The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 152: The strange woman.

~Unknown~

Dr Ava breezed between the pack’s hospital halls dutifully as she attended to all the sick patients needing her help, as well as their families.

Today was a busy day for her, so busy that it was now way past noon and she still hasn’t had breakfast. However, she was just about to go grab herself some snacks when her eyes snagged on an aged woman with wavy silver hair in the distance, causing her breath to hitch in her chest.

She froze.

Is that Grandmama Lupe?

She rushed forward, a mixture of excitement and worry clawing at her and when she arrived behind the woman, she immediately threw her arms around her dainty frame, pulling her into a hug, sobbing as she choked out;

"I missed you Grandmama!"

The woman whom she had hugged froze, her eyes twitching in confusion. She managed to pry Dr Ava’s arms from around her shoulders before she turned around slowly to see the madman— or woman who had pulled her into a crushing hug.

Dr Ava however, who had been expecting to see her grandmother froze as soon as she saw who it was. She stumbled backward in shock, a tinge of embarrassment burning in her veins.

She quickly dropped her head, bowing then rushed out; "I’m so sorry. I really am! For a moment there, I thought you were my grandmother."

She couldn’t help the tremor in her voice. Couldn’t hide the pain that laced each word like a cloak. It has been a little over a week since Grandmama Lupe left the pack to go look for Dahlia, and even longer since Dahlia left.

But even up until now, she’s not gotten a word.

There was no messenger, to crow, no nothing to inform her about how it had all gone. It felt like they’d all disappeared off the surface of the earth. And now, she wasn’t sure if Dahlia was safe... or if her grandmother was fine.

"Child, are you okay?" The old lady asked softly, but Ava quickly nodded even though she was far from okay. Even though her heart felt like it was being crushed with stones.

She sighed sadly, her eyes brimming with tears. "I’m sorry again, I didn’t mean to. I’ll leave now."

The elderly lady smiled softly at her and nodded as if in understanding. But she didn’t say a word to Dr Ava. She simply turned and left, walking into one of the rooms where a group of excited children rushed to hug her knees.

Ava watched the scene unfolding before her with heartache, her heart thrumming in her chest at the realization that this could never be her. That her children may never get to experience something like this with her late mother, or her now lost grandmother— not like she planned to have any kids.

She watched the old lady pick one of them into her arms, and with an aching heart, she turned away from the particularly painful scene and began to walk away. She had however just taken only a few steps forward when she noticed something strange from one of the rooms to her side with a slightly open door.

There was a woman on the bed, her eyes closed in sleep. But she wasn’t the strange one.

The strange one was another lady hovering over her with a burning incense, whispering something under her breath as she circled the incense around the woman’s head.

And you know what was worse? She was draped in one of their medical uniforms! Dressed just like her!

Ava gasped. "Who are you?!" She snarled, unable to control her rage as she pushed the door open, stepping inside.

The other woman raised her head quickly, a flash of fear fleeting past her eyes before she quickly masked it. She threw the incense to the floor, her eyes darting to the door for a means of escape, but because Ava was standing directly in the way, she couldn’t escape. She froze.

"I just asked you a question!" Ava seethed. "Who are you and what the hell were you doing to that patient?" She snapped but still, the other woman wouldn’t speak. Hell, she wouldn’t even move!

Suspicion burned within her as she took in the slightly younger woman with sharp features and a nose to die for.

And when her eyes trailed off to the name tag on the woman’s chest, her blood ran cold.

"Zorina." It read.

Zorina.

Zorina.

The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place where she’d heard it before. Her mind raced as she searched through her memories, looking for where she’d heard the name... or where she must’ve seen it. But the more she tried, the harder it was.

Without thinking, she slapped the lady hard across the face, the force of the slap immediately bringing the woman to her knees. She growled; "Are you related to the woman behind you?"

Zorina shuddered, shaking like a leaf in the wind. "No."

"Are you friends?"

Zorina shook her head.

"Neighbors?"

Again, she shook her head.

"So what the hell are you doing here? Who gave you the permission to be here?"

Now, the other woman was tongue-tied. Ava watched as she struggled for words, failing continuously as tears brimmed her eyes.

Her eyes fell on the woman’s breasts again, and when she saw the name tag one more time, her breath hitched in her chest. Her brain momentarily went fuzzy from the shock, and even a sheen of sweat suddenly appeared on her forehead.

Zorina... Dr Zorina. She gasped.

Finally, she knows where she’d heard the name from!

From Dahlia!

This was the same woman who had treated Dahlia that one time!

The one who had attended to Dahlia after the fall... causing Dahlia to strangely lose bits of her memories of days before and after the fall.

Ava had always suspected Dahlia’s memory loss to be something out of the ordinary, and now she cannot help but wonder if she was right. If something was actually fishy here.

Her eyes thinned into fierce slits as she regarded the woman, and then she snarled; "What’s that incense?"

"I don’t know..." Zorina rushed out. "I don’t know what it is. It was given to me by someone and they asked me to circle it over her head... they promised that she wouldn’t wake up, and that when she does, she wouldn’t remember what happened."

Wait, is that what she’d done to Dahlia as well?

Rage like no other burned within Ava. It consumed her like fire in a dry forest; and with nothing but her anger fueling her, she lifted her hands so high, she almost felt like she’d stretched it a little— or maybe she had shifted unconsciously, and struck the woman across her face.

Zorina fell to the floor, her head hitting the ground with a loud thump and then she blacked out.

But Ava wasn’t done. She immediately sought out ropes, and after tying up the other woman like a criminal— which she is— she dumped her in the tiny hospital closet and made a run for the pack fortress.

She needed to see Alpha Zarek!

And she needed to do that now!