She nods, then chews on her lip like she does when she worries. My hand is almost the size of her face. She's so small and delicate. Fierce. Fucking fierce, this girl.
My thumb, tracing the line of her jaw, reaches up and pulls her lip from her teeth.
"I don't know the answer, but I suspect yes, he is."
A single tear falls from her right eye. It tracks all the way down her cheek, wetting my thumb. I wipe it away.
"And it's just…" her voice shakes. "I feel sofuckingstupid. Because I see him in this dream and it's probably not even real, but whoisthis woman? And nothing looks okay. Something is clearly wrong. She isn't well. But then I wake up and I feel jealous. Like, what the fuck is wrong with me?"
I offer a sad smile. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with you, Mona. You're perfect."
She rolls her eyes, but I grip her chin harder, making her breath catch.
"No, don't do that. To me, you are perfect. And to Orion. You've gone through so much to get here, to get to us, and you did it all on your own, with no knowledge of shifters and without any help. You and your wolf, you are perfect because you never gave up, you fought so hard, and you made it here to us. We're here now to help you. Don't doubt yourself or any of your feelings.
"I don't know why you're dreaming of Silas and another woman. Maybe subconsciously it's your brain manifesting youranxieties about what he did to you. All I know is that it's okay to feel whatever you feel about him. Anger, resentment, distrust. Lust. Jealousy. Don't try to explain it away or make sense of it. And definitely don't let yourself feel bad about it."
"It just feels so wrong," she whispers. "Dirty."
"Because of what he did to you?"
"Yeah. And… I don't know. I can't explain it, Grayson, but… it feels so real. I can smell the room. Him, her. The magic. I can feel the stone walls. It feels dirty because they don't look okay. And I'm ashamed to be jealous of her when she looks like she's half-dying. Like, what the fuck," she huffs, about to berate herself again.
"Stop. Don't do that. You're entitled to whatever you feel."
"Do you think it's real?"
I shake my head. "Your dreams? I mean… I don't know. Just because a dream feels real doesn't mean—"
"Orion told me omegas can have other powers. Like, prophetic ones."
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "You think it's prophetic?" My instinct is to dismiss that as ridiculous. But Orion is right. Omegas do have other powers.
But it seems highly unlikely, especially in this instance. She's dreaming of the man who hurt her. It only makes sense it would manifest in a way that would invoke complicated feelings, considering he likely is her mate.
"I don't want you to worry about this right now."
She frowns, but it morphs into a yawn. She nods tiredly, then settles back under the covers. "Will you… will you stay?"
"I'm not going fucking anywhere."
She giggles, and the tinkling sound shoots straight to my heart. And then she snuggles closer, a palm on my chest, the other reaching across my stomach, and when she pulls her leg up over mine, her knee grazes my cock, making it stiffen. I swallowthe groan and freeze, but there's no sense in pretending I'm not getting hard.
She's not oblivious. Her scent changes—sweeter, more honeyed—and her omega nuzzles closer.
She's here, in my arms. Cuddling closer. By choice.
Mona chose our clan today. And right now, she's choosing me.
As much as I want to take things to a place I've only dreamed about, it's not the right time. Even if it has been over six months with nothing but my hand for company—the longest I've gone since I lost my virginity over a fucking century ago. My gaze drags unwillingly to the hallway near the bathroom—the one that leads to the nest.
My father's original cabin was smaller. At first it was just him and my mother, eventually adding me and Silas. They never bonded with any other wolves. I think, as Lune, it was hard for him to add to his small pack. He didn't have a twin brother like I did, or a friend like Orion that he grew up with. He didn't expect his family to grow.
Over the years, when it became clear Silas, Orion and I were pack—I think we were still teenagers at the time—he expanded the cabin. Added more bedrooms, a third floor. And a nest—though the original intention was just to be a massive bedroom. He knew we'd have a larger family. Someday, a woman of our own to share.
He didn't know we'd mate with an omega. That we'd need that room for heats.
I push thoughts of the nest from my mind. There's already too much happening, and Mona needs time before we broach that particular subject. This morning, when I read her detailed descriptions of her shifting experiences, I could tell by the way she described her first heat, she had no idea what was happening to her. Likely still doesn't understand what it means.
