Adea
Blinking, the fog lifted and the view I was met with was the sun peeking over the horizon. I stared in awe at the hues of orange and pink that painted the morning sky. Sighing, I resigned myself to my fate. I wouldn’t complain if this was the way I left this world. My chest shuttered and I fought to keep my eyes open.
In my peripheral vision, something was moving towards me and fast. Could I be so unlucky to be alive when an animal found my body? There was no fear as I thought of being consumed by a bear or whatever it was that was coming for me. My chest vibrated as I laughed.
If it was an animal, I’d leave this world as someone’s breakfast. If it was a person, I didn’t know who it could be. I couldn’t think of someone who would run toward me with such urgency.
There was no one. Someone fell to their knees beside me and the lightest touch shook my shoulder. Their hands hovered over my body. A muffled voice urged me to speak or blink but I couldn’t do anything. There was no point now anyway.
I could barely hear that but I think they asked me to stay. My lips parted as I tried to tell them that wasn’t possible but no words came out. I couldn’t even look at them. I could only see something black. Giving up, I continued to stare at the sky. Before everything went black, the sky grew closer as someone lifted me into the air.
***
Paralyzed, I was frozen as my body shook. Someone was shaking me and I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t make a noise or answer. The voice was muffled, where I thought I heard a girl earlier, this time, it sounded male. I couldn’t open my eyes but I could see the light on the other side of my closed eyelids. The voice became clear and I realized I recognized the voice. It was Ethan, he was calling me and the tone of his voice was worried, fearful even.
“Thank the Goddess,” Ethan said. He was sitting up and I was laying in his arms. One of his hands cupped my cheek. Pushing his head against my forehead, Ethan sighed in relief. “Are you okay?” He asked. His thumb swiped at my cheek and wiped away the tears I didn’t know I shed.
“What happened? What’s going on?” I asked.
“I don’t know. One minute you were fine and the next you were struggling against me. I tried to wake you up but nothing worked. You were crying and wouldn’t wake up no matter how hard I shook you,” Ethan said, his expression nervous.
“I had a dream,” I said. I could tell him that I was dying in my dream but that wouldn’t help anyone. If there had been something worth telling, I would have but since there wasn’t, I decided to keep it to myself.
“What made you so sad?” Ethan asked.
“Just a bad dream.”
We have so much going on right now, I don’t want to burden him with the thought of me dying. There must not have been someone there. It was Ethan. That’s the only thing that made sense.
“I’ll get you some water,” Ethan said. Sitting up, I grabbed my head. Great, a migraine. Leaning back against the bed frame, I watched as Ethan returned with water.
“Thanks, Love,” I murmured as I grabbed the glass from his hand.
“I’m meeting with Darci today to gather the new warriors. I’d stay in bed with you all if I could.”
“I know,” I said. “But duty calls. It’s okay. We’ve got responsibilities. I’m not going to stay in bed. After a bit of medicine, I’ll be good as new.”
“We’ve still got an hour until seven. I’ll go get some medicine from the kitchen,” Ethan said as he got to his feet.
I watched as he put on shorts and a body armor shirt. He was out of the door and I turned to the window. Looking outside, I thought about my dream. I still felt like the same person and this was the first time dream-me mentioned multiple names.
I tried not to worry about the fact that I recognized all the names. Everything was the same except I called Gabe by his full name. Just a few hours ago, Ethan and I had been talking about our plans for the future and children.
The dream showed me that I didn’t get any of those things. It felt as if the Moon Goddess was taking them from me but I didn’t know why. It was as if she was telling me I didn’t deserve any of them.
What put this all into motion? Was it meeting Shane after my parents died? Was it meeting Ethan at the Crescent Moon Ball? Had there ever been a time when I could have stopped the wheels of time from churning?
My cheeks were stained again and I brushed the tears away. They kept coming up and for a moment, I let myself cry. Grabbing the bed sheet, I brought it up to my face, and let the tears flow.
Having these dreams telling me that shitty things were going to happen all the time made it harder and harder for me to stay positive. I didn’t want to lose anyone, I didn’t want to see anyone die.
Did I want to save everyone? Yes. Was I hopeful of the work Ethan was doing to ensure our pack was heavily guarded around the clock? Yes. Did I think we would win when I’ve already seen how it ended before? I don’t know. What I did know was that I was hopeful but hopefully didn’t mean we would win.
I’ve made progress, by beating Briana, I know I can defend myself. Have I ever gone up against an Alpha who wouldn’t let me win? No, but maybe what I needed was to let myself get close to the Alpha who wanted to hurt my family.