Chapter 148

Third Person POV

A wave of psychic energy burst like a silently exploding star from the upper room of the Royal clinic. In a white-hot wave it rushed out into the world, passing through walls and cars and people.

It washed over the body of Royal Alpha laying still and unresponsive in the next room. The Alpha had been locked inside himself for months, struggling to make any kind of connection with the outside world.

And failing.

Now, his eyes suddenly opened wide. And he gasped.

The Royal Alpha was awake.

The psychic wave pushed out further, gathering momentum with each person it passed, each mind it touched.

In her apartment, Claire’s loyal and dedicated best friend Amelia was still awake. She sat at a table, a single lamp glowing, surrounded by a stack of medical books.

It was the same thing she did every night. She was searching for a way to heal her friend, to bring her back from the strange, mysterious coma she’d fallen into.

Lost in a dry and complicated text, Amelia gasped with sudden shock as the wave rushed into her apartment, and straight through her.

And she knew, right away, who it was from.

Her eyes wide, she whispers, “Claire??” in a stunned voice.

Using Amelia’s energy, which her friend gives her willingly, Claire’s wave grew even stronger, larger, and rushed away.

Toward the palace.

It passed through the walls of the grand building, racing down hallway after hallway, searching.

Until it finds, at last, what it had been looking for.

Nathan.

He sat at Claire’s desk in her private office, his head tilted back in the chair, fast asleep.

Reports, ledgers and letters were scattered over the entire surface of the desk.

He’d fallen asleep while working.

In his sleep he twitched, his closed eyes moving back and forth beneath their lids.

He was back in one of the dreams he’d been having more and more since he came to the Royal pack.

And in that dream, he was running, searching, calling out for someone he couldn’t see or name.

Where are you?? he shouted, unable to see through the thick gathering of trees.

In other dreams, his calls and shouts always went unanswered, and he ran on indefinitely, searching for someone he wasn’t sure was even there.

But tonight, a voice answered. It called back to him.

Nathan, it’s Claire! I’m here!

In his dream, Nathan stopped running and frowned.

He turned, trying to find the direction from which the answering shout had come.

But it seemed to come from everywhere, echoing around him on all sides.

And suddenly he jerked awake, Claire’s voice still booming in his mind.

It wasn’t a dream.

Claire really had spoken to him!

And now it called out again, the force of the psychic blast slamming into him.

Help me! Stop him!

Nathan surged to his feet, sending the chair toppling over backward, papers scattering.

He didn’t question what was going on, or how, or why.

There was no time for that.

He needed to get to Claire.

Nathan POV

I raced to the clinic, my head still spinning.

I’d been caught in another of those dreams, the ones where I was always lost and running through some strange forest.

And then Claire’s voice shouted out of nowhere, not just in my dream but in my waking mind.

I didn’t understand how, or why, but every part of my being knew she was in danger.

And she needed my help.

I drove like a madman through the mostly empty streets of the sleeping city, leaving my car right in front of the clinic entrance.

And then I raced inside, up to the third floor, and burst into Claire’s room…

Just to find Dr. Baldwin standing there, his hands to either side of Claire’s head.

The same thing he did when administering any of his healing sessions.

Dr. Baldwin jumped, clearly startled at the interruption.

I pulled up short, confused. I looked back and forth from Baldwin to Claire.

She lay there, still and silent, the same as always.

And Baldwin was clearly just trying to heal her.

“What are you doing here?” Baldwin asked me.

He still had his hands to Claire’s head, and that blue-white light that always glowed when he did a healing was still shining from between his fingers.

I stood there awkwardly, adrenaline still pumping through my body, and struggled to catch my breath.

And to figure out how to explain.

Now that I took a moment to stop and think about it, what was there to say?

I had a dream, and thought I heard Claire’s voice?

“I- thought I heard something…”

I shook my head.

“I guess I had a nightmare. I dreamed Claire was in trouble or something, so I, well, I don’t know,” I finished lamely.

Now that I said it out loud, I realized how ridiculous it sounded.

Claire was clearly fine, and Baldwin was obviously doing the same thing he did several times a day.

If Claire really had reached out to me, why would she have told me to stop him?

He was her friend, and clearly dedicated to trying to help her. He’d been a nearly constant presence since she first fell ill, always trying to heal her whenever he had the time to spare.

Even now, in the middle of the night, at the end of his shift, Baldwin was still trying to help.

It didn’t make any sense.

Which meant it hadn’t really happened.

I had been under so much stress lately, dealing with my new duties as President, as well as trying to be the Alpha for two packs now.

And all of that on top of the constant fear and worry for my mate.

No wonder I’d dreamed about her, and thought she needed to be rescued.

Saving her was all I wanted to do.

If only I could.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I must have imagined it.”

I began to turn to leave, but then stopped suddenly.

Claire’s voice whispered in my head again, a soft brush against my mind, a lot weaker than the last time.

Stop him!

And because I was looking right at him, I saw something that nearly stopped my heart.

I saw Baldwin flinch.

Because he heard it too.

“You heard that,” I said, pointing at the other man. “You heard what she just said.”

Baldwin shook his head.

“Heard what? I didn’t hear anything.”

His face said one thing, but his smell suddenly said something else.

Baldwin smelled nervous.

Suspicious now, I walked over to stand beside Claire’s bed, moving myself between her and Baldwin, pushing him back a step.

“I don’t believe you,” I said. “And I demand you tell me what’s going on.”

I pushed him back another step, breaking his contact with Claire.

And with a sudden snarl, Baldwin pushed me back.

Psychically.

Without moving an inch, Baldwin somehow sent a blast of energy that hit me like a gust of frigid air, burrowing into my body.

I nearly doubled over with pain, all of my nerves screaming at once.

I stumbled back against the bed, knocking Claire.

Our hands brushed, for just a moment.

But that moment was enough for me to feel an instant warmth.

A connection.

Despite the pain still bouncing around inside my brain, I turned and stared down at her, stunned.

“Claire?

“Are you really there??”