The Tormented Soul

Aleera's POV
I am half asleep and could feel the warmth around my body. I could also feel some weird
heaviness that I never felt before. This was a really nice night I was able to sleep the whole night. I kept my eyes closed. I didn't
want to wake up, this was so nice and I was so comfortable when I felt something breath on my neck.
I opened my eyes and I looked down at my waist and I could see an arm. I thought to myself, ‘what the hell is that doing there
and whose arms is it?’ I could then smell the aroma of strawberries and chocolate. I moved my head just a little bit so I could
look behind me and I saw Darius. Why was he here and why is he holding me? I took a hold of the duvet close to my chest so
that I could move away from him. As I moved away I must have woken him up because when I looked back he was awake. He
looked at me and he probably saw the fear that crossed my face.
He put his arms up in surrender and I took a breath.
"Alea, you don't need to be scared I know this probably looks weird to you but I promise I did not do anything to you."
"What are you doing in here?" I asked him with a scared voice.
"You had a nightmare last night and was screaming so bad that you woke up the whole packhouse. People thought that we were
under attack. You asked me to stay here with you."
He took a breath and then continued.
"I tried to go back to my room when you fell asleep but every time I moved away from you, you would make weird sounds like
your mind and your dreams were being haunted so that's why I stayed the whole night with you." He said so calmly.
Now I was in shock. Did I really say that he could stay here? I held the duvet to my chest covering me while I looked down trying
to remember what I was dreaming about last night but I couldn’t remember it at all. I was so deep in my own thoughts trying to
figure out my dream from last night that I had not noticed that Darius was talking to me until I felt his touch and I looked up into
his brown eyes.
"Huh?" I said because I did not hear what he said.
"I said, you don't remember right?"
"No, I don't." I answer back

He still had his hand on my arm. He was moving his thumb up and down sending electric sparks throughout my body.
"You were screaming. ‘They are here. Get them off me.’ Who were you screaming to?"
"No one you know. I don't want to talk about it." I told him and turned away from him so he could not see my face.
Why would I scream that out loud? I have never screamed anything out loud before when I had nightmares, not that I know
about. So why would I start doing it now? He said that I made sounds and it sounded to him that my dreams and my mind were
being haunted. The reasonable explanation for that must be that I was dreaming about my past.
Just the thought of that made my body shiver. I pushed Darius’s hand away from my arm and pulled my legs closer to my chest
and my arms around my legs. I leaned my face to my knees that was under the duvet and I could feel that I was crying and that
the duvet got wet from my tears.
I could hear him say my name a couple of times before I looked up.
"Alea, you know that me and my pack are here for you. We just hope that you will gain trust in us and tell us what happened to
you so we can help you move forward." He said.
I don't know where the need to tell him something came from but suddenly I had the courage to say something about how I felt
about the past and what it has done to me.
"I will tell you that I feel numb throughout my body. I don't trust anyone, especially men. After all these years I have been treated
badly and it feels like I am dead inside. I am afraid that I will go through that again. Everytime I close my eyes I’m back where I
have been for so many years.”
I took a breath and continued again.
"If you know how to bring me back after so many years of being tortured and living nightmares most couldn't dream of then be
my guest because I certainly don't know how."
"I didn’t ask you to open up right away. And yes you're right, I don't know what you have been through, but I can see it in your
eyes that you are in pain. Being your mate it hurts me to see you in pain. I will protect you. I just hope that one day you will open
up to me, and gain trust in me. "
He paused and then continued when our eyes found each other

"The only thing I know is that you have been abused, beaten, and I know for certain that you have been raped."
Now I was shocked! How did he know ALL that? I only just now told him about the torture.
"How do you know all that?" I asked him with an angry and scared voice.
"When I found you I could smell some other men's semen on you. And when Celia did an examination on your body when I first
brought you here she told me that she could see that you have been beaten a couple of times, but by who we don't know."
Tears were beginning to well up in my eyes and run down my cheeks when I noticed Darius’s hand coming closer and closer to
my cheek and I moved away and pointed to the door.
"Please get out."
"I will leave the room, but I will never leave you. You are my mate and I will be with you until that day I die. Remember this Alea, I
will always have your back and support you." He sighed looking into my eyes before he left the room. Before he closed the door I
did look up and into his eyes again and I could see pain and sadness. I know I caused it because I was not ready to fully open up
to him. I don't know if I ever will be.