Chapter 12 The Warning Dream
Chapter Twelve - The Warning Dream
Olivia's POV
Sleep came to me that night heavy and slow and dragged me under before I got to fight. My body may have been tired, but not my mind. Ryder's face followed me even after my eyes closed and his voice was calm and firm. I missed him so much.
The dream began with silence.
There I stood barefoot on warm silver sand. The sky was dark but alive, with a wide glowing moon hanging very close, almost within reach. The air smelled clean, old, powerful - like something that had been around long before me, and would be there long after I was gone.
"Olivia Brown." The voice sounded without sound, filling my head rather than my ears. I turned slowly, my heart pounding, and this was when I saw her.
She was in front of me wearing a long white dress that shimmered like liquid moonlight. Her hair was free, silver and endless, her eyes with an intense look. I knew who she was without anybody telling me.
I dropped to my knees without thinking. "Moon Goddess."
"Stand," she said kindly but firmly.
I obeyed, my legs shaking as I rose. "Why am I here?" I asked.
Her gaze softened. "Because you are standing at the edge of a choice which will influence more than your life."
The air shifted. The sand - the sand beneath my feet blew dry as a mist. The world changed.
I now stood on a cliff with a broad land bisected down the middle. On one side I saw the werewolf packs, their lands were green, were familiar, banners flying high. On the other side stood the kingdom of the Lycans, stone cities and towering walls, cold and proud. Between them was a field red with blood.
Blood.
My breath caught. "What is this?"
"A future," the Goddess replied. "One of many."
I was watching wolves and Lycans facing each other, the hatred burning. Claws flashed, swords came up, screams lacerated me like knives.
"No," I whispered. "This can't happen."
The Goddess turned to me. "It can. It will, if the bond between you and the Lycan prince continues without wisdom."
My chest tightened. "Ryder and I did not do anything to choose this."
"No," she agreed. "But you will select what comes next."
The scene changed. I saw Ryder standing on a battlefield alone, the blood running down his arm, with wild grief and rage in his eyes. His voice broke as he called my name. I reached out to him, but something that I couldn't see pulled me back.
"I don't want this," I said and tears filled my eyes. "I don't want war. "I don't want people to be dying because of us."
The Goddess came closer, heavy, ancient in her presence. "Love does not bring peace, child," he said. It has to be guided by reason, sacrifice, and strength.
"I'm only eighteen," I said shaking my voice. "I don't know how to stop something this big."
She studied me carefully, and I felt for the first time something other than power in her eyes - interest.
"You are much more than you know," she said. "Your blood has been an echo of both sides, although the truth has been interred. That is why the bond found you. That is why it is up to you to make the choice."
I frowned. "What do you mean, my blood?"
She did not answer. Instead, the vision changed again.
I saw myself standing in front of a large crowd, wolves and Lycans mixed together their faces wary but listening. I looked more in age in there, stronger. My posture was straight, my eyes on the spot, my voice clear as I said words I could not hear
Then the image shattered. The moon above cracked like glass, and its sound as it broke sent pain through my head. I cried out and fell on my knees as the ground trembled under me.
"Remember this," the Goddess's voice was distant. "The bond is not the danger. Blind devotion is. If you are going to walk this path, you need to be the leader, not the follower. Or all you do love will burn."
"Wait," I pleaded. "Tell me how to stop it."
Her form started to dissolve into light. "Trust your instincts, but do not let your heart rule by itself. When the time comes, you will know what needs to be done."
The world collapsed in black darkness.
I woke with a sharp gasp, my body was covered with sweat, my heart was beating so fast, it hurt. Moonlight came from my window, pale and quiet as if nothing had happened. My hands were shaky as they pressed against my chest to try and control my chest.
It had felt too real. Too clear.
I swung my legs off the bed and stood walking slowly to the window. Outside the pack grounds were peaceful, guards patrolling, all as it should be. Yet my chest felt heavy and seemed I was carrying a secret that was too big to hold.
War.
The word echoed in my head.
I thought of Ryder, I thought of his smile, his strength, the way he looked at me like I was something precious, not something to be used and traded. I thought of my father and his plans, of Tristan and the cage he wanted to put me in, of the hatred that existed even before I born.
"I won't allow this to happen," I whispered into the night.
For the first time, that inner conflict felt different. It was no longer about love or duty; it was about responsibility and choice.
I didn't know how yet but I knew one thing with painful clarity.
Peace would not come accidentally. If it came I would have to fight for it, think about it, stand for it, if that meant standing by myself.
Under the fear and confusion, something else was brewing.
A quiet strength, waiting to rise.