SWNOVELS Chapter 15
What would you do if you found out something about you had been kept secret all your life?
Chapter 15
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Before I saw the soft fabric of woollen trousers swishing around my father’s bare feet, I could smell the sour scent of his worry. Alpha Hati might as well not have been there as Father sat on the edge of my bed and swept me into his embrace. The hug was crushing, painful, but I didn’t care as I buried myself into his chest that vibrated with a comforting timbre. He kept me there until my breathing evened, pressing his cheek to mine.
“I thought I’d seen the last of this part of the castle.” He pulled back and frowned at me, brushing sweat-damp strands of hair from my face. “Are you well now, my female?”
Ignoring the other gaze burning into my face, I smiled and straightened my shoulders. “Yes, whatever happened has passed now. I hope everyone wasn’t too worried for me.”
“Of course we were worried. So I must ask why I was accompanied here alone, and not my mate as well.” A colder expression was turned on the Alpha, and I grabbed at my father’s arm in fear he’d launch himself from the bed. “You have left Laoghaire quite upset ordering her to stay with the pups.”
Alpha Hati remained firm and calm, assessing my father carefully. The two males were locked like that for what felt like an age but was only seconds, some agreement reached between them. The muscles in Father’s arm relaxed, and Alpha Hati withdrew to find a chair so we were all near enough eye level. Equal.
“What your mate does or does not know remains to be seen, whereas I am certain you know something,” Alpha Hati explained, his tone not harsh but the warning lingered. Don’t lie. “I would not wish for her to find out anything you have been hiding in this manner. It is for you to discuss in private.”
I had to swallow a growl at the audacity he had. My parents had no secrets between them. None that would cause the other great pain should it be found out at least. . .but that’s not what my father’s posture said. Head hanging low, he let out a great, heaving breath.
“We told you we don’t know what happened to her in the hall from what you described. You said it could have been exhaustion.”
Alpha Hati bowed his head. “Indeed. We are all in the dark as to why Eabha. . .fainted. I am talking about something else, something you’ve been hiding from her. I believe to spare her any hurt. Your scents are similar, but we both know hers is different.”
“She is mine,” Father said quickly, a growl to his voice as he made his stand, and my mouth nearly fell open.
Was Alpha Hati questioning my parentage?
He didn’t argue with my father, but he didn’t agree either. “Tell us what it is you know.”
Slouched in defeat, Father turned his head to glance at me with dark glittering eyes. “I am so very sorry, Eabha. Maybe I haven’t always made the right choices, but I always put you and your siblings first. My pups, and your mother, you are all my every breath.”
My heart skipped a fearful beat and I grabbed his hand, insisting, “Nothing you could say could make you any less in my eyes.”
He smiled and reached over to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing jaw before he drew away and stood to walk the space from the bed to the wall, and turning slowly back again.
“We had not planned to have another pup so soon after Mànas. You surprised us. Your mother had passed her time in season, and yet one day, her scent changed to tell us she was carrying a pup. You were our unexpected gift, and you were like any other young wolf. You played, you chewed at any ear or tail you could, you cried.” He chuckled wistfully and shook his head. “Oh you cried. With lungs that carried for miles in the valleys and scared prey away for days. Your scent was a little sweeter than most wolves perhaps, and your eyes more soulful than they should have been when you’d yet stopped tripping over your tail, but you do take after me after all.”
He blushed and shifted awkwardly on his feet, looking out of the window to avoid our eyes. “You reached maturity, and your scent changed, sweetened more. Your mother put it down to you simply being ready to take a mate. It wasn’t until the Blood Drinkers appeared that I began to think otherwise. Your Uncle and I began to notice a strange pattern in the creatures coming from the South.”
A lump formed in my throat, threatening to stop my ability to breath. He told this story as if it was one of the old ones, with description and emotion perfect for capturing an audience. And captured Alpha Hati was. Arms braced on his thighs, hands clasped together, he watched my father with the intensity of a hawk siting a mouse. He wanted to know how this story ended. With evermore growing certainty, I did not.
“In areas we frequented, if your uncle or I came across the scent of a Blood Drinker, it was sure to have made to follow you before either getting distracted or chased off. Not that we were sure it was you and not the pack as a whole they were interested in, for you were often with Mànas and Fionnlagh as well. Then the creatures started to grow bolder, more focussed on the hunt. Aonghas and I began to suspect. . .” Dark eyes became pained, the creases at the corner deepening. “It wasn’t confirmed until you and Mànas went running down by the sand dunes-“
“No.” Biting the word off, panic began to rise within me as my own mind put the puzzle pieces together.
I’d cut my paw on brambles on our way there, it would have left such an easy path to follow.
My blood had been on the trail Yousuf had been following to get here, and he’d been killed by one of them. Uncle Aonghas had died defending us from one who had been stalking us for a full two days waiting to strike. I’d been hunting in the meadow when it appeared out of the thicket, Aonghas had saved me and killed it but at the cost of his own life. And before all of that, Mànas and I had been running in the dunes. . .
Is it you that smells so good? Not like the other wolves I’ve had.
Those had been the Blood Drinker’s words on the road. Alpha Hati himself had said he wasn’t sure it was talking about him. He’d also said he’d never heard of their kind actively hunting wolves, that it was humans they fed from and wolves were simply collateral for getting in the way.
A strangled cry left my lips, the weight of grief and guilt crushing my ribs so tight it hurt. My heart too felt as if someone punched through my chest to try and wrench it out. All the while, Alpha Hati watched, silent as a rock.
“Tell me you’re lying,” I begged, thumping my hand against the bed. “I don’t believe you. Don’t say it.”
“I wish I could, a ghràidh.” Kneeling at my bedside, Father implored me to listen. “I don’t know how or why, but there is something about your blood that enraptures the Blood Drinks, and once they have your scent, they become determined to find you; unless something else takes their fancy on the trail.”
My fault. It was all my fault.
Fury followed grief, bubbling red hot and scorching. A broken sound ripped from my lips as I threw out all the emotions building. “How could you keep this from me? How could you have let me near any of you if this is true? How can you look at me?”
“You did nothing wrong, why would I look at you any different,” he tried to sooth, but I wasn’t ready to hear, covering my face with my hands in the hopes darkness would sooth the part of me wanting to rip free of my own skin.
It took many deep breaths before I was certain I wasn’t going to shift to fur, focussing on the deep rumble that I thought was the sound of blood rushing past my ears but was coming from the quiet male who was respecting this moment enough not to become between a father and his pup.
Stroking my knee, Father offered, “Mànas knew, Eabha. He chose to be the one to stay by your side, to protect you, and he did just that. He wouldn’t have changed a thing, he fulfilled the duty he decided to take on. Aonghas too. They would be proud to see that their sacrifice was not in vain, for you saved the rest of us. You got us here.”
His words were a hollow comfort, but I couldn’t bring myself to say so out loud. To do so would belittle what they’d done for me. They’d saved me, from myself as much as the Blood Drinkers I feared, for this truth was crushing. Hugging my knees to my chest, I bit my lip so no noise could escape as tears fell to soak the blanket beneath my cheek.
“But we might not have needed to leave if it weren’t for me. We wouldn’t have had to fear the Blood Drinkers so much.”
Father shook his head slowly. “If that were true, there wouldn’t be so many of us seeking sanctuary here. We would still be losing territory, and being hunted. Don’t try to take blame for things out of your control.”
Out of my control. Lately everything felt out of my control and I hated it. It was beginning to make me feel like I was falling apart.
Tugging at my sleeves, I dried my face and dared to ask, “Does Mother know too?”
Father sat back, urging me to meet his gaze but I kept my eyes on my hands. “To tell her this would have only hurt her further when she’s already grieving. Now, I suppose, we have little choice.”
Would she blame me for her first pup’s death? Would Oighrig blame for the loss of her mate? Fionnlagh his father? They had chosen to defend me with the knowledge of what could happen, Yousuf hadn’t known. He’d helped me out of kindness, and I’d repaid him with his death. What if there were other I crossed paths with who’s lives were cut short? Like the human male who had let us ride on his cart to the port?
“If that creature had caught me instead of Mànas, nobody else would have died.”
Alpha Hati growled, causing me to jump, and spoke for the first time since Father had begun to reveal all. “That is a dangerous pathway of thoughts to travel down, Little Alpha, and it will only cause further pain to you and those around you.”
“Did you know all along too?” I demanded, lifting my gaze to glare at him as anger quickly replaced tears. “Is that why you ordered me to remain in the walls, why you have me followed?”
“I wasn’t sure what I knew. At first, I wanted you within the walls to make sure your were trustworthy; though that Blood Drinker’s statement about a sweet scent struck me as odd-“
“Why, tell me why!”
“Because most wolves smell to Blood Drinkers about as appetising as a rotting corpse does to us. Except. . .except those like myself. My magic does not work on you, you heard a dead wolf speak, this goes beyond attracting Blood Drinkers.”
“Heard a dead wolf?” Father spluttered.
“Yes. And she could sense the magic in me, and the others of the Vargr who followed me here.” Alpha Hati explained. “She insists what we really are can’t be true, so I imagine she has her own ideas about where our magic comes from.”
Father on the other hand seemed to accept that the Alpha was who he claimed with such ease. Talk of the Vargr didn’t so much as make him blink. “Either way, there is no doubt Eabha is mine. You need only look at her to know that. We have no power in our blood that I know of.”
The Alpha hummed. “She is your double, around the eyes especially, I agree. However, it doesn’t not change the facts.”
“I might have mentioned what I knew sooner if my female had thought to tell me what she heard.”
“I was going to tell you,” I murmured when Father’s gaze refused to move from the floor. “You were still healing and I didn’t want to trouble you.”
He nodded, but his lips were pressed into a thin line and I knew I’d hurt him. I’d never lied to or withheld anything from him before. I hated that I was only bringing further pain.
Alpha Hati was right. The facts could not be changed.
My family was happy here, I was not. And as long as I was here, nobody was safe. Not if it only took one speck of blood, one bramble to prick my skin without my notice, to alert Blood Drinkers for miles around. No power I had would be able to help then. I wanted no part in being any more than what I was before I’d come here. I wanted my old life back. I wanted my biggest worry to be whether I’d be able to bring down a fawn by myself or if I’d find a sheltered spot to sleep to escape the rain. Not talk of magic, hearing the dead, or any such powers.
Pushing the covers from my legs, I wasn’t even sure what I was doing as I shoved myself out of the bed and onto unsteady legs. Both males stood to attention immediately and stared at me like I’d gone mad. Fumbling with laces, I tried to convince myself there was air to breathe. It didn’t feel like there was. It felt like all the air had been sucked from my lungs.
“Eabha, where are you going?” Father rushed.
“I. . .I don’t know. This is too much. I can’t.” My voice trembled and broke, my mind whirring so fast, it made even my surroundings spin. “I need out of this room. I need fresh air. I need to think.”
“It’s late, it isn’t safe-“
“Nowhere is safe!” I screamed; certain I felt the walls around us tremble. “Why don’t any of you understand that? Even here those demons come, because of me, nowhere is safe!”
Not once in my life had a ever raised my voice to my father beyond usual family tiffs, nor at an Alpha who stood with blazing eyes as I trembled where I stood. It was only when I glanced at Father again that I realised what I’d done. Dark head tipped to the side, he bared is throat to me, one hand braced on the edge of the bed as if he struggled to remain standing. Seeing my father’s submission unwillingly given stole the breath from my lungs. All strength and rage drained away like a torrent of water free of a dam.
“What’s happening to me?” I whispered, backing away further.
Offering my Father help to stand straight again, Alpha Hati never once took his eyes off me, as if I was something dangerous that must not be let out if sight. “Caldar told me you called for his submission, that it was hard for him to refuse. If you had caught him on a bad day, you might be needing a healer now for a very different reason.”
“I didn’t even know I was doing it until I did it. I would never have done it if I’d known.”
“Just like now,” he agreed. “Whatever the truth of your lineage, however this change in you has come about, you’re more like me than you may want to believe.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
There was that fizzling heat again, burning through me, uncontrollable and bloodthirsty. I was who I always was, why did he want any different? Why was he insisting that I was like him?
A shudder went up my spine, tightening skin threatening my shift even though I fought against it.
A threatening growl rumbled from Alpha Hati’s chest, the deep sound shaking me to my core and chasing off the wolf. “You need to learn control, Little Alpha.”
I snapped my teeth in irritation, as caught off guard by that act of challenge as he was. He'd threatened that I needed to learn my place far too many times now, maybe I was ready for him to finally show me if he would.
“Please.” Father looked between us and rounded the bed to come to me as we both backed down. He tentatively reached for my hand to squeeze it tight and draw my gaze to him. “You’re tired, and you need time to heal. This must all be a lot to hear, and your reaction to this information now will do you no good until you have calmed. Get back into bed and sleep, my Eabha. We can all talk more in the morning. I must let everyone know you’re alright before we have them all coming down here to see for themselves. You know how your mother worries.”
“I have a council meeting in the morning,” I said numbly.
Not that I could find the care for a meeting after all this.
“After then. I love you. I do not blame you for a thing. Only myself. It was my job to keep you safe. To keep the pack safe. Not yours. You went far beyond what one should ever have endured, and you will endure this too.”
I didn’t believe him, but I could see the weary lines around his eyes, the strain all this had put on him. And he had a point, if I didn’t concede tonight and let him go back, I would have to face the entire family and their questions.
“The past is the past, we can only strive to do better tomorrow. That’s what Oighrig says is it not?” I murmured. “It doesn’t matter what I am, it changes nothing.”
He smiled in relief and pressed another kiss to my forehead. I let myself lean against him, soaking in his scent so I might remember it. When he turned to the door however, he didn’t seem eager to leave me alone with Alpha Hati.
“Thank you for your honesty, Tabhin. It has been of great help.” Alpha Hati bowed his head respectfully. “I will have another moment with your female. Alone. Then she will get back into bed.”
His lips twitched as I narrowed my eyes. I was a grown she-wolf perfectly capable of deciding myself if I wanted to get back into bed or not. I sucked my teeth to stop from throwing an equal insult to his standing as a wolf.
Perhaps sensing something in the air that he understood needed cleared between the Alpha and I, he relented and left with one last worried glance in my direction.
Neither the Alpha or I spoke until his footsteps disappeared down the hall, and I found I didn’t have the energy or the will to keep battling tonight. My whole world had been shaken. When would I be allowed to see what was left when it settled?
“What else possibly needs said between us?” I asked wearily.
“You are still thinking of leaving.”
I scoffed, but his accuracy caught me off guard. “Where would I go?”
He rumbled, a deep husky sound that made my flesh pebble. Slow, measured steps led him towards me so I know longer had the safety of the bed between us, and the wall at my back meant I only had so far to run. Rooting myself where I stood, I gave no inch, refused back up for him.
“You’re still safe here. Now we know your scent and blood are beacons to the Blood Drinkers, we can put things in place to lessen the chance of them catching on, without restricting your freedom once more. You need to open your eyes though.” Another step and we were toe to toe, my head craning back so I could see his face. Orange eyes flickered and glowed, tracing over my features as he urged, “Admit who I am. Admit what I am.”
“I have.”
He shook his head, pressing one hand against the wall behind me so he could comfortably lower his face to mine. “You haven’t. Not until you say so out loud and without any measure of denial. Humour me, Little Alpha.”
At a loss, my tongue sat heavy in my mouth. I looked at him, really looked at him; the golden glow to his skin that seemed to come from within, the unnatural brightness of his eyes, the bulk of muscle that set him apart from even the other wolves of his kin. I opened my senses to the energy that always flowed around him, tried to ignore the fact something deep within me cried out in answer. Even his scent, that musk of a forest dweller with the sweetness of honey interlaced, spoke of something more.
“You’re a son of Fenrir,” I heard myself whisper. “Your blood is of Gods, Jötunn, and Vargr.”
He was right. Saying it out loud seemed to slot it all into place. His smirk grew as I he watched the understanding wash over me, but the hunger in his gaze betrayed that he wasn’t finished with me yet. I shuddered as he pressed impossibly closer, his muscled chest nearly brushing against mine in a way that made me back arch against the wall.
“A mongrel, in the eyes of many,” Alpha Hati murmured, disgust colouring his words. “Even amongst the Vargr, and your family’s kin.”
“I am my family’s kin,” I snapped, surprised at the unexpected hurt that stabbed at my chest as he tried to categorise me as other.
I could no longer claim ignorance though.
Mongrel. The Alpha’s mixed heritage made him all but a god. Mine might as well have made me a murderer.
Gods, my head pounded. My heart stuttered and clenched. I was no longer certain of anything anymore. No matter what I admitted, it was a struggle to wrap my head around. Here I stood, with a male who’s Father had walked in Asgard, and according to the stories had been bound by the gods. Was that true? Had Alpha Hati been born here, or in Asgard? I spluttered at the very idea of asking such absurd questions out loud. But I ached to. I ached to unravel every mystery about him so I could finally see who stood before me more clearly.
Maybe I would see the world around me more clearly too.
Odin. Loki. Tyr. Frigg. Hel.
The gods were real. Were other gods of other lands real too? Danu, Lugh, Bridghid, the gods of my mother’s people. Gods I’d once prayed to.
“I can feel you deciding how best to interrogate me, trying to guess which of your questions I might answer.” He chuckled, and the affectionate way he brushed his fingers over my furrowed brow nearly brought a smile to my lips. “You’ll have your chance to ask. However, it is getting far too close to dawn for my liking.”
“You can’t leave me with nothing.”
“I haven’t left you with nothing.”
“Eirny spoke of a prophecy-“
Bright eyes narrowed, stopping me in my tracks. “Not. Tonight.”
My jaw clenched, but my irritation only amused the male not daring to blink and lose this battle of wills.
I had enough to digest for one night I supposed.
“Alright,” I relented, bowing my head in a small act of submission. “What about the council, they must know about you, will you tell them about me?”
“They do know about me. It is not common knowledge amongst all of the pack, many like you think my name a simple callback to the old days, but I am open about what I am.” He considered a moment, tipping his head. “I will not them about you yet, not until we understand everything. We don’t have enough to tell them other than news that will only bring unease. Eirny will do her tests on your blood and hopefully be able to confirm what in your lineage has given you your. . . abilities.”
A shock reverberated through me.
“That is why Caldar collected some of my blood.”
There was no sign of regret in his expression as I lifted myself up and growled. I knew there had to have been more to it than he made out at the time. What else had he been up to behind my back?
I shoved his chest but he didn’t budge, barely flinched as I snapped my teeth near his face to try and force him to back up. “You should have asked. You should have told me what you were doing. Why else did you want it?”
“I was going to see if it really was what the Blood Drinkers were after, but now your father has confirmed it, there is no need.”
“You’ll get rid of the rest then?”
“Maybe, but it could be used to draw the creatures away as much as it could be used to-“
“No,” I interrupted sharply, seeing the wolven glow of my eyes reflected in his. “Get rid of it. As soon as Eirny is done, toss it in the fire. I won’t have another death on my hands.”
He frowned and his hand came up to cup my cheek even as I continued to growl, nostrils flaring as I tried to get a hold of myself. Voice soft and tender, the rumble of my Alpha called to the wolf and I stilled to listen. “You don’t have anyone’s death on your hands, Eabha. What happened was out of your control. You’re going to have to forgive yourself one day.”
I shook my head, forcing myself flat against the wall and turning my face away from his touch. There was no forgiving what had happened. If I could, I would demand Eirny get rid of my blood before she could find out the truth about what I was too. I’d learned more about myself tonight than I could bare already, what if further knowledge hurt others even more? How could I bare that?
I wouldn’t. I would crumble.
“If you are that set against it, I will make sure the rest is discarded safely,” he finally said.
“Thank you.”
Silence fell between us again.
Despite being sure we’d spoken about everything he wished, Alpha Hati made no move to step away. One of his hands was still planted firmly against the wall, his muscled arm blocking my way on one side, while the small bedside table blocked the other. Being trapped shouldn’t have felt so inviting, but a strange heat coursed through my veins as every breath filled my lungs with his scent.
Whatever had happened to me in the hall, I could sense his magic in ways I hadn’t before too. It tickled across my skin like searching fingers and I wondered if he was using it in some way, trying to figure me out the more desperate I became to escape him. Healing couldn’t be all his powers were good for after all.
“You can feel that?” he purred, a slow smile tugging at full lips to confirm I shouldn’t have been able to sense whatever he was doing. “How intriguing.”
“I don’t wish to be intriguing. It has brought no good.”
Being so close to him never brought any good either. Pressing my damp palms against my dress, I lifted my chin to try and gulp at air untainted by his scent. It inadvertently bared my neck to him, and the ragged sound that tore from his chest as it did, made my heart flutter.
This wasn’t right. I should have been on my knees thanking my brother and uncle for saving my life, begging them to forgive the burden I brought the pack. Not resisting the urge to press my thighs together as the Alpha continued to study me so intensely that I burned wherever his gaze decided to linger. My face, my neck, anywhere not hidden by the dress clinging to sweat-beaded skin.
I needed to make him leave.
“I want some time by myself to think about it all. You should go. Ingrid will be upset with you enough already without her finding out you’ve been with me all night. It won’t put me in high favour with Gerlac either.”
Rough fingers gripped my chin, turning my head back to him, but he couldn’t force me to look up. “I already told you, I don’t make decisions on the basis of what might upset Ingrid.”
“One female,” I corrected harshly, our eyes clashing. “You said what will or won’t upset one female.”
“In that case, I shall make it clear what I meant.”
There was no time to react. Face trapped in his hand; his body crushed me against the cool stone at my back as his lips fell upon mine. It was either exhilaration or shock that zinged up my spine. I had never kissed a male before, had no idea what to do as his lips moved against mine, his other hand coming down on my hip.
I should have tried to push him away again, especially as he was only doing this to prove a point.
A thick growl and nipping teeth demanded action, drawing a gasp from me. Warm hands burned through my dress, and butterflies fluttered wildly in my stomach. Suddenly I didn’t care what game this was, what power play I was losing but inexperience and lack of confidence left me floundering.
His lips became more insistent against mine and I gave in, following his lead. Instinctually my hands lifted from my dress to curl into the rough fabric of his tunic instead of into his skin to ward him off. My head tilted as I lifted on my toes to get closer, another uncertain gasp when I felt the sweep of his tongue at the seam of my lips. The sound made him stop and draw back, hooded eyes alert.
“You have never been kissed before.” It was a statement rather than a question but I found myself nodding anyway.
Dazed and lightheaded, my knees threatened to buckle beneath me if it weren’t for the steady hand still lingering on my hip. The Alpha's face was shadowed, leaving me unsure whether it was surprise at my admission that made him smile, or if it was smug male pride at being the first. This might have been a game won to him but it was more than that to me.
“Why did you kiss me, Hati?”
“I wanted to. I want to again hearing you use only my name for once.” His nose brushed my jaw and my head fell back to allow his lips to skim down my throat. “You are welcome to use my name. I do not expect my pack to use my title as Alpha beyond times of formality.”
Finally I found the strength to push him away, not far, but enough that I could breathe again. The fog of arousal lifted and reality set in once more.
He saw the change in me, growled at it in fact. “We are both unmated; we’ve done nothing wrong.”
The excuse fell flat between us.
He was promised to Ingrid, even if Gerlac hadn’t yet done his part to see it through as of yet.
If I had met Hati in Alba, if he had hunted with my pack one summer, I would have had him. Unmated wolves were free to couple with who they pleased in their search for a suitable mate. I’d never found a male pleasing enough to do so, but this male. . .
He was unmated.
But Ingrid had not been brought up with the same view of things and I knew she would see it as a challenge.
“You have obligations to the pack, Alpha. And I just found out. . .” I couldn’t say the words out loud again. A lump formed in my throat and tears threatened to fall again.
My body was a mess of too many mixed emotions. Pressing his other arm by my head, Hati blocked my view of everything else. The male ate up my vision so I had no choice but to look at him, no choice but to think of him. “You’re right, I do have obligations, so I will take my leave now.” A sympathetic smile didn’t hide the glint in his eyes as he added huskily, “You do indeed have much to recover from.”
A blush rose to my cheeks. Guilty and wanting.
“Into bed.”
I eyed the bed in distaste but exhaustion had quickly caught up to me and it was a miracle I even remained in my feet. Wearily obeying, all the while wondering what he would think if I told him it was the first time I’d ever willingly gotten into a bed, that I’d been sleeping on the floor in front of the fire in my room. I couldn’t see what the fuss was about. The bed creaked and shuddered beneath my weight, and was lumpy and yet too padded at the same time.
Hati watched with a measure of amusement as I wriggled until I found a position I could tolerate. It felt strange being back in bed with him standing so close, even if this wasn’t my den.
“Don’t be late to the meeting tomorrow.”
“I’ll try not to be,” I replied, still feeling the pressure of his lips on mine as they moved.
He watched them move too, mesmerised by something that froze him in place before he shook himself free. “I nearly forgot. . .you were crying out in your sleep before you woke.”
It was like a latch had opened in a door in my mind. The nightmare came flooding back, chilling me to the bone as it played through my head. Most of it was fuzzy, blurred and distorted, but small parts were crystal clear; as if it was in front of my very eyes.
“I was having a bad dream.”
“About what?”
“I was in the hall in the courtyard like I’d never left it, but it had no roof and the walls were falling down. Everything was burnt and broken and thought it looked to be night, there was nothing in the sky. Something came out of the shadows, I couldn’t see it clearly. It said I shouldn’t be there, and asked questions, I can’t remember exactly.”
“Try for me,” he urged, leaning on the end of my bed.
“He mentioned you by name, he said someone would be unhappy you found me first.”
Remembering those chilling words sent a shiver up my spine but I still had no clue to their meaning. Hati, however, looked as if the ground had crumbled from under him. His skin rippled as if he was seconds from shifting and his voice was gruff as he asked, “Did this creature give you a name in return?”
It was as I feared. My dream meant something to him, no matter how much he tried to grit his teeth together to stop any sound escaping.
“All this,” I muttered, my fingers brushing against my lips before I spat more forcefully, “All this and you’re still keeping secrets!”
“What name did he give you!” he snapped, no longer baring resemblance to the male who’d dained to kiss me.
I shook my head and fell back against the pillow, rolling to give him my back despite knowing he could have my throat for such disrespect. The bed groaned from how hard he gripped it, and only because he held back from a beating I might have deserved, did I give him what he wanted.
“Narfi. I think he said his name was Narfi.”
He inhaled sharply.
Peering over my shoulder, it was frightening to see the look on his face. His jaw was slack, eyes wide and unseeing as usually sunkissed skin had took on a pale hue.
“Hati? What is it?”
He ran a hand through thick blond hair and slowly backed his way to the door. “Nothing, Little Alpha. Forgive my temper. It is a name that holds deep meaning to my people, it is nothing for you to worry about. Sleep now. I will make sure food is brought for you in the morning.”