A Wolf's Miracle

Chapter 30

"Because you keep the shadows away."

Those words stuck with me all night. I couldn't move, couldn't even protest before he fell asleep. And I didn't want to. Because the truth was that I'd never felt happier than when I was in his arms. He held on to me so tight, probably fearing I would disappear but even if I wanted to I knew that I never could.

The fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt and I could feel his big, strong shoulders move as he breathed were distracting me from the main issue: The fact that he was screaming in his dreams. It was truly one of the most heartbreaking things I had witnessed. The man I came to know as unbreakable and strong was reduced to a child, a very scared one begging for whatever was happening to him to stop.

This couldn't be a simple nightmare, and this wasn't the first time. I wanted to ask a million questions about it, but I knew he would simply never answer them. So I flipped onto my back and just stared at the ceiling trying not to think about how close he was to me. 

"Sleep" I heard his voice whisper so softly I was only slightly startled. I must have awakened him when I moved.

"I thought you were asleep," I responded softly as well.

"You are thinking loudly," he said letting go of me so I could turn around and face him.

"I have a ton of questions" he was half asleep, so maybe his inhibitions were gone as he gently stroked my hair.

"I said I didn't want to talk about it" he was trying not to ruin the moment, I could tell by his tone, he was being as sweet as he could.

"I respect that, but may I ask why?" I scanned his face and saw a little bit of tension. "I just never want to see you go through that again." His face softened.

"Don't worry about it, I'm used to it, it happens every night" he said nonchalantly and I had to sit up, unsure I heard him well.

"Every night?" 

"Yes, now go back to bed," he said pulling me down.

"But Harlan--" 

"Shh," he said, eyes fluttering closed "Sleep, tomorrow is a big day for you"

That was the first I was hearing of it. " What? Why?"

"You're meeting Arden and her crazy girlfriend and mate,  Elowen" he opened his eyes again "Elowen is the most tiring person you'll ever meet, you need to rest."

"The gammas?" I remembered Blaze had talked about them before.

"The very ones" he flipped onto his back " Tomorrow is the big meeting Selene was supposed to tell you about" he looked me dead in the eye "I knew she wouldn't have the guts to fo it, so yeah, I'm telling you" he shrugged.

"What? What is the meeting about? Why am I supposed to be there? I am not from the upper circle, I'm not even an omega" I got up and started pacing "Will they kill me? You said I would lose my mind and---"

I blinked and he was in front of me, holding my shoulders "You are not in danger, not under my watch" he sighed "Forget about what I said, I was an idiot. You will find your..." he closed his eyes, jaw tensing as he said "mate, and he will bite you before the eclipse, easy peasy" he tried to hide the annoyance of his tone, but it wasn't working very well. 

Why was he annoyed when he thought about my mate? Was that jealousy? 

I tried to hide how giddy that made me feel.

Nope, not the time, you are probably wrong anyway.

"Is there anything I should know before I meet them?" I asked, changing the focus of the conversation.

"Not really, you just have to be prepared for a lot of uncomfortable questions, Elowen is very nosy."

He walked over to the chimney and poured himself a drink. I had entered his room in such a rush I didn't pay attention to how truly gigantic it was. It had a huge bed with a balcony near it. His bathroom was open and there was a big marble tub in the middle of it. I walked over to the little sitting area by the chimney and sat on the plushest leather couch I had seen in a while.

"What are you drinking?" I asked and he handed his glass over. I took a sip. Yikes, whiskey.

I must have made a face because he laughed "What? Don't like whiskey?" he said as I gave him back his glass. He finished it in one drink and put it down.

"You should go to bed," I looked back at his bed and he cleared his throat, no longer standing near the chimney. Now he was at the door "I'm sorry to say, your opportunity to spend a night in my bed has expired" he said with an arrogant smile.

"What? I didn't want to-- I wasn't going to--" I got so flustered I sped out of the room and slammed my door so hard I think I woke everyone up.

I sat on my bed, checking the time on my phone. 2:22 am.

How could he think that I wanted to sleep with him? I was doing him a favor and--

I wasn't fooling anyone, not even myself. Gosh, this man would be the end of me.

____

In the morning I was awakened by a raspy, loud female voice.

"Move over, I want to see her!" the woman exclaimed.

"Shhh! You'll wake her up!" another female voice chimed in, this one sweeter and quieter.

"Elowen, she's sleeping," Selene's melodious voice said, very close to my door.

Elowen? That was the name of one of the gammas. I jumped out of my bed and made my way to the door.

"Yeah but I don't want to wait, I am terrible at waiting, move over, Luna" The raspy-voiced one, Elowen, said.

"Elowen, sweetie, please--" I opened the door and saw quite a scene. Selene was standing in the way of a short Asian girl who was being held back by a very tall white girl.

"Ermm... Hello" I said as they all stood frozen. The Asian girl narrowed her dark eyes at me, her chin-length straight hair was black with blue streaks. She was beautiful. I looked over to the other unfamiliar face, the tall girl had very short red hair and very kind ocean eyes.

"Hello," the tall girl said first, extending her hand "I'm Arden, nice to meet you" I shook her hand. "And the unfriendly, loud one is my mate, Elowen" She frowned at her partner.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Diana," I said and Arden eyed me up and down. She must have reached the conclusion that I wasn't a threat as she shook my hand with a tight grip.

"Elowen," she replied as a mischievous smile suddenly grazed her lips "You smell like Harlan" she announced and Selene covered her mouth in realization. "Did you sleep with him?"

"What? No! I--" Elowen burst out laughing, forgetting to let go of my hand as she cackled. 

"I know, I'm sorry, just kidding with ya'" she replied as she patted me on the back so hard I think my lung collapsed. She didn't seem to notice, not even when Selene rushed to my aid. "If you had I could tell," she warned.

Selene made drew circles on my back as I felt the air come into my lungs again.

"Please ignore her antics," Arden said apologetically as she looked towards her mate "You are not giving a good first impression, my love."

Elowen gave her mate a soft apologetic smile and they shared a soft kiss. It was so sweet I couldn't help but smile.

"The meeting is soon" Selene announced "We'll be waiting for you," she said with a kind smile.