The Silent Alpha (Natalia)

Chapter 41: In Her Shadow

***Vanessa***

All morning, the pack medical team has been examining me, testing my brain function and my patience with their incessant questions.

What makes this entire experience upsetting, however, is the fact that my own husband has not even bothered to check up on me.

I don’t expect to be coddled or doted on as Christian is not exactly a very nurturing man even when he was with Natalia, but still, a simple “Hey, how are you feeling?” would have been nice.

To make matters worse, my head is pounding and it feels like every part of my body is overstimulated.

My ears are so sensitive and the sound of the heart monitor beeping is only making my headache worse.

Even my eyes burn from all the damn light coming in from the window and I’ve been given sunglasses to alleviate the pain.

All this stimulation seems to be playing tricks on my mind because I swear I hear whines and barks in my head throughout the examinations.

I don’t think much of the sounds though, chalking it all up to my imagination and exhaustion.

Where the f**k is my Gamma? I wonder, looking around the empty hospital room.

Shouldn’t Jordan at least be here to take care of me? He used to take care of Natalia all the time whenever she was sick.

No matter what I do, I will always be stuck in her shadow.

Growing up, Natalia was the perfect golden child.

She was naturally very smart, always landing a spot on the Honor Roll while I always struggled to keep up.

I had to work twice as hard to make the list and when I showed my mother my report card for a tiny bit of recognition, she just shrugged and tossed it on the table.

“What do you want? A reward?” she scoffed sarcastically.

“Estas pero bien pendeja {You are an i***t!}.This is the bare minimum.I did not leave my country for you to not take advantage of your education.You should always make the honor roll, just like your sister.Deja de andar con tus babosadas y ayudame a hacer de comer {Enough with your stupidity and help me make dinner}.”

I never showed her my report card again after that.

With Natalia being such a damn star in academics, I turned to the next best thing, sports.I joined the soccer team and worked my way to captain on the cheer team.

Did it matter? No.

always too busy taking Natalia to her debate meets, her volunteering programs at the local nursing homes, and her

had to build my own support group, seeking recognition in the amount of friends I had and attention from the football team.I was labeled a slut for most of highschool, though I never did could get attention for: my looks.I inherited my mother’s pale skin and green eyes and she always praised me for looking so

that

while at a highschool party, I met a college boy from the nearby university, Skyler, through

master bedroom and being the dumb b***h that I was and

remember most of that night, only that I woke up naked

home, convincing myself that nothing happened to me, that it was just a strange

many reasons, I never

was asking for it by dressing the way I did and

my word against his and who would believe the promiscuous girl in school was raped? After that, I did everything I could to erase

see s*x as just an act, an exchange and

nightmare of an existence continued

who always knew exactly what she wanted, I was

were not

“They make good money.”

like a cactus s**t really hit the fan when Natalia became an EMT and then started working towards her Medical Assistant certification with the ultimate goal of going to

thing I knew, partying and drinking to numb the

all changed when I met

was like a beacon of hope.I had seen him in a few classes but it wasn’t until we were paired for a sociology project that

always very polite whenever we

most men I had met up until that point, Christian didn’t try to jump into my pants at

and we’d talk for hours about

he was the first person to make me

smart Lady.Why didn’t I think

to tell me whenever I got an

look into the eyes of the man whose soul completes mine, understanding that my worst nightmares are finally coming

“I’m sorry,”

murmurs, tears lining his

“I’m very sorry…but…we-”

to find the words, fighting with his own

“Please…”

my mouth before I can stop it, a part of me hoping it could

face softens, both of his hands cupping my cheeks as he pulls

stop, the world and all of its problems fading away with every

ever experienced, but

Mitchel, Beta of the Silver Crest Pack, reject you, Vanessa Vasquez as my mate,” he whispers,