Page 82 of Awakening

Twenty-One

Olivia

Rolling over in search of the heat of Ethan’s body, I find nothing but his warmth left behind on the sheets on his side of the bed. I squint, barely opening my eyes. This is odd. Where could he be? Sitting up and stretching, I hear the faint sound of voices coming from downstairs. It’s another man. I frown, looking at the clock to see that it’s only 6:30 a.m. Who in the world would be here talking to him at 6:30 in the morning?

I get out of bed and pull on some leggings and a sweatshirt, and then I quietly pad my way down the hallway and halfway down the stairs, where I pause to listen. The voices are coming from Ethan’s office.

“I’m sorry for bringing you out so early,” Ethan says. “I’m planning to spend the day with Olivia, but when I got your text last night, I didn’t want to wait any longer to talk to you,” Ethan says.

“It’s quite all right.” It’s Max. What is Chloe’s dad doing here so early? “You know me, I’m an early bird. I like to get up and go for a run before the sun rises.”

Before the sun rises? This seems like a safe place, but we’re still out in the middle of the woods. You never know what kind of animal could leap out at you. I swear I’ve even heard wolves howling since I’ve been here, though Ethan insists they were just coyotes.

“I’m feeling in need of that myself lately,” Ethan says. “I haven’t wanted to bring up going for a run. I’m kind of afraid Olivia might want to go along, obviously not knowing what she’s getting into,” he says and they both laugh.

He doesn’t want me to run with him? Jeez. Okay. He could just say so. Lucky for him, I hate running.

“Well, I texted you last night because I have the results of her bloodwork. I’m sorry it took a bit longer than expected. I knew you wouldn’t want to wait any longer.”

“You’re right. I don’t. What do we know?” It sounds like papers being shuffled. “I don’t recognize either of these.”

“I had to do some research myself,” Max says. “As you can see, she had two different drugs in her system. Neither are approved for medical use and would only be used with malicious intent in our society.”

Our society? What does that mean?

“The first one, he was using to—” There’s a pause.

“Just say it, Max.”

“The intent of that drug would be fetal harm. Olivia had enough of this in her system, that I suspect it to be the cause of the baby’s death. It’s still entirely possible being hit by the car did have something to do with it, but I’m fairly certain the harm had already been done.”

Clasping one hand over my mouth, I clench my stomach with my other hand, feeling physically gutted by Max’s revelation.

“That fucking bastard. What about the second drug?” Ethan asks, his words tight and clipped.

“It’s meant to break her bond with you.”

I don’t understand. How could a drug break the bond that two people have with each other?

“I fucking knew it. How much do you suppose her amnesia is from the drug?”

“It’s really hard to say,” Max says. “The impact of her collision with the car was certainly severe enough to cause amnesia on its own, but I’d say we’re dealing with a combination of things, if I had to guess. Thank goodness for our superior ability to recover quickly.”

“I thank God every day that she’s not human anymore,” Ethan says with a sigh. “This would have killed her.”

My eyes widen at his statement. Excuse me? How in the hell am I not human? I look down at my hands as if I’m going to verify what I already know. Of course, I’m human. My heart pounds in my chest. What is he talking about?

“So, this drug is what’s keeping the mate bond from overriding the amnesia?” Ethan asks.

There’s that word again. He called me his mate the other day. What is a mate bond? My hands begin to sweat and my stomach turns.

“It weakens the bond, yes,” Max says. “I believe it should start to come back over time. Do you still feel the bond between you?”

“Definitely, and we’ve made progress. I just don’t know if it’s because she’s forming a new connection with me, or if a part of her still instinctually remembers.”

“Either way, that’s good to hear,” Max says.

“So, what do we do now?”

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