Rite of Submission - Rite 1

31: Sleepless

                "You didn't sleep again?" Sophie whined, looking me over as she stumbled sleepily from the bedroom.

I just shrugged, "Same dream again." It was the third night in a row now that I'd had the same dream. It didn't always start out the same way but the end was the same. I'd wake up in a panic, clutching my neck where I'd felt his teeth mark my skin as he claimed me as his.

I couldn't seem to get myself to go back to sleep again no matter how many times I checked and found nothing on my skin. Instead of laying there staring up at the ceiling until the sun came up, I'd started going down to the gym and running on the treadmill until I felt like my legs would give out from under me.

"Are you ready to talk about it? It might help to let it out."

She'd been losing sleep too, worried because she hadn't heard from her brother since he left 5 days ago. I couldn't bring myself to tell that I was terrified by his haunting presence in my dreams. Not when all she wanted was to know that he was ok. "It'll be fine. What do you want to do today?"

Making her focus on the constantly expanding list of to-do's she was trying to work through while he was gone was the easiest way to get her to drop it. It was also the quickest way to push the dream back into the furthest depths of my mind. Neither of us had ever had any kind of Luna training, but she had been born the daughter of an Alpha and I did my best to help her anyway that I could the last few days.

I'd already showered and dressed after my dream induced run, so as soon as she was ready we made our way down to the hospital wing. The running was burning the wolfsbane out at a quicker rate than Dr Martinez had first thought it would, and it was giving her problems with trying to figure out when the poison could have first been introduced into my system. Hopefully tomorrow would be the last day I'd have to come down here for a long time.

Sophie's cooking was improving a lot too. At least once a day she insisted on ordering in something that her brother wouldn't have approved of, just because she could get away with it right now. But, she was fascinated with the process of mixing things together to create something completely different. We'd set up a batch of cinnamon rolls in the fridge to proof overnight and as they baked, I taught her how to make a cream cheese icing to drizzle over them. The girl had a serious sweet tooth.

We were trying to balance out the budget for the upcoming holiday when my heart skipped a beat, "It doesn't even seem like either one of my two favorite girls missed me a bit," Dmitri frowned, leaning in the doorway.

"Dimi!" Sophie squealed, jumping up from the table to run and hug her brother. She punched him in the arm as she pulled back, "Not a word all week! You had me worried sick you asshole!"

He smiled down at her, "Well, I feel a little better then." He lifted her up as he squeezed her a bit, making her laugh. God help me he looked so damn good. The plain black tee shirt he wore was stretched tight across his chest, showing every line of every muscle, including the v his abdominals made pointing down towards his... and the black slacks fit perfectly snug around his ass with just the right hint of bulge in the front. It looked like he hadn't shaved at all the entire time he was gone.

"Hello, Dmitri," I was impressed with how steady and calm the words came out of my mouth.

His smile sobered a bit as he looked me over. I probably looked half dead with the dark circles I'd earned for my lack of sleep. "Lexi," he nodded an acknowledgement towards me before turning his attention back to Sophie. "I heard a rumor that you were running wild through the house like a hurricane," he teased.