"Good morning, Acacia!" Teresa signs grinning as I walk into the reception of the hospital.

"Good morning, Teresa." I sign back with a smile.

"How are you doing love?"

"I'm okay. How are you?"

"I'm good. How's Grayson?"

"He's good, I think?"

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Seemed good this morning. He's off doing some Alpha stuff currently though, said he'll be back later."

"Ahhh, I see. Well, seeing as you are here, let's do your checkup?"

"Sounds good. I was also wondering whether I could try my hearing aids because I want to learn to talk again."

"Ooo yay. May I ask, why the sudden change, love?"

"Because it's frustrating not being able to hear Grayson. I mean, if I'm behind him or he's behind me then I can't hear him or see what he's saying so I can't lip-read."

"I see."

"Plus, I want to hear his voice and be able to talk to him too" I sign back with a small smile.

She nods grinning before motioning for me to follow her down the hallway. She leads me into the checkup room and tells me to sit down on the bed.

She begins to run her usual check over before drawing my blood for a blood test and disappearing to run the results. She quickly returns with a smile on her face.

"Good news! The wolfsbane seems to be slowly disappearing from your blood. You should be back to normal within a few weeks" she signs as she walks back over to me.

"That's good" I reply with a small smile.

"Now for your bruises, may I take a look at them?"

"Sure" I sign before rolling up my sleeves. I watch as her mouth drops open before it turns into a huge grin.

"Wow, Acacia! They're almost gone! How about the ones on your lower abdomen?"

I roll down the top of my pants and show her my stomach. She grins and then gently touches the bruise, feeling around a bit, causing me to grimace.

"Still a bit sore huh? They're looking loads better though. I wonder why they've started to disappear all of a sudden because you've still got a large amount of wolfsbane still in your blood? Unless.."

She looks up at me with a curious look on her face and I blush, feeling sheepish as I move my hair away from my neck to reveal to her the huge purple bruise that is my mark to confirm her suspicion.

"Thought so. So you mated?" she signs, a concerned look appearing on her face.

"No, he just marked me. He was getting upset and explained that the bond was starting to break so I let him mark me. I wasn't ready to have sex yet."

"Good because you're not fully healed yet and I would hate to see you back here in pain. However, I'm proud of you for letting him mark you. That's a big step. Have you told him anything more about your past yet? The rape?"

"Not yet" I sign nervously, shaking my head.

Zane's face flashes in my mind causing me to shiver.

"I don't know if I'm ready yet. Plus, I don't know how to tell him?"

"That's okay and I'm sure you'll find a way when you're ready" Teresa signs back gently before looking me up and down.

"You've been eating, yes?" she signs, concerned.

I nod and she frowns.

"Truthfully?" she continues, before pulling up a chair and sitting opposite me.

"I have, I promise. It's just hard. I haven't been eating much but I have been eating. Even ask Grayson and Bella" I sign with a small smile.

"Okay. I believe you" she replies, holding her hands up in surrender.

"Now, onto your hearing and speech. Follow me."

She stands up and heads to the door, ushering for me to follow. We head back down the hall and walk into a small room.

She tells me to sit down at the table before she disappears from the room for a moment.

It's a cute little room and it has a table in the middle with chairs surrounding it and a desk in the corner with a computer on it. A black couch stands next to it, decked with fluffy white pillows and a photo of an elderly couple hanging above it.

I zone back in when Teresa returns holding a small white box. She carefully places it on the table in front of me and grins.

I stare at it for a moment, not sure whether I should open it but eventually I give in and take the lid off.

Inside, two little hearing aids rest gently on the black velvet-covered foam cushion. Just how I remember them.

I carefully pick one up and roll it between my fingers and the familiarity returns. I turn it on and put it in my ear, wrapping the external piece over to the back of my ear before doing the same with the other.

I look up at Teresa and she grins at me.

"H-" she starts but is quickly cut off by the hearing aids squealing in my ears.

Oops, I forgot to tune them.

Panicking, I fiddle with the volume button for a moment until the squealing stops and everything seems oddly clear.

"How are they?" Teresa asks again.

I jump, forgetting that I can actually sort of hear her now.

It's still pretty terrible and still quite faint but at least it's better than mumbling and vibrations or nothing at all.

"They're definitely better than nothing" I sign with a small smile. "I can actually kind of hear what you're saying. My hearing had definitely gotten worse as your voice is still pretty muffled and quiet though."

"That's good," she says before her smile turns into a frown.

"Unfortunately, they are the strongest ones so we could possibly look at doing cochlear implants in the future but apart from that, there's not much more we can do I'm sorry."

I nod and smile at her.

"I know, it's okay. Thank you, Teresa."

Teresa has a beautiful sweet-sounding voice that's not at all high-pitched or whiny and after not hearing anything for so long, it's really quite mesmerising.

I wonder what Grayson's voice sounds like.

"So" she starts, her smile returning.

"Would you like to start your speech therapy today or shall we save it for another day?"

"Let's start today because I want to be able to talk to Grayson."

"Sound good."

"I want my speaking to be a surprise though. So that when I'm really good I can surprise him" I sign back grinning.

She laughs and nods before getting up and heading out the door.

She soon returns with some flashcards and learning stuff that are similar to the ones that my pack doctor used to use with me when I was younger.

She sets them down in front of me and my eyes shift between the glossy cards and her. She laughs and picks up the first card.

"We'll start with letters," she says smiling.

I nod and watch as she flips over the card in her hand to reveal the letter 'a'.

"Now, would you like me to say it first or do you just want to go for it?" she asks gently.

"I think I'll just try it myself" I sign back after thinking about it.

I'm pretty sure I can remember how most letters and small words sound and after hearing Teresa speak I feel more confident.

I open my mouth and try to pronounce the letter.

I stutter a few times but within a couple more attempts, I am successful. I grin at Teresa and she grins back.

"Very good, Acacia! Shall we continue?" she asks as she places the letter a card beside the rest of the pile.

I nod and she grins and picks up the next card.

This is going to be more fun than I expected.

My phone lights up as a text from Grayson pops onto the screen.

'I'll be home in ten minutes, Princess.'

It's about four o'clock now and I'm kind of excited to see Grayson.

I've decided to keep my speech therapy sessions a secret and only have them when Grayson leaves for Alpha duties because he will assume I'm at home or at the library rather than with Teresa.

I tuck my hair behind my hearing aid that is still in my ear and place my book down on the coffee table in front of me.

Teresa and I spent most of the day working on my speech and I can now say the alphabet pretty well considering I have a stutter.

I'm surprised that I remembered how to say as much as I did. I thought I would have forgotten over the past ten years but I shocked myself.

I stand up and slowly make my way out of Grayson's room and down the stairs.

Geez, who knew learning the alphabet could be so exhausting.

I walk into the kitchen and look around in the cupboards for something to eat when a hand gently finds the small of my back.

Startled, I whip around and come face to face with tired-looking Grayson.

He smiles and gently kisses me, causing me to blush. His eyes shift to my ears as he notices my hearing aid.

He gently brushes some hair behind my ear and grins.

"You got hearing aids?" he signs, eyes shining, switching between him and his wolf.

I nod and blush again, looking down at my hands. He gently lifts my head up so I'm looking at him.

"Does that mean you can hear me slightly?" he signs curiously.

"Yeah, I can. It's not great but I can hear enough to make out what people are saying" I reply, smiling.

He flashes me a grin before kissing me again.

Suddenly, a burning pain sears through my body, interrupting our kiss and I drop to the ground in agony.

Black spots dance in my vision and I begin to pant as I struggle to breathe.

I feel Grayson's arms wrap around me and pick me up and carry me somewhere.

Tears begin to stream down my face and I sob out in pain.

Another wave of searing heat shoots through me and I scream, Grayson's arms holding me tighter.

Zoning out, I hear a faint voice and I suddenly have a sense of déjà vu.

I feel like I've felt this pain before but I can't remember when.

Panting, the burning pain spreads through the rest of my body and I scream out before going cold.

_________________________

Hey Guys!

So I know it's been ages since I last posted and I'm so so sorry. But I'm finally home and as promised, here is the new chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it made up for not having a chapter for so long. Thanks for sticking by me through all this and feel free to vote and leave me a comment below letting me know whether you liked this chapter!!

If you feel so inclined, go follow me on my Instagram account @allamy_duffell for a look into my life outside of writing!

Thanks,

- Allamy xx