ALPHA: Heir Of The Four

Chapter Sixteen | Part II

     And I knew that I should have stopped allowing my mind to wander down the particular path it was heading towards—the one in which it forced me to question things. I knew it and my wolf knew it too because I felt his angst radiating within me, felt his warning chilling me to the bone. But as I continued to look at Ava-Rain, staring into the warmth of her brown eyes and thankful that she was okay, I failed to stop myself from wondering where the hell that voice had been when I was trying to save Emmy Grace.

     "You brought me back," Ava-Rain said as she slid her arms around me and offered me another soft smile.

     "Did you ever doubt that I would?"

     "Never," she replied with more conviction than I expected, and with so much certainty that, for a moment, I envied her optimism.

     Somebody clearing their throat interrupted our moment, and I knew without having to look behind me who had been brave enough to commit the act. "You do remember that we're still here, right?" Kane asked. "You want to, you know, maybe take a second or two—or thirty—to tell us what the hell we just witnessed, Caleb?"

     "I think it's pretty obvious what happened," I heard Chase reply.

      Tearing my gaze away from Ava-Rain after she simply nodded to assure me that it was okay, I turned to face my awaiting pack members. . .and Angelie. Immediately, Chase, who had been a foot or two behind Kane joined his side, while the rest of my deltas moved to stand behind them. My eyes trailed over each member of the pack, taking in the confusion mixed with relief written on each of their faces. They witnessed their easily contained need for answers bubbling just underneath the surface of their hard and dominant exteriors. They saw their strength and their fearlessness; their hope and their faith.

     What my eyes did not see were any traces of loss or defeat. They did not see a shred of abandonment or an ounce of surrender. There was not a shred of evidence to suggest that the men standing before me—my brothers—had given up on me or Ava-Rain. Had they not realized just how close they came to losing us both? Had they not witnessed it? Sensed it? Felt it?

     "You dream walked," Angelie's voice sliced through the silence, causing every head to turn in her direction. She was off to the left side of the room, seated on the floor with her back propped up against the wall. "My Goddess, you freaking dream walked, didn't you, Caleb?"

     If 'dream' referred to being mentally teleported inside of Ava-Rain's mind, and the 'walk' was fighting against being burned, drowned and swallowed alive, then yes, I supposed so.

"Let's just say, I don't envy full blooded heirs of the yellow. At all."

     "You mean to tell me you just hijacked her mind?" Kane asked, surprise lacing his tone.

     "But you've never been able to do that before." Chase responded to the answer he had not even given me the chance to voice.

     "One second you're trying to wake Ava-Rain up," Kane continued, "and in the next, she woke up."

     Wait, what?

Was Kane saying that this 'dream walk' had taken place in a matter of seconds? I had to have been out for at least half an hour. "I have the yellow coursing through my veins and it's probably as watered down as it can possibly get, but I don't think entering another's mind has ever been that easy. Or that quick."

     "Because it's not that easy nor is it that quick," Angelie added as she slowly rose to her feet. "Especially not without years of practice under your belt, and even then, one cannot literally implant themselves into another's mind. Not even an heir of the yellow. So how the hell did you manage to do it?"