Black. That's all I could see. I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders and eyes, preventing me from being able to open them. A tingling sensation could be felt on the tips of my arms and I knew instantly it was due to the mate bond. I felt the sudden appearance of my wolf shake within me, begging me to open my eyes. The only problem was, I didn't know how to. It felt as if a tonne of bricks had been dropped down onto my eyes and kept there, and without the use of my hands, I couldn't remove the bricks off my eyes. I pushed with all my inner strength, attempting to open my eyes, but failed miserably. I tried again, but no luck. A few tries later, I gave up, giving a tired huff on the inside. The sudden thought then hit me: Am I in a coma? With that, my eyes on the inside grew wide, and I pushed myself again, pushing and pushing to get my eyes open. There was no way I wanted to be stuck in a coma for the rest of my life. Hell no. Suddenly, I felt a tinge of movement escape me and I froze. It wasn't my eyes, but I knew I had moved some part of me. Sure enough, a second later Chace's voice followed my actions.

"Al?" I felt his hand grip mine tighter now, the feeling of tingles extending through my whole body now, making my eyes jerk open in a matter of seconds.

A white bright light penetrated my eyes, causing me to close them again, blinking a few times to adjust to it. My eyes dropped all the way from the pale white ceiling down to the concerned and upset face of my mate sitting on the hospital bed next to me, my hand securely placed in his.

"You're awake" he stated, a smile growing on his lips instantly . I nodded slowly, trying to remember all the events of the past hours.

Then it all hit me at once

The wedding.

Chace's request to stay.

His pleading eyes.

The noise.

The rogue attack.

The image of the dirty, sharp yellow teeth had filled my mind as I remembered the rogue inches away from snapping my neck. Then how had I been saved?

The last thing I had heard was the sound of a ferocious growl. A growl like that could only belong to an Alpha. Chace. My eyes darted back into Chace's, boring right into them. I noticed his features had dropped. His eyes that were normally full of life were lacking it, and were decorated with a set of bags underneath. His hair was all over the place, indicating the amount of time he must have spent threading his fingers through them. In general, he looked awful.

"You saved me?" I questioned, a little disbelief present in my sore, trembling voice. His eyes dropped to our mingled hands and he shook his head, confusing me further.

"If I would have saved you, you wouldn't have ended up here. If I would have saved you, you would be safe in the pack house, with no blemishes whatsoever." His guilt filled eyes met mine once again, a sign of regret very much present in them. A smile reached up to my lips as I disconnected my eyes from his.

"You saved me from death Chace. Isn't that big enough for you?" I asked curiously, trying to remove some of the guilt buried in his chest. My eyes locked his regretful ones as I moved forward, placing my other hand on top of our locked ones.

"No, I'm your mate, I wasn't supposed to let you get into that position in the first place. I was supposed to send you safely back to the pack house and out of danger's reach. I was supposed to be there to protect you from getting into this state, yet here you are, bruised and beaten, and it's all my-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Chace. You saved my life. All the time that I've been here, I've been a total bitch to you, yet you still saved my life. That does mean a lot to me."

"Well I deserved it Al. I rejected you for god's sake! I rejected my mate, my soul mate just to be popular. I used some other whore to gain my popularity and let my mate go. I was given one person who I was supposed to love and cherish for the rest of my life, and I failed her. I failed you Alyssa, I'm so sorry." That's all it took for him to break down, his head hung low and I could hear sobs escape him as he broke down. I found myself immediately pushing myself forward to embrace my mate into a hug, the intensity of our sparks increasing at the touch of our skin. I wrapped my arms around him and allowed him to cool down before parting away. His eyes were filled with water and intense guilt as I looked upon him. My soul mate.

"Whatever happened in the past cannot be changed Chace, you just have to let that go." I explained slowly, rubbing away the wetness under his eyes with my fingers. In the process, he got hold of my hand and brought it down to his lips where he placed a soft, but firm kiss on it, making my wolf go crazy on the inside, the bond getting stronger and stronger drastically fast. My heart thumped faster inside as I watched him carefully.

"You're right. But I promise you Alyssa, from this day onwards, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, for being a horrible mate, for not being there for you when I was supposed to. I will protect you with my life; I will do anything for you. Just stay Al, stay for me. I need you, this pack needs. Please" His once again pleading eyes met mine, and I disconnected our gazes, nodding slightly and taking a deep breath before reconnecting views.

"Alright, I'll stay" His eyes lit up immediately, wrapping me back into his embrace, his scent filling my nose.

"Thank you Al, I won't let you down" he vowed, making my heart clench even more.

Slowly he let go, our bodies moving back slowly. My hair moved into my face as I moved back, but was slowly tucked behind my ear as Chace's soft fingers pushed them back. Our faces were inches apart, and our breaths were mixing. I could feel our synchronised heartbeats as we moved in together, waiting for the feeling of his lips colliding with mine. His face inched closer and closer, until his lips were almost brushing my own, before the door was blasted open, making both of us spring back from our positions.

Chace released a frustrated growl as he faced the door, where his third in command stood.

"Forgive me Alpha, I didn't mean to interrupt, but someone was caught by the border, he says his name is Drew Anderson and he is the beta of the Dark Shadow's pack. He claims he is Alyssa Jackson's boyfriend and has come to see her."

-Neha