Beta Xavier Costa.

Eleanor Amato - POV

After Xavier brought me back home, I took a shower, changed my clothes into my comfy pajamas, and lay down on the bed.

Knock knock

“Come in,” I called out, and the door opened to reveal Mom standing there with a tray of food. I got up from bed, and when I was about to move to go and help her, she shook her head.

“I have got this sweetie. You lay down in bed,” she said as she walked towards me. She placed the tray on the bedside table and took a seat on the bed.

“You didn't have to do all that, mom. You could have just called me down to have lunch.” I protested, but she playfully glared at me.

“You just came back from the hospital. So let me just take care of you because I don't think I will be staying here and watching you for a long time,” she said, and this made a frown appear on my face.

“What are you talking about?”

“The house that Henry and I bought is completed and ready to move in. But I am still not sure if I should leave you in this condition,” she said.

“Mom, you can't postpone the housewarming ceremony because of me.”

“But sweetheart, you just escaped from a huge disaster. I don't think it would be nice if I held a party this soon,” she said, but I shook my head. Mom had been talking about moving to her new place for a long time, and I didn't want to be the reason that she canceled that plan.

“When did you plan to host it?” I asked her.

“Day after tomorrow.”

“Then go and prepare for that, and I promise I will be there.”

“Are you sure?” she asked me, and I nodded my head.

“I will get to work then,” she said and pulled me into a quick hug before walking out of the room. “Don't forget to finish everything that is on that tray.” I heard her yell. I looked at the food that was on the tray and I was stunned to see so many items there.

How am I going to finish all that?

“She will have our head if we don't finish everything,” Erica warned me, so I let out a frustrated sigh and began eating everything. Once I was done with lunch, I placed the tray back on the side table, laid back on the bed, and went to sleep.

Even though I had been in a coma for nearly a week, my body still felt exhausted. So the moment my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

“Eleanor.”

“Eleanor?” I groaned as I opened my eyes to see that it was Xavier.

“What do you want?”

“You didn't have your medicines yet.”

“Can I have them later?” I mumbled, but when I was about to close my eyes again, he began shaking my shoulder.

“You need to have dinner after this as well. So please get up.” he persuaded me. After tossing and turning in bed for a good five minutes, I finally got up and sat against the headboard. He gave me the capsules, and I drank them all in one go. “Do you want to have dinner with all of us downstairs, or should I bring the food up?” Xavier asked me.

“I will come downstairs,” I said, and he nodded his head.

“I will see you down then,” he said and then walked out of the room. I got up from the bed and walked towards the glass wall and looked outside. It was pitch dark outside with the shadow of a moon.

“It's beautiful,” Erica said, and I agreed with her. For some reason, looking at the sky today made something within me stir. Like, an emotion that I have not experienced before. My eyes wandered toward the dark forest surrounding the house, and a serene feeling washed over me.

I was so enchanted by the nighttime beauty of the forest, that, when I first saw a movement in the forest, I thought that I was hallucinating, but I stepped closer to the glass and looked further when I saw it. Three wolves were watching me, and a man was with them, since it was pretty dark, I was not able to properly see his face. They were not that far from Xavier’s house.

But something didn't feel right about those wolves. “Are they the rogues that crossed the border once?” Erica asked me, but I had no idea.

The man stepped closer, and he had a smirk on his face. My heart started to race while my palms began to sweat, even with the air conditioner turned on.

“I will kill you, Eleanor.” he mouthed, and this made me take a step back in fright.

For some odd reason, I felt like this was the same rogue that killed my mother all these years ago.

I stumbled away from the glass wall and ran downstairs screaming Xavier’s name at the top of my lungs. “Xavier!”

“Eleanor! What's wrong?” he ran out from the dining area towards me and held my shoulder in a death grip.

“There…there.” I couldn't finish my sentence, my eyes watered with tears while the memory of my mother’s mangled body kept flashing in my mind.

“Eleanor, calm down, breathe.” Xavier tried to console me, but I felt like his voice was growing distant as the minutes passed by.

“There…”

“Eleanor, calm down, sweetheart,” Xavier said in a gentle tone while he kept rubbing my shoulders, but it was not doing much to calm me down.

“Run away, Ellie. I love you.” my mom’s words kept repeating in my mind like a broken tape recorder. I felt like my throat was closing in on me while the air around me was becoming thinner.

“Mom, I think she is going into a panic attack. Call the doctor!” I heard Xavier say. “Eleanor, focus on your breathing. Take slow breaths.” Xavier instructed, and even though it was difficult, I did as he said.

A few minutes later, I felt my breathing get back to normal, but I started feeling light-headed, and before I could hit the floor, Xavier wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

“What happened, Eleanor?”

“Rogues, they were so close to the house.”