Chapter 19

Kadeem

It had all started after Kadeem’s accident. Or so he had to believe as he couldn’t remember anything before he’d woken up in the hospital, panicked as he stared around at the white-washed room.

When the doctor had eventually shown up, they’d all quickly discovered that Kadeem had lost his memories and only had pieces of his past to draw from. However, it was all unclear and confusing - as were the dreams that started to come to him since that day.

The dreams were always distorted, vague as they visited him each night. Most of the time, he stood in darkness, hearing the cries of a woman and multiple babies, but he could never see their faces. And he could never find them even as he ran through the blackness.

However, a tightness would grow in his chest as he ran, and stay with him when he woke up. There was a pain and longing that would stay with him for hours and he never knew why.

That’s why he’d sought out a hypnotist, soon leading him to meet Mateo. Despite calling upon the man, Kadeem had initially been a little hesitant to try hypnosis, but after Mateo had reassured him enough…he’d finally given in.

This was his third time allowing his friend to guide him through the exercise. He had to admit that he’d been doubtful that anything would come from it, seeing as they hadn’t discovered anything before. However, as Kadeem sat there, falling further into his mind, he soon found that today’s session was different from the others.

He could see fragments coming together, making his heart race as he began to see a marriage hall falling into place. A woman stood before him - but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make out her face.

He could only hear her voice.

“Kadeem, I promise to be your future Luna, and to be a trustworthy and qualified Beta - just like my father. No matter what the future may hold, we will never leave each other. We will be together forever…”

Vows…they sounded like vows.

Despite Kadeem’s efforts to keep listening, the woman’s voice began to fade away. Even the image of her dissolved as he desperately tried to hold on. Only, as he blinked again, he discovered he was unsuccessful.

The scene disappeared swiftly, leaving Kadeem’s chest to heave as he was forced out of his own mind. Instead, his vision cleared as he realized the wedding hall was gone and he sat within the office again. Mateo still stood in front of him, focused as the man continued to swing the watch and stare at him.

But the Alpha did not greet his friend, his lips only parted to release another word.

“Married,” Kadeem breathed.

“What?” Mateo asked as he stopped the watch from swinging.

“Married…I’m married, Mateo,” Kadeem said then, gripping the chair’s armrest firmly in his hands. “Or… I was married…I don’t know.”

He then shook his head, confused by everything that he’d seen. However, he couldn’t believe his mind had just created false images to trick him - it had to be real.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Kadeem said. “If I was married then why doesn’t anyone ever mention it?”

He looked at his friend, wishing Mateo could offer clarity. However, they had met after Kadeem’s accident and Mateo knew nothing of his life before.

“And where is she?” Kadeem asked. “I heard her say-“

“We will never leave each other. We will be together forever…”

Kadeem heard those words echoing through his head, remembering the sound of the woman’s voice. The sound of it caused him to freeze, his hands tensing on the armrests again.

He knew that voice. He’d been too busy trying to see the woman’s face to realize how familiar her voice sounded before.

“What? What is it?” Mateo asked, studying Kadeem’s pale face.

“Her voice…it was the same,” Kadeem mumbled. “

“Who?” Mateo pressed.

“It’s her,” Kadeem stated. “It’s -“

Chelsea.

The discovery had Kadeem suddenly jumping up from his chair, leaving Mateo to step back before he was knocked over. Then the hypnotist blinked toward the Alpha, watching as Kadeem rushed to grab his coat before he was throwing the door open.

“Hey, wait!” Mateo tried behind him, hot on Kadeem’s heels as they exited the office.

“Where are you going? We’re not done yet,” Mateo stated, stepping in front of Kadeem. The Alpha stopped, shooting his friend an impatient look as Mateo continued.

“This was a good breakthrough. But you need to try and talk to your wolf during the next hypnosis,” Mateo reminded him. “Maybe you can wake him up and get your wolf to retrieve the whole memory.”

Kadeem gave a hint of a nod, but his head was too filled with thoughts of Chelsea to care about Mateo’s words. He needed to see her - immediately.

“Let’s talk about it at the next session,” Kadeem clipped out. “I have to get over to the fitness center.”

To that, Mateo flashed a grin. “What a coincidence,” the man said. “I planned to head there too.”

“What?” Kadeem asked, raising a brow. “Why?”

“Because,” Mateo began, his grin growing. “Chelsea is my new trainer.”

“What?” Kadeem bit out, heat rushing in his veins.

“I know, right?” Mateo asked, clearly not noticing Kadeem’s disapproval. “I was surprised when she agreed. But we’ve already trained once together and she was a strong and fair partner. She said I might even have an advantage over you - without wolves, of course.”

Kadeem seethed as he soaked in Mateo’s words, beyond pissed by Chelsea’s claims. He was already annoyed enough that Mateo was also using her as a trainer, but now he was restless. Already, he began to pull out his phone, ready to set the record straight as he called Chelsea’s number.

Meanwhile, he could hear Mateo from behind him, snickering mischievously.

“Hello?” he heard Chelsea answer, her voice brushing into his ear. He knew then and there that there was no denying it was the same voice from his dream.

“Are you training Mateo?” Kadeem asked harshly, not offering his own greeting. “I thought you weren’t supposed to accept new clients unless I approved them. I’ll need to see you in my office immediately.”

In response, Chelsea sighed. “Is this seriously why you’re calling me?” she asked, clearly annoyed. “I’m not humoring this. It’s my day off, Kadeem. I’m not going to work overtime for a silly little meeting.”

Kadeem opened his mouth to argue with her - only, he was stopped as he heard another voice from Chelsea’s end of the phone.

“Mommy, I’m hungry.”

Kadeem’s eyes widened. He knew that voice too…

He’d first heard it within his studio days ago. And then it had called from behind him when he’d driven a certain set of babies home.

It was one of the triplets - he realized suddenly. It sounded just like the fiery little girl.

And now she was calling Chelsea…”mommy.”

Was Chelsea…a mother?

Hair standing up on his neck, Kadeem tried to grasp the situation.

“Chelsea -“ he tried, but before he could say another word, she abruptly hung up.

A mother. A mother…

And maybe also a wife.

“Goddess,” Kadeem breathed.