Dean’t sleep again.
Not after the
nightmare i had.
No matter how lightly Francesco holds me, no matter how sale his arms make me feel, the memory of blue flames crackling from my fingers and the hatred in Mika’s eyes won’t leave me. It clings to my skin like smoke, curling into my thoughts, refusing to let me forget.
My breathing is shallow, shaky. My heart hasn’t slowed since I jolled awake in a cold sweat. I’ve been lying here, curled beside him, trying to pretend that the quiet rhythm of his heartbeat could pull ine back into peace.
But the image of Francesco screaming in grain because of me….
No. Sleep is no longer a place of rest. It’s a battlefield I’m too afraid to walk into again.
Sighing, I shift gently, turning to face him. Moonlight spills through the cracks in the curtains, illuminating the sharp lines of his face softened by sleep. His lashes fan across his checks, his lips parted just slightly. He looks… peaceful. Untouched by the horrors that clawed through my mind just moments
ago.
A knot tightens in my chest.
How could I possibly tell him?
How could I ever look him in the eye and say: “In my dreams, I destroy you.”
I hold my breath as I slowly slide out from beneath the
th the covers, careful not to wake him. His arm twitches slightly, his brow creasing for a moment as
though he senses my absence, but he doesn’t stir.
My feet touch the cool marble floor as i grab the silk robe from the foot of the bed. Wrapping it tightly around me, I move to the balcony.
The glass doors creak faintly as I open them and step outside.
Night air greets me with a soft caress, brushing against my skin like a whisper. The estate is quiet. Only the distant rustle of trees and the occasional howl from far off wolves stir the silence. Above me, the moon hangs high and full, cloaked in a haze of silver clouds.
I walk to the railing and grip it with trembling hands.
My eyes drift shut.
The nightmare replays in flashes.
Francesco falling to his knees.
My flames burning him.
Mika–my wolf–glaring at me with a rage I never imagined she could possess.
And Anastasia.
Her voice.
That mocking smile,
“A witch doesn’t belong with the light. Go away”
My stomach twists.
1/4
$11:16 Mon, 143
Chapter 83
I don’t understand. Why now? Why that dream? Everything had felt so whole, so right just hours äga.
So why do I feel like it’s all slipping through my fingers?
is that because of the meeting with the council? i gums deep down their warn hit me without
Tean forward, resting my elbows against the cold stone, letting the wind tease strands of my hair loose from the braid i cept in.
I wish could talk to Mika
But ever since the nightmare, she’s gone quiet.
As if she, too, don’t know the answer.
i don’t
I don’t even realize I’m crying until a tear splashes against the back of my hand.
Gods, what’s wrong with me?
I’ve spent so long healing, Rebuilding. Finding myself again after being torn apart. Why does this dream–just a dream–undo me so easily!
“Ellaine?”
His voice is sch, groggy, but edged with concern.
I turn, startled.
Francesco stands at the threshold of the balcony, barefoot, shirtless, the waistband of his loose cotton pants resting low on his hips. Moonlight bathes him in silver, and for a moment, he looks more like a myth than a man. The Alpha. The Lycan. The one who chose me.
His eyes f
esfind mine. And I know I must look a mess–tear–streaked, robe clutched too tightly, body trembling
He crosses to me in three long strides.
stome
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, stepping back slightly, “I didn’t mean to wake you.
“You didn’t,” he says, voice t thick with sleep. “But i felt you were gogle. And I can’t rest when you’re not beside me.”
He reaches for my hand, his fingers brushing gently against mine, coaxing. I let him take it.
He lifts it to his lips and kisses my knuckles.
“You’re shaking,” he murmurs
“I’m fine,”
His eyes narrow just slightly, not in anger, but in that way he does when he’s reading me too well. Like I’m a book only he knows how to hold.
The way he says my name–low, reverent–undogs something inside me.
ibite my lip. “The nightmare…”
“I figured.” He steps closer, wrapping his arms around me from behind, pulling me into the warm curve of his chest. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
I hesitate.
2/4
Chapter 83
Then I whisper, “I hurt you. In it. With my magic. Blue fire–my hands “My breath hitches. “You were screaming, Mika was there. But the hated me. They both did. And… Anastasia was with them.”
He’s silent
I can feel his heartbeat against my back. Strong, Strady.
“I know it was just a dream,” I continue, voice bresking, “but it felt so real. And the things she said. —about witches and white belonging to the light. I-
bout me not
He turns me gently in his arms,
“Look at me.”
I do.
“I don’t care what dream Anastasia said. Or what some twisted nightmare version of Mika made you feel. I’m here. I’m real. And I love you.”
His thumbs brush away the tears from my cheeks.
“Whatever this power is inside you…we’ll face it together. You hear me?”
“But what if I hurt you?” My voice is a whisper, a terrified breath. “What if I can’t control it!”
“Then we learn. We train. We figure it out, I’ve fought wars, Ellaine, Faced enemies with blades and teeth and bloodlust. But this–you–you’re not my enemy. You’re my mate, Ellaine.”
My heart twists.
He leant forward, his forehead pressing to mine
“I don’t fear your power. I revere it. Because it’s part of you.”
A sob escapes me.
And he holds me tighter
We stand like that under the moonlight, wrapped in silence and each other.
Eventually, he goides us back inside, his arm around my waist, never letting go. He sits on the bed and pulls me into his lap, wrapping the blankets around us both like a cocoon.
“I want to tell you something” he says softly. “Something I’ve never told anyone.”
4 glance up at him, surprised. His tone is serious, almost heavy
“When Anastasia died. He pauses, searching for the words. “Everyone thought it broke me. And it did. But what they don’t know is–she knew. She knew she wouldn’t survive it. She saw it in a vision weeks before. But she didn’t tell me until the night before”
I hold my breath
“She said she saw a child of power being born. Ope that would shake the roots of every prophecy, every law. A girl born under sorrow, rise. She said I would find her–not immediately–but when the world needed her most.”
My breath catches.
“She said, “When you meet her, you’ll know Not by her blood, not by her gt–but by the way your soul aches
My lips part, but I can’t speak
3/4
Chapter 83
Francesco pretty
you reaching since
Tears wir down my checks again – bet, plant
“You think your power will drive you mahe mormors. Then let me be your anche Latine carry it with you
anchor. me you?”
myhead to his chest, letting the rhythm of his heartbeat ground me
forehead
“France” hiper” scared
“But you’re not alon
We fall into silence again,
The storminede.
this time, but int he warmth of his body wrapped around r
田
AD
Comment
