Halias point of view
I woke up with a start my breathing catching in my throat like I had just come up for air after being underwater. My heart was racing against my ribs. I was covered in sweat. The sheets were all tangled around my legs like they were trying to hold me down.
The dream was still fresh in my mind. It felt like it was still happening, like it was still a part of me.
His touch was still on my skin. I could feel the weight of his body on mine. His voice was still in my ears rough like he was sharing a secret that only I was meant to hear.
I did not know his name. My body seemed to remember him. I felt like he had left his mark on me like he had branded me from the inside out.
I put my hands over my face. My fingers were shaking. I could still feel him like he was still with me.
It felt real too real. I made myself sit up. The sheets fell away from me. That was when I saw it. Blood. A dark red stain on the sheet where I had been lying.
I froze. No this was not possible. I must be dreaming. I rubbed my eyes. Looked again but it was still there. My stomach dropped, like I was falling. I put my hand on my belly and it felt... Different. There was no pain, a deep ache that felt old.
Was I...? No that was not possible. You do not lose your virginity in a dream.. I remembered the way he held me the way I moved with him. It felt like my body knew him like we had done this before.
I. A sharp pain shot through me. I gasped. I reached down. It was still tender. My heart was racing again.
This was not possible. This was not happening. I pulled the sheets off the bed. Stuffed them into the laundry basket like I was trying to hide the evidence. My hands were shaking hard I could barely hold onto them.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I did not look like myself. My eyes were wide my skin was pale. My hair was sticking to my face. I did not feel like myself either.
I went to the bathroom. Stripped, looking at the faint red stain on my inner thigh. My skin was. My pulse was racing. Was I feeling shame? Fear?. Something else something older?
The water was too hot when I turned it on and the steam filled the mirror. I stood under the spray. Scrubbed my skin until it stung, trying to wash away the feeling of him.. It did not work.
I could still smell him wild and earthy, like pine and fire and rain. I pressed my forehead to the tile. Wondered what was happening to me.
When I got out of the shower my skin was red and raw. I wiped the mirror and my reflection stared back at me. My eyes looked darker than I remembered. Had they always looked like that?
I felt a run down my spine. I looked at the window. The morning light was filtering through the curtain. For a second it looked like moonlight.. White and watching.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. It was Maggie asking me to go shopping with her. I laughed, feeling a little shaky. Maggie was what I needed, loud and normal and blunt.
I put on my jeans and oversized hoodie layering myself like I was putting on armor. When I opened my door my mom called out from the kitchen asking if I was okay. I told her I was fine just needed some air.
I went outside. The world was still turning. Birds were singing the wind was. Everything seemed normal.. I was not normal. Something inside me had. It was not going back.
The mall was welcoming with its air and smells of cinnamon and plastic and coffee. People were buzzing around. It felt like everything was okay. Maggie spotted me from across the food court. Waved like crazy.
She pulled me toward a bench. Asked me what was wrong. I hesitated, then told her about the dream, about the man and the blood and the feeling of being changed. My voice. I looked away.
Maggie did not laugh. She just listened, her expression unreadable. She asked me if I felt scared or afraid. I told her no. I felt... Like I knew him like he was supposed to find me.
Maggie made a joke about werewolf romance books. I laughed, feeling a little tight. We walked around the mall and Maggie chattered about clothes and influencers. I nodded along. My mind was elsewhere.
Every sound felt louder every smell sharper. The perfume counter made my nose burn. I could hear a baby crying from two stores down. What was happening to me?
Then I saw him, a man, tall and hooded standing just far enough away. He stopped mid-step like he knew I was watching. Our eyes. My breath caught.
His eyes were deep and storm-colored the kind that knew secrets you had not told yet. I. He was gone.. The feeling of him lingered, like a scent, on the wind.
The blood, the dream, the ache. They were not memories. They were warnings. Something had found me. It was not finished.