A Fox Among Wolves

Chapter Fifteen

Opening the bottle of Kava, I see that there are only two pills left, meaning that I will have to ask Dr. Greene for another prescription of the anxiety medicine that has been helping Alex.

Ever since we found him a week and a half ago, he has been having horrible anxiety attacks as often as two or three times a day. Certain things would set him off, such as when he saw Quinn snap a towel at Link the night after he woke up. As soon as he heard the sound of the towel snapping, he started his downward spiral into an attack.

After the first few days of multiple attacks, I decided that I had to do something. Unfortunately, that something meant going to Dr. Greene and pretending that I was the one who had been having the severe attacks.

"Henley, you said you wanted to see me?" Dr. Greene asked, her eyes assessing me.

Nervous that she might see right through me, I tried to control my breathing and fidgeting. Alex needs this medication, so I needed to stay calm and convince the doctor that I am the one suffering from severe anxiety.

"Yeah," I said, stepping into her office and closing the door behind me. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."

"Of course," she said, gesturing at the seats in front of the desk she was sitting behind, "please, take a set."

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the generic navy blue hospital chair she was gesturing to. We sat there in silence for a couple of seconds, me fighting the urge to fidget, and her scooting her chair a little closer to the desk.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" she asked, folding her hands in front of her and placing them on top of the desk.

"Um, well, these last few weeks have been... hard," I said, trying to find the right words to say.

"How so?" She tilted her head to the side as if trying to understand what I had just said.

"Well, I have been having nightmares lately."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah."

"What about?"

When I decided to do this, I knew I had to say something that was partially true. That was why I decided to tell her about my frequent nightmares. But, I didn't know if I could trust her enough in order to tell her what they were about. The monster in the basement that had been creeping its way into my thoughts whenever I just wanted to forget about it. So, I decided to keep my mouth shut about the origins of the nightmares.

"I can't remember them. I wake up screaming and not being able to breathe, but they slip from my thoughts whenever I am able to calm myself down."

She hummed, leaning back in her chair and watching as I run a shaky hand through my hair. Just thinking about that monster made my heart race and my body quake, something that will probably actually help me more in this moment than being calm.

"Can you tell me a little bit more about what happens when you first wake up from your nightmare?"

"I feel as though my body is on fire, everything tingling and hurting. My heart races and I can barely breathe. Braeden, my mate, says that it takes him at least twenty minutes to calm me down. I hate it," I whisper the last part because I really do.

Even though I may not be the one having those anxiety attacks I was trying to get a prescription for, I still have the nightmares. They feel so real sometimes. Half the time when I wake up, I don't want Braeden to touch me, flinching whenever he comes near. The other half, I can't stop trembling until he wraps his arms around me. It had been hard, but Braeden had been understanding.