The pain in her voice has my purr reigniting in an instant. I didn’t even realize I stopped. But the moment I begin again, her shoulders seems to fall and she leans into me, like she needs more of my rumble.
So I give it to her, my hand resuming the caress against her back as my mind tries to puzzle through everything she’s saying.
I thought she meant thosebeasts—the ones she was clearly fighting in her nightmare—were hurting my sister. Whether it be now or in the future.
But she just said that’snothappening to my sister.
So who is it happening to?
Her words while she slept come rolling through my mind.“Fate… is worth… the pain.”
That doesn’t sound like it’s related to my sister at all, but to Ashlyn.
“Are the beasts attacking you in the vision?” I ask, aware that she just asked me for time to process, but needing to know if I’m understanding her fear.
The way she stiffens again confirms what I need to know.
“Visions are complicated,” she replies, not at all answering my question.
“Ashlyn—”
“I can’t, Grey,” she whispers, sounding exhausted despite having slept over twelve hours. “It’s delicate. I… I don’t want to make anything worse by revealing too much.”
“Then give me something to work off of,” I demand. Because I can’t let that happen to her. I can’t let that happen to Nikiski. I just can’t let any of it happen.
She sighs and drops her head back once more, her eyes are less frightened than before as she meets my gaze.
“Whenever I dream of her, there are endless candles. I’ve always wondered why, but…” She looks around at the walls. “I suppose you would need a lot of candles if you lived inside a cave, right? Because there would never be any sunlight.”
Her words are a riddle, yet not.
“You think she’s in a cave.”
Ashlyn shrugs. “I don’t know for sure. But I think it’s possible, yes.”
“That’s not very helpful,” I admit, sighing a little.
“Perhaps not,” she agrees, sounding sad again. “However, I would think a massive cave system might stand out on a map. Especially one with that many candles.”
I frown. “How many candles?” That seems to be an important note.
“Thousands,” she whispers. “Thousands upon thousands.”
“I see.”
Her lips curl, but it’s not a happy smile. “Pretty sure you don’t, Alpha Grey. But that’s why I’m here, right? To be your eyes?”
“Grey,” I growl at her.
She shivers in response. “Grey,” she echos, her palm coming up to caress my cheek. “You should know that it’s not your beast I fear in my nightmares,Alpha. I’m not afraid to meet him.”
Fuck. My inner wolf snarls in anticipation, ready to give her exactly what she desires. Which I amnotdoing. Particularly, after whatever hell she just witnessed in her sleep.
“You need to eat,” I grind out, needing some manner of sanity to latch onto. “I’ll make you some salmon.”
Her eyes widen. “Salmon?”
“Didn’tseethat coming, hmm?” I muse, my palm still caressing her back. “My beast likes to play in the water.”
