I'm drunk so y'all better flood this chapter with comments so I can entertain myself.
Also will accept compliments on how incredibly generous I am for uploading twice 🥰🥰
#StanDrunkAuthors
I summon a knife, and turn towards Thane.
"If you've come to kill me, you should know I don't die easily," I say, my grip tightening on the handle.
Thane has a half-empty bottle of liquor in his hand, which he takes another drink from. "I remember well," He laughs.
My eyes narrow. His brown hair is messy, unkempt, as is his unshaven beard. "You look like shit," I tell him honestly, an echo of the same words he had said to me back in Blue Moon.
He laughs wildly, drunkenly. "I've seen better days, Ares."
"Where's Onyx?"
"Gone."
"You haven't found her yet?" I raise my eyebrows in surprise. I wouldn't have thought he would be here unless if he located her.
He snorts. "Oh, I found her alright. She left me as soon as I killed her little boyfriend."
My eyes widen. "You killed the rogue?"
"Yep," He said, taking another swig. "Can show you the body if you don't believe me."
I take the bottle from his hands, taking a drink myself. "You're mates. You'll figure it out. If she left, it'll only be temporary."
He shakes his head. "Some things can't be taken back. She won't forgive me for killing the rogue. To be honest... I'm not even sorry I did it."
"I know the feeling," I mutter as I take another drink. "So that's it? You just let your other half go, just like that? You're not going to fight for her, to chase her?"
Thane sighs, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "I don't want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with me. I won't beg for anyone. She made her choice, I respect it."
I nod slowly. In a way, I understand. A raven landed on the ledge next to us.
"You mind?" Thane asks, reaching for the dagger. I shake my head, handing it to him. He precisely throws it at the bird, the knife impaling it so hard it goes flying off of the ledge. I hear it crumple to the ground a few seconds later.
"Sorry," Thane mutters, taking the bottle back and drinking. "I just really needed to fucking kill something."
I swallow thickly. "Did your grandfather teach you how to do that?"
He stills. "Do what?"
My heart is pounding. "To throw knives."
Thane drops the bottle, sending glass flying in every direction. "How did you know that?" He asks as his eyes darken.
A confirmation. My dreams weren't random.
My throat tightens. "Lucky guess," I choke out.
Thane grabs my wrist. "Ares, how did you know that?"
I try pulling my arm back, but his grip is too tight. "Thane, let me go."
"The dreams..." He whispers, his face contorting in shock and terror. "You have them too, don't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," I hiss, yanking my wrist back.
"Yes you do!" Thane insists. "That's how you know about my grandfather. I'm not crazy!"
"Yes, you are," I mutter, turning around.
Thane grabs my shoulder, turning me back to him. I summon a knife, stabbing him in the side of his torso.
I start running back into the house, but white most surrounds my ankles so I can't move. "Thane, don't do this," I warn. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You have the dreams," Thane walks up to me, taking the knife out of his side and throwing it to the side. "That's why you're so freaked out."
I shake my head, refusing to admit to anything. "You have three seconds to stop your voodoo magic shit before I mindlink every Blood Lake wolf in this house, including Cain, and tell them you attacked me."
The white mist stops, and I take a step back. "Look I'm sorry you're having these weird delusions, but see a therapist. That's all I can say," I tell him.
"Ares- wait," Thane pleads, and I hesitate. "That's why you're out here right now, isn't it? You woke up from the same dream I had."
I freeze, and my hesitation is all of the confirmation he needs. "The pup," He whispers, and I see a tear fall from his eye. "You dreamt of our pup."
My heart nearly stops. He's seeing the same things I am.
"I-I'm sorry, Thane. I don't know what you're talking about," I whisper, and sprint back into the house, throwing the door open to our room, locking it behind me.
"Ares?" I hear Cain's sleepy voice say, and he sits up. "Where did you go off too?"
"I just needed some fresh air."
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The next morning, Cain continued to incessantly lecture me on the dangers of going off into a foreign territory by myself without any guards or telling him.
"I mean seriously, what the fuck were you thinking, Ares?" Cain asked for what must have been the twentieth time.
"Sorry," I mutter, for the fortieth time.
"You could have been killed! Do you realize how serious..." Cain continues to nag me, and I tune out his voice as I get dressed, still thinking about the prior night.
I couldn't sleep for a minute after my interaction with Thane. I refused to believe that he was having the same dreams as me, even though it was plainly confirmed. It would make it too real if I were to admit that the dreams weren't just limited to me.
If Thane saw everything I saw... It felt like an invasion of privacy, as stupid as it sounds. He had seen the same fucked-up alternate reality I had... seen all of the images of us kissing, of us... I blocked out the rest of that sentence.
"Sorry to yell," Cain apologized, wrapping his arms around me after I dressed. "You just can't do that again, okay?"
"I won't," I promise, though I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll have this argument.
Cain exhales in relief. "I'm just glad you're safe. Care to tell me about the dream?"
I freeze against him. "What did you just say?"
"The dream," He restates. "The one that terrorized you enough to make you wake up in the middle of the night and get away from me?"
I relax. Of course he wouldn't know about my dreams with Thane. Although, Thane could always say something to him, now that he believed that it wasn't just him.
I mean seriously, how was this even possible? An even more troubling question I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to: What had Thane thought this whole time? That he was just having dreams about his cousin's mate? Had I unknowingly contributed to him and Onyx's breakup? Onyx had been worried from the start that there was something going on between us.
"You don't have to answer. Sorry to pry," Cain apologizes, and I'm yanked back into reality. "I'll tell all of the Blood Lake wolves to meet us at the cars. We'll go swing by to pick up Zach before meeting them."
I nod, packing up our stuff, and wrap my cloak tighter around me as we leave the room.
"Leaving so soon?" I hear Killian's voice say in the hallway. "We have an excellent breakfast spread in the dining hall."
Cain shakes his head. "We have a long trip ahead of us."
"Well, it was a pleasure seeing you both," Killian says, a coy smile playing on his face that I want to punch off. "Ares, hopefully I'll be seeing you again soon."
My eyes narrow as he stalks off, and Cain's body is shaking angrily. Relax, he's just trying to bait you, I attempt to calm him.
Cain takes a deep breath. I could kill him easily, you know.
I laugh, and pinch his cheek teasingly. I know. You're the biggest, baddest Alpha around.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The car ride back to Blood Lake was awkward, to say the least. Cain drove, and I took the passenger seat, while Zach and his mate Cassia took the back.
She was sitting as far away from him as she could, her head resting on the side of the window away from Zach.
Remind you of someone? Cain asked teasingly, and I rolled my eyes.
Something tells me Zach won't burn her into oblivion for wanting some space, I retort.
Only because he can't, Cain points out, and I laugh aloud, making Zach and Cassia's head snap up to look at me. The she-wolf had tears running down her face, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. It wasn't that long ago I felt the exact same way she did. Although she was only sad because of her little boyfriend.
She left me as soon as I killed her little boyfriend, Thane's words floated around in my mind. Did he kill the rogue because of me? No, that would be insane.
What's on your mind, pup? Cain's voice suddenly spoke into my head.
I decide to be honest. My dreams. Well, I decided to be mostly honest. Do you think dreams can just be dreams, no reasoning or logic behind them?
Cain considers my question. No, he answers, and my heart drops. I think when we have dreams, it's because there's something pressing on our minds. Your nightmares are from the trauma you suffered. It's your way of working through it.
I nod. That made sense, but not in the context of the dreams about Thane, which of course he wouldn't know. He still thought all of my nightmares were Wilson-related.
Do you think Cassia will ever forgive Zach for taking her away from Crimson Shadow? I ask Cain, changing the subject.
She doesn't have a choice. The mating bond is impossible to fight, Cain says, and I gulp. But there was no mating bond between Thane and I, my wolf didn't recognize him at all.
When we finally arrive back to Blood Lake, Zach unloads Cassia's luggage, and tells her that they're going back to his home. She ignores him, her fists tightening as she follows him.
My cell phone buzzes, and I so rarely receive messages I almost forgot I owned it. I pull it out of one of my bags as Cain and I head into the Pack House. I read the message. It's from Thane.
We need to talk.
"Who is it?" Cain asks curiously as I stare at my phone.
I quickly turn it off.
"Wrong number."
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