Chapter 18

Meadow’s POV

Pain.

That was the first thing that I felt. It started at the base of my skull, slowly climbing up the sides of my head and my forehead. 

I blinked my eyes open slowly, feeling heavy as I tried to adjust to the soft white lights that surrounded me. I knew where I was the moment I heard the beeping sounds.

I was in the hospital.

My own sister, Juniper, had beat me up and I was almost raped by my ex-fiance. But someone had burst in through the doors and stopped them. 

Alaric.

My heart rate picked up and I shifted, wincing as pain flared in my head and thighs.

And then I heard a voice. Not the one I was expecting to hear, but familiar all the same. Way too familiar.

“Meadow?”

I turned my head slowly, and there she was.

My best friend. Nova, sitting in a chair beside the bed.

Her blond curls were a mess, eyeliner smudged like she hadn’t slept, and her hands trembled as they re