Seconds after he left the room, I hugged the soft pillow under my head, burying my face in it as tears began rolling down my cheeks. It felt like my heart was turning cold in my chest, small cracks emerging at the edges, while a dark, black shadow tried to squeeze it so hard it would pop like a water balloon. As pathetic as it sounded, all I wanted was to imagine the soft pillow being my mom's body.

I choked out a sob, hugging the pillow even closer. I miss my mom. I miss my dad. Heart wrenching pain shot through my chest, but I didn't care enough to call a nurse or doctor. I don't care that it hurts, I just wanna go home.

Two fast knocks on the door made me rip my face off the pillow, unthinkingly screaming 'leave me alone' at the door, making my heart stop. All color left my face as the door was slowly opened, Alpha Allen coming into view. He gave me a concerned look, before carefully closing the door behind him, walking up to the hospital bed.

"I contacted your local police department, and the officer who saved your life will receive a considerable raise, as well as a month vacation to any destination of his choosing, so I've made sure he is aware of our gratefulness.

I was actually just about to contact your parents, but I figured that well... you'd probably like to share the happy news with them,"

He handed me a fancy phone with a large un-cracked screen. There were several app icons showing, covering a picture of a lot of people. I couldn't figure out who they were, given that all of the faces were either partially or completely covered by icons.

I looked down on the phone helplessly, yes I had a phone, but it was basically medieval compared to this. I looked back at him helplessly, tears still in my eyes. He quickly turned the screen away from me, tabbed it twice, and then handed it back to me, the number pad showing. I carefully took it from his hand, being cautious with my movements to make sure that I wouldn't touch his fingers.

I wrote their number on the screen, before looking up again. Yes, I technically have the right to call my family, but I am not gonna use the sadistic Alpha's phone for an emotional break-down call without his complete, undeniable permission.

His eyes widened, a bit embarrassed, I think. "Oh right, sorry, I'll leave you alone now," he whispered, before striding out of the room.

I stared at the door for a few seconds, waiting for something to happen. Whether it was him storming in and throwing me off the bed and into the wall, or rip the phone out of my hands, laughing at me for being stupid enough to actulálly think that he was gonna let me talk to my parents ever again, I wasn't quite sure. But after 5 minutes had passed, I figured I may as well actually try to call them.

I tabbed the green button on the screen, bringing it up to my ear. The ringing tone seemed deafening, my heart being the only thing I could hear besides it. The sound broke off when the phone was picked up.

"Hello, who is this?"

I sobbed happily at the sound of her voice. Mom.

"Hi mom, it's me, I'm okay, mom," I whispered, a hiccup forcing through at the end.

"Oh my lord, my sweet little girl! Oh god, I thought that you were... oh dear, I've been so worried! Have you...? Oh god, my darling, did one of them...? Have you been...?"

A sob tore painfully through my chest and throat. "I'm... one of them says I'm their mate, but he hasn't... thankfully. He probably would if it hadn't been for the fact that there are tubes and needles all over me and there are doctors and nurses coming in to check up on me every half an hour..."

"Doctors? Needles?! Are you in the hospital?! What did that awful monster do to you?! Oh my god, sweetie, I'm so sorry? What happened?"

"I... he had found me and... and left me alone in a room and then I, I wanted to leave, go home... I thought I could go out to one of the limousines and, I don't know, hide until we were supposed to be driven home, but I fell, and then this Alpha and a couple others came over and ... they broke some of my ribs, and my eye socket, and I punctured my lung, and, and mom I'm so scared, I wanna go home, mom. I just want to go home and hug you and dad and stay there forever... speaking of dad, can't I please talk to him? I... I need to hear his voice? Can you hand the phone over to him?" A hint of happiness appeared in my heart at the thought of speaking with my father. He was the embodiment of a classic suburban dad, always protective, a little clueless and ready with an awful joke you would only laugh at because it was awful.

"Oh, sweetie... he's at work, I'm so sorry,"

Tears once again began falling from my eyes like waterfalls, my heart breaking in two. "Mom, no, please let this be some sick joke, mom please I need to talk to him! When will he be home from work? C'mon, mom, I need to talk to him, I... I don't know if I'll ever be allowed to speak with you ever again, mom I need to ... please mom, I can't, mom I need to tell him that I love him!"

"I'm so so sorry sweetheart, I know he would've wanted to talk to you too. He stayed up all night for the past two days to be ready if you called, but he had to go to work, he tried so hard to have someone take his shift for him, he even offered to pay for it, but no one had time, he really tried, sweetie. He's been so worried about you,"

I pulled my legs up to my chest, only able to sob for the next several minutes while listening to my mom trying to comfort me through the phone.

After I caught my breath, and then lost it again, sobbing for yet another ten minutes, and then catching my breath again, I realized that I'd probably have to end the call very soon, if I didn't want an insane Alpha ripping my throat out for being overly emotional.

"My I love you so much, and... tell dad that I love him too, and that I miss him, and that I wish we could've talked, promise you remember to tell him that I love him! Mom, I'm going to miss you so much, and I love you so much, and I'll do everything I can so that we can talk just one more time, so I can talk to dad, okay? Tell him that too, I'll do everything to be able to talk with him again, I swear if necessary I'll even... sleep with that thing,"

"Oh my dear, he wouldn't want that, trust me. I promise I'll tell him that you love him, and I can also with confidence say that he loves you so much, more than words can express, I promise you that. And we'll miss you too, sweetie. We'll miss you so so much. Our hearts will be breaking for you every day. I'm so sorry you couldn't talk to him, and I'm so sorry we couldn't protect you from this sweetie, if we could, we would have done it, you know that? Right, sweetheart?"

"I know mom, trust me, I know, I-"

A soft knock on the door made tears of fear well up in my eyes.

"-mom, I'm sorry, but he's here, and he probably wants his phone and I need to... I love you, and I love dad, and I'll miss you. I love you,"

"We love you too sweetheart, so much. Promise you'll take care of yourself, right? We'll be okay, but only if you look out for yourself... goodbye sweetie, we'll miss you, every moment of every day," the sound of her tears made me want to scream. My mom is one of the most badass people on this earth, it would take her heart being ripped right out of her chest for her to shed a tear.

"Goodbye," I sobbed into the phone. "I'll miss you too... bye mom, remember to tell dad... bye..."

"Bye-bye sweetie, take care," she sobbed back at me.

I moved the phone in front of my face, and with a shaky finger pressed the red button, ending the call. 37 minutes and 19 seconds. What would most likely be my last conversation with my mother had lasted barely 40 minutes, most of which I'd spent crying. I'm such an idiot.

I threw the phone to the foot end of the bed, not giving a shit whether the screen cracked. He may as well kill me now, now that he's already killed me and my parent's soul. I pulled my legs up to a fetal position, crying hysterically with my forehead resting on my knees. I heard the creak of the door opening. I hugged my knees closer. I don't even want to look at him, this is all his fault, my life was good before, and now he's ruined it because he absolutely wanted a sex slave and birthing machine.

"Love? What's wrong?!"

I heard two steps and then felt the bed dip beside me. A warm hand found its way under my arm, and then gently tipped up my head, so my still closed eyes were peeking up over my arm.

"Love, please open your eyes and tell me what's wrong. I find it very upsetting that you're unhappy, and I want to fix it by any means necessary, so would you please tell me the problem so I can make it disappear?"

The book heroine inside me wanted to scream that in that case, he would need himself, no, his entire race to disappear- all werewolves wiped from existence. The coward (aka, the part of me that wanted to live), however, won.

"I just really wanted to talk to my dad ... hear his voice. But he was at work, and I just really wanted to talk to him," I whispered, avoiding Alpha Allen's eyes.

He brushed his thumb over my chin, tipping my head up again, forcing me to connect my eyes with his. "Oh, I'm sorry, love. You can just call later, in the evening, when he's gotten home... if you'd like, we could arrange for them to come to visit you too? How does that sound?"

My eyes widened at his words. I stared at him for several seconds and saw his hopeful expression fade.

"I'm sorry, love. I just figured that since you were so upset with not being able to talk to your father you'd like to see him and your mother in person. I'm sorry if I misinterpreted the situation, they don't have to visit if you don't want them to. I just figured that it may make you happy..."

My heart stopped. No, I will not mess this up. This is my chance to see my parents, face to face, hug them, feel them close to me. I will not ruin it because I'm an idiot.

"No, no, or yes, or, I want to see them, I'd love to see them, I just became a bit surprised with the suggestion, that's all. I really would like to see them... I would love it if you could please arrange for my parents to come and visit me here, please," I only managed to reconnect with my voice after I disconnected my eyes with his. His staring was very intense, it made me feel like he was looking at his favorite animal in a zoo. Filled with wonder and adoration, and yet still with the knowledge that the animal is imprisoned, enslaved, whilst knowing you're free to do and go wherever, whenever you please.

He took my hand in between his, stroking it gently. "Alright, I'll just need both of your parents' names, their ID's and their address, I'll contact your local Alpha, and have it arranged for them to be picked up and taken here,"

"My mom's name is Diana Rose White, her ID code is ... 396244-F-X12 and my dad's name is Reginald Walter White, and his ID is... uhm, 9832...72, no 27... 983227-M-C34, and their address is apartment number 77, top floor, in the slu- Humanly Specified Area, apartment complex number 113, with the locality code 2995, within the Eclipse pack's territory,"

His brows furrowed in a worried frown. "You lived in the HSA? Grew up there?"

I nodded quietly, not quite knowing what he was going for. Living in the slum-area - what the wolves for political reasons called Humanly Specified Areas (HSA)- was normal. Fairly, at the very least, it's something like 57-62% percent of humans just in the Eclipse pack that live in the slum buildings. And I don't like the way he said lived there instead of live there. I never thought I'd say this willingly, but I want to go back.

"From what I've understood, the HSA isn't quite... the most ideal place to grow up in, correct?" his eyes were curious, careful.

Is this a test or something? I pursed my lips, thinking about my answer. "There were certain things that uh ... lacked in my childhood," like freedom, safety, hope, quality education, or at the very least a bed without mold spots. "But generally I was happy, staying with my parents, playing with the girl in the apartment next door-" whom her parents haven't seen in over two years, she went off to work and never returned home. "-reading in the library, you know... normal kid stuff, just with... limitations,"

He stared at me for a few seconds, like he was trying to catch me in a lie. Then he pressed his lips together and gave me a stiff nod. He repositioned himself on the bed, sitting himself a bit more comfortably. "Tell me about your family, parents, siblings, if you have any, grandparents, cousins..." he sent me a disarming look, making me take in a sharp breath.

"My parents are... they're wonderful, very loving. I and my dad have always been very close, I mean, I'm close with my mother too, but it's just different with my dad, my mom and I can talk about everything, but he just... whenever I have a problem he always comes up with a solution, and he's so protective of me. I don't have any siblings, I myself was actually, well, to be honest, I was an accident, my parents... when they got married they agreed they'd never have children but, well I happened, but they apparently became more careful afterward. But they would've had to have a child regardless, when my mom was 3 months pregnant with me, there was a ban of all birth control and contraceptives for humans for almost a year.

My father's parents were moved to a senior human living facility 6 years ago because my grandfather got cancer and it suddenly became apparent how helpless my grandmother was without my grandfather's help and when he got ill too... we see them twice a year, around Easter and Christmas. My pops makes the best Spaghetti Carbonara, he always makes a bunch of it before we visit them so I got lots of it in the freezer. My nana is a bit crazy, but she will absolutely kill you in a round of Monopoly or UNO, that woman can and will make a grown man cry while she laughs in victory.

My mom was born in the Redmoon back, two hours away from the Eclipse pack, and when she applied for her own apartment she got offered one in Eclipse, and then she met my father. A few years after she moved out, the Alpha of the Eclipse and the Redmoon pack got into a bad disagreement, and then the borders were closed off, so I haven't actually met my grandparents, but I've talked to them, over the phone, my grandmother is really funny, and my grandfather is really into books, he's the one who got me to love reading, actually.

My mother has a sister, who also left the Redmoon pack, she has a daughter, my cousin, in the Dawn packs territory, we were really good friends and saw each other often until we were like 10, maybe 11, then the Alphas had a disagreement, and ... any contact between the Dawn and Eclipse pack has been completely impossible ever since. Besides that, I don't really have much family, my dad had a brother but he, uhm, he killed himself when he was 20 after his wife was, uh... well, she was found to be the mate of a wolf, and it was very difficult for him to lose her," I ended my speech in a whisper when I realized I'd probably said a tad too much.

He looked at me quietly with calculating eyes for several seconds, before nodding to himself, muttering about the unfortunate nature of disagreements between Alphas. I agreed in a low voice, just to avoid angering him.

Silence filled the room for several seconds before Alpha Allen broke it once again. "I'm so sorry that we have to spend our first time together here, but it's what the doctors deem best for your health at the moment, and your health and wellbeing comes before everything else now. Once you get the 'good to go' from the doctors, I'll show you around the house, you only saw so little of it, and it was even dark. The view from my office balcony is outstanding at sundown, you'll love it, I'm certain. But you won't have much time to get used to that house though, in two months we'll be going to my winter estate. It's a beautiful place up north, in northern Alberta, in Canada. I suppose you've never seen snow before, right?"

Our first time together. The house. His winter estate. This is all so wrong. "No I... or well I've seen it on TV obviously, but never in real life, my family... well, my family didn't get to travel as much as we'd like... as you can imagine." 'Why do you keep saying anti-Lycan things that may get you killed?! Shut up for God's sake!' my brain screamed at me.

He smiled carefully and nuzzled my knuckles with his thumb. "You've missed out on a lot. Even the best TV screens I've ever looked at does new-fallen snow even a hint of justice. You'll love it,"

You know nothing about what I love, you awful monster! I pressed my lips together, afraid that if I didn't, the words might fly right out of my mouth.

He looked at me, still smiling softly. "Tell me something about yourself," he demanded softly.

"What would you like to know?"

"Well, we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, so I want to know everything about you. Tell me anything,"

My heart skipped a beat at his words. Spend the rest of our lives together. I sucked in a breath to calm down, but it just wouldn't go down and into my lungs, it stayed in my throat, not moving an inch. I put my hand over my chest to calm my racing heart, but it just kept beating manically.

I heard Alpha Allen saying something, but I couldn't figure out what he was saying. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the doctor from yesterday walking towards me. She kneeled at the sight of the bed and turned her head to say something to Alpha Allen.

She yelled something over her shoulder, and then picked up my hand from the bed. For a second I thought she was going to hold it, but she just let her fingers run along the IV line. She disappeared out of my line of sight. Someone's legs then appeared, and seconds later, I felt my muscles relax. I fell back onto the bed, oxygen finally finding its way into my lungs.

Alpha Allen's voice was the first thing I heard when my senses finally returned. "What happened to her?"

"I think she might've had a panic attack, do you have any idea what might've caused it?"

Silence filled the room for a few seconds, before he, in a deep voice, almost a growl, answered.

"I think I might have an idea."

My heart skipped a beat once again, but the drugs in my blood kept me from having another panic attack. My life is over.

A/N

You guys!!!

Over 20.000 motherf*cking reads!!!!! *Ear piercing, deafening scream!*

I am so so so so so thankful that so many people are enjoying my story, you have no idea how happy this makes me!

Now, over with the thankfulness.

All schools in Denmark have been closed, same with most stores, companies are going bankrupt, people are losing their jobs, people are dying due to COVID-19.

So please, stay in as much as you can (no matter how bored you get), and if you have to go down to get groceries anyway, and you're healthy, ask your elderly neighbors if they need something from the store as well, so they can stay in and stay, stay safe, and not undergo unnecessary exposure.

My grandmother has a lung