CHAPTER ONE

~Tamara Rose

"But-ter. This is called but-ter. Say it with me, now. Bu...bu...you do still remember the alphabet, righ? You know, a is for apple, b is for butter, c is fo--"

The red-headed girl that had been hanging around since last night smacked the guy sitting at the edge of my bed on the back of his head. He feigned hurt, grabbing his head as if she'd struck him with a bat and pouting up at her.

"Lizzie!" he gasped.

"Eric," she snapped back, rolling her eyes. "She lost her memory--she's not brain dead. For Pete's sake, stop treating her like a four year old."

His pout deepened as he slouched down slightly in his wheelchair, dropping the spoon of butter he'd been holding back onto his food tray. "I was just trying to jog her memory," he muttered.

Lizzie simply shook her head, but I could see her trying to fight back a smile. It was a sweet sight. I couldn't remember these people, but it was nice to see their relationship was so close that they were able to banter about stupid things like this. I wasn't used to such kind pack members.

After all, my own pack members treated me like a maid.

The thought dinmmed my mood, drawing a slight frown to my face. I looked down at the tray of food a nurse had brought in for me a few minutes ago. A limp salad, a piece of anorexic fish, and a can of soda.

I picked up the soda and drained it in a single gulp.

When I set the can down, I was surprised to see the guy and the girl grinning back at me.

Shifting uncomfortably in my bed, I muttered, "Um, did I do something wrong...?"

"No, no!" the girl (What was her name? Lindsay? Lauren?) quickly reassured me. "It's just that...do you remember how you used to raid Eric's fridge every night when you needed a cafeine boost? And you would steal all his Dr Pepper and he'd chase you around the yard until you finally gave up and let him tickle you as revenge?"

I stared at her hopeful face, feeling terrible for not having the slightest clue what she was talking about. Opening and closing my mouth, I looked helplessly at the guy sitting on my bed.

"Isn't...that Eric?" I asked hesitantly.

His shoulders slumped at my question, defeat and depression chasing each other across his expression. "Aw, Rosie, come on! Honestly, I get why you wouldn't be able to remember someone boring like Jordan or Mark, but me? How could you forget this?"

I couldn't help it--I laughed.

The sound brought a grin to both the girl and Eric's faces, as well. The three of us laughed together, and for a moment it almost did feel like I knew them.

The door suddenly opened, and Dylan walked in.

My smiled immediately slipped from my face and I bowed my head respectfully. "Alpha Dylan," I muttered. From the corner of my eye, I saw Eric wince at my remark. What was so strange about me greeting my Alpha?

Dylan was gritting his teeth, too, however. "Tamara Rose, I told you to stop calling me that."

I frowned at him. "You once told me if I were ever to treat you with disrespect, you would send me to bed without dinner. Now, you don't want me to call you by your title?"

He pinched his forehead, anger snapping in his dark eyes. "That was before."

"Before what?" I asked.

He glanced at me for a moment his expression making him look like he was having an internal struggle with himself. "Before...Fuck." Shaking his head, he suddenly turned swiftly on his heel and stormed back out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

The room was silent for a moment. I sat there, bewildered and speechless, before turning to Eric with my shoulders set stubbornly.

"That's it, someone needs to tell me why he's acting so strange around me all of a sudden! He hardly used to spare me a glance unless it was to tell me to clean something, so why does he always seem so nice all of a sudden, and like he wants to tell me something but at the same doesn't?"

Eric glanced nervously at the girl. (Lucy? Lucy. It was definetely Lucy.) "Should we tell her?"

The red head bit her lip. "Mark told me to keep quiet. It's Dylan's choice when he wants to tell her."

***

~Dylan

"I can't tell her."

Mark stared at me, shock and frustration clouding his expression. "What do you mean you can't tell her? She's your mate! Even if you try to hide it from her, she's going to figure it out eventually herself!"

"Not about that!" I yelled, frustrated, running a hand through my hair angrily. "I can't tell her about how I rejected her!"

Mark's mouth opened slightly as he stared at me.

I took the oppurtunity to explain myself in a rush. "Mark, don't you see? This is Fate giving me a second chance! This is my chance to spare her all the pain of rejection! She's not going to have to spend the rest of her life doubting my love for her, because she'll never know I ever hurt her! I can't hurt her again, Mark and you can bet your ass that telling her I rejected her once upon a time is going to break her heart. And I swear, I can't stand by and allow myself to be the cause of her pain again. God damn it, Mark, I just can't!" Unknowingly, I'd broken the coffee cup in my hand during my rant, and hot coffee was now burning my hands and pants. I brushed it off, hardly feeling the pain.

Meanwhile, Mark was staring at the floor, a dark expression on his face. His jaw twitched as he sat there, deep in thought, mulling over my idea.

Eventually, he passed a hand over his jawline, exasperated, and sighed. "Ever heard the expression, 'Not saying everything is the same as lying?' Well, that's what you're doing, Dylan. You're basically hiding two years of her life from her. How are you going to explain how she met us if you don't tell her you banished her?"

I clenched my jaw. "I...I'll think of something!"

Mark looked frustrated as hell, running his hands through his hair repeatedly. "Dylan, this is not a good idea. The guys are gonna be pissed about it."

I gritted my teeth. "It's my decision. Rejecting Tamara Rose was the worst thing I've ever done, and now I have the chance to make it seem like it never happened. And by God, I'd be a fucking idiot not to take it."

Before Mark could respond, Jordan and Josh suddenly walked into the waiting room. They were holding coffees. Josh started to hand me one until he saw the broken cup in my hand and the puddle beneath my feet.

Raising an eyebrow, he grinned and said, "Dylan, aren't you a little old for accidents?"

I glared at him as Jordan cracked up. Mark stood up then and went over to Josh, putting a hand on his shoulder. He sombered quickly as he saw the serious look on his Alpha's face.

"Mark, what is it?"

Mark glanced at me, then back up at Josh. "You and Jordan come out into the hall with me. I have to tell you something."

I watched as the three men left the room. If Jordan and Josh were okay with this, maybe I could pull it off. The idea made my mind churn with possibilities. A world where Tamara Rose didn't doubt me. Where every kiss wasn't laced with the tiniest ounce of hurt. Where she loved me wholeheartedly, the same way I loved her.

"You fucking piece of shit!"

I was torn from my thoughts as Jordan suddenly stormed back into the room, landing a punch directly to my jaw. My head snapped to the right, pain blossoming down my neck and through my collar bone.

A growl slipped past my lips and I stood, lunging towards Jordan. Josh suddenly grabbed me by the waist, throwing me to the ground and punching me sqaure in the eye.

"You son of a bitch! You think you can just lie to her like that? You think we'd let you do that?"

I snarled ferociously, grabbing both the men by their necks and pinning them to the ground as my inner wolf awoke, angry at being attacked. They struggled, but I was too mad for their strength to even compare to mine anymore.

Keeping them pinned to the ground, I looked up to see Mark standing in the doorway, glaring at me.

"Did you tell them to do this?" I snarled.

Mark glowered at me, his eyes so dark they were almost black. "You must be out of your fucking mind if you thought for a second I would ever go along with you lying to Tamara like that."

I growled. "It's not your decision."

"Like hell it isn't!" he yelled. "I'm going in there, and I'm telling her everything that happened from the moment where her memory starts to go blank. And if you try and stop me," Mark paused, his eyes lethal as he looked at me, "Dylan, I swear I will fucking kill you."

With that, he stormed out of the room, headed straight down the hall to Tamara Rose.

***

A/N:

BUM. BUM. BUUMMM.

Hell, yes, I know how to make a chapter dramatic.

Haha, anyways, the beautiful, oh-so-amazing cover you all see is thanks to the talent of Infinit3_Possibility, thank you again my darling!

And you guys can hope for another update soon :)

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