DANE POV
I woke up screaming.
Again.
My sheets were soaked with sweat. My chest burned like someone had carved out my heart with a silver blade. And those eyes—those grey eyes—still haunted me even though I was awake now.
"Damn it," I growled, pressing my palms against my face.
This was the fifth nightmare this week. Always the same. Grey eyes staring at me with heartbreak so deep it made me want to die. A voice calling my name. The feeling that I'd forgotten something crucial, something that would destroy me if I didn't remember.
But I could never remember. I just woke up feeling like I'd lost something precious.
You did lose something, Reign whispered in my mind. My wolf had been quiet and sullen for three weeks now—ever since I'd claimed Sable as my mate. You lost everything.
"Shut up," I muttered, dragging myself out of bed. "I'm getting mated in two days. This is supposed to be a happy time."
Is it? Reign's voice was bitter. Then why do you feel like you're dying?
I didn't answer. Couldn't answer. Because he was right.
Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. But I couldn't figure out what.
I should be happy. Sable was perfect—beautiful, charming, exactly the kind of Luna an Alpha needed. She knew how to handle pack politics, how to smile at the right people, how to make me look good.
So why did being with her feel like wearing clothes that didn't fit?
A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts.
"Alpha?" Kieran's voice called. "We need to go over the ceremony details."
Right. The mating ceremony. The event that would bind me to Sable forever.
My chest burned worse.
An hour later, I sat in my office reviewing seating charts while Kieran watched me with concerned eyes. My Beta was my oldest friend—we'd grown up together, fought together, survived my father's death together. He knew me better than anyone.
Which meant he knew something was wrong.
"Are you certain about this?" Kieran asked quietly.
"About what?" I didn't look up from the papers.
"The bond. Sable. All of it." He leaned forward. "Dane, you seem... distracted. Unhappy. You have nightmares every night—don't deny it, I can hear you from my room. And your wolf—"
"My wolf is fine." I cut him off sharply. "Pre-ceremony nerves. That's all."
"Reign hasn't spoken to me in three weeks." Kieran's voice was gentle but firm. "Your wolf and mine used to run together every night. Now Reign won't even acknowledge me. That's not normal."
Because nothing about this is normal, Reign snarled. Because we're living a lie and you're too stubborn to see it!
I slammed my hand on the desk, making Kieran jump. "Enough! I'm marrying Sable in two days. The invitations are sent. The pack is preparing. This is happening."
"But do you love her?"
The question hung in the air like smoke.
Did I love Sable? I... cared about her. Respected her. Enjoyed her company. But love? The all-consuming, can't-live-without-you kind of love that mates were supposed to feel?
No.
I felt nothing.
"Love grows over time," I said, repeating what Sable had told me when I'd mentioned my doubts. "Not every mate bond is instant fireworks."
Kieran looked like he wanted to argue, but a knock on the door interrupted us.
"Enter," I called.
The door opened and Thea Calloway slipped inside, carrying a stack of reports.
My chest exploded with pain.
It happened every time I saw her. This inexplicable, agonizing sensation that made me want to either run toward her or run away. I'd started avoiding her after the engagement, but her father was my Beta—sometimes I couldn't escape her presence.
"Reports from the border patrols," Thea said quietly, not meeting my eyes. She never met my eyes anymore. "Father asked me to deliver them."
She looked terrible. Thin, pale, with dark circles under her grey eyes like she hadn't slept in weeks. Her hands shook slightly as she set the papers on my desk.
Why did seeing her like this make me furious?
"Why are you always lurking around?" The words came out harsher than I intended. "Doesn't your father have better things for you to do than play messenger?"
Thea flinched like I'd hit her. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I'll leave."
"Wait." I don't know why I said it. But something about the defeated slope of her shoulders made me want to... what? Apologize? Comfort her?
Ridiculous.
Thea paused at the door, her back still to me.
"Are you..." I swallowed hard, confused by my own concern. "Are you sick? You look unwell."
For a long moment, she didn't answer. Then, so quietly I almost didn't hear: "I'm fine, Alpha. Congratulations on your upcoming ceremony."
She left before I could respond.
The moment the door closed, Reign went absolutely berserk.
GO AFTER HER! My wolf threw himself against my mental barriers, howling in anguish. SHE'S DYING! CAN'T YOU SEE? SHE'S DYING AND IT'S OUR FAULT!
"What are you talking about?" I gripped the desk until my knuckles went white. "She's just tired."
SHE'S OUR—
I slammed my mental shields down, cutting Reign off mid-sentence. I couldn't handle his ravings right now. Not when my chest felt like it was caving in. Not when Thea's grey eyes—the same eyes from my nightmares—were burned into my brain.
"Dane?" Kieran's voice was careful. "What just happened? Your eyes flashed gold."
"Nothing." I forced myself to breathe normally. "Reign is being difficult. It's fine."
"That didn't look fine. When Thea was here, you—"
"I said it's fine!" I roared, my Alpha command making Kieran's wolf bow instinctively. "Drop it!"
Kieran stood slowly, hurt flashing across his face. "Yes, Alpha."
He left quietly.
I sat alone in my office, chest burning, wolf screaming inside my head, and tried to convince myself that everything was perfect.
But that night, the nightmare came back worse than ever.
Grey eyes crying. A voice calling my name. The feeling that I'd made a choice that would haunt me forever.
And this time, when I woke up screaming, I finally remembered one detail from the dream.
The voice calling my name wasn't Sable's.
It was Thea's.
My eyes snapped open in the darkness, my heart racing.
What have I done?