Him, My Alpha Mate

chapter 1: the nightmare

I shoot up out of bed, heart racing and my chest heaving as I try to catch my breath after the latest nightmare. 

Those damn green eyes. 

For as long as I can remember, I have had the same reoccurring nightmare, going on for around 23 years now. They don't happen every night, but it happens often enough that I can remember everything in vivid detail. I am running through a forest, frantically looking behind me to make sure no one is following me. I can hear the pounding of something as it hits the forest floor, its quick pace matching that of my racing heart. 

Out of no where, a tree root causes me to trip and fall down, twisting my ankle in the process. I struggle but get up, pushing myself to run further and further into the forest. At this point, I am limping, struggling to get away from whatever is chasing me. What is chasing me, that I am not sure of. All I know is that I need to get away from it.

The sounds from behind are getting louder, indicating that they are getting closer. Tears are streaming down my face from what I am assuming is the pain and fear. I fall down again, and, this time, I do not get back up as I am unable to. The roots have seemed to have grown a mind of their own and have wrapped around my ankles and wrists, holding me in place. Instead, I look up to meet a pair of glowing green eyes. 

Then, I wake up.

While there are some slight variations to my nightmare, the general premise stays the same: I am in the woods being chased, I hurt myself in some way shape or form, and it ends with me staring into a pair of these eyes. 

This time, though, it was different. I had never been trapped by the roots before. It added a whole other level of terrifying to the dream. Not that it already wasn't awful. 

I sigh and glance at my clock. 6:43 am. I stare up at the ceiling, hoping that by some grace of whoever was up there that it wasn't really time for me to get up and get ready for work. Glancing at the clock that now read 6:44 am, I realize my prayers are not going to get answered, and my rent is not going to pay itself. 

The carpet is soft on my feet as I slide out of bed and shuffle my way into the bathroom to get ready. I splash water on my face as I get ready, hoping that something will wake me up enough to face the day head on. 

Grabbing an everything bagel with cream cheese, I walk out the door and start the short walk to the bookstore I work at.

"Hello, Spellbound Books, this is Maggie speaking. How can I help you?" Maggie, my spitfire of a boss, picked up the phone right as I walked in the door at 7:00 am. She waved hello to me, a smile on her face as I smile and wave back at her, before getting back to the customer on the other end.

While she takes care of the customer, I clock in and start cataloging some of the new books we got in this past week's shipment. 

"Hey, Vanessa!" I hear from behind me, making me jump suddenly and clutch my hand to my chest. I turn around to see a sheepish looking Maggie unable to make eye contact with me.

"Oops?" she says. "Didn't mean to scare ya, sweetheart."

"You're good!" I say, letting out a laugh. "I'm just a little tired this morning." She clicks her tongue at me and shakes her head.

"The nightmare again?" she asks, moving to the side of me to help me with the cataloguing.

"Yeah," I respond. "But hey, at least they get me up in the morning, right?" She smiles at my attempt to cheer her up, but I can tell in her eyes that she worries for me. In the past three months, she always treated me like I was her own daughter. She found out my parents had passed away in an accident when I was younger, and, I swear, in that moment, it was as if she had been given some duty to protect me at all costs. Sometimes, it felt nagging, but it was nice to be cared for after so long.