Moon Marked

28| Mark of Distress

Aurelia

He must have carried me to bed, and I must have shifted back to my human form completely at ease in his arms, the instant comfort his presence brought me thrumming through my bloodstream even as I started to wake. The tenderness of my limbs were locked around his, our bodies tangled together in the sheets as he bristled in his sleep.

I still remembered the way the light of the moon shimmered down on the both of us, my wolf nuzzling against the warmth of his flesh as our hearts began to beat in tandem. It was a peacefulness I hadn't known until I had met him, it resonated deep in my bones and clung to the claim in my blood—and yet, after the few days we had spent indulging in one another, the fogginess of our desire was starting to cement and I couldn't help but think he was keeping something from me.

It was the slightest of feelings that churned in my gut, something I knew needed more than 3 days to unveil itself—even still, I didn't like not knowing and I disliked even more that he felt the need to hide it from me in the first place.

His secrets were his own to tell, and I knew I had to be patient to hear them—just like I had been patient in waiting for him to claim me, but all I wanted to do was make him feel as safe and as supported as he made me feel. I wanted to comfort him as he did me, I wanted to unburden the heaviness in his heart like he had done the moment he had found me. Most of all I wanted him to know that I would shoulder all of his hardships if he let me, that it was my duty and my desire to make them easier for him to carry.

Nevertheless, he was unlike me in many ways—powerful, brooding, commanding—we were at the beginning stages of a mate bond where he didn't think he needed to bother me with his problems, but that did not mean he didn't share the same strains of a human soul.

I gasped as his body pulled away from mine all of a sudden, the comforting way he held me seized by the demons taking hold of his exhaustion as his body writhed against the mattress with wild force. He growled a dangerous sound as I moved, my slender body following his movements as he twisted and turned in his sleep.

He was being held hostage by his dreams, fighting a battle that was all in his head and I was the only thing that could break the chains he was covered in.

I pressed my hand to his arm, his body jolting in retaliation to my touch. I hadn't had many nightmares before, but I knew I was good at tending to them. Meena was plagued with the traumas of her past, and even though she showed strength in every waking moment, when she slept she could not control her dreams.

"Aurelia—please, no—" His growls weakened, his voice breaking down with agony as my heart collided in torment.

He was terrified.

The biggest and strongest Alpha I knew, and he was terrified of what he was seeing in his dreams. I had never heard anything like it before, and it cracked a chasm straight through my chest like a knife piercing my heart.

I moved with much more urgency now, my body climbing onto his as I straddled his waist, stopping his tortured movements by pressing the entirety of my body to his. His heart was racing as I pressed my palms flat against his chest, but my warmth was still not enough to wake him from the torment he was currently facing.

"I'm here," I told him, pushing my body against his until there were no gaps left between us. "I'm right here," I repeated, over and over again—until my voice was hoarse and tears started to blur my vision.

My fingers moved to run over the features of his face when my voice and my warmth were still not enough, my touch drawing soft and soothing lines to counteract the darkness in his dreams—and after too long, and after my tears had dried against my cheeks, he finally began to come to.