LIAM

The scream tore through me like a piercing shard of glass. My eyes are locked closed tight and pulse accelerating with each electric shock, my heart drummed on my ribcage like a fast beating drum. The pain was unstoppable. Writhing on the hospital bed, I struggled against the restraints. The scream came again, despairing, and petrified because I was slowly losing myself. Losing track of time. Losing every bit of sanity.

I'm trying to remember where I was. Who I was. I needed to think but I can't think.

For a minute, the pain dwindled while the machine next to me winds down. My eyes fluttered opening wearily. Looking into the one-way mirror, my complexion was completely ashen. My hair plastered onto my sweaty skin. My eyes were sunken with a lack of sleep and food. The constant throbbing pain in my head, it was more than a headache. It was more than a migraine. It felt like someone placed a grenade inside of it and it is about to explode any second. They had placed a ball in my mouth to stop me from biting my tongue.

The door opened again. One of the doctors who have been monitoring me walked in. He carried a tablet in his hands. Without looking at me, he continued to tap away on the tablet.

Once he got to my side, he looked up at me. With his free hand, he moved to release the clasps that held the straps to the ball in my mouth. Releasing it gently, my face muscles and teeth ached. I open and closed my mouth.

"What is your name?" he asked.

I stared at him for a minute while trying to remember what my name was.

"Liam," I replied hoarsely.

He nodded and tapped on his tablet. He looked up at me again.

"How old are you?" he questioned.

The answer was on the tip of my tongue, but my mind ran a blank. It was like I was quickly losing pieces of me. I don't remember anything. He saw it on my face because without blinking he looked back down at his tablet and made some more notes.

"How are you feeling?"

I swallowed hard to remove the dryness in my throat before I wetted my lips and looked at him. So many venom and drugs running through my veins. It felt like nitrogen was poured through my veins. My heart beat furiously against my ribcage but I felt nothing.

There was nothing there.

I dug further into my memories, but I don't recall anything. There was a complete disconnect to everything except the overwhelming thirst to hunt and kill.

The man dropped his tablet to the table next to me. He then moved to touch my face. He looked into my eyes. He was so close I can smell his blood, what he ate on his breath, and the rush of the blood running through his veins. He was calm and unaware of the hunger that was quickly surfacing underneath me.

Without another thought, I launched my attack. My lips peeled back. My canines lengthening before it snapped around his neck. I locked my jaws to stop him from escaping. Blood seeped into my mouth and quenched my throat. Loud, malicious growls emitting from deep in my chest. His screams of pain piercing my eardrums. Pure joy flooded me. I enjoyed his screams of help. The gurgling in his throat spurred me further to tighten my jaws around his neck.

Suddenly, hands were on me. The man I was killing was being pulled away from me but there was no way I was going to give him up without a fight. I released feral warnings and snarls, unrelenting in opening my jaws.

"Let him go, Liam," a woman commanded.

I released it immediately. The voice sounded familiar. Out of pure curiosity, I released my kill to look at the person who spoke to me directly. She was tall and slender. After seeing her, another familiar feeling tugged at me.

She walked over to me and caressed my cheek with one hand. Her hand was soft but it didn't jog any memory for me.

"Good boy," she whispered huskily and gave me a smile.

Another strange feeling. I don't know how I feel about this person. She lowered her hand for a second but only to bring up another hand with a tablet. She lifted the screen for me to look at. There were pictures, of me and her.

"You're my mate," she stated.

She swiped a picture of us, potentially, lying in a bed together naked. She swiped a few more pictures for me to see. They were dinner parties, group pictures, and so many more.

"Do you remember? Do you know what a mate is?" she asked.

I blinked.

"A mate is someone you can trust. Someone that loves you with all their heart. Someone who was made for you."

Something hit hard against the wall in my mind. I felt an incoming headache hit my temples, but I clenched my teeth and revealed no emotions.

"I'm Silvia, Liam," she announced. "Say my name."

I licked my lips. Blood still dripping down my chin and on my taste buds. My throat didn't feel as dry as it was earlier.

"Silvia," I answered her.

She smiled gently. "That's right. Your mate. Your lover. I love you, Liam."

She was my lover. The pictures that she showed me were proof. I thought I was alone but I wasn't.

"Liam, I have something else I have to tell you but I don't know if you are ready to hear it," she said. I can hear the sadness in her voice. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears.

"Tell me," I told her.

"Your mother—she was killed, Liam," Silvia sniffled.

It was like a movie was being played in my head. I could see bits and pieces of blood and screams. My mother's bloodied body. My baby sister dead and wrapped in a dirty cloth. My eyes finding her ashen and dead-looking eyes staring back at me. A rush of rage overtakes me. Peeling my lips back, I snarled my anger. She quickly dropped her tablet onto the table and grasped my cheeks. Moving closer to me, she pressed her forehead against mine.

"My love, don't be upset. I was able to catch the person who killed your mother. She can't escape what she has done,"

"Kill her!" I roared. The restraints that held me down weakened. They squeaked and rattled as I fought to escape. Seek justice for my mother.

"We will kill her," she said with a smile on her face. "We will kill her and everything will be fine. We can be together. No one can stop us with you protecting me."

I nodded my head. She nodded her head before stepping back and waving her hand. Two men moved to stand next to me. They removed my restraints. For the first time in several days, I was free. My skin tingled to life and I wanted to run.

Silvia placed her hand on my arm to get my attention. She moved closer to me. Her feminine scent wrapped around me. Again, another sharp headache pierced through me. It throbbed painfully.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

I looked at her with a blank expression. The pain in my head was worse. Several more guards entered. Their eyes were on me. They were on Silvia. A silent message passed between them before she ordered the two guards that were with us to head out with the rest. It left her alone with me.

She grabbed my wrist and almost urgently pulled me out of the room.

"We must hurry. Her back up is on their way. They are outside our borders. Our guards may not be able to hold them back. We need to make this quick, Liam. Then you and I can live together forever," she said rapidly while dragging me down a long narrow hallway before making a sharp right. She went halfway down that hall before she stopped in front of a door that looked similar to mine.

She threw open the door. I lifted my eyes from the ground and looked inside the room. On the opposite side, in a corner, was another woman. She was beautiful and for a second, I was taken aback. This person was the person who killed my mother? She didn't look like a murderer.

"Liam?" she whispered.

Her voice tugged something powerful deep within me. The throbbing in my head increased. I clenched my teeth and stepped into the room along with Silvia.

"Liam!" She stood up and ran toward me. When she was about to throw herself into my arms, Silvia blocked her.

Immediately the two began fighting. Silvia tossed the woman onto the ground before climbing on top of her body but the woman did a perfect flip that reversed the advantage in seconds. My head throbbed further. A flash of black and white appeared behind my eyelids. I grimaced as soon as the other woman's scent flooded my nostrils. It was addicting and ignited some strong emotions inside of me that I don't understand.

"Liam, help me!" Silvia pleaded.

My eyes snapped open. In two strides, I grabbed the woman from behind and yanked her off Silvia. I threw her across the room. She slammed up against the wall. It cracked under pressure. She fell to the ground. I knelt beside Silvia and gathered her into my arms.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Kill her, Liam. Then this will all end. We can be together," she responded, grabbing onto my arms to emphasize the importance of killing the woman behind me.

"Liam, don't listen to her. It's me," the woman pleaded.

I stood up and turned around to face her. Her eyes were soft and filled with tears. Something inside of me twisted but I couldn't stop what I was doing.

I stalked forward with the intention of killing her.