TWO ALPHAS, ONE MATE

NIGHTMARE| 5

"Hello, baby. I've been waiting for you," I hear a deep voice say, coming from the trees around me.

I am terrified. I get up from the forest floor. I stand, looking at the all too familiar surroundings. 

"Where am I? How did I get here?"

I start turning in all directions.

"Crystal, help! Crystal, where are you?"

The voice speaks again. Its volume louder. I feel like it is closing in.

"Shhh baby... she can't hear you. No one can. That's my privilege."

I hear a mocking tone from the voice. Clearly, this individual feels entertained by the show I am putting on.

"Look, I don't know how you managed to steal me from Crystal's house without me or anyone noticing, but you better stop."

I ball my hands, hoping the voice can tell I meant business.

I might be shaking, afraid for my safety, but overall, I am just annoyed over my whole crappy day. I got stalked and chased. To make matters worse, I am accused of sneaking into the Big Green to see a so call 'lover' by my first crush, who currently seems to hate me.

The voice laughs. It is such a sinister chuckle.

"Baby, I didn't have to steal you. You came to me."

"I would never come to you."

I kept moving in all directions, hoping to detect the origin of the voice.

"Listen, baby. The only reason you are here is because you were thinking about me," I hear the voice say, coming from behind.

I whip my body around to face it.  A figure begins to emerge from the darkness. The moonlight helps illuminate the scene.

I step back as I see a gigantic black wolf emerge from the trees.

It's that animal.

My mind in chaos, I am certain its playing tricks on me. I want to move back from the animal, but my feet seem to lack function. I am paralyzed as I see the wolf start to circle me.

"Here I am, baby."

I stare at the wolf but notices no movement from its mouth.

"Where are you? Is this your little pet?"

I hear a growl from the wolf, captivating my gaze again.

"It's me, baby. I am the wolf. I am in your head, and you are in mine. This is how you can hear my thoughts."

I take a deeper look into the wolf's eyes. The wolf just nods his head, confirming the previous statement. Now, it is certain; I have completely lost it.

I do not want to participate in this whole charade, but I have no choice other than to listen. I want answers and to move on with my life.

I hesitantly question, "you're in my head."

"Precisely. I did not have to take you from your little friend's house. You summoned me when you began to think about me."

I scoff, "I thought about you for like 2 seconds because I was looking at the nasty mark you left me. I fell asleep really easy without having a second thought about you."

The voice gets louder in my head as the wolf circles me, again.

"Ahhh... I see. So, you are asleep. I was wondering why I am talking to you in this forest. You've must have been dreaming about me, sexy."

I do not appreciate the ego. The wolf radiates arrogance.

The voice continues, "that mark I left you is responsible for all this. The fact that you are here with me means you have begun to accept it."

My head begins to pound.

Continuing, the voice says, "in a conscious state, the mark can help me get in contact with you and vice versa. In an unconscious state, like when one is sleeping, I can get inside your mind, and interact with you. This forest was not my idea but makes sense that you would put this little interaction here. It is where I claimed you, after all."

I glance at the mark, then back at the wolf as he finishes, "you are dreaming essentially. But this interaction is very much real."

The information is overwhelming, causing me to collapse on the ground. The wolf halts, maintaining its distance.

"So, I'm dreaming. This is in fact in my head. I'm making this whole crap up," I say to myself with a slight chuckle, relieve things are making sense.

I knew I obviously was making things up in my head. I'm just traumatized.

I need to wake up to get out this nightmare.

I did not know how to do that. So, I decide to play along more with the situation my mind orchestrated, surely as a coping mechanism.

With some humor in my tone, I say, "wolf-man voice, how the hell do I wake up?"

The voice answers with such displeasure, "you are dreaming, but this is happening. This interaction is very much real, baby. I can see you are not convinced."

The wolf walks toward me. I quickly stand up. Although I am sure this is all fake, the sensation seems too real.

"I will come for you and explain everything in due time. I also have a lot of questions that I need answered..."

"Yeah...yeah," I interrupt the voice from talking.

I start openly yelling, looking up towards the sky.

"Listen here brain, tomorrow we will watch rom-coms and think about that instead. I'm not digging this whole situation," I end, convinced this is all a result from the figment of my imagination.

The voice gets softer, "I can see my time is running out. Just wait for me, sweetheart. You ARE mine. I always take what belongs to me... you soon will see my true self."

The last few words fade out as her eyesight darkens again.

I suddenly gasp for air. I look around and am elated to be back inside Crystal's room. Crystal still has not made it back.

I am covered in sweat. I check the time and see that only an hour has pass. I sit in silence, trying to collect my thoughts. They are chaotic.

My attention is pulled back to the bedroom door as it begins to open. My heart stops when I see Ethan make his way to the bed.