A more important question, though, is why is she in his dream? That fucker! This is not something I want to be watching. With no other alternative, I watch as his dream morphs. Klaus is showing her how to push off the board while it’s laying on the sand. Her head tilts back in a laugh but there isn't any sound. In fact, I only catch glimpses of her profile. I’m willing to bet it’s because his subconscious can’t fill in that information about her yet since he doesn’t know those details.
His dream morphs again and they are now near a bonfire laying on a blanket that’s spread out over the sand. They’re gazing up at the stars, and he’s pointing out constellations while sharing one of his earbuds with her as they listen to music together. Klaus rolls over onto his side with a smirk on his face and holds his weight up with one arm. With a starstruck twinkle in his eyes, he places his hand on her face and leans in.
An all-consuming rage simmers throughout my body. Fuck! I can’t watch him kiss my mate, dream or no dream. The rage continues to boil my blood and vibrates up through my throat, coming out as a deep growl that echoes off the cave walls. The vision I was being forced to watch is suddenly cut off, replaced by my mate’s sleeping face. And Klaus is startled out of his dream.
I suck in a deep breath of relief. That was the most bizarre experience of my life. I have no idea how I was able to see Klaus’ dream, but I’ll consider it later. I turn my head toward him for a moment and narrow my eyes in his direction before focusing on my mate again. Hopefully he’s done dreaming.
They say to be careful what you wish for... Apparently, I should’ve heeded this advice and taken more care to be specific. Instead of wishing for Klaus to be finished dreaming for the night, I should’ve wished for all three of them to stop because the next to start dreaming is Derrick. Without warning, I’m surrounded by a forest, and Derrick is running between the trees chasing down a rabbit. Now this dreamscape is more bearable. Watching a good hunt is always fun, especially if this is one of the times where Derrick catches on to several scents at once and tracks them all down.
We used to have hunts that entailed releasing a bunch of rabbits and challenging Derrick to find them within a certain amount of time. He got quite methodical at hunting them down. I’m enjoying watching Derrick hunt, that is, until he brings the rabbit to my mate who is sitting beside a campfire in a clearing. You can hear the sizzle and pop of the fire as the flames dance around, casting a warm glow over them both. Stars begin dotting the night sky as Derrick cooks the rabbit for her, and I throw up a bit in my mouth when he hand feeds chunks of it to her. Now all I want to do is roll my eyes, especially when I see his lovesick face gazing at her.
Damn, things had started off so promising. I know Derrick is lying pretty close to me in the cave, on the side my mate doesn’t occupy. I kick out my back leg and successfully make contact with his side, jarring him out of the dream-state. I’m immediately thrust back into reality. I smirk as he incoherently grumbles and rolls over. We will definitely need to figure out this dream bullshit. I’m not a fan.
I snuggle in a little closer to my mate, making sure my body is flush with hers to keep her warm. She’s wearing a pair of jeans, a V-neck long sleeved shirt, and a pair of boots. Hopefully, with my body heat, she won’t be too cold in this cave; there’s a bit of a chill in here even though it’s summer. I've had my head placed on her chest from the moment I laid down, and while her breast has made a fantastic pillow, resting here allows me to be as close as possible with the added benefit of being able to feel the thud of her heart pumping in her chest, which is incredibly more satisfying than just listening to it.
Last night the only thought I was able to process was getting my mate to safety. After Derrick managed to get through to my rational side, and he pointed out the need to get her to safety, it was all I could think about. I became fixated on getting her to the safest place possible. I’m so thankful for my anal retentive need to always have contingency plans in place. Though, I may have gone to the extreme with where I led us. We could’ve arrived at two other locations before we finally reached here; they would’ve been just as safe.
I chose this location because I’m so familiar with it. I found this cave about a century ago while traveling between packs. Since then I've found refuge here countless times and never told another about it. It has become a sanctuary of sorts for me. It's a place I could escape and be alone, where I didn't have to face all the pitying stares of those around me, wondering why I came off as impassive or emotionally disconnected. I enjoyed having a place to call my own.
The entrance is nearly impossible to find if you didn't know it’s there. I had been stumbling through a rather fierce snowstorm that had come out of nowhere. I was walking along the rockface, hoping it would shield me from some of the wind and snow that was pelting my face in stinging pricks, when I quite literally fell into the entrance. This cave saved my life that night. The very next day, I marked the cave with my scent to claim it as my own and to ensure no one else moved in while I wasn’t here.
The cave has a relatively smooth floor that I swept clean the last time I was here, which I’m thankful I've done now that she’s here. The walls are jagged, but the space is fairly large. At the back of the cave is a spring fed pool of water, which has an exquisitely fresh flavor to it that quenches your thirst more than any water I've ever had. Other than the pool, there's nothing in the cave. Thinking about the barren area housing us, I almost regret not making the place more inviting, with a more homey vibe to it.
I let out a disgruntled growl when I’m transported from the cave once again. This time I’m standing before the hatch my mate was pulled out of. For the love of Fates, will the dreaming never end?! At this point it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but a guy can hold on to hope.
I watch as Alex climbs down through the hatch, and the walls start caving in on him until he’s wedged in so tight he can barely move. His breathing comes in fast pants and the realization slams into me, he’s on the verge of a panic attack. I bet it was an actual struggle for him to go down there in the first place and then a nightmare when he was bringing her back out. Clearly, this is the case if he’s having an actual nightmare about it. I hear a whining sound from Alex, which doesn’t come from within the dream.
It’s becoming difficult to breathe in enough oxygen. Like Alex’s emotions are being transferred over to me. It makes sense, I guess, with this being his dream and all. There’s a heavy weight on my chest causing it to feel like it’s being crushed, and I’m forced to take smaller and smaller breaths. I’m getting light headed and if I’m not mistaken… the lighting has become darker.If I could only fill my lungs once… I’ll be able to find a way out.Taking a deep breath has become impossible. It’s like I’m trying to suck air through a straw, and black spots are starting to dance within my vision.
With a loud rumble sounding throughout the dream, the walls come caving in, and we’re dropped into a hallway. Being shifters, we have excellent vision in the dark, but with this being a nightmare, there's very little I can see. The iota of light present, casts long shadows giving the impression of sharp claws reaching out for us.If they catch us, they will never let go.Alex and I both suck in huge gasping breaths trying to make up for the shortage we were just experiencing.
We move forward, and the dream’s effect causes my heart to speed up as we walk through the bunker. Or maybe it was the fact I felt like I was just being suffocated. We start off walking through a hall and come to a security door that slowly creaks open. We’re in another hallway that appears exactly the same and repeat our actions. Once through that door it’s another hallway. Speeding up, we jog through the hall, the door automatically creaking open as we near. Finally, we’re sprinting through the hallways that never seem to end, as if we’re on a treadmill and the same loop of hallway and door is being projected onto our surroundings.
Eventually, we run through a doorway and enter what looks like a mad scientist’s lab with shelf-lined walls filled with body parts.Shit, Alex… this is one fucked-up dream.I’m all keyed up after the never-ending hallways, and this room isn’t helping matters. I peer into the glass jars holding various body parts floating in some kind of liquid. There’s everything you would typically expect to see in a creepy place like this. Eyes, ears, fingers, a jar of fingernails, a fetus, some hearts, a jar filled with intestines, the inventory goes on and on.
I hear what sounds like a saw of some sort, not the chainsaw type, thank Fates, and I whip my head around to find the source. I swear with the way my heart is pounding, I almost just had a heart attack. Which is something our people never have. When I turn my head, there’s a closed door with a green glow surrounding it.Please don’t tell me we’re about to go through that door.
What was I thinking?Of coursewe head through the door. It is a nightmare after all. We move into the next room, which appears a bit more surgical. There’s a hospital gurney in the middle with a patient on the bed. We can only see their naked legs because there's a man in a lab coat standing over the body blocking it from view. Above them is a surgical light shining a sickly green glow flickering every few seconds, adding to the nightmare vibe.
We walk in a few more feet, and it’s like I've been punched in the gut when the smell of iron smacks me in the face. Dread consumes me and I'm bewildered as to why I would react this way to the smell of blood. I've been through tens of thousands of hunts where I've ended up covered in blood and never felt like I wanted to puke. It’s then I see the blood splatter covering everything in the room. The walls, the floor, the surgical light, the ceiling...everything!
We hear a slurping suction sound and then the man is holding up a heart in his hands. My eyes go wide as I see the heart still pumping. The thud of the heart pounds in my ears, its rhythm perfectly matches the beat of the heart inside my chest. I’m breathing hard again, like I was just a bit ago when I was being suffocated. I believe this is what they call a panic attack.Fuck emotions!
“Ah yes, my beautiful test subject number one… you’ve decided to finally give us all kinds of answers, haven’t you, my sweet?” I barely recognize the voice of the man I’d seen by the truck. A sinister chill in his tone leaves me unsettled.
We take a few more steps toward the gurney. With the mad scientist out of the way, my eyes slowly travel up the body of the person laying on the table. I now see the limbs are cut off at each connecting joint. At first glance, there are perfectly shaped legs, then with a flash of light, ten toes are laid out in a symmetrical line. There are two feet cut off at the ankles placed above them, moving on to the next amputation occurring at the knees, hips, and waist. The same procedure was used on the arms. I can’t seem to stop myself from looking, no matter how hard I try. My gaze shifts to the chest area where the skin is pulled away from the cracked open ribs, a gaping hole evident from where he pulled the heart from.
I’m no longer breathing. I beg silently for the ability to close my eyelids. My pleading doesn’t falter as my eyes continue their upward trajectory. I see platinum blonde hair streaked red and clumped together with congealed blood. Then I recognize plump lips open as if they are in mid-scream, my eyes still traveling up until I find gaping black holes where her eyes would be with blood trails leading from the sockets.
I’m thankfully jerked from the scene and focus on my mate’s unmarred face inches in front of me. Taking only a moment to make sure her heart is still beating in her chest, I lift my head to check on Alex. He’s shifted back into his human form and is sitting up in all his naked glory. His head is bent over, cradled in his hands with elbows resting on his bent knees.
He’s breathing hard, deep inhales and long exhales as he tries to control his panic. I understand exactly what he’s experiencing. I place my head back on her chest, wanting to feel the rise and fall of every breath she takes and hear each beat of her heart, needing the comfort they bring. Alex drags in one last shuddering breath and crawls over to us, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor.
Chapter 11
Cecily
Five Hundred Years Ago
