Chapter 109

There were no loud or abrupt sounds all around her, and she couldn’t smell the damp stale air from the cells that her father had kept her. The bed she slept on felt familiar and she knew that if she opened her eyes, she could see that familiar ceiling in the bedroom she shared with her mate.

Although she could tell that she had her eyes closed, she also knew that she was dreaming. And it was a very pleasant dream. Engulfing her entire being was her mate’s reassuring scent and she could hear the distant sounds of birds singing and trees rustling. Everything was just right.

And this is what frightened her.

If she opened her eyes, she was afraid that she would be transported back to the hell she had been living in for so long. Living through that hell was not something that she could go through a third time.

“It’s okay, Peanut”, she heard her mother say in that reassuring voice that made everything better.

Although her mind was telling her that there was no way her mother could be talking to her, her heart hoped and prayed that she wouldn’t stop.

‘Mom?’, Amelia thought to herself. ‘Is that really you?’

She heard that pleasant chuckle that always made her smile, and she was immediately reminded of all the precious moments she had shared with her mother.

“Of course it is, silly”, Lily said with a chuckle. “Who else would come to wake a sleepy head like you?”

‘My mate’, Amelia thought with a contented smile.

“Ah, yes. Jason”, Lily chuckled again. “He’s such a wonderful young man now. I always knew he’d be a great Alpha and mate.”

This time it was Amelia’s turn to chuckle at her mother’s words. Jason was all of that and more and she wished desperately that Lily could see all that they both had become.

“I know, Peanut”, Lily said. “I’m so proud of you. Of both of you. All I wanted was for both of you to be happy together. And now you are.”

There was something about her mother’s words that sounded like a farewell. And she wanted desperately to remain in that tranquil moment for just a little while longer.

“There’s no reason for me to worry anymore”, Lily said with another chuckle. “I know that you’ll be fine now, you and Jason.”

Feeling herself about to wake from this pleasant dream, Amelia squeezed her eyes shut as she prayed that her mother would stay. Amelia had lived that last five years alone before returning to Silver Lake. And even though she knew she had a new family that cared for her, she would still give anything to have her mother there with her again.

“It’s okay, Peanut”, Lily said. “I may be gone, but you are not alone. So it’s okay to open your eyes now and live your life how you want to.”

Although she knew that her mother was already gone, she still wasn’t ready to say goodbye a second time. A part of her wanted to remain in this dream where she could hear her mother’s voice again.

“It’s time, Peanut”, Lily whispered. “Open your eyes.”

Knowing that she couldn’t live in the past any longer, Amelia opened her eyes slowly to see the early evening sun flooding into their bedroom.

She sat up in her bed slowly and looked around the room to see that she was still in their bedroom and not the cells in the dungeon. Her fear of being transported back to her nightmare was gone.

She was home.

The tension in her body seemed to dissipate immediately as she looked at the familiar furniture in the bedroom. Looking down at her body, she noticed that she was wearing comfortable pajamas and an oversized t-shirt. She held up the front of the shirt to sniff it and recognized Jason’s scent coming from the piece of clothing. This made her chuckle at her mate’s overprotectiveness.

As she looked around the room again, she noticed the sound of people talking coming from somewhere close to her. So she shuffled to the edge of the bed and put on the house slippers that she noticed had been placed for her at the side of the bed. She slipped on the slippers and pulled herself off the bed only to lose her balance and fall back down to the bed.

Although she was aware that she was not in her best health at the moment, she didn’t realize just how unsteady she was on her feet. So she took a few breaths and tried again, but this time she took her time and stood slowly from their bed.

Thankfully, she was able to stand without losing balance again. However, she made sure to hold onto whatever she could, like the furniture and the wall, as she walked towards the door.

When she walked out through the door to the bedroom, the sounds of the voices seemed to grow louder. So she followed the voices down the corridor and out into the kitchen and living space. When she saw the mess in the kitchen from someone making a large meal, she smiled to herself because she knew that there was only one person who left a mess like this when they cooked. And she chuckled to herself when she thought that it was a good thing that Pete was such a good cook to make up for his messiness.

Shaking her head, she walked through the kitchen carefully as she followed the voices to the outdoor decking. The sliding door was already open, so she was thankful that she didn’t need to expend any energy she didn’t think she could muster at that moment. So she walked over to the open doorway and walked through onto the decking.

On the decking were her family and friends all gathered together. Thomas and Michelle were cuddled together on a two-seater sofa while Sarah was bringing a dish to them. Michael and Pete seemed to be in the middle of an intense argument about the food they had on the grill. While Jason and Patrick were sitting on armchairs next to each other in the middle of a conversation.

She didn’t realize just how much she missed watching them spend time together like this without a care in the world. Their calming presence always made her feel like everything would be just fine.

The first to notice her presence was Sarah who froze at the sight of her, drawing everyone else’s attention to her standing on the deck.

“Hi guys”, Amelia said with a shy smile when she realized everyone was staring at her.

“LIA!”, Pete and Michelle screamed in unison as they ran to her and hugged her at the same time.

The force of the both of them rushing into her would have been enough to make her fall to the floor, but thankfully they both held her steady as they hugged her as tight as they could.

“I missed you too”, Amelia chuckled as she returned their hug.

The first to let go of her was Pete who patted her shoulder as Michelle seemed to want to continue hugging her. Thankfully, Thomas managed to pry her away from Amelia as he hugged her shoulders and patted her back.

“You promised that you wouldn’t scare me anymore!”, Sarah exclaimed as she pulled Amelia into another hug.

“I know, I’m sorry”, Amelia laughed as she returned her hug.

“No more running off on your own, okay?” Michael said as he patted her shoulder while Sarah continued to hug her.

“Yes, I promise”, Amelia said with an embarrassed smile.

Although she knew that he didn’t mean to reprimand her, she couldn’t deny that he was right about her wanting to run off on her own to try and solve every problem alone. She had to learn to trust those around her and count on them to have her back when she found herself in a bind.

Sarah and Michael pulled away for Amelia to reveal her grandfather standing behind them as he waited for his turn to welcome his granddaughter back home. Without saying a word, Patrick pulled her into his signature bear hug and held on to her as tight as he could.

“I’m too old for you to make me this worried about you”, Patrick teased as he held her.

“You’re not that old, Grandpa”, Amelia chuckled.

When he finally pulled away from her, he held her face in his hands and pulled her close to kiss her forehead. She couldn’t help feeling guilty because all she seemed to do was worry her grandfather.

As they all stepped away from her when they were done giving her their greetings, the only person left was Jason. He walked closer to her and held the back of her head as he pulled her close to rub their noses together.

“Hi”, he said to her with a gentle smile.

“Hi”, she replied, returning his smile.

Noticing that she was still unsteady on her feet, he held her close before he lifted her into his arms and walked them over to one of the two-seater sofas. He sat on the sofa and placed her in his lap, not wanting to be separated from her for just a moment.

Amelia leaned her head on his chest as she watched her family continue to argue amongst themselves about their dinner. She let out a sigh as she allowed her body to relax against her mate’s chest.

She smiled to herself and thought that her mother was right. She had a new family now. And she knew that they were going to be just fine.