Forbidden by Liliana Carlisle

CHAPTER 23

AMELIA

It’s been a week since he left, and I wait anxiously in my living room for him.

I replayed Lucy’s words in my head, yet it only strengthened my resolve.

Come whatever may, I want Jakob.

I choose Jakob.

There’s one more word in my head that I think of, but I’m too scared to say it out loud.

So instead, I wait for him, dressed in small sleep shorts and a tank top.

The bite on my neck is slowly scabbing over, a delicious reminder of our last encounter together.

When he called me Omega.

Which could be problematic…

But he makes me happy, and that’s all that matters.

Fuck societal norms.

I’ve never been normal, and neither has he.

We belong together.

It’s around midnight when there’s finally a knock at my door.

I smile as I open it and see him standing there, dressed in his usual dark hoodie and black pants.

But my smile fades as I meet his eyes.

They’re blank.

There’s no crooked smile, no witty banter as he regards me. He holds a manilla envelope in his hand, and I stare at him with confusion.

“You need to leave.”

His tone is as empty as his eyes, and his apathetic words confuse me.

“What are you talking about?” I ask, suddenly afraid.

He shoves the envelope into my hands. “You’re in danger. You need to get out of here.”

I shake my head, confused. “Where are we going? What happened?”

He narrows his eyes, a hint of malice in them. “There’s a new identity for you in there. Passport, birth certificate, everything you need. And enough money to last you at least a year.”

Tears blur my vision as I try to understand. “Jakob, please—”

“We’re done.”

There’s a mask of indifference on his face as he utters the words, and my blood runs cold. The storm rages in the background, lightning lighting up his features. “What happened on your trip?” I choke out. “Please, tell me what’s going on.”

“You always knew what this was,” he continues, his voice low. A wave of nausea washes over me as I process his words. “And it’s not safe for you to be here. Leave tonight. I can’t protect you anymore after this.”

“Come with me,” I plead, my voice sounding pathetic to my ears. “Let’s go together, then.”

His pupils are blown, his eyes black as he speaks. “I’m not going with you.”

“Stop it,” I hiss. “Stop lying to me.” I take a step closer to him and tug on his sleeve, but he’s immobile.

“I don’t want you anymore, Amelia. It’s done.”

I freeze, my eyes wide in disbelief.

“What did you think this was?” he continues, and I stare at him, my mouth hanging open, tears in my eyes. “Did you really think I wouldn’t tire of you? Why would I want a defective Beta by my side?”

The insults hurt, but I refuse to believe he truly means them. His eyes are too cold and unfeeling, his face too closed off.

“Don’t,” I whisper, fighting through tears. “Don’t do this. Something’s wrong, and you’re not telling me what it is. Talk to me. Please.”

I reach for him, and our hands touch for the briefest moment. His is clammy and shaky, and he pulls away from me as if he’s been burnt. “You’ll never see me after tonight.”

The tears spill from my eyes.

This can’t be happening.

This isn’t real.

I only have one card left to play, the one I wasn’t ready to share.

“I love you.” I barely choke out the words, hoping they’ll have some effect on his temperament.

He had to have known. Saying them is freeing, even in this awful situation.

The truth is finally out.

He stiffens, and for a moment his eyes widen, his eyes swimming with warmth. Then he covers it back up, and my heart sinks.

After what seems like a lifetime, he speaks.

“I found my Omega.”

I stop breathing. Thunder crashes overhead, the skies as upset as I feel.

He regards me as if I’m nothing, his face impassive.

“You were a distraction. Now that I’ve found her, I want nothing to do with you.”

There are no more tears. A numbness starts in my chest, flowing throughout my body.

But he continues to speak, and every word he says is worse than the last.

“Leave and don’t come back,” he continues. “I don’t want you here.”

His eyes meet mine one last time before he turns and leaves. I watch him walk away, only closing the door when his car drives off into the night.

I slowly walk to my couch and sit, trying to steady my breathing.

My body tingles with fear and sorrow.

No. Please, no.

I toss the envelope aside, not caring about the contents inside. His warning should concern me, but I can’t find it within me to care.

He found his Omega.

Lucy was right.

This was never meant to last.

He found his mate. He will love her, mate her, and give her a family.

Something I could never do.

A sob escapes me as I curl up into a ball on the couch, wrapping my arms around my legs.

Why would I want a defective Beta?

His words replay in my mind, each time cutting a little deeper into my heart.

Cold and alone, I allow myself to cry, my sobs drowned out by the raging storm outside.

* * *

The sorrow turns into anger.

Anger at myself, anger at him, anger at the fucking world for being the way it is.

Anger at myself for falling in love with someone so unattainable and forbidden.

Anger at him for allowing me to believe in the impossible.

I still don’t open the envelope.

I keep it tucked away in my closet, unable to go near it.

It takes a day for Lucy to find out what’s happened. I tell her all of it—including the shooting the first night.

She comes over immediately; her face etched with fury.

“I don’t care what he says,” I murmur into my pillow. “I’m not uprooting my life because he tells me to. Where would I go, anyway?”

Back to my parents, who barely tolerate me and my illness?

Or should I rent a shack in the middle of nowhere with my measly savings?

“You’re staying with me,” Lucy says, pulling my suitcase from my closet.

“No,” I insist, my voice weak. “It could be dangerous—”

“I don’t care,” she snaps. “I’ll have Eric set up the extra room for you. You’re family. We’re not letting you go through this alone.”

I don’t have the strength to argue.

In fact, I don’t have any strength.

I can’t tell if it’s from my illness or heartbreak.

Maybe both.

* * *

A week passes, and I don’t improve.

I sleep more than I stay awake.

Jakob haunts my dreams—and he’s usually accompanied by a faceless girl at his side.

His Omega.

There’s an ache in my chest that won’t go away, and I swear I can feel my heartbeat stuttering.

Lucy checks my vitals every day and makes sure I take my medications.

“Living with your best friend has its perks,” she says with a sad smile. “Especially if they’re a doctor.”

Eric also checks in on me and is just as concerned. He’s a good man. Even though he’s not a Collector, I know I’m in safer hands than I was alone in my apartment.

By the end of the week, I’m sleeping twenty hours a day.

I spend my waking hours dry heaving into a toilet or slumped against the bathroom wall, trying to stuff down some crackers and sips of water.

I’m so delirious that I mumble nonsense to Lucy—as soon, I can’t tell what’s real and what’s imagined.

She takes the thermometer out of my mouth and curses under her breath as she reads the results.

“One hundred four. We’re taking you to the hospital.”

“No,” I grumble. “I’m just tired.”

“No,” she hisses, hoisting her arm under me and helping me sit up. “And I’m calling the police and telling them everything. Someone needs to keep watch while you’re in there—”

“No police,” I groan, squinting my eyes closed at the sudden rush of pressure to my head.

“I should have done it a week ago. But I wasn’t sure—” Eric enters the room to help her lift me, and suddenly I scream.

Something stabs and pinches at my lower belly, a terrible sensation that I’ve never experienced before. I flail in Eric’s grip, instinctively trying to kick away and curl into a ball.

“What’s going on?” Lucy cries, and I grit my teeth and fight the pain that renders me immobile.

I point to my lower stomach, my fingers gripping wildly at my skin, panting in between cries.

“Cramps,” I gasp out as tears fall from my eyes.

“Make it stop!” I scream to Lucy, who brings a bottle of water to my lips.

“We’ve got you,” she says, her tone even. “We’re going to the hospital right now.”

Eric carries me in his arms, and it reminds me of Jakob so much that I burst into tears.

I feel pathetic. Awful.

And sick.

Lucy gives me something for the pain in the meantime, but it does little to help as I bend over in the backseat of her car, clutching my stomach.

It’s only when my leggings dampen that I notice something is terribly wrong.

Blood. There’s so much blood.

Lucy cradles me in the backseat, and when her fingers come away red, she screams at Eric to drive faster.

The next minutes are a blur, mingled with Lucy’s shouts and the pain in my body. By the time I’m out of the car, the backseat is covered in blood and my leggings are ruined.

I’m rushed into the emergency room, and I hear Lucy’s voice intermingled with the nurses.

Internalized bleeding…

Dehydration…

There’s another question asked as I lie on the hospital bed, attached to machines, but I can’t hear it.

“Of course not,” Lucy snaps.

I shiver, my body soaked in sweat. Then the beeps intensify, and there’s shouting and a sharp pain in my neck.

My world goes black.