PROWESS. (COMPLETED)

Chapter 57

Anastasia's POV;

My heart felt like a lead weight, which was a stark contrast to how empty I felt. Kellen didn't recognize me – me, his own mate! He thought I was just some girl he'd hooked up with and then got into a fight with my supposed 'boyfriend'. I'd left the room, I couldn't bear to look at Kellen and feel... everything... everything, from breathtaking attraction to a potent desperation to love and to cherish, to be with him and kiss his wounds better, to tell him it was stupid we were fighting, and that I could let it all go if he only assured me that he'd trust me with his past, so we could secure our future together. I couldn't look at him and feel so overwhelmed by all of that, only to be met by a blank stare.

Brody had found me some time later to explain that, according to the doctor, Kellen had swelling in his brain, and consequently was suffering from short-term amnesia. The doctors were going to keep him to do more tests to determine how much damage might've been done to his brain – since Kellen obviously didn't know what had happened to him, and they couldn't find anything with him when he was found to suggest who might've taken him or what was done, there was no telling how long Kellen would remain in hospital.

Brody had since returned to watch over Kellen, while I returned and chose to stay in the waiting room. I'd never wanted to run away and cry more than I did in this moment. I wasn't usually an emotional person but the last couple of days had been torture – whoever had taken Kellen might as well have taken me too because the emotional torment of trying to find Kellen and seeing the state he was in when he'd eventually had been found were almost more than I could bare. Even though I wasn't there, James had informed me that they'd found him in a muddy ditch by the side of a swamp just over the south border, striped of everything but his boxer briefs. The image of his body covered in a multitude of cuts and bruises, only just distinguishable beneath the layer of grime and mud of the swamp, haunted me. My traitorous eyes pricked dangerously, threatening to cry at the train of my thoughts but I refused, as I had done for the last four days. Taking a few deep breathes, I force the feeling back down my throat.

It had taken us twenty-four drawn out hours to find Kellen, it had been four days since he'd been admitted to hospital, and only an hour or so since he'd awoken from his coma. I hadn't left his side from the moment of his admission. The staff had been kind enough to curtain me off a bed next to Kellen's, so I could stay, and all were under strict orders from Brody that should anyone ask, it belonged to another patient. Brody had been staying in the room next door. All the while, my phone had been going constantly as I delegated pack matters with Rick and Samson; trying to sustain the protective measures put in place and arranged in conjunction with Alphas Riggs and Almound, in addition to ensuring a smooth transition for our newest members. Never, more than now had I felt more eyes on my ability to handle myself. News outlets were lurking about outside having been falsely informed that Kellen was merely suffering an acute bout of the flu. I'd been keeping up appearances, dressing as formal as if I were on pack duties despite it being the opposite of how I felt.

"Ana!" I hear myself called. Taking a steadying breath, I turn my expression back to the mask it had been these last few days, disguising how I felt on the inside: I longed to curl up and in on myself and hide. Turning, I smile stiffly as I hug Arabelle. Behind her followed the King, Queen, Maxim and Sophia, all with expressions of deep concern and trepidation.