Chapter 14 Whispers of the past
Chapter 14
Alyssa's POV
“Tell me what, Red?" Zayne repeated, and Tristan's head snapped to me, his eyes pleading for me not to say anything.
“It's nothing," I told him, but as expected, he didn't buy it. Instead, he pulled me towards himself, wrapping his arms around me and the familiar warmth being in his arms provided immediately engulfed me. A feeling that I could never get used to.
If it wasn't something serious, I would be laughing at the look on Tristan's face. “He was just telling me about your childhood stories.” I said, “you guys had so much fun." I quickly added, and that did the trick as his eyes left Tristan and focused on me.
“You think?"
I nodded, “why didn't you tell me about them?"
Tristan breathed in relief as we continued to the Pack house. Xavier, whose eyes was glued to the phone he was holding, finally looked up. Aria left my side, going to stand beside him, taking his hand in her own.
“I thought you'd found your mate and were already having a baby." He said, his gaze meeting Tristan's. His voice was light, making it obvious he was lying.
“You can just say you miss me," Tristan said, “I missed you too." He added, causing Xavier to roll his eyes.
The room went silent for a few minutes before Tristan spoke up again. “I think I'm just going to give up. It doesn't look like I'm going to find her." He said, looking away.
In a way, I understood what he was saying but it was easier said than done. Even before I found out Ryder was my mate, he was the only one I wanted and after he chose Iris, I promised myself not to let myself fall for anyone no matter what but barely two weeks after finding out I had a second chance mate, my world now revolved around him. Even without trying, he was healing something he didn't break.
“She's going to find you when you least expect it." I told him.
Zayne's arm around me tightened, as if he knew exactly what I was talking about…he actually does, seeing how he only just found me as well.
“I'm looking forward to that day." He said.
And for the first time since I've been here, we had dinner with the guys and it felt nice. Warm laughter, teasing, and clinking glasses filled the room. For a moment, it didn’t feel like I was an outsider.
But even through the laughter, I could feel Zayne’s gaze on me. He didn’t look away once, not even when Tristan made another joke that had everyone else cracking up.
The way his eyes lingered on me—steady, possessive made me feel seen and loved…in ways that I didn't think was possible.
After dinner was over, Zayne ran a bath for me like he does every single night before excusing himself to the room. As I washed myself, different thoughts filled my mind, how would my life be if I'd successfully rejected him. If I’d actually had the strength to walk away when I thought I wanted to?
For the first time in weeks, I thought about my former pack, the people I called my family. If they even noticed my absence or if life continued and they were happy to be rid of the weak link in their pack.
Once I was done, I picked one of Zayne's shirts and put it on. He was already sleeping, so I slipped under the covers beside him, letting the steady rhythm of his breathing lull me. For a while, it worked. My eyes grew heavy, and everything faded into silence.
Then, suddenly I was no longer on the bed. Instead, I was back in my old pack's house, the place I used to live. It was scary, dark and completely empty, but I could hear voices coming from somewhere. My heart was beating super fast, like I just finished running a race. I followed the sounds down the long hallway, and it felt like the walls were squeezing closer together with every step I took.
"You don't belong here," a voice whispered. I spun around fast, but nobody was there.
Then another voice—one I knew and disliked laughed loudly behind me. "Even Ryder didn't want you, why do you think Alpha Zayne does? You're nothing, Alyssa."
I couldn't breathe. It was Iris. She stood in front of me, a smug look on her face as she spoke.
I tried to run away or yell for help, but my body was frozen like a statue. Then I saw them—all the wolves from my old pack—standing in a big circle around me. Their eyes were glowing in a creepy way, like flashlights in the dark.
"You should have stayed away forever," one of them said.
"You'll hurt him too, just like you hurt everyone," another one added.
Then something really weird happened—their faces started melting like candles into black shadows. Suddenly, they weren't my old pack anymore. It was Zayne!
He stood there looking at me with empty eyes, like a robot. "You should have said no to being my mate when you could," he said in a voice that didn't sound like him at all.
"No! Please!" I tried to run to him, but darkness ate him up like a monster before I could reach him.
I screamed his name as loud as I could, but no sound came out of my mouth.
Then I was falling through the air—falling and falling with nothing to grab onto—until strong arms caught me.
"Alyssa."
My eyes popped open. Zayne was right there, looking down at me with worried eyes. His hand was touching my face gently, wiping away tears I didn't even know were there.
"You were having a bad dream," he said in his soft, kind voice. "You're safe now, Red. I'm here with you."
He hugged me tight and close, making me feel warm and protected. But even though I was awake and safe in his arms, those terrible words from my nightmare kept repeating in my head like a broken record.
“You'll hurt him too.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and held onto Zayne tighter. What if the dream was trying to tell me something? What if it was right?
But right now, I didn't care as I let him hold me. “You're safe." He repeated, and I nodded, desperately wanting to believe his words. That no matter what he finds out about me, he was going to stay.
He caressed me reassuringly and I wasn't sure how long it took but I soon drifted back to sleep. This time around, with his arms around me, I slept soundly.