Chapter 35 Dream-Warning
POV: LUNA
Training with Ryder lasted until past midnight. My body was one giant bruise. My mind exhausted from constant control exercises.
But it worked. Sort of. I could maintain partial shifts under stress better. Could recognize when my wolf was taking over and pull back before it was too late.
Whether it would be enough in two days. That was the question.
I collapsed into bed without even changing clothes. Nova was already asleep. I envied her. The ability to just shut off and rest.
Sleep took me fast. Dragged me under before I could fight it.
The transition was immediate. One second I was in my dorm. The next, I stood in the dream-world.
But something was wrong. The dream felt different. Unstable. Like reality was glitching.
I was in Miguel's house. His bedroom. Everything exactly as I remembered from before the mark. Before everything changed.
"Luna."
His voice. Panicked. Urgent. Not the calm reassurance from our last dream-link.
I spun. Miguel stood by his window. He looked terrible. Dark circles under his eyes. Face pale. Hands shaking.
"Miguel. What's wrong?"
"You need to listen. I don't have much time. Something's blocking the link. Making it harder to reach you."
"What's happening? Are you okay?"
"No. I'm not okay. None of us are okay." He moved closer. His eyes wild with fear. "Luna, they're here. In the human world. Those creatures. The rogues. They're hunting."
My blood went cold. "Hunting who?"
"Anyone connected to you. Your old friends. Your teachers. People you used to know. They're using us as bait. Trying to draw you out."
"No. No, that can't be right. The rogues can't get past Silverwood's boundaries into town. The wards—"
"The wards are failing. Or something's breaking through them. I don't know which. But people are disappearing. Attacked. The human authorities think it's wild animals. But we know better."
The dream world flickered. Like a TV losing signal.
"Miguel, you need to leave. Get out of town. Go somewhere safe."
"There is nowhere safe. Not for me. Not for anyone marked by this. You know that."
He was right. I did know. The research had been clear. Once someone was marked. Once they were connected to this threat. There was no running. No hiding.
"Then come here. To Silverwood. Where there's protection. Where faculty can help."
"I can't. Humans aren't allowed unless they're changing. And I'm not marked for transformation. I'm marked for something else. Something worse."
The dream flickered harder. The edges dissolving. Time running out.
"What do you mean, something worse?"
"The thing hunting you. The creature. It doesn't just want your power. It wants your pain. Your grief. It feeds on loss. And the easiest way to hurt you is to—"
The connection cut. Like someone severed a cord.
"Miguel!"
Static. White noise. Then nothing. Just me standing alone in a fracturing dream-world.
The bedroom dissolved. Reality reassembling around me.
I woke gasping. Sitting bolt upright in bed. My heart hammering. My mark burning hot.
Nova stirred. "Luna? You okay?"
"Dream. Bad dream. Go back to sleep."
She mumbled something incoherent. Rolled over. Asleep again within seconds.
I couldn't breathe. Miguel's words echoing in my head. The easiest way to hurt you is to—
To what? Kill him? Use him? Turn him into something worse?
I grabbed my phone. 3:47 AM. Too early to call. Too late to do anything useful.
I tried Miguel's number anyway. Straight to voicemail. Again.
My hands shook. I needed to do something. Go to him. Check on him. Make sure he was actually okay and not in immediate danger.
But I was confined to campus. Sterling's orders. And even if I wasn't. Even if I could leave. What would I do? I had no idea where Miguel was. If he was even still in the human world or if something had taken him.
My mark pulsed. Hot. Insistent. Drawing my attention to something.
I looked at my desk. At the small wooden box where I kept important things. Photos. Letters. Memories from before.
The box was glowing. Faint silver light seeping through the cracks.
I got up. Approached slowly. My wolf senses screaming warning.
I opened the box. Inside were old treasures. But one thing glowed brighter than the rest.
The charm Miguel had given me. Small. Simple. A wolf carved from wood. He'd made it himself in shop class. Given it to me before I'd been marked. Before everything changed.
I'd kept it. Even though it hurt to look at. Even though it represented a life I could never go back to.
Now it glowed. Silver light pulsing in rhythm with my mark. Like they were connected. Communicating.
I picked it up. The wood was warm. Almost hot. And the moment my skin touched it, I felt him.
Miguel. Not his thoughts. Not his words. Just his presence. His fear. His pain.
He was alive. But barely. Something was hurting him. Hunting him. Getting closer.
The charm pulsed again. Stronger. More insistent.
Then I heard it. Faint. Like it was coming from very far away. Or from inside my own head.
Miguel's voice. Broken. Desperate.
"Luna. It's coming. I can't stop it. I'm sorry."
The glow faded. The connection severing. The charm going dark in my hand.
I stood there. Holding a piece of carved wood. My hands shaking. My heart racing.
Miguel was in danger. Real danger. And there was nothing I could do about it.
I clutched the charm to my chest. Sank down onto my bed. Stared at the wall as dawn light started filtering through the window.
Two days until the challenge. Two days until the full moon. Two days until everything converged.
And Miguel was out there somewhere. Being hunted. Marked by the same thing that was hunting me.
The charm stayed dark in my hand. Silent. But the warmth lingered. A reminder that the connection was still there. Still active.
Still pulling us both toward whatever terrible thing was waiting.