Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

21. You messed with the wrong girl

RILEY

Darkness. Complete and total darkness. No sound, no feeling, no pain. Just pure nothingness. It was so peaceful and, at the same time, somewhat frightening. I wondered whether that's what death felt like.

But I wasn't dead. I was not sure where I was or what was going on but I knew I was not dead. I didn't have any control over my body, so I couldn't open my eyes but my mind was still working. What if I remained like this forever, if I was unable to wake up? Panic spread across my body, trying to force it to react but there was nothing. No reaction. Only the continuing darkness. I wanted to shout, to kick, to give a sign of life to the outside world but I couldn't. I was a prisoner in my mind. Me and my darkest thoughts.

Then I felt it- a sense of calmness, of warmth. Like I was receiving a mind telegram that everything would be okay. A familiar scent invaded my senses. Yet, instead of bringing me back to the light, it soothed me enough for my mind to let go and give in to the darkness yet again.

***

How much did I drink last night?

My head was throbbing and my whole body hurt. If this was the results of yet another drunken night out with Scarlett, I was going to disown her as my friend. Friends were meant to look after each other, not nearly kill each other with alcohol. Right now I doubted that there was a painkiller in the world that was going to help me.

I slowly opened my eyes, quickly realising that I was not in my room, not even in my Putney house. Instead, my bed resembled a hospital bed but the room I was in was much cosier than that of a hospital. I turned my head around, looking out of the window where I saw a magnificent lake basking in the last rays of sun for the day. The beauty and colours outside had me in awe. Was this heaven? Then it hit me- Scotland. I was in Scotland. This was the view in front of the Blackwood mansion. I slowly remembered everything from the past few weeks. Lucien bringing me back, meeting Anna and Connor, training the pack, my wild time with Callum, going to the Macalister bash, the man with the eagle tattoo, discovering that I had mates, going for a walk with Natalia. Shit, Natalia. Where is she? Is she okay?

I started to get out of bed but as soon as my feet hit the ground, my knees went weak and I lost balance. I heard a commotion behind me and two strong arms grabbed me before I could hit the floor. I looked up and was relieved to see the familiar face with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Lucien!" I hugged him as he picked me up and placed me on the bed.

"Be careful, sis, you still need to rest." It was so comforting to have my brother around while I was still coming out of the haze that I was under.

"How did I get here? Where is Natalia? I need to see her." I heard a low growl which made me turn around and then I saw them- Aiden, Callum and Rafe, all standing on the side of the room. Aiden and Callum both looked worried and relieved, whereas Rafe seemed more angry than anything else.

"Callum and his bears found you in the woods on the sleuth's ground and he brought you here. You were unconscious and the doctor told us that you had been sedated. It took you 4 hours to come around." My brother said as he held my hand. I felt like a little girl like that but it was too comforting to let him go.

"How did you know I was there, Callum? And where is Natalia?" I looked at the bear Alpha with fear in my eyes as I did not dare think what could have happened to my young friend, the friend that I failed to protect.

Callum made his way to my bed and gave me a weak smile. It was good to see him and I was grateful that he had brought me back to the pack. "We heard rumours about three suspicious humans in the area and decided to check out the area to make sure that they were not the ones behind the traps. Now we know that our concerns were founded. My scouts and I found you. There were no signs of Natalia Macalister though, I'm afraid, aside from her scent."