Chapter 21: His Nightmare

Leo

The world around me began to blur as I hovered over her, my hands shaking as I tried to stop the bleeding. Blood soaked through my fingers, staining my clothes and the floor beneath us. Panic surged within me, but there was nothing I could do to undo what just happened. 

“Ivy… please,” I whispered, my voice barely a breath. “Please, don’t leave me. I didn’t mean to—I thought…”

“Leo,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

“Ivy, stay with me, I’ll get help,” I begged, pressing my hands to her wound. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know—it wasn’t supposed to be you.”

Her gaze softened, and she lifted a trembling hand to touch my face.

I looked down at my blood stained hands, my clothes, and the tiled floor beneath us. My wolf howled inside me, the pain and guilt threatening to consume us both.

“I’ll fix this,” I promised, my voice breaking. “I’ll fix everything. You’re gonna be okay.”

But my words fell away as her eyes, those warm brown eyes that had always been my anchor, began to lose their light. The warmth that once filled the room with her presence vanished, leaving only cold, empty space.

“No,” I gasped, my chest tightening with a pain far worse than any injury I had ever endured. “This can’t be real. This can’t be happening. Somebody, help! Please!”

But no one came.

My heart, the very thing that had kept me tied to this world, cracked open as I watched her slip away. The darkness inside me that I had fought so hard to control, the hunger, the beast—I had unleashed it. I had lost myself. 

I tried to gather my strength, to think, to stop the blood from flowing, but it was useless. It was all slipping through my fingers like sand. 

And then, a cold chill gripped me, stronger than any physical pain. My mind spun, and the shadows grew heavier around me. 

Ivy’s still form before me started to distort, her features twisting into something unrecognizable. Her face blurred, replaced by another—a figure in the shadows, a dark silhouette whose presence made my blood run cold. 

A laugh. A low, mocking sound echoed in my ears, and I felt the chill in my bones deepen. 

“No,” I whispered, my body trembling, my breath ragged. “Not again… Please…”

But the figure only laughed louder, its eyes glowing with a predatory gleam. “You’re already too far gone, Leo,” the voice taunted, a whisper in the wind. “You’ll never control it. You’ll never have her.”

I tried to move, to grab hold of something—anything—to pull myself from the nightmare. But my limbs were frozen, as if the very air had turned to ice. 

And then, suddenly, everything shifted.

I gasped for air, my eyes flying open and panic came crashing in. 

I was back in the room. My chest heaved, and sweat dripped down my face as I looked around frantically. It was just a dream. A nightmare. 

Ivy’s scent still lingered in the air, faint but comforting. The bed was warm, and the soft sound of her breathing filled the space. She was there, beside me, alive.

I reached out instinctively, touching her arm and neck. She shifted slightly, murmuring in her sleep, but she didn’t stir fully. 

I felt the soft brush of her breath against my skin, the warmth of her body beside me pulling me back to the present. Her gentle shift in the bed brought me back to reality, and I blinked, the remnants of the nightmare still clinging to me like a dark fog.

Ivy’s eyes fluttered open, her voice soft and sleep-rough as she whispered, “Leo? Are you okay?”

I inhaled sharply, fighting to steady my breathing. The weight of the dream still pressed on me, but I couldn’t let it show. I didn’t want her to see how deeply it had shaken me, how close I had come to losing myself again and losing her.

“Yeah,” I murmured, my voice rough from the tension in my chest. “Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep.”

But Ivy didn’t retreat. Instead, she scooted closer, her hand coming to rest possessively around my chest, pulling onto me as if afraid I might vanish from her grasp. Her touch, warm and comforting, settled me, made me feel the kind of peace that comes with her presence. 

Her breath steadied as she nestled into me, the softness of her body pressing against mine. I felt her relax against me, her fingers tracing light patterns on my skin as she drifted back to sleep, her body still, but her hold on me firm. 

I let out a quiet breath, my heart still racing from the remnants of the nightmare, but now, with her so close, it began to slow. The fear, the hunger, the darkness—they didn’t feel quite as suffocating. 

With her near me, I felt safe again, as if nothing could pull me into that abyss. I closed my eyes, letting the warmth of Ivy’s presence soothe the lingering remnants of the nightmare. Slowly, my mind quieted, the storm inside me subsiding just enough for me to find peace in the softness of the night.

I could feel the rise and fall of her chest against me as I tightened my grip around her waist, the steady pulse of her breath a constant reminder that she was here, with me. And for the first time in weeks, I allowed myself to relax. 

The shadows of the nightmare still lingered at the edges of my thoughts, but I kept them at bay. I had Ivy. And with her, I had a reason to fight—for myself, for her, for us. 

I let her warmth wash over me, and for once, the darkness didn’t seem so close.

I breathed a sigh of relief, my heart slowly returning to its normal pace. 

But the darkness... the warning from my nightmare... it came rushing back. 

The hunger, the beast inside of me, was still there. And the shadow of that figure—the voice that had told me I could never control it—that I could never have Ivy, kept echoing in my mind. 

I knew one thing for certain: I couldn’t let the nightmare become reality. I couldn’t let my past mistakes destroy what I wish to have with Ivy. 

But the question still gnawed at me, buried deep in the back of my mind: How long before the darkness claimed me for good? How will Ivy see me when she discovers that I killed my first mate?

I closed my eyes, letting the warmth of her presence soothe the lingering remnants of the nightmare and my thoughts. For now, this is enough. 

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that the real battle was just beginning and boy, am I ready to fight for my woman.