Page 180 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

brYN

Istood in a small clearing surrounded by densely packed trees. The air was warm and sweet, like when spring transitions to summer. I turned around, freezing when I saw a wolf with a gorgeous, russet-brown coat. I recognized her immediately.

“Hello?” I called to her. “Mother?”

She didn’t respond, just turned her back to me and sat.

As I walked to her, the field morphed beneath me, shifting from sunlit, dewy grass to the rocky edge of a cliff.

The sky above was dark, the sunlight trying to peek through the areas where the clouds were thin.

The air felt chilly, and my breaths puffed out in front of me.

Soon, the clouds would give way to heavy snowfall.

I approached the rocky edge and peered over the side into the gorge. My stomach dropped but not from vertigo. Below, a battle raged in the wide stream. Wolves growled and scratched at each other, and among them I recognized Dom’s blond, almost-white coat and my mate’s jet-black fur.

I gasped. Night was a streak of darkness amid the confusion. Blood splattered across the snow. I saw one wolf get on top of him and bite the back of his neck.

“No!” I collapsed to my knees at the edge, wanting to get closer and really see what was happening down there.

He managed to shake off the wolf, but a stream of crimson spurted from his shoulder and across the ground. He staggered, but he was far from out of the fight. He turned to face his opponent, but a second wolf was approaching him from the side.

“Night, look out!” I called, but it was too late.

The wolf bit down on Night’s forepaw so hard, I heard bones snap even from this distance. He went down, and a swarm of wolves piled on top of him. Blood rained through the air. Dom threw his head back and howled in mourning and rage.

“No, no, no!” I turned to my mother, who was looking back at me, sadness evident in her large, white-silver eyes. I went to her on my hands and knees, tears dripping from my eyes. “Why are you showing me this?”

She didn’t respond verbally, but I felt her voice briefly in my mind, just as clear and musical as when I saw through her eyes.

“To warn you,” she said. “Of a possible future.”

I shuddered, glancing back at the cliff’s edge. If I went back there, would I see Night’s body, broken and alone? I couldn’t stomach it.

“Please, Mother, what can I do?”

“You can protect those you hold dear,” she said. “Be strong, and when the time comes, do not hesitate.”

“But when does this happen?” I asked. “Is this…is this our battle with Troy?”

She didn’t answer my question, but the environment shifted around us. We were back in the grassy field. The air was pleasant, the sun shining brightly above us. I sniffled and wiped the tears from my face. When I looked at Blossom, I got the impression that she was smiling.

“You and Night have done very well on your own, but leave no stone unturned,” she said. “Make sure you aren’t missing something.”

“Missing?” I tilted my head. “What have we been missing—”

Suddenly, my eyes flew open. I was safe and sound in my bed in the alpha cabin. I sat up, my heart galloping.

“You awake?” Night asked. He was pulling a shirt over his head. His hair was damp, and the mirrors in the bathroom were still steamy from his shower. All I saw, however, was his blood spurting from the wound in his shoulder. I jumped out of bed as quickly as I could.

“You’ve been talking in your sleep—hey there.” He caught me as I barreled into him. I didn’t feel he was real until I felt his strong arms close around me. “Bryn, what’s wrong?”

“I had a nightmare,” I muttered into his chest. But after a moment, I added, “No, I don’t think it was just a nightmare. I think my birth mother was reaching out to me.”

“Blossom?” He pushed me back just enough to look into my eyes. His jade-green eyes were bright with worry.

“She showed me a battle between us and Troy. I saw you get killed.”

“Me?” He touched my cheek and pushed away a stray tear. “But clearly, I’m fine. Why would she show you something like that?”

I leaned into his hand. “She was warning me about a possible future.”

“A future in which I die.” He was frowning. “Did she say how to prevent it?”

“She said that we could prevent it as long as we made sure we weren’t missing something.”

As I spoke the word “missing,” our baby kicked once.

And like a surge of electricity, I realized that Blossom didn’t mean that we’d overlooked something, but that we needed to focus on the missing children issue.

For days now, I'd been thinking about Samuel and the children who had gone missing. I’d wondered if reaching out to Samuel and his parents again would glean further insight.

Now that my birth mother had reached out to me, I was sure that was exactly what I needed to do.

“I have to talk to Samuel,” I said.

“Wait, what? Why?”

I pushed free from his arms and started to get ready. “Blossom must have been talking about the missing pups, Night. Samuel is the only person who can give us some kind of clue.”

I rushed to the bathroom to wash up, but he stood in my way. “Bryn, slow down. Talk to me. How would Samuel help with Troy? We both saw how fragile that kid is. If we push him to remember more, it could really hurt him.”

His words brought me up short. It was the dose of reality I needed.

I couldn’t just walk into his parents’ home for no reason other than my own curiosity.

I didn’t want to put them through more pain.

And even if I did convince them that asking more questions would help us find the others, Night was right.

Samuel wouldn’t be able to tell us anything new.

“Bryn.” He touched my shoulders. “Don’t you remember what I told you yesterday? Dom and Tavi found a few coordinates. They’re out there right now, looking for clues. We’re already looking into the missing children.”

I shook my head. I was sure there was only one way for this to happen.

Of course, I didn’t want to push Samuel too far, but everything in me was telling me that boy was the key to the missing children, the key to preventing Night’s death.

I couldn’t ignore something like that on the chance that Tavi and the others might find something.

“What if I did the memory ritual with Samuel?” I asked. “Would that be possible?”

Night was frowning again. “We’d have to talk to the elders, Bryn. But is it safe at this point in your pregnancy?”

I resisted the urge to sigh. He was asking me this again? Hadn’t we already hashed this out the first time? “Night, I’m sure they’ll tell us that it’s perfectly safe. It was taxing on my mind, not my body, remember?”

“What I remember is you shaking in my arms the second you woke up.”

I gave him a hard look. “It wasn’t a fun experience, no, but it was worth it. I’d do it again and again if I knew it would help someone. And doing the ritual with Samuel could do a lot of good for the families of those missing kids. If the elders say I can do this, why would I hesitate?”

“Because you’re pregnant, Bryn.” He breathed out a tight sigh. “I can’t believe we’re going through this again.”

I crossed my arms. “Neither can I. I thought we were on the same page about finding out what happened to those kids.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why do we fight every time I tell you I’m worried about you? I didn’t say you can’t do it, but you’re ready to jump down my throat just because I’m concerned.”

Denial rushed up inside me, eager to get him to take back what he’d said, but that urge died away as I replayed the conversation in my head.

My mate was just expressing that he cared about me, not refusing me, but for some reason, I was determined not to see that.

Why was I so quick to argue? Was it my fluctuating hormones, or was I still holding on to the anger I’d felt in the past?

“You’re right,” I said finally. “I feel in my gut that doing the ritual is the answer, but I don’t even know if I’ll be able to do it without talking to the elders first. I’m sorry for snapping at you, Night.”

He let out a breath and let go of my shoulders. “I appreciate that, but what does that mean for right now? Do we put this conversation on hold?”

“For now.”

“All right. I’ll send a messenger for the elders, see if they can make something work today or tomorrow.”

“Wait, Night.” I took his hand when he started walking to the door. “I still feel weird about the way I acted. I know you care about and love me, and I shouldn’t have tried to bite your head off just for expressing that.”

The stiffness in his shoulders slowly eased. “I’m sorry, too. I know in the past, I haven’t made it easy for you to be open with me. I can’t really blame you for being so quick to react.”

From the moment we met, Night and I were both quick to argue, but it had been months. We’d both made strides to be more open with each other.

“Still…I can’t react like you’re the person you used to be,” I said.

“How can we move forward in our relationship if I’m holding on to that baggage?

” I wrapped my arms around him from behind, pressing my cheek to his back.

“I don’t want to stay in one place. I want to make the same sort of progress that we’re making with the packs.

I love you, Night, and I don’t ever want you to think that I don’t. ”

He turned in my arms and hugged me properly. “I know you do, baby. I love you, too.”

I let out a small, contented sigh and let him go. “I’m glad we’ve reached the point where we can be honest with each other about our feelings,” I said. “I know we’re not perfect, but it’s the first time since I met you that I feel like we can trust each other with the truth.”

There was a pause, then he said, “Yeah, me too.” He turned from me, some of the stiffness back in his posture. “I think I’ll head downstairs first, Bryn.”