The Alpha King's Wrath

3 Nightmares

Panic rises in me as I'm running through the dark forest. Someone's chasing me. I can feel his presence but I don't know who it is, just a desperate urge propels me further. Jagged branches scratch my skin as I fight and claw my way through the dense underbrush. The only sound I hear is the hammering of my heart.

I dodge and weave with each step, but I feel him closing in. A familiar, sinister energy seeps into me, sending cold shivers down my spine and making my skin crawl.

"Did you think this was over?" A haunting, familiar face sneers, coming into view.

The man that has caused me so much pain and suffering sends my panic into over drive as my eyes lock wide. He looks the same as he did when I first met him at Conference - blonde hair, blue eyes, rugged Alpha build that would be handsome if he wasn't such an abomination.

"You're d-dead," I stammer, gasping as I trip over a root and fall to the ground. Rocks dig into my palms as I scoot backwards, desperate for space. Dimitri glares down at me with a bone chilling grin that makes my heart hammer harder against my chest, threatening to break free.

"Do I look dead?" He leers but the sparkle in his blue eyes shows he's delighting in my panic.

"This is a dream!" I scream, freezing and covering my ears with my hands. A heavy weight squeezes my throat, making me gasp to breathe. My heart stops as my thumbs brush against a thick, smooth leather strap that's wrapped around my neck. Whimpering, I claw at the collar around my neck as I struggle to breathe.

"Is it?" Dimitri asks, crouching down mere inches from me. "Or... did you only kill me in your dreams?" The cold look in his icy blue eyes rocks me to my core. At this moment I have no idea what's real or not. I can smell him, feel his breath, the weight of the collar squeezing tighter around my neck.

"JESSICA WAKE UP!"

I jump awake, startled as my heart beats a mile a minute, fingernails digging into two wrists that wrap around my shoulders. Blinking, the forest fades into the abyss and a pair of familiar, worried blue eyes hold all my attention.

"J-Jude?" I whimper, feeling my bottom lip tremble.

"Thank God," he gasps, pulling me close and wrapping me up in his warm embrace. In this moment I break, melting as sobs wrack my body.

It wasn't real.

He's dead.

You're safe.

I repeat my mantra trying to calm my racing heart and reel in my explosive emotions. Slowly, my senses come back to me and I take in my surroundings. I'm on my bed in Crutis' house, Jude has pulled me onto his lap as he waits for me to calm back down. Oma and Jude's mate Chloe are in the doorway. By how I can feel others, I've woken the whole house.

"She's okay," Jude calls over his shoulder. Slowly, feet shuffle and the door closes, giving us some privacy.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, feeling embarrassment burn my cheeks. I haven't had a bad nightmare like this in so long.

"Shhh, Jess, no one can control their dreams. You have nothing to apologize for," he says, pulling back and locking his blue eyes on mine. My eyes go wide at the thin line of fresh blood on his cheek. The marks are scratches from me... with more on his neck and chest. Tears prick the corners of my eyes as Ember races frantically around in my mind.

"Jude-"

"None of that!" He says firmly, stopping my melt down. "I'm just glad it wasn't one of those locked in dreams and that you scratched instead of punched." His lips pull up into a small smile as my cheeks burn even brighter.