Chapter 29 Study Group Tension
POV: LUNA
Luna couldn't focus in class the next day. Professor Cael was explaining something about energy channeling. All Luna heard was noise.
Her mind kept circling back to the dream. To Miguel's warnings. To that howl outside her window.
She needed answers. Real ones. Not cryptic prophecies from mysterious women or half-remembered legends.
After class, she caught up with Nova and Marcus. "Library. Now. We need to research dream-links."
Nova looked worried. "You're really freaked out about this."
"Wouldn't you be? Miguel warned me about the full moon. Then we hear that howl. Something's happening and I don't understand what."
Marcus nodded. "I can help. My pack has some old texts about supernatural bonds. Dream-links are rare but documented."
They claimed a table in the back corner of the library. Away from other students. Away from prying eyes.
Marcus pulled books from the history section. Thick volumes with cracked spines and yellowed pages. Luna grabbed anything mentioning dreams, bonds, or connections between worlds.
Nova set up her laptop. "I'll search the digital archives. See if there's anything recent."
For an hour, they worked in silence. Reading. Taking notes. Cross-referencing.
Luna found a passage in Chronicles of Wolf Magic. "Listen to this. Dream-links can form between wolves and humans when a powerful emotional bond exists. The connection allows communication across distance and sometimes across the barrier between life and death."
"Life and death?" Nova looked up. "That's ominous."
Marcus flipped through an older text. Handwritten. Barely legible. "Dream-links can be messages from the dying, or bonds forming between fated mates. Sometimes both."
"So either Miguel's in danger or Luna's getting a supernatural boyfriend," Nova said. "Great options."
"Not helping."
"Just saying. Those are apparently the two main reasons for dream-links according to every source I'm finding."
Luna's stomach twisted. "What if I'm making it worse by dreaming about him? What if I'm putting him in danger? Like, what if the connection draws threats to him?"
"That's not how it works," Marcus said. "The link is a symptom, not a cause. If Miguel's in danger, the dream-link formed because you both needed to communicate. It didn't create the danger."
"Are you sure?"
"Reasonably sure. But I'm not an expert."
Nova leaned forward. "Here. I found something about tethered souls. Says when a marked wolf forms a deep bond with a human, their souls can become tethered. Connected across distance and time. The human becomes vulnerable to supernatural threats but also gains some protection through the connection."
"So it's both bad and good."
"Basically. The tether makes them a target. But it also means you'd sense if something happened to them. You could potentially help from a distance."
Luna thought about the dream. Miguel's warnings. The way he'd known exactly what she was facing. "He knew about the challenge. About the creature. Things he shouldn't know unless he was connected to me somehow."
"The tether," Marcus said. "He's feeling what you feel. Seeing fragments of what you see."
"That's invasive."
"That's supernatural bonds. They don't respect privacy."
Footsteps approached their table. Luna looked up expecting a librarian telling them to be quieter.
Darius stood there instead. Arms crossed. Expression unreadable.
"You're researching dream-links? That's concerning."
Luna stiffened. "None of your business."
"Actually, it is. If you're having unstable magical connections, it affects everyone on campus. Especially if it's drawing threats here."
"I'm handling it."
"Are you?" Darius pulled out a chair. Sat down uninvited. "Because from what I'm hearing, you had a powerful dream-link last night. Strong enough to wake half your dorm floor."
"How do you know that?"
"I have friends everywhere. Remember?"
Marcus whispered to Nova. "Why is he being nice? This is weird."
Darius ignored him. He reached for one of the books. Flipped through it. Found a section Luna hadn't reached yet.
"Here. Tethered souls and supernatural marking. You missed this part."
He pushed the book toward her. Luna read the passage. Her blood went cold.
"When a human becomes tethered to a marked wolf, they become visible to entities that hunt power. The tether acts as a beacon, drawing supernatural threats to the human as a way to access the wolf."
"So Miguel is in danger because of me."
"Potentially. Or he was already in danger and the tether formed as a survival mechanism. Impossible to know which came first."
Darius pulled another book from a higher shelf. One Luna couldn't have reached. Advanced Bonds and Their Consequences.
"Why are you helping?" Nova demanded.
"Because unstable bonds affect everyone. If Luna's connection to her human breaks violently, the magical backlash could hurt people around her. That includes me."
"You mean you're being selfish."
"I'm being practical. Same thing."
He opened the book to a marked page. Like he'd read it before. Recently.
"My brother had dream-links before he died. Started months before the attack. At first, they were just normal dreams. Then they became warnings. Prophecies. By the end, he was dreaming every night. Barely sleeping. The person he was linked to was being hunted by something ancient. Something that fed on bonds between worlds."
Luna's hands shook. "What happened?"
"The thing found his tethered soul. Killed them. The backlash nearly killed my brother too. He survived three days before his body gave out. The magical shock was too much."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Be smart. If your human is dream-linking, he's already marked by something. And it's not you."
The words hit like ice water. "What do you mean?"
"Dream-links don't just form because two people care about each other. They form when both people are connected to the same supernatural force. When they're both being hunted by the same thing. Or chosen by it."
Marcus looked up sharply. "That's not in any of these texts."
"Because it's not public knowledge. My father's pack learned it the hard way. After we lost my brother. After we studied everything we could find about his death."
Darius stood. Pushed the books toward Luna. "Read these. All of them. Understand what you're dealing with. Because if I'm right, your human boyfriend isn't just in danger. He's already been marked. Chosen. By whatever's hunting you. And you need to figure out if you're going to save him or use him as bait."
"I would never—"
"You might not have a choice. Sometimes survival means sacrifice. Think about it."
He left. Walking away like he hadn't just dropped a bomb on Luna's world.
Nova stared after him. "What the hell just happened?"
"Darius actually helped us," Marcus said. "And shared personal trauma. I don't know how to process that."
Luna couldn't speak. Her mind was reeling.
Miguel was marked. Not by her. By whatever was hunting her. The creature with burning eyes. The thing orchestrating rogue attacks. The ancient force connected to her Eclipse bloodline.
It had chosen Miguel. Marked him. Made him a target.
To get to her.
"Luna?" Nova touched her arm. "You okay?"
"No. Not even a little bit."
She grabbed the books Darius had indicated. Started reading faster. Desperate for answers.
If Miguel was marked, if he was already being hunted, then the dream-link wasn't just a warning. It was a countdown.
And Luna had six days to figure out how to save him before whatever marked them both came to collect.