His Fading Mate

CHAPTER 5: The Dying Mate

CHAPTER 5

Rosalie's POV

“The past cannot be changed, forgotten, edited, or erased. It can only be accepted.”

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I opened the door as quietly as I could so I will not wake them up. It's already midnight and I just got home now so my mother will probably scold me for going home very late and they would surely question me about the way I acted earlier. I just hope that they are all already sleeping. Slowly, I turned around after I locked the door and tiptoes towards my room upstairs. Everything is pitch black but I'm not that stupid and our house is not that big for me to not memorize the way. I could walk around here with a blindfold covering my eyes, that's how much I memorize every corner and angle of our house.

But I froze halfway through my steps when I heard the familiar voice of my mother. I closed my eyes and mumbled a string of curses. Damn it! Now, she wouldn't let me go without me telling her everything.

"Rosalie Madlene Wright," She said in a warning tone and I instantly know that she's not joking around by the way she spoke my full name. "We need to talk. Come down here, now." I sighed, and as if on cue, the lights snapped open. I turned around and saw my mother's retreating figure and walking towards the living room. Well, at least she's not crying anymore.

I stepped down the stairs and walked after her towards the living room. She was already sitting on the couch when I got in. She's also looking very serious and that scares me. What will she do to me now? I look at her, hiding the nervousness that I felt.

"Sit," She spoke calmly while gesturing to the couch across from her. I nodded and sat down with my head down and hands on my lap, feeling scared, nervous, and guilty. "Why are you home so late? and Where did you go?" She asked and I could feel her hot gaze on me. "Look at me, Rosalie," I immediately looked up at her. "Where were you?" She asked again and I sigh.

"Somewhere there," I said shortly and she just stared at me for a minute. I felt like squirming because of her burning gaze. My mother can be really intimidating sometimes. When she still didn't say anything and just keep on looking at me, I sighed because I can't take it anymore. This silence is deafening and it's killing me. "Look, mom, I –"

"You saw it, didn't you?" She suddenly asked, interrupting me from speaking. I looked at her confused, then she sighed. "About your father's engagement." My eyes widen but her face on the other hand remains calm and composed. I opened my mouth and spoke hesitantly.

"M-mom…" I trailed off because I don't really know what to say. The image of my father with another woman flashed in my head and I felt my heart tighten. I clench my fist but pretend that I'm fine. I can feel the oxygen leaving my lungs and my vision starts to double.

"It's okay, you don't need to worry about me anymore. Earlier, when I was in my room and I saw our family picture. The picture when your dad was still with us and we're still living happily." I heard her sighed and I grip the side of the couch, feeling the tightening of my chest worsen. "I realized that I don't want to stay in the past. It already happened and I can't do anything to change it now. In the picture, he looks happy, very happy and I realized that he already moved on. It was me who stayed trapped in the past and because of that, I did not fulfill my duty to be a good mother to you, and I'm so sorry for that. But I'm trying, Rosie, I'm trying to move on…"

Her voice became unclear and I blinked my eyes several times but the black dots that started to form in my vision stayed and it seems like it only got worse. I grip my chest tightly as my breathing starts to become short.

"M-mom…" I cough and close my eyes and open them but my vision is blurry. "M-mom… I-I ca… can't…"

"Rosie?... Rosie!" I heard her yell and then everything went black.

****

William's POV

I stopped running when I felt a burning sensation creep in my lungs. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I stopped to think what was happening. I'm currently standing in the middle of the forest to hunt some good prey. There was a time when I dreamt of Rosie and I running here to hunt some prey like a couple, and she was a vampire. Just imagine my disappointment after I woke up and found out that it was just a dream. I was so pissed the whole day and also desperate for that dream to actually happen that I almost ran off to my mate to spill everything. But when I saw her, all that's on my mind that day vanished and I felt completely lost and unsure. And after that, I promised myself that I will distance myself from her and will never think of turning her into a vampire ever again.

I sighed because of that thought and felt that the burning sensation on my chest was already gone. Feeling confused about what happened, I looked around me but saw that there's no threat so I continued to run.

Hours passed and I'm already heading to my house where my four friends are staying as well. I just finished feeding myself and that will probably be enough for a week. We maintain ourselves to feed just once a week because we will surely be like the other vampires who are always bloodthirsty. We called them rogues. With their pointed and long nails and very red eyes, we immediately know that they are rogues.

"Will," Kaiden, suddenly appeared in front of me with his chest heaving up and down and looking breathless. I frown. This must be urgent. Kaiden never runs this fast if he knows that it's not important.

"What is it?" I asked.

He grasped my shoulder and looked at me seriously. "It's Rosalie, your mate." I felt my body tense and a guarded expression instantly masked my face.

"What about my mate?" I asked, feeling urgent.

"She's at the hospital and her condition is very critical right now." He looked me in the eyes as I felt my whole body froze.

"W-what? What happened?" I asked, retraining the anger and darkness that began clouding my vision. He looked away and sighed. I clench my jaw and hold the collar of his shirt then slammed him against the nearest tree that I saw. "Tell me!" I shouted but he stayed silent so I slammed him again and again. Then I felt four arms hold my arms and pull me away from Kaiden.

"Will! Man, stop, he's your friend!" Owen shouted and they pulled my body away more until I was standing a few meters away from him. Jason is standing beside Kaiden and I heard him asking if he was okay to which Kaiden nodded. Then, they all look at me.

"What the hell is wrong with you, man?" Jason said, sounding irritated. I glared at him but stayed quiet. My chest is heaving up and down but it's not because of what I did to Kaiden, it's because of the anger and worry I felt that I'm restraining from the inside. But I also feel that I'm very close to lashing out at them all. I'm losing control.

"Are you okay, Kaiden, man?" Drake asked, seeming serious for the first time. Kaiden nodded and Drake looked at me. "Are you nuts? Did you realize what you were doing?" I clench my jaw.

"Just f**king tell me what happened to Rosie!" I growled in anger. Jacob steps forward, looking like he's about to lunge at me but Kaiden stops him. Then, he looked at me.

"Will, your mate… she's dying."

****

Rosalie's POV

They say that you will see someone very dear to you when you are about to die. I don't know whether I would believe that or not because I've never been close to dying. I'm sick, very sick, but I've never been in a situation where I almost died… but that's until today. The day where I almost died. How did I know? Well, believe it or not, I actually see death. And I must say, that feeling is the worst. Well, at least physically. Mentally? It was traumatizing but lucky for me, I'm a tough woman… most of the time.

Anyway, I don't know if it was real or just a dream but I think I saw someone, someone who looked very familiar but I can't remember his face clearly. Yes, it was a man and I'm very sure that he's very attractive. That's the only thing that I'm very sure of, and also his eyes. I'm sure that his eyes were a color grey, but besides that, everything was unclear.

I remember the dream or whatever that was called, I was laying on a hospital bed and suddenly, I felt a voice murmuring beside my left ear. I did not catch what the man said because I was very weak and my hearing was also not in a good condition, and after that, I just felt something sharp pierce the spot between my shoulder and neck. I remember feeling the pain, so much pain inside and out of my body and I thought that I was about to die. The spot where I felt the bite felt so hot, literally hot, like burning hot. After a few minutes, I was already gripping my neck and my entire body was shaking. But as time passed by, I started to calm down and also lose my consciousness, but before I could close my eyes, I saw a pair of grey eyes that stared at me with worry, guilt, regret, and pain. He kissed my forehead and that's the last thing I can remember.

And I admit, that was one hell of a creepy and unrealistic dream a person could dream of. I don't usually get those kinds of dreams, in fact, I only have a few dreams in a month. No more than 5 dreams. So I'm a little confused and creep out because of it.

I slowly opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was the luxurious chandelier on the ceiling. Many questions immediately bombard me like, why the hell there's a freaking chandelier on the ceiling and where am I? And so so many more. I blinked my eyes several times and tried to sit up. Surprisingly, it was not actually that hard. Despite what just happened to me, I felt strong which is very confusing considering that I just woke up and also because of my state. When I say the state, it means my condition, my cancer that I don't really want to think about right now, or forever.

I roamed my gaze around the room and felt myself become more confused. Everything looks modern, expensive, and luxurious. I felt like a freaking Queen because of the Royal interior of the room. Where the hell am I? The last thing I remember before passing out was sitting on a couch with my mother sitting across from me and I'm very sure that we're in our house when that happened and not in some kind of a big castle. So, what the heck? What am I doing here? Is this some kind of a dream? Am I dreaming again?

I pinch my arms. "Ow!" I hissed and my eyes widened when I realized that it was not a dream. My heartbeat starts to pound faster and faster as minutes passed and I still don't know where am I. And as I tried to remember if I perhaps left my home and traveled to a big house, but there's none. Nothing. Blank.

I sniffed the air and the smell of pine trees entered my nostrils, then I looked to my left side and saw the window, but I'm shocked to see the very tiny particles that I thought were dust. It's very small, smaller than a tiny dot and I wonder, how the hell I am seeing that? It's impossible. My ears perked up when I heard soft footsteps outside my door and a manly and addicting scent reached my nostrils. I gulped and waited for the door to open. Then, I watched in horror when the door opened and revealed William.

"What the hell?!" I shouted with wide eyes and I felt myself automatically jumping away when he stepped forward to me. Hurt flashed in his eyes but it quickly vanished just as fast as it came. He looked at me then smiled.

"You're finally awake," He spoke in a strained voice like he's restraining himself from doing something.

"Where am I?! and why are you here?!" I shouted in panic.

"You are in my mansion and you're here because we are married." My body froze and the word 'married' rang through my head repeatedly like a broken plaque. Everything seems to disappear and move around me because of what he said. I shook my head and laughed nervously. I just probably heard him wrong.

"What did you say?" I asked, internally hoping and praying that he would say something else and not the words he just said. He sighed and I noticed him clench his fist and jaw.

"You are here because you're my wife, Rosie," I blink again and again, and I expect him to laugh and shout that it's a prank but he didn't. I blew a breath and looked at him funny.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said, feeling like I'm about to lose my mind. He shook his head and sighs like he's already expecting this reaction from me.

"Rosie, I'm not joking. You are my wife. Four years have already passed but you don't know that because you were asleep. Please, believe me." He said with a voice that sounded like a plea. He just stood a few meters away in front of me with an emotionless expression but his voice was telling me the opposite of his emotion. I started to shake my head and slowly backed away from him.

"No, no, no. I can't be your wife. No… I-I'm not your wife! You are losing your mind, William!" I shouted, feeling like I'm going insane, which I probably am. "You said it yourself. I was asleep for four years so how can I marry you…?" I trailed off, realizing what I said and I felt my eyes widen even more and I looked at him in disbelief. "What?! I was asleep for four years?!" He opened his mouth to answer but another person entered the room, stopping him from speaking. I looked at the newcomer and felt like my brain just exploded in shock.

"Drake Sanford?!" William turned to him and glared with a dark expression on his face that could give a person a nightmare but Drake just smiled at him and then looked at me while shrugging his shoulders like he's used to seeing William's glare.

"She's still not finished yelling hysterically?" He asked with his hands in his pocket and rocking back and forth like he's seeing the most normal scenario. Shaking my shock off, I turned to him and spoke while pointing a finger at William who's standing beside Drake with the darkest expression I'd ever seen but I ignored it and spoke anyway.

"Your friend is crazy!" Drake snorts like he just heard a very funny joke.

"I already know that." Then, with a serious expression this time, he spoke. "But what he said was no joke, it's true, Rosalie. You two are married. He is your husband and you are his wife, end of discussion. Take it or leave it." He said the last part jokingly but none of us laughed, just him. William narrowed his eyes on him and was about to step forward to me when another two people entered the room. Jason and Kaiden Smith!

What is going on? Is this the end of the world already? No, no, no, this can't be real. Please! I can't be married to the man I barely know and I can't be asleep for four years… or can I?