Chapter 150 Need to see her

Chapter 150 Need to see her
~ Taren's POV ~

"You had better not die on me. Who told you you could die now that I just met you? Wake up or else..."

A weary sigh escaped her before she continued speaking, and when she did, the determination in her voice had softened into something much gentler.

"Okay, I'm sorry for threatening you. Please wake up. There are a lot of things I need to talk to you about."

Those were the very first words I heard the moment I regained consciousness. Before I could even begin to make sense of them, something else struck me almost immediately.

It was the sweetest scent I had ever had the opportunity of catching. It floated gently into my nostrils, wrapping around my senses and filling me with an unexpected feeling of peace while leaving me equally confused.

There was something incredibly soothing about it, something that made me want to breathe in just a little deeper.

I slowly cracked my eyes open, realizing I had never heard that voice before. The sight that greeted me made me wonder if I had somehow crossed over into the afterlife, and if people had mates there as well, because the moment my eyes landed on her, I instantly knew she was mine.

There was no hesitation inside me and no room for doubt. The certainty settled within me immediately, making every other thought disappear for those few moments.

Her black eyes, which had been fixed on me the entire time, widened the instant she realized I was awake.

"Mom, he's awake. He just opened his eyes now," she half yelled, the excitement in her voice startling me a little as she turned her head toward someone behind her.

Another woman hurried over almost immediately, and I believed she was the mother she had called because of how much they resembled each other. Their facial features were remarkably similar, making the relationship between them obvious even before either of them spoke again.

"Oh, thank goodness," the older woman breathed out in visible relief as she came to stand beside the younger one. "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to make it back to us, but you came back."

The relief on her face was unmistakable, but I barely held my attention on her for long because the younger woman was still standing there smiling.

Her smile seemed effortless, her beauty was impossible to ignore, and that calming scent surrounding her continued drifting toward me, making it even harder to look anywhere else. Every passing second only made me more certain that she was the one destined for me.

"Is this the afterlife?" I probed, my voice coming out hoarse as I tried to understand what was happening around me, what they had been talking about before I woke up, and who exactly they were.

The older woman smiled kindly before shaking her head.

"No. This is not the afterlife. You are still on Earth."

"Yep. Fully back on Earth after attempting to escape it," the younger woman added playfully, drawing my attention right back to her without even trying. "How do you feel now?"

I found that I did not mind her stealing my attention at all because I simply could not get enough of looking at her face or listening to her voice. There was something comforting about both.

The more I looked at her, the stronger the feeling inside me became that I had seen her somewhere before. She looked strangely familiar, but no matter how hard I searched my memories, I could not place exactly why I felt that way.

The feeling lingered stubbornly, refusing to leave me, even though I was certain we had never met before.

To answer her question, I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position, taking a moment to assess how I felt. Surprisingly, there was no pain anywhere in my body. The only thing I could feel was the lingering weakness.

River immediately stepped closer and helped me sit properly, making sure I was steady before letting go. The instant our skin touched, an indescribable warmth spread through me. The feeling was heavenly, sending pleasant sparks racing through every part of my body and leaving me strangely reluctant for the contact to end.

I could not stop myself.

Almost instinctively, I reached for her hand and gently held it in mine, savoring the sparks dancing between us. I was not bothered in the slightest that her mother was standing right there watching us. At that moment, nothing else seemed important enough to draw my attention away from her.

"What is your name?" I asked, unable to look away from her face.

"River. River Vale," she answered with a gentle smile.

The sound of her surname instantly unlocked everything inside my mind.

"Vale?" I whispered, and my expression darkened as every memory I had lost came rushing back with startling clarity.

"Yes," she replied, clearly unaware of why I had suddenly reacted that way.

"The Void Wolf, Luna, Alpha Kael. What happened to them?" I asked, my heart tightening painfully because it had already reached a conclusion I desperately hoped was wrong.

"The Void Wolf is dead. Alpha Kael and Lyra are both fine," Mrs. Vale answered calmly. There was no hesitation in her voice and no trace of deceit on her face, but believing those words was far more difficult than hearing them.

How could I believe that when I had witnessed the terrifying power of the Void Wolf with my own eyes? I knew exactly what that monster was capable of.

"The Void Wolf is dead?" I asked again.

Both of them nodded.

"And Luna is fine?"

Another pair of nods followed without the slightest pause.

I narrowed my eyes at both of them, unable to stop the suspicion creeping into my thoughts.

"Are you two lying to me so I don't get heartbroken? Are you saying all this just so I can recover properly before you finally tell me the truth?" I asked, voicing the only explanation that seemed possible in my mind.

"There is absolutely no reason for us to lie to you," River replied softly before her mother could answer. As she spoke, her fingers tightened gently around minr as though she wanted me to feel the sincerity behind every word she was saying. "She is fine. She is still unconscious, and we honestly don't know how long it will take before she wakes up. She exhausted an incredible amount of energy defeating the Void Wolf, and her body simply needs time to recover."

Her reassurance eased a small part of the fear gripping my heart, but it was nowhere near enough to satisfy me.

"I need to see her," I said firmly.

Mrs. Vale slowly shook her head.

"You just woke up yourself. You should freshen up and eat something first so you can regain your strength before going to see her."

I shook my head without giving her suggestion a second thought.

"No. It's important that I see her now. I was given a duty to make sure she did not die. I need to see her with my own eyes and confirm that I did not fail in carrying out that responsibility. Until I do that, my heart will not find peace."