Hanna
Water. I was walking through it. No, on it, my feet covered by choppy, white-capped surf. I could hear her singing in the distance, the sa lonely song she always sang.
Who are you? I asked, my voice echoing over the endless horizon, nothing but water for miles and miles.
But there it was, the white building in the distance, the small, barren island rising above the sea. I looked up at the sun and moon, the two sitting next to each other, separated by a field of stars.
Who are you? I asked again, my steps quickening. I was running, my chest heaving with effort, but the building was still far, far away.
Please! Please wait for !
But the water gave way beneath my feet, and I was subrged, floating down, deeper and deeper until the light from the surface of the waves disappeared.
Shrouded in darkness. Nothingness.
“Hanna!” she called, her voice watery and distant.
“I’m here!” I scread, water flooding into my mouth, suffocating . Please, I thought, stay asleep. Stay. Stay in the vision.
I tried to scream again, to bring her in. I could see her, a dark outline in the water, her hair twirling around her as she inched closer, and closer...
I bolted upright in bed, water pouring from my mouth as I coughed and sputtered, reaching up to grip my throat that burned violently from the salt.
My bed was soaking wet, my nightgown sticking wetly to my skin as I retched, another burst of water running out of my mouth and down my neck and chest.
Learning to control this curse, or blessing, or whatever it was... still seed out of my grasp.
“Damnit!” I cried, exhausted. I reached up to wipe the tears rolling down my cheeks, hot against my chilled skin. I heard footsteps in the hallway and my bedroom door swung open, Kacidra’s figure filling the doorway.
She looked at , terror and confusion etched into her face, the sa look Dad always gave , the sa look he had always given Mom.
Kacidra stood for a mont, lingering with her hand on the doorknob before she closed the door again, her footsteps receding down the hallway and out of earshot.
I let out a sob, reaching a shaking hand toward my bedside table and fishing in the drawer for the key I kept taped to its underside. I stood, my dress heavy as it fell around my knees, walking over to my closet and leaving wet footprints in my wake.
The journal was hidden among the tangle of thick jackets hanging in the closet. I reached into the erald green coat, a piece that had once belonged to Mom, and pulled the thick, leather journal from the inner pocket, my hands trembling as I fumbled with the lock.
The key clicked into place, and the tal band that held the journal closed fell away, landing on the floor at my feet with a splash as it t with the water pooling beneath .
I wrote it all down. Every single thing I rembered, just the way Mom had taught . She said I could eventually control my dreams this way, elongate them, determine when and where I would wake.
But I was stuck. I had never made it out of this dream. I could never find my way forward, my way out.
I finished writing and retrieved the tal band, securing it back in place before taking out the key and putting it back in the coat.
I backed away from the closet, swallowing against the burning lump in my throat.
“I’m trying to get out of it, Mom!” I said in a whispered cry, sniffling like a child. “I don’t know where the door is. I’m trapped in it. I don’t understand why—I don’t understand what I need to do!”
Oh, if only Kacidra and Dad could hear , and maybe they could. They would no doubt think I was even more deranged than they previously thought.
It was no wonder Dad was sending away to marry Wrenn. I would join his pack, live amongst his people. My lucid dreams would no longer be my family’s problem.
And I would marry Wrenn. I would get as far away as I could from Red Lakes and the stain of my mother’s death that had a chokehold on my sister and father. The distance would free them, I thought. They would no longer be my keepers.
But not even an ocean could break the chain now wrapped around my soul that bound to Rowan of Winter Forest.
Oh, how his arrival had thrown a wrench in my plans.
Wrenn was dumb. He always asked where I went swimming all the ti, saying sothing crass about wanting to take skinny dipping in the sulfur springs. He couldn’t see the disdain behind my eyes. He couldn’t peer into my mind and pull my innermost feelings and fears to the surface.
Rowan could, and he did. I don’t think he even realized he was doing it, either.
The water dream started the day he arrived in Red Lakes, only hours after I felt the mate pull. His scent sent over the edge, exhausting and overwhelming to the point I had to lay down, to bury my face in my pillow and breathe in the sll of goose down and linen to try and rid myself of it. He slled like green things, like walking through the redwood trees after a heavy rain. He slled like the earth after a late spring snow, when the air was slightly too warm for it to stick, and the trees were heavy with it.
Rowan. My Rowan. My mate.
My father would never let go with him to Winter Forest. I embarrassed Father. He wouldn’t risk losing Ethan as an ally by allowing his insane daughter to set foot upon Ethan’s territory. No, he would send Kacidra. Kacidra the beautiful. Kacidra the fit. Kacidra the normal.
I would go with Wrenn. I would find the way out of my dream, the door.
And I would never say a word to Rowan.
Because the closer I got to him, the more challenging my dreams beca.
***
Rowan
Kacidra was standing behind , her blonde hair whipping in the salty wind coming off the water as the seaplane approached, its floats bobbing in the surf. “I’ve looked everywhere. I can’t find her journal.”
“It’s been days, Kacidra!” I hissed, stealing a glance back at her before turning my head back to the plane, which was nearing the dock. “Why not just ask her about her dreams?”
“She won’t tell . I know she won’t!”
“Have you tried?”
“Why don’t you try talking to her, hmm?” She nudged with her elbow, the force of it causing to step forward. One of Eugene’s warriors turned his head, giving a curious look. I straightened up, watching the plane intently as it finally t the dock with an audible crunch.
“Sheesh. So pilot you have, huh? He nearly took half the dock out—”
“It’s choppy,” I sneered, crossing my arms over my chest and watching the figures moving around the plane, my chest tightening with sudden longing as my dad stepped out onto the dock. I had missed him. I had never been away from ho this long.
“Wow, Alpha Ethan looks exactly the sa as he did when we visited Winter Forest.”
“I don’t even rember you being there, you know.” I said, knowing it would get a rise out of her. She nudged with her elbow again, harder this ti, and I montarily lost my footing on the slippery rocks along the beach, pitching forward.
Dad looked up as he caught my movent out of the corner of his eyes, and I thought I might’ve seen a smile twitch across his face as he shook his head and handed a large duffle bag to a warrior to carry.
“He’s going to be able to tell we’re not mates, you know,” Kacidra said, matter-of-factly.
“How do you know that?”
“He’s family, Rowan. Family can always tell.”
“I don’t think that’s true, Kass.” I swallowed, hoping she was wrong. I didn’t want to have that conversation with him. Not right now, at least. Not until I was able to actually say sothing, anything, to Hanna first.
I had been in Red Lakes for a month and found my mate, who just happened to be the little sister to the woman I was betrothed to, and I hadn’t even said a single word to her yet. How the hell was I going to explain that?
“Here he cos!” she teased, flicking on the back of the head.
“Shut up!”
“Rowan!” Dad waved, his voice carrying across the beach as he walked along the boardwalk. I walked forward, eting him halfway. I was fighting the boyish urge to run to him, my hands clenched at my sides. Dad had never been a very physically affectionate father, at least not after Maeve and I reached our adolescence. I desperately wished Mom was here. She was a hugger. I missed her terribly.
“How’s Mom?” I asked, taking Dad’s hand in a firm handshake. His blue eyes scanned my face, then looked passed to Kacidra, who was leaning casually against the railing of the boardwalk.
“Your mom’s fine. Worried about Maeve, but fine overall.”
“Worried about Maeve? Why?”
“Still no word from Valoria.”
“Really? That’s... that’s very unlike her.”
Dad nodded, clapping on the shoulder as we began to walk up the boardwalk toward Kacidra. “We can talk more about it later.”
“Okay—”
“Kacidra! You’ve grown at least a foot since I last saw you.”
Kacidra bead, her eyes shining in the soft morning sunlight. “Hello, Alpha King Ethan. It’s nice to see you again.”
“Ethan is just fine, thanks.” Dad smiled. But suddenly his smile weakened, his gaze moving from Kacidra back to . I could feel it on the side of my face, his eyes boring into my temples as though he were trying to read my mind.
I swallowed, looking over at Kacidra, who had a smug smile on her face. I wanted nothing more than to toss her over the railing into the water at that mont.
“Should we go up?” she asked, motioning toward the pathway leading up into the village.
“Sure, after you.” Dad motioned for her to lead us but kept in step with , the two of us shoulder to shoulder.
“So,” he said, glancing up at Kacidra to make sure she was far enough ahead to be out of earshot. “You t your mate.”
“How did you know?”
“And,” he continued, fixing with a knowing gaze, “it’s not Kacidra, is it?”
“It’s not.”
“Well,” he said, clicking his tongue, “we’ll have to do sothing about that, won’t we?”
“I’m supposed to marry Ka—”
“Your mother would kill —”
“Dad, look, it’s complicated.”
“A mate? Complicated?” He laughed, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “Try .”
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