I woke up after the best sleep of my life, shocking how a proper bed can do that. Even in the hospital, the bed was rock solid and I still barely slept. I had grown accustomed to not sleeping, which I knew was unhealthy, but every time I closed my eyes I was haunted by memories of my past. Last night was no exception, but when I woke up in the middle of the night at least I could fall back asleep easy enough because of how comfy and warm I was.

More small things I was excited about: getting to take a shower for the first time in seemingly ages, getting a proper meal, having basic human interaction.

I treaded quietly past the alarm clock, it said 7:30am, I guess old habits of waking up early never end. I yawned quietly then headed towards the ensuite bathroom. There were these plastic bag like things on the counter, to cover up my casts so water wouldn't get on them.

After stripping down from the oversized t-shirt I'd worn to bed, I put on the plastic bags and hobble my way into the shower. It felt magical to wash the past off of me, I felt clean for the first time in years. I subconsciously started singing one of my favorite All Time Low songs.

When I was finished and thoroughly cleaned seemingly ages later, I wrapped a towel around myself and made my way back out to the bedroom, where I remember seeing a small stack of clothes Maddox left for me.

I nearly screamed when I opened the door and was face to face with the King himself. I know we are supposed to be mates and all lovey dovey, but I didn't at all feel comfortable with him seeing me in just a towel, where a good majority of my scars were on display. I'm not an idiot, I know that I'm ugly from my scarred skin to my disgusting figure, it was only a matter of time until Maddox realized the same thing.

June tried to protest in my head telling me I'm pretty and the King thinks the same but I knew she was lying. I took a few steps back upon seeing him in front of me, was he stalking me? Waiting for me to come out of the shower so he could reject me right there and then?

He looked flustered, as he dragged his eyes off my body, and onto the floor, "I'm so sorry Phoenix, I came in here to check on you, then I heard you singing in the shower and it was really beautiful, I couldn't find it in me to leave. I'm so sorry if I came off as weird or creepy..." He rambled on. I couldn't stop a small smile from creeping on my face, he looked cute when he was flustered, his cheeks slightly red and his eyes darting around.

"It-it's ok," I responded quietly, pulling the towel closer to my body, shrinking further away from him. He still avoided looking at me, but nodded.

"I'll just let you get dressed, then you can come downstairs for breakfast?" He asked, eyes still glued to the ground, which I greatly appreciated.

I nodded, but then realized he wouldn't be able to see it, so I stuttered out an "ok," I don't know when I developed the awful stutter, but I hate everything about it. It made me sound like a scared child. I wanted to be more than just a nervous little kid with crippling anxieties.

As Maddox left the room, I made it a personal goal of mine, to lose the stutter and gain some confidence instead. To be frank, I missed the old me, she was kind of great, with a hilarious personality and sarcasm that could cut like a knife. It was repressed for so long, that I lost it, I was punished for attitude, and there was only so much I could take.

I gave up a part of myself, and I was going to get it back, no matter how long it would take.

With that, I was dressed and heading downstairs seeking out the kitchen in this giant house. In general I was pretty bad at navigating my way around and the vastness of this place did not help.

Distracted, I stared down at my sock, only one, as the other foot was in a giant cast, it had cats on them, I wonder where Maddox got these clothes for me.

Without paying attention, I found myself walking directly into another body, and I stumbled backwards onto the ground. I cursed my clumsiness and began to apologize, but was beat to it by the girl profusely apologizing to me, offering me her hand to help get up.

She gently pulled me up and I immediately recognized her to be the beta's mate, but I couldn't for the life of me remember her name, I felt as if I was disrespecting her by forgetting.

"Phoenix! I haven't seen you since we visited your old pack. How are you doing?" Her voice was peppy, she seemed all to excited to see me, it was weird having someone actually wanting to see me.

"Um-I-uh," I took a deep breath trying to compose myself, and lose the stutter. "I'm-uh doing better, t-thank you. Do you think you could h-help me find the kitchen?"

Taking that deep breath, definitely did not help.

She smiled widely at me and nodded enthusiastically, we began walking and she started up, "I'm Zoe by the way, it was so long ago we first met, I'm sure you've forgotten. And the cat socks, super cute, they're my favorite, you can borrow my clothes for as long as you need."

My cheeks burnt slightly red, they were her clothes I was borrowing, I felt bad taking things out of her wardrobe for my own necessity.

"I-I'm sorry that I don't have my own clothes," my voice cracked slightly. I looked up to see Maddox, we had made it to the kitchen.

"Don't worry about it. Have a nice breakfast, I'll see you around!" With that, she turned on her heel and exited the room leaving me alone with Maddox.

The room smelt of bacon and pancakes and my stomach instantly grumbled, how embarrassing. He chuckled and walked up to me, so we were super close together, my heart began to beat faster.

He looked down at me, yes I'm short, he's a giant. I felt tingles on my waist, my eyes shot down and noticed his hand resting on my hip.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach and I felt my face burn red, I wanted to pull away but June retaliated, and I stayed put.

"Hope you're hungry," he smirked, his voice slightly deeper than usual from it still being early. I hated to admit it, but it was kind of hot...

I could surely get used to this, right?