Chapter 60 Miguel Reaches Out Again
POV: Luna
I fall asleep almost the moment my head hits the pillow.
The training with Ryder exhausted me more than I realized. Every muscle aches. Even my bones feel tired.
But sleep doesn't bring rest.
Instead, it brings him.
Miguel.
The dream-link activates so suddenly and intensely that it feels like being pulled underwater. One moment I'm in my bed at the Academy, the next I'm standing in a forest I recognize.
The woods near Miguel's house.
And he's there.
Running.
"Miguel!" I call out, but my voice sounds distant. Echoed.
He doesn't hear me. He's too focused on whatever he's running from.
Or running toward.
I follow him through the trees, my feet barely touching the ground. Everything has that hazy, unreal quality of dreams, but this feels different from normal dreams.
This feels real.
Miguel stumbles over a root and catches himself against a tree, breathing hard. He's thinner than the last time I saw him. His clothes are dirty and torn. There are dark circles under his eyes.
"Luna," he gasps, even though he's not looking at me. "I know you can hear me. I know you're there somewhere."
My heart clenches.
He knows about the dream-link. Somehow, he understands we're connected.
"I'm here," I say, even though I know he can't hear me properly. "Miguel, I'm here."
He pushes off from the tree and starts walking, slower now. More purposeful.
"I've been searching for you," he says to the empty air. "For weeks. I went to the address you gave me, but there's nothing there. Just forest. Like the school doesn't exist."
Because it doesn't. Not to human eyes. The wards hide it.
"I know you're in danger," he continues. "I can feel it. Every night I dream of you fighting. Running. Bleeding." His voice cracks. "I don't understand what's happening, but I know something's hunting you. And I think it's hunting me too."
The forest around him darkens suddenly. The shadows grow longer, deeper.
I feel a presence. Something watching.
"Miguel, run," I try to warn him, but he can't hear me.
He stops walking and looks around, sensing something is wrong.
"They come at night," he says quietly. "The creatures with red eyes. They've been following me for days. I can't shake them. Can't hide." He turns in a slow circle. "I think they're using me to get to you. I think they know we're connected somehow."
He's right. Of course he's right.
Whoever is after me knows about Miguel. Knows he's my weakness.
Red eyes appear in the shadows between the trees. First one pair. Then another. Then more.
Rogues.
At least six of them.
Miguel sees them too. His face goes pale.
"Luna," he says, his voice shaking. "If you can hear me, if you're really there, you need to stay away. Don't come looking for me. Don't try to save me. It's a trap."
"No," I say desperately. "Miguel, don't—"
"They want you," he interrupts. "Not me. I'm just bait. And I won't let them use me to hurt you."
The rogues step closer, circling him.
Miguel backs up against a large oak tree, his hands clenched into fists even though he has no way to fight them.
"I love you," he says. "I know you probably don't feel the same way anymore. I know you've moved on to this new world. But I need you to know that. Whatever happens to me, I love you."
"Miguel, please—"
The rogues attack.
Miguel screams.
And I wake up.
I'm sitting upright in my bed, gasping for air, my heart racing.
Nova is instantly awake. "Luna? What's wrong?"
"Miguel. He's in danger. Real danger. Right now."
"Another dream-link?"
I nod, my hands shaking. "The rogues have him surrounded. They're using him as bait. To draw me out."
"Then you can't go. You know that, right? It's exactly what they want."
"I know." But knowing doesn't make it any easier.
I swing my legs out of bed, too agitated to lie still.
The room feels too small. Too confining. Like the walls are closing in.
"I have to do something," I say. "I can't just leave him out there."
"What can you do? You don't even know exactly where he is."
She's right, but it doesn't help.
I pace back and forth, my mind racing.
Miguel is in danger because of me. Because of what I am. Because of the bond we share.
And I'm here, safe behind the Academy's wards, while he's fighting for his life.
"Maybe I could go back," I say. "Find him before the rogues do. Get him somewhere safe."
"Luna, no. We barely made it back last time. And you were just in the medical wing for days. You're not strong enough yet."
"Then what am I supposed to do? Just let him die?"
Nova gets out of bed and grabs my shoulders, forcing me to look at her.
"You're supposed to trust that Miguel is smart. That he'll find a way to survive. And you're supposed to focus on getting strong enough that when you do face whoever's behind this, you can actually win."
Her words make sense. I know they make sense.
But my heart doesn't care about sense.
"I hate this," I whisper. "I hate being torn between two worlds. Two lives. I can't be human anymore, but I can't completely let go of that part of me either."
"Then don't. You don't have to choose one or the other. You're both. Human and wolf. Luna Eclipse and the girl who loved a human boy." Nova's grip on my shoulders tightens. "But you do have to choose survival. Because if you die trying to save Miguel, you both lose."
I close my eyes and take a shaky breath.
She's right.
I know she's right.
But knowing doesn't make the guilt go away.
I sit back down on my bed, suddenly exhausted despite having just woken up.
"I feel like I'm failing everyone," I admit. "Miguel. My friends. Myself. No matter what I do, someone gets hurt."
"That's not true. You're doing your best in an impossible situation."
"My best isn't good enough."
"It will be. You're getting stronger every day. Ryder's training is helping. You survived five rogues, Luna. Five. Most wolves don't survive one."
I want to believe her. Want to feel proud of that accomplishment.
But all I can think about is Miguel's face in the dream. The fear in his eyes. The love.
"He said he loves me," I say quietly.
Nova sits beside me. "Do you still love him?"
"I don't know. I care about him. I want him safe. But is that love? Or just guilt and responsibility?"
"Maybe it's both. Maybe it's something else entirely." She bumps my shoulder gently. "You don't have to figure it all out tonight."
We sit in silence for a while. The Academy is quiet around us. Everyone else is sleeping peacefully, unaware of the danger closing in.
Finally, Nova yawns. "Try to get some more sleep. We have classes in a few hours."
"I don't think I can sleep."
"Try anyway."
She goes back to her bed, and I lie down, staring at the ceiling.
But sleep doesn't come.
My mind keeps replaying the dream. Miguel's words. The rogues circling. His scream.
I reach over to my nightstand where I keep the charm bracelet Miguel gave me. The one I've been using to maintain the dream-link connection.
My fingers close around it, and immediately I feel a pulse of warmth.
That's normal. The charm has always been warm when I hold it.
But this is different.
This is hot.
I sit up and look at the bracelet in my palm.
It's glowing.
Faintly at first, then brighter. The small moon charm in the center is pulsing with silver light.
It's never done that before.
"Nova," I whisper urgently. "Nova, wake up."
"What now?" she mumbles sleepily.
"The charm. It's glowing."
That gets her attention. She's out of bed immediately, staring at the bracelet in my hand.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. It's never done this before."
The glow intensifies. The warmth turns almost painful.
And then I feel it.
A pull.
Stronger than any dream-link I've experienced.
Miguel isn't just in danger.
He's in immediate peril.
Right now.
The charm is trying to show me where he is. Trying to connect us.
"Luna, your mark," Nova says, her voice shaking.
I look down at my wrist.
My Eclipse mark is glowing too. The same silver light. Pulsing in time with the charm.
The two are syncing. Resonating.
Creating a bridge between worlds.
Between me and Miguel.
And through that bridge, I can feel his terror.
His pain.
His desperate need for help.