Chapter 7 Waking in a strange room
Zoe's POV
Was this what death felt like?
My chest was on fire.
No... not fire. Something worse. Something that dug and tore at me from the inside. Each breath sent sharp knives through my ribs. I wanted to scream but my throat was too dry.
Voices floated above me. Far away.
"Still not moving?..."
"It's been three days..."
"You think she'll wake up?"
Three days?
I tried to remember. My mind was foggy. Heavy.
Then it came back. Sharp. Clear. Painful.
Jeremy's face. Cold and empty. The gun in his hand. My gun.
The bang.
The blast of pain in my chest.
I was dead. I had to be dead. That bullet went straight through my heart.
But dead people don't hurt like this.
Dead people don't hear voices.
"Look! Her fingers... they moved!"
A female voice. Excited.
"Get the Alpha! Quickly! The Luna is waking up!"
Luna? Nothing made sense.
I focused on my eyelids. I tried to open them, to see where I was.
But they were so heavy.
Come on, Zoe. Move. Fight.
I'd spent my whole life fighting. I wasn't going to stop now.
Footsteps ran across a floor. Wood. Smooth wood.
More voices. Louder now.
"Is it true?"
"The Luna?"
"After all this time?"
Joy. Pure joy. When was the last time anyone had been happy about me?
Maybe when I was back home with my family.
I pushed harder. My eyelids opened a little.
Light came in. Soft. Golden. Warm.
Not Jeremy's prison. Not the cold darkness of the forest where he left me to die.
My heart started beating faster. A machine beside me beeped fast.
"Easy, easy." A deep manly voice said gently. "Don't push yourself."
The voice was warm. Safe. Nothing like Jeremy's cold commands.
I forced my eyes open wider. A ceiling. Beautiful, with patterns that curled and danced.
This wasn't Lakewood.
"That's it. Take your time."
I turned my head slowly. Every muscle hurt.
And then I saw him.
A man I'd never seen before. Handsome. Strong face with dark hair. Amber eyes filled with tears. An Alpha.
But the way he looked at me... like I was something special.
"My Olivia," he whispered. "You came back to me."
My throat was so dry. I tried to speak but only made a rough sound.
He lifted a glass of water to my lips. His hands shook. "Slow sips. You've been gone for so long."
The water felt good, but my fear was growing. I pulled away.
"Who... who are you?"
His face fell. Tears ran down his cheeks.
"You don't remember me? I'm Ryan. I'm your... I'm your husband."
Husband?
My eyes went wide. I tried to sit up but pain burst in my chest. I gasped and fell back.
Ryan jumped forward. "Don't move! You're still healing. When Lord Kael found you in the river, there was so much blood."
River? Jeremy shot me in the forest. I fell on dry ground. There was no river.
I looked around. Beautiful room. Rich red curtains. Soft bed. Real paintings.
Then I saw the photograph across from the bed.
My blood went cold.
The picture showed Ryan with a woman in a white dress. Laughing. Blonde hair, big blue eyes, small body.
She looked exactly like me.
"Where am I?" My voice shook.
Ryan touched my hand carefully. "You're home, love. You're at Dawnmoon Pack."
Dawnmoon Pack. I'd never been here.
"I don't understand. I'm not..."
"She needs to rest for now, Alpha. Please stop asking her questions for now." The doctor said and the Alpha nodded.
Everyone left.
After a few minutes, a lady who dressed like a chef brought me food. Light soup. I couldn't say no because I was starving.
Later, two beautiful ladies took me to the bathroom and helped me shower. The warm water felt amazing.
Then they brought me back to the room. I lay on the soft bed and thought about everything. My parents. Training my whole life to kill Jeremy. Being caught. Hurt. Used. Shot.
How was I even alive?
And who was Olivia?
The door burst open. An older woman with silver hair walked in. She wore healer's clothes and carried a medicine bag. Ryan came in behind her with another man.
"Let me check her," the woman said.
The healer pulled back my blanket. I wore a soft blue nightgown now. White bandages wrapped around my chest.
Her fingers checked my pulse. She looked at my eyes and gently pressed around the wound.
"The wound is healing very well. Another week of rest and you can move around more."
"But why can't she remember anything?" Ryan asked with a tight voice. "Will her memory come back?"
The healer looked at me hard. "That depends. Head injury or shock can both affect memory."
"I don't have memory loss," I said. "I remember everything. But I'm not who you think I am. My name is Zoe. Zoe Anthony. I don't know anyone named Olivia."
"Zoe?" Ryan went pale. "What are you talking about? Olivia, you're scaring me."
"I'm NOT Olivia!" The words came out loud. Angry. "There's been a mistake. I was in Lakewood Pack. I was shot. By Alpha Jeremy Dylan. I should be dead, but I'm here. I'm not your..."
Everyone gasped when I said Jeremy's name.
"The Dylan boy?" Ryan's beta said. His voice was angry. "Why would you be in Lakewood?"
"She doesn't know what she's saying," Ryan said quickly. But his voice shook. "The injury..."
"I know exactly what I'm saying!" I tried to sit up. Pain shot through me but I pushed through it. "I'm not your Luna. I don't belong here!"
I grabbed the chain around my neck. Pulled out my locket. The one thing that survived everything.
"Look!" I opened it with shaking hands. "These are my parents. Alpha Damson Aaron and his mate. They died nineteen years ago. I'm their daughter. I'm Zoe."
Ryan took the locket. His hands shook. He stared at the tiny pictures inside. His face went white.
Finally, he looked up.
"Olivia," he whispered. "These are the photographs you always carried. You showed them to me on our wedding night. You said they were your parents."
The locket fell from his hands onto the bed.
I stared at it. Then at Ryan. Then at the photograph on the wall.
A woman who looked exactly like me.
A woman who had the same locket.
A woman named Olivia.
"No," I breathed. "That's impossible. I am not..."
The door swung open and I was not ready for what I saw.