Chapter 34

Elena

In my dream my wrists were tied together, and I was being dragged into a dungeon. The walls were the same as the one I scaled down to the lake, but these were all constantly moving and reshaping. I was being pulled down and down, but I couldn’t see the faces of my escorts.

I was screaming, but no sound came out.

After what felt like an eternity I was taken to a cell, and a dark figure waited for me in the corner. A door slammed behind me and I was left alone, the fear so real that my body was sweating through my nightgown.

The figure was coming towards me, face obscured by a dark hooded cloak. I tried to back away but I couldn’t seem to move from the middle of the room. I looked down and I was shackled to the floor.

As I tried to break free of the coils the held my wrists the figure was inches away from me. When the hood was removed, I saw the face of my tormentor.

It was Natalie.

My arms flared in pain again as I stared into her wicked grin. She looked just the way she did on the last day of my life, before I went back in time.

“I’m taking back what’s mine,” she growled.

Whether she was referring to her lover, her position, or her life, I wasn’t sure. But the sharpness of her canines told me I would not enjoy her process of taking.

Then her face changed as she saw something behind me. I couldn’t turn or look, but knew someone else was there. He came around and Natalie faded back in the corner, like a shadow being cast out by light.

Killian appeared in front of me. He placed a simple golden coronet around my brow, and the cold metal spread across my head and down my spine. It was like a soothing balm relieving a lifetime of aches and pain.

He lifted my hands in his, and meticulously untied and removed the ropes that bound me. As he pressed his hands around mine and brought my fingers to his lips, I woke up.

I knew without opening my eyes that Killian was there, sitting on my bed. Our bond always feels stronger in the night, drawn together by the moonlight.

He held my left arm, carefully dabbing a salve onto the small cuts. It stung slightly, but then cooled on my skin bring sweet relief to the itch of pain. My forehead was wet, and I registered the cold compress spread over my eyelids.

Without my sight, my other senses were heightened. His touch was soft, as if he was holding a baby. His touch almost tickled on my sensitive arms. He was humming to himself, not a song, but like a conversation with an invisible friend. He smelled of soap, citrus, and mint, aromatherapy for my aching head. The towel on my face had dripped water down my cheeks and onto my waiting lips.

You should have him.

My wolf’s desire was stirring, and I nearly shouted out loud to suppress my body’s reaction to the sensory experience of Killian’s ministrations.

Killian seemed to have a similar mindset, and he raised my hand gently to kiss my open palm. My fingers reacted by cupping slightly around his face and I hummed in appreciation.

“So you are awake,” his voice was low and gravelly.

Letting out a sigh, I used my other hand to lift the towel off my eyes. He was kneeling beside my bed so his head was almost level with mine on the pillow. His eyes were tired, but still had that insatiable hunger simmering on the back burner. A slight smile curved his mouth, but it wasn’t lascivious or expecting.

He looked pleased, content to share a private moment with me, away from prying eyes or eavesdropping ears. It should have unsettled me, but in my half-asleep state I didn’t have the energy to be bothered.

“Someone woke me,” I responded, pointed but light. “I was dreaming…”

My face scowled as I recalled the visions I’d had moments ago.

“Mm,” he hummed again, looking back at my hand. “It didn’t seem like a good one. Your face was… troubled.”

I wondered what he wasn’t saying, if he had seen or heard something troubling.

“Why didn’t you say anything about—“ he lifted my arm lightly. “I know it’s not serious, but you shouldn’t hide things from me.”

“I wasn’t hiding.”

“I recall you standing behind the door when I came to your room earlier,” he said with some sass. “Even Tiffany was cagey about your activities today, until she finally blurted out something about the woods.”

“So she ratted on me after all?”

“She is my Beta, Elena,” he said seriously. “It is her job to serve and report to me.”

“I’m sure she would love to serve you,” I said without thinking. I felt heat in my cheeks realizing how petty I sounded, but he looked amused.

“I’ll leave that one alone for now,” he said. “I know it can’t be easy taking over from her, she is territorial, a bit old-fashioned, and—“

“Uptight?” I added.

He smiled. “I was going to say protective, but I suppose that works too. But she has always been quite loyal to me, I cannot overlook that because you two don’t get along.”

“Well I don’t really care about it, if you want her to serve you then she can go right ahead.”

“I do not want that, Elena,” he said urgently. “I only want you.”

Neither of us said anything, letting that admission hang in the air between us. For a moment, a new vision appeared in my mind. A family portrait in the future, Killian and me, a baby in my arms. An alternate reality where Natalie never existed and we were Mates all along.

“Killian, I—“ he reached to touch my face and it all changed.

As I started to believe that I could find a way to change the outcome, the first vision was replaced by another one. This one came from memory not imagination, and it started with Killian’s hands wrapping around my throat. The image of our happy family was drowned out by a river of blood that flowed in front of my eyes. There was no way to move forward with that.

I calmly took his hand from my cheek and placed it on the bed beside me. Shifting onto my back, inching away from him, I trained my eyes on the ceiling above my bed.

“I need to be alone.”