Untie my heart

Wow.... River

Waking up this morning I actually feel a little better. My throbbing headache is more of a dull thumping rather than blindingly painful which is nice. Hope is still sound asleep so I get up as carefully as I can to avoid waking her. I tip toe to the dresser, grab some clothes and hop in the shower. While my headache is better today my anxiety is at an all time high. I am scared that I won't be able to protect Hope, I am worried for Becca and Sam's safety and I am terrified that what I will remember when I get my memories back.

What could possibly have been bad enough for Becca to purposely cause Hope and I to lose our memories? What secrets is Becca trying to hide and how does the rogue queen fit into this puzzle. The idea that my mate would be involved in removing my sister and my memories causes my heart to hurt. Then again it's possible that the rogue queen is lying but if that's the case why would Hope have the same chunk of time missing as me? Why would Becca push both Hope and I to keep it a secret?

Thinking back whenever Hope and I spoke Becca was always around, she never allowed me to speak to Hope alone. In the moment it seemed normal I guess but looking back on it now I can't help but wonder what she was trying to hide. Not only did Becca always insist on being around when Hope and I spoke she also would break down in tears whenever I questioned something that did not seem right, I can't believe I have been so clueless. I spend my entire shower overthinking every interaction Becca and I had after waking up in the hospital. I am now one hundred percent convinced Becca has something to do with Hope and my memory loss and I am pissed, who does that?

After getting dressed I make my way back into the main bedroom. I freeze as my eyes land on the witch and queen standing beside a sleeping Hope. "Good morning River" the queen chirps happily. I can't help but panic, I don't like the idea of these women being so close to Hope. I slowly make my way closer, desperate to put myself between Hope and these women. The queen must pick up on how uncomfortable I am because she slowly begins walking towards me, putting distance between herself and my sister. "It's time to remember" the queen says with happiness dancing around her eyes. My attention darts to my now waking sister then back to the queen "please do me first" I say almost begging. If something goes wrong I don't want it to be with Hope, I need to do whatever I can to protect her. The queen smiles and nods before the witch begins closing the gap between us.

"This will only take a few minutes, please sit" the witch says while pulling small bottles with different color liquids out of her cloak. I nod and sit on the couch, I don't want to be too close to Hope just in case I explode or something. "Drink this" the witch says handing me a bottle with pink liquid inside. I eye the bottle for a moment before I chug it down, it's gross but I manage to keep it down. The witch starts chanting in a language I don't understand, her eyes rolling back in her head making her look possessed. She sprinkles the other liquids around me while splashing some on me. The lights in the room flicker as my attention drifts towards a terrified looking Hope. I smile softly at her attempting to reassure her. I don't dare speak, the last thing I need to do is distract the witch fucking with my brain. The witches chanting gets louder as her entire body begins shaking like crazy, I swallow hard as I try to fight off the urge to run away. Suddenly everything calms, the witches chanting begins to quiet down until it's just over a whisper. I look around but don't feel anything, nothing feels different as I try to think back on any new memories that may have come back. As my mind wanders to my birthday, I feel a sudden sharp pain in my head and bam everything goes black.

My eyes feel heavy as I try to will them open. I can feel myself slowly coming back to reality as my eyes finally open. Looking around the room I see Rose sitting beside me, I smile at her as I slow sit up. "How are you feeling River?" Rose asks sounding concerned. "Im okay" I reply shortly before my mind suddenly catches up with what's going on. My face drops as my heart rate starts to spike, I frantically search the room for Hope but it's just Rose and I. My eyes finally meet with Roses and she smiles sadly at me. "Hope is fine, just resting" she says as she rubs small circles into the skin on my hand. I lay back down hard, my heart and mind trying to wrap around what's happening. "I know this is a lot to absorb River, I am going to give you some time to sort out your thoughts" Rose says as she stands up. She leans in and places a soft kiss on my forehead before making her way out of the room.

It feels like my entire world is crashing down around me. My mate Becca did horrible things to me, she took away my memory and tried to trick me into mating with her. Rose tricked me too, she removed my memories and cast a spell to mimic the mate bond. Becca tortured me and almost killed me...Rose kidnapped Hope and I... I feel like throwing up just thinking about it all.

I am lost in my own thoughts for what feels like hours when a knock on the door brings my attention back to the real world. I slowly stand on unsteady legs and walk towards the door. I slowly turn the handle and open the door to find a very happy looking Jake. "Welcome back sir River" Jake says smiling. "Jake" I whisper almost like it's a secret that I remember him. "How are you, how's your mate?" I ask suddenly extremely happy to have one of the only people I see as a friend here. Jake smiles "we are doing really well River, queen Rose is very kind and we are treated very well" he says as he brings in a tray with food. "Come eat" Jake says as he sits down, still smiling. "I am so sorry about everything that happened sir but now that queen Rose is here things are really looking up around the pack" Jake says sounding excited.

I sit down slowly and start to pick at the food he brought "what's happening?" I ask cautiously as I eat slowly. Jake smiles "the queen is making sure the omegas are not being abused, she is helping families who were struggling and she is punishing royal pack members that were hurting the omegas and other low ranking wolves" Jake says with a proud smile. "I can't believe how amazing she is, do you know I have not been whipped once since she took over?!" Jake gushes like it's unheard of for him to go a week without being beaten. I stare at him in shock, how could I be so blind to not know how bad things were for him, for lesser rank pack members, I should have known and stopped it. Jake must pick up the guilt that is eating away at me because he suddenly looks very serious. "You could not have done anything sir River, Becca made sure to keep the true nature of the pack away from you" Jake says firmly. "Everyone knew what was going on with you and trust me, aside from the royals everyone was appalled" Jake spat out, disgust obvious in his tone. I nod slowly as a yawn escapes my lips. Jake smiles warmly and stands up "get some rest sir River, you have had an eventful day" he says smiling. "Please wake me when Hope is up" I say as he walks towards the door. Jake nods and smiles as he gathers the dishes from dinner.

I watch as Jake leaves the room, while I am grateful that Rose is helping those who were hurt under Becca's rule I don't know if I can forgive what she did to me. I lay down and sigh as exhaustion creeps up inside me. My feelings are all over the place, my heart is broken thinking of what Becca did to me and my mind is fighting with my heart over Rose. I can't fight off my exhaustion any longer as I drift off to sleep, my broken heart and confused mind battling as I succumb to the darkness.