The Fragility of Fate ✔️

04 | In Dreams

Two weeks later

As sunlight rippled through the curtains, I watched my mate from beside her bed. When we left the Shadow Moon Pack that night, I'd arranged our spiritual healer and medical doctor to be on-site at our pack hospital, ready to tend to my mate.

For the past two weeks, she remained unconscious. Despite being medically stable, it was as if she'd given up. All I could do was sit there and watch her wither, feeling completely and utterly hopeless.

A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts, "What?!"

Hesitantly, our healer Adrienne opened the door, "I'm sorry to disturb you Gabriel, but there is one option left... The risks are high because there is a chance you can't return if you do it, but I believe that's where she is hiding..."

"You mean dream walking, as entering her dreams?"

"Yes. You're bonded by fate, you're the only one who can find her and get her to return. I can guide you in, but I have no control over what happens once you're there..."

Dream walking was a practice of the Old Arts, although spoken of in fables, wasn't necessary or desired with the modern way forward. It sounded like compete bullshit to be honest, but I was willing to give it a go.

Quietly, I let go of my mate's hand and left the room to discuss the possibility of dream walking in more detail. Interrupting Adrienne and Neve, I asked, "So, what, a kind of guided meditation so I communicate with her in her dream?"

"It's fucking unethical Adrienne, I can't believe you'd suggest it. She deserves her privacy, especially considering what we know she's been through. Gabriel..."

Snarls emit from my wolf, angered at her insinuation. "I resent you'd even imply I'd be capable of manipulating her surroundings and experiences Neve. It could be the only chance I have to bring her back. I have to take it."

"What if you can't come back? Our pack is nervous, they know Jacob is waiting for his opportunity to strike. He knows your weakness now... Seriously!"

"James is more than capable to handle things in my absence Neve, you know this... Adrienne, what's the longest someone has done this for and made it back?"

"Seven hours. I can do my best to pull you out by then, but a moment longer and you'll both be trapped on the astral plane."

"It's done then. I'm going in for her. Prepare what you need... you know where to find me."
With that, I turned away from them both and walk back to the side of my mate.

Watching the rise and fall of her chest, I tuck her hair behind her ear. She is so fucking perfect. The curvature of each eye lash through to her hair, her crowning glory, the length of which adorn her frame... sable, and as soft as silk. I imagine her wolf is just as beautiful, but she remains hidden in the corners of her mind, unwilling to be seen. So many questions... I will see you soon, my mate.

~

Peering through the pine trees like a voyeur, I scanned the subconscious surroundings of my mate's mind. Every so gently I stepped forward, one foot at a time as I delved deeper, aware that I was infringing on her privacy, her sanctuary, her safety. I wouldn't have known I wasn't in reality if not for the subtle hue of grey in the light spectrum, as if I was in an old black and white film projection complete with grainy and disjointed slides.

I let my instincts guide me as I walked through the dense forest, deeper... deeper, to the crevice of her mind until I saw her. Her back was to me, as she stood on moss covered stones, subdued in her misery as she watched the torrent of leaves flow down the small babbling brook in front of her. The world she'd created for herself was beautiful. But it wasn't real. And I wasn't going to let her stay.

Before I could say anything, and without turning around, she spoke, "I know you're here and you need to leave." Her voice... It sent a pure, unadulterated wave of her emotion through me. I felt her pain. I felt her apathy. Pushing my own feelings of rejection and hurt aside, I didn't respond verbally. I continued to edge towards her, making it known by my deliberate stepping of branches in an attempt to keep her calm and aware of my movements.

I stopped behind her at roughly arms length, but made no attempt to touch her, "Why won't you turn around and show me your face?"

"Because I know if I see you, it might weaken my resolve. You must understand I can never go back."

Instinctively I reached my arm forward and turned her shoulder towards me, guiding her around to face me. The surge of electricity pulsed through my fingertips, a momentous moment marred by the dire situation we were in. With every passing moment, the chance of making in back to our world in time was fading. As she turned, she made no effort to make eye contact, but what I felt through our physical touch was enough to shatter me. As my fingertips lingered against her shoulder, she released the walls from mind, showing me in no uncertain terms that she was dying, her wolf, given up, and herself bowed down and broken. Without saying anything, I stepped closer to her. Cupping her chin in my hands, I stood silent, resting my forehead forward, lowered down against hers.

"I would stay here forever with you if not for what I've seen in my own subconscious in finding you..." With that I opened my mind, showing her the visions of our future... Both of our eyes closed, as images unfolded between us of our future life together. Scenes of our first child being born played between us. Flash forwarding to her graying locks of hair dancing in the wind as smile lines adorned her face from a life well lived... "Don't let him take you both away. You have to fight..."

"Please, let me stay here." Her eyes pleaded with me not to make her confront the past and face a future. Within each passing moment, I could feel the distance between our realities divide further before I took drastic action.

Grabbing her wrist, my own selfishness and desire took over. Literally pulling her from the enclave within, I bundled her into my arms and held her against my chest. Her chestnut hair flailing wildly, I ran. I ran. And I ran. My own heartbeat thumping erratically was juxtaposed by her own, which was getting weaker by the moment as we fought each other's wills for our own selfish desire. From the dense forest to open fields to a vast, directionless expanse, the scenes cracking at the fray as I desperately sprinted to the light. With each lurch forward her weight pulled backwards, magnetic synergy dragging her to her afterlife. It is not your time!

I was fighting an unseen battle, my strength tested to it's limits with every fiber of my being being torn in two. My teeth gritted as my wolf, who couldn't surface in this realm, howled in desperation urging me forward in merciless conviction. My vision blurred. My chest heaved. My steps fumbled... The ringing of my ears spinning my mind into a suspended haze as I fell forward into the abyss of the unknown, unsure of which side I'd wake up on. Unsure if I'd wake up at all...

Thank you for reading.

Don't forget to vote and comment if you are enjoying my story.