Wolftale AM

Chapter 17: Nightmares

Nightmare bolted up. What... What was that? He shook his head and looked over to his mate sleeping next to him. He let out a small huff. Just a nightmare. The alpha rested his head on his paws and tried to recall what it was about. He knew he had heard that voice before. Nightmare stood up and walked away from Cross. He left his den and went to the middle of the camp. It was late, the moon shone brightly. It was full. Owls hooted in the distance, bugs buzzed around, the wind blew through the trees. The sounds of the night reminded him of something. Nightmare couldn't tell what exactly it reminded him of, but it was something familiar, something he didn't really want to remember, but he most certainly didn't want to forget. 

There was movement on the alpha's right. He jumped in mild fright. Dust was standing outside his den. Nightmare scanned over the other wolf. The collar wrapped in a ripped scarf was around his neck, his gray-ish blue fur was shining in the moonlight. 

'Dust?' Nightmare panted out quietly, as though he thought something dangerous could hear him. Dust dipped his head in confirmation. 'I- What are you doing up at this time?' Dust turned his head back to his den then returned his gaze to Nightmare.

'Couldn't sleep, too late to hunt, just out enjoying the night air. And what about you? Do alphas not need sleep?' Dust gave a hint of amusement in his last sentence. Nightmare shook his head and looked up.

'Something was off. That's all. Need to make sure my pack is safe, you know,' He looked back to Dust. Worry glinted in the domestic's eyes. 

'Yeah.' The two sat in silence for a bit. After a while, Dust went back to his den. Before going in, he turned to Nightmare. 'You should get some rest. We don't need our alpha collapsing from exhaustion' And with that, Dust went into his den once again leaving Nightmare alone with his thoughts. He hadn't even noticed the moon starting to make its way down until a very early robin started singing. Nightmare let out an agitated growl and made his way back to his den. Maybe he could get some sleep. 

He entered the den to see Cross curled up on himself. His tail was tucked in and his ears were pressed flat against his head. Nightmare slipped into his spot next to his mate without disturbing him. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Luckily, he faded into unconsciousness rather quickly.

That morning, Dust knew the alpha had barely slept. He didn't say anything, but he knew. The others, besides Cross, didn't really notice anything off about the goopy black wolf. There was a pack hunt planned for the afternoon and Nightmare was telling the others. There was the occasion he would slip up on something but the pack didn't care. Dust would be leading, Lust would be taking the left, Killer and Horror the back, Killer would take the front, and Nightmare himself would be assisting them all. Cross was staying at the camp to care for PJ. And so they left. Dust knew why Nightmare wasn't leading. To him, something was still wrong. It would be easier to concentrate on that rather than leading a pack hunt. They were always fun, even better when you're leading, but if something was wrong, it would be safer for all of them if Nightmare figured it out. 

And so they would an elk. That was fun. Killer got punted by the antlers. He was limping after that but insisted he was fine. The only thing Dust told Killer he couldn't do was help get the prey back to camp. Killer was satisfied with that and decided he would chase the crows away from the recent kill. Ravens were fine, however, though the reason was unknown. When Nightmare saw them, chills went up his spine. The ravens reminded him of death. Something had happened last night. He knew there was a reason for it all. Things that normally never got to him or worried him were suddenly things to fear. Nightmare didn't have difficulty carrying the prey back to camp, but rather than eating it like the rest of his pack, he went to his den. It was late afternoon now, the air was starting to chill. Nightmare hadn't eaten all day. The others weren't too concerned. He would eat either when they were all asleep, or just later. Nightmare knew that that wasn't going to happen. Something terrible was coming, and he couldn't remember to save his pack's lives. If he couldn't remember that stupid dream soon, there was going to be a lot of innocent wolves dead and it would all be his fault.

Hi! I know I published a chapter yesterday, but I still have so many ideas for this story. It does have a plot that I'm following, but this chapter is weird. I feel like I'm supposed to be on chapter 18, though that might be because of the extra chapters I've made. Hope you guys enjoyed this! 

                                ~Roller