Imperious.

Part XXIV: Emilia

© 2014 XxNotTonightXx.

All Rights Reserved

Author's Note: Please vote and comment, it helps. I accidentally posted the chapter early and then unpublished it because I wanted to continue the consistent Friday updates, maybe I'll change it to Wednesdays. I'm not sure yet. Enjoy.

Pages: 95 - 97

E M I L I A - 

This pain is hollow: an empty void that doesn't shut off. I can't sleep but my eyes have to drag themselves to open each morning. Ever since he's been in that infirmary... I can't do anything.

And that's the fucked up part: the part when I felt that something was wrong but I chose to ignore it. And now it's too late. Now, my mate, my Tom, is in an infirmary and I'm out of choices. I can't choose to save him, I can't choose not to save him; the well-being of my mate is now out of my hands and a day ago I used to hold all the cards. Oh, the irony. A day ago I was the Alpha that had her mate, her Alpha by her side. Now I can't even be by his side because his body feels me and reacts to me too strongly, which messes with the monitoring.

"His body's shut down, so I've induced a coma..." Casey the pack doctor says before continuing to talk about the chances of him waking up safely. I tune her out because I can't bear to hear all the complications that I could've prevented.

He's given me everything - his love, his time, his patience - but I can't take his life. I refuse to. How am I suppose to do anything without my mate?

Her lips keep moving, but my head is light. I try to open my mouth to explain this sudden, unwelcoming heat flooding through me that's making me breathless and not in the way Tom does, but I can't speak. I can only grab onto her for balance.

"Alpha Emilia. Alpha Emilia." Casey repeats over and over, and each time she says my name my head hurts a little bit more.

He's in here because of me, and the rebellion still continues. He's in a coma and I can't do anything about it.

It's all become too much.

.

.

.

When I wake up, for a few seconds everything is alright, but then the dread slowly kicks in and the past two days come back to memory. The meeting and Tom make my shoulders sag and stomach heave in exhaustion despite just waking up.

Tom. Sitting up, I immediately take in my surroundings: I'm at home, sprawled out on my couch in the living room with a blanket thrown over me. The sun's shining, but when Casey talked to me it was night time.

How long have I been asleep for? Throwing the blanket off of me, I rub my eyes and stretch before yawning. The clock says 2:14 p.m. which means I've slept for, what, thirteen to fourteen hours?

I rush upstairs to take a quick shower and brush my teeth before changing my clothes and walking down the stairs and out the house; anything could've happened with me being asleep for so long.

Shifting, I let my wolf take us to the pack house where the infirmary lies. After the meeting, she's been more antsy, clawing to come out and stretch her own damn legs for a change.

With her in charge, I don't have to think so much about what happened, because everything leads back to the meeting and how I could have prevented it.

The guilt stays with me like an anchor at sea trapping me, making it impossible to move or do anything without its permission. Tom is fighting for his life because he defended me and I couldn't defend him better because I wouldn't be able to deal with the consequences of humans seeing my wolf and taking care of Tom at the same time. But look where that's gotten me - where that's gotten him.