I will yell for you if I need you."
Reluctantly nodding his head he walked to the door. "Sebastian, don't do anything stupid." He said before the door clicked closed behind him.
Now I was truly alone with the beast. My heart rate picked up as my hands started becoming clammy. I was nervous. Nervous he would actually hurt me.
"Do you really think you are my mate, Veronica?" Sebastian smirked as he rubbed his hands together.
"Yes." I breathed. I guess his own mark on my skin wasn't enough to convince him.
"I would like to prove something to you. Something only true mates would feel."
My stomach knotted up as bile rose to my throat. I didn't know what he was going to do, but from the look on his face I knew it wasn't good.
He walked to the oak dresser and pulled the top drawer out. Moving mounds of clothes to the sides he finally found what he was looking for.
Using both hands, he pulled apart a brown leather case revealing a hunting knife. The blade glistened as he ran his fingers over it testing it's sharpness.
"See, only true mates can feel the others pain. If you are who you say, I will feel all the pain that is about to be inflicted upon you."
He slowly started stalking closer to me as I took a few steps back. My body was suddenly stopped by the bookcase behind me, preventing me from going any farther. I searched his face, begging him with my eyes not to do what I feared he was going to.
"Please, don't do this. Neither of us needs to feel any more pain right now." I admitted.
Looking at the blade he twisted it around in his hands and smiled. The Sebastian I knew wouldn't go to this extreme to prove something. Especially something as trivial as proof of mates.
"Sebastian, please." I begged while reaching my hand out to touch his. As soon as he felt the same electricity I did, he pulled his hand away.
"Only a mate feels that sensation." I reminded him. "Your thinking is so obscured you don't even know the signs of a mate anymore."
"No, this is the true test." He said.
He grabbed my arm, looked directly into my eyes and dug the knife into my skin, slicing me open. I let out with an ear piercing scream as I watched the crimson blood pour out of my arm.
"You crazy son of a bitch." I screamed, slapping my hand over the cut to stop the bleeding.
Sebastian just stood there. No expression on his face, no movements, nothing. Just a blank stare. I was mortified at the lack of reaction he had. Who can just stab someone and not feel any remorse?
I rushed forward, running toward the bathroom when he grabbed my arm and stopped me. He was watching as the blood ran down my arm and dripped onto the floor, staining the carpet below.
"I need to stop the bleeding, please let me go." I cried, my voice shaky, showing him I was afraid.
He looked down at his arm and watched as a small jagged scar appeared on his skin. The same length as my cut, in the same place.
His eyes shot back up to mine and for a second, I saw a flicker of hope. My heart started racing. The last time our eyes locked, blue to blue, was before the war broke out.
"You're not healing." He said, worry prominent in his voice.
"I can't heal myself, only other people." I explained as I tried to wiggle my arm out of his grasp. "I need to stop the bleeding."
Sebastian continued to ignore my words as his hand tightened around my arm causing the iron filled fluid to gush even more. I yanked my arm harder toward my body, but it was of no use, his grip was like silver chains clasped on my arm.
"Why won't you let me go?" I asked him, the pain starting to intensify with each passing second.
Seeming as if he snapped out of the trance he was in, he quickly wrapped his hand around my cut and pulled me into the bathroom. "Sit down." He gestured toward the closed toilet seat.
Rummaging through the medicine cabinet I could hear the boxes being shuffled and the glass containers clinking together. Placing an array of items on the sink he sat down in front of me and grabbed my arm.
I sucked in a mouthful of air, creating a hissing sound as he touched me. "Ouch. You don't have to be so rough." I whined.
"Don't be a baby." He snarled while taking a wet gauze pad and gently dabbing the cut. Every so often he would look down at his own arm seeing if the scar still remained. And it did.
"I'm sorry I did this to you." He admitted. "I just needed to find out for myself if you were really who you said you were."
The butterfly effect returned to my stomach and fluttered up into my chest. I knew I saw the old Sebastian. I was happy, excited that he was still in there somewhere.
"And did you get your answer?" I croaked, my throat parched from the pain.
Raising his head to look at me, he smiled. His smile could still make me melt, still take my breath away, still make my body long to be with him.
"I did." He confessed, still dabbing away at my cut.
Attempting to contain my excitement was a complete fail. As soon as he spoke, I butted right in.
"And?" I asked impatiently, sitting up a little straighter.
As he was finishing wrapping up my arm he put on the last piece of tape on it and rose to his feet. He reached his hand out, offering his assistance in helping me up. I gladly placed my hand in his, closing my eyes to the feeling of the fireworks that exploded in my body.
"You excite me, Veronica. In ways you will never fully understand. But when I plunged that knife into your arm," He stopped for a minute and ran his forefinger across the bandage. "I felt nothing."
Stab number four.
"Liar!" I lashed out at him. "That is a lie and you know it. You can feel the sparks between us. You felt that knife slice into your own skin. You felt your body heal to form that scar." I pointed to his arm.
The scar was still extremely visible, but he covered it with his hand and turned away.
"This scar is the only reason you are not dead right now." He faced me.
My breath caught in my throat, coming out as a small cough. "How is that possible Sebastian?"
"I don't know." His lip quivered the slightest bit as I was waiting for a tear to fall from his eye, but it never came.
I needed to get away from him and go find out who healed him. And the one I will be starting with is Abigail. She was the only one left in the room with him.
"I gotta go." I whispered to Sebastian as I walked out of the bathroom, but his hand stopped me. This time his grip was gentle, soothing.
"Don't leave. Stay with me."
His words pulled at my heart. I so badly wanted to curl up in bed with him, my head on his chest listening to the beating of his heart. But I needed to find out who dis this to him and maybe space might be the best thing for us right now.
I rubbed my hand along his and smiled sweetly at him. "I need to go find out who did this to you."
He released my arm and allowed me to go. I blew him a kiss as I closed the door behind me and leaned against it. Why does this shit always happen to me?
***
"What do you mean he was just awake one second and not the next? How does that happen? Who else was in the room?" I raised my voice at Mitchell, determined to find out who did this. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bfpBLcBSe
"No one. Just me and Abigail."
I tapped my foot against the tile floor trying to think of how this could have happened. Unless he honestly just healed himself, but amnesia isn't a side effect of their healing abilities.
"Veronica, I know you don't want to hear this, but it is possible that whatever was in his system wiped his memory of all the current events in his life." Mitchell explained. "I distinctly remember hearing about a plant that causes these kinds of symptoms. The memory loss, aggressiveness. All the person has to do is ingest them."
"How would he have ingested them though? He would have had to drink it or eat it because I doubt he would have let someone shove it down his throat." I theorized.
Mitchell just shrugged his arms and continued eating his lunch. At this point, I was willing to explore any ideas that were thrown my way. I just wanted Sebastian back, the Sebastian I knew and loved.
"It's a start, I guess. I'll have Ellen run a panel on him, see if anything turns up. Where did Abigail go?" I asked as I stole a chip off of his plate.
He playfully smacked my hand and shoved the remaining chips in his mouth so I couldn't take anymore. With his mouth full, he attempted to speak. "I- ont ow."
Living with Mitchell for most of my life I was lucky enough to learn how to understand him with his face stuffed with food.
I giggled at the memories his puffy cheeks were bringing back. "Well if you see her, tell her I'm looking for her. I'm going to go get Dr. Ellen and see if she will run those tests on Sebastian."
"Have fun." He smiled, as he stuck the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.
"You know I will." I joked. "And why are you still in here? Shouldn't you be in your room resting?" 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmsw9ELLjx
A small redhead walked into the room overhearing my question to Mitchell. "He enjoys the attention." She butted in, taking the now empty tray from him.
Instead of arguing, he simply leaned back in the bed and placed his hands behind his head. "Yep, I definitely do enjoy the attention. I'm soaking it all up. Ya never know when I'll be able to get waited on hand and foot again.” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBY0UgJGMx
