Chapter 46: Chapter 46

Chapter 46 The nightmare

LUCIUS' POV

After a very tiring week, I went to the lake house for the weekend to get over my feelings. I hadn't been there for a while and memories of Maia were still too strong, and the scent kept me awake for nights. As soon as I opened the door, her scent hit me up like a wrecking ball.

'MATE!' Lucian exclaimed, breaking the block he had put me up for the past couple of weeks.

'It's just her scent, Lucian. Don't get too excited.' I replied to calm him down and dragged my feet inside.

'Well, if you weren't an asshole, it wouldn't just be her scent! Our mate would have been here with us!' he barked.

I shook my head and laid down on the couch as the headache began to set in. With Lucian's constant complaining and growling at me, I was starting to get tons of headaches. When he started barking about how much of an asshole I was, and how everything was my fault; I pushed him to the back of my mind and blocked him. Waking up in the morning in an empty bed and a fading scent of Maia was already bad enough, he did not have to add up more issues in my problematic life.

Surprisingly, I fell asleep on the couch for about 2 hours and I woke up from a nightmare that I had been getting ever since she left.

***

THE NIGHTMARE

"I can't do this anymore, Lucius. I am done being your prisoner." Maia exclaimed while she exasperated.

"What do you mean? You are not a prisoner." I replied as calmly as possible.

Maia had been locking herself up in her room and avoiding me at all costs. When I tried to confront her, she would always come up with an excuse not to talk to me. Finally, after a few days of hiding and excuses, I got an opportunity to talk to her.

"I may not be a normal prisoner, but you keeping me here against my will is the exact definition of a prisoner! I am not the one you need, Lucius. Open your eyes and think reasonably. You will see and understand that it is not me who you need. It is her." She explained.

"What are you talking about? You are not a prisoner here. Why are you saying that I don't need you? Of course, I need you. You are my mate." I reasoned with her.

"Lucius, if you need me, then why is Pamela here? I don't need to force myself into someone who does not need me. You have made it clear what your priorities are. It's time that I take my leave." She declared.

"No! You are not going anywhere! You are my mate and you will stay here and that is an order!" I growled at her.

I was getting furious by the second.

"You can't hold me here, Lucius! I will leave whether you like it or not!" she shouted at me and tried to leave.

The next thing I saw was red. Things happened so quickly. One second I was near the door, and the next moment I was near the balcony.

I stared at my blood-stained hands as my bleeding mate lay lifelessly on the floor in front of me. When I recollected my thoughts, I immediately cuddled her body and I tried to stop her bleeding. I cried as I waited for the pack doctor to come, praying that my mate was still alive.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Open your eyes, please. I promise I will change. Maia, please." I kept repeating those words and expected them to work like a charm that would bring her back to life.

When the pack doctor came, she looked at me with apologetic eyes. I knew what she was about to say, but I did not want to just give up on her yet.

"Fix her! I don't care what you do, but fix her!" I yelled at the pack doctor, then cuddled Maia's lifeless body.

"King Alpha." The pack's doctor whispered.

"I said FIX HER!" I growled so loud at her that she flinched.

I laid her down on her bed as I breathed heavily with anger.

The pack doctor was about to move when the door suddenly flew open.

"Lucius." Neal breathed out.

I looked at the pack doctor with eyes that could kill her a million times. She ran to the bed and laid her bag down on the side.

"What are you doing, Lucius?" Neal asked me.

I simply stared at Maia's body while watching the doctor checking upon her.

"Doctor, stop!" Neal said.

I glared at him and asked, "Who are you to defy my order?"

"Doctor, you may leave," Neal said to the doctor.

Once the doctor left, Neal turned to me.

"What are you doing, Lucius? What the hell happened?" he asked.

I could feel the anger in his voice as I stared at Maia.

"I don't know. She told me that she was leaving me and then I yelled at her. I was trying to stop her but I don't remember what happened next... All I saw was red and I don't know what happened after that. The next thing I knew, I was holding her lifeless body." I cried and kept shaking my head.

Neal pulled me into a hug as I cried leaning on his shoulder.

***

Every single time, that nightmare would begin with the same place and end the same way. It's like a recorded movie that kept playing as soon as I closed my eyes. I always wake up in the middle of the night, sweating heavily with a pounding heart. The nightmares started again when I returned to my room. But when I used to sleep in Maia's room, I never had any nightmares about killing my mate.

'That is your conscience scolding you, Lucius. I swear, if something happens to Maia, I will kill you.' Lucian threatened me.

I rolled my eyes and dragged myself to the bathroom. With the sweat and stickiness, I needed a clean bath. At times like these, I would spend more than an hour in the shower. Somehow, the chilled water helps calm my nerves down.

***

After my long shower, I opened the cupboards and took out a can of beans. I heated it on the stove and ate it with bread.

Once I was done having dinner, I went to the porch area and laid on the hammock. Then I watched the stars in the clear sky and waited for a shooting star to be revealed, so I could wish upon one. To my disappointment, I did not see a shooting star at all, even though I had already been waiting for hours.

Hours passed, and I was still not able to see any shooting stars. Instead, I grumpily walked back inside and laid down on the bed, hoping that Maia was laying beside me. It was almost sunrise when I fell asleep. With the pillow she used when we were here the last time, I hugged it tightly, sniffing her faded scent in the room.

The sun was already rising when I had finally fallen asleep. With her dancing in my thoughts, I allowed her to pull me asleep.