Chapter 42 Theo's Gift

Chapter 42 Theo's Gift
Luna's POV
I sat on the couch with Theo curled against my side, his body still shaking from the nightmare that wasn't really a nightmare at all.
My mother hovered nearby looking worried and confused, and Damien stood by the windows giving us space but staying close enough to help if needed.
"Tell me about the dream," I said gently. "Everything you remember, even the scary parts."
Theo took a shaky breath. "I saw Sarah. She was lying down and her belly was glowing but not normal glowing, wrong glowing. Like sick green and purple mixed together."
"Okay. What else?"
"There was something inside her and it felt cold. Not temperature cold but like... empty cold. Hungry cold." He pressed closer to me. "It wanted things, Mom. It was angry that it wasn't born yet."
My skin crawled listening to him describe things a ten-year-old shouldn't be able to sense.
"Did you see anything else? Anyone else?"
"There was a woman with red hair watching Sarah. She was smiling while Sarah was screaming." Theo looked up at me. "The red-haired woman looked happy about Sarah being in pain. Why would someone be happy about that?"
Vivienne. He'd seen Vivienne in his dream somehow, watching her plan unfold.
"Some people are cruel, baby. They hurt others and enjoy it."
"Is the baby really wrong like I saw? Or was it just a bad dream?"
I glanced at Damien who gave a small nod like he was giving me permission to tell the truth.
"You saw something real," I said carefully. "Sarah's baby isn't normal. It's part wolf and part something else that shouldn't exist together."
"So I'm not crazy?"
"No, you're not crazy at all." I hugged him tighter. "You're special. Your wolf is waking up and giving you abilities that most wolves don't have."
"Like what abilities?"
"Like seeing things that are true even when you're not there to see them yourself. Like knowing things you shouldn't be able to know." I brushed his hair back. "It's called prophetic dreaming and it's very rare."
Theo was quiet, processing this. "Does it mean I'm broken?"
The question broke my heart into pieces. "No baby, you're not broken. You're just different and that's okay. Different can be good."
"But why me? Why do I have to see scary things?"
"Because your wolf knows you might need protection and it's waking up early to help keep you safe." I didn't mention that being special also made him a target, that Vivienne probably knew about his abilities before I did, that Sarah had been positioned near him specifically.
He didn't need that weight on top of everything else.
Damien moved closer and sat in the chair across from us. "Theo, have you ever had dreams like this before?"
"No. This was the first one." Theo looked at him. "Will there be more?"
"Probably yes. Your abilities are just starting to develop so the dreams might come more often as you get older."
"Can I make them stop? I don't want to see bad things."
"We can teach you how to control them better so they're less scary," Damien said. "There are people who understand prophetic dreaming who can help train you to use it safely."
I tensed at that. "What people?"
"Blessed Wolf elders. They've been training children with special abilities for centuries." He looked at me. "Theo's gift is powerful but without proper training, it could overwhelm him or manifest in dangerous ways."
The idea of bringing more supernatural politics into Theo's life made my skin crawl. He was already dealing with a custody battle and a father who'd manipulated him and a fake stepmother who'd pushed him off a platform.
Adding ancient wolf elders and ability training felt like too much.
But I also recognized my own limitations. I'd just discovered my Blessed Wolf bloodline a few weeks ago and I had no idea how to guide Theo through developing his.
"I need to meet them first," I said firmly. "Before they have any contact with Theo, I meet them and decide if they're trustworthy."
"Agreed." Damien didn't argue which surprised me. "I'll find someone with a good reputation and set up a meeting. You can interview them and make the final call."
It was a small compromise but it felt significant somehow. Him letting me maintain control over decisions about my son instead of just steamrolling over my concerns with his resources and connections.
"Okay," I said. "But slowly. We don't rush this."
"We won't rush."
My mother spoke up for the first time. "Luna, what is going on? Blessed Wolves? Prophetic dreams? This sounds like something from a fairy tale."
"It's real, Mom. All of it." I looked at her. "I'm a Blessed Wolf and apparently so is Theo. It's genetic, probably from Dad's side."
Her face went pale. "Your father never mentioned anything like this."
"He might not have known. The bloodline can skip generations." I was too tired to explain everything right now. "Can we talk about this later? I need to focus on Theo."
She nodded but looked shaken, like her understanding of the world had just shifted and she didn't know how to process it.
Theo yawned against my shoulder, exhaustion finally catching up to him. "Mom, can I sleep in your room again?"
"Of course baby. Come on."
I carried him to my room even though he was getting too big for it and tucked him into my bed. He was asleep within minutes, his breathing evening out as the fear of the nightmare faded.
I stood there watching him for a long time, this boy who I'd carried and birthed and loved more than anything, who was now developing abilities that made him valuable to people who wanted to use him.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out and saw multiple missed calls from Marcus, all in the last hour. He'd left voicemails too.
I played the first one on low volume so I wouldn't wake Theo.
"Luna, it's Marcus. I need to talk to you about something. Call me back."
The second one. "Luna, seriously, call me. This is important."
The third one. "Stop ignoring me. I know you're mad about the custody stuff but this isn't about that. I need to talk to you about Sarah."
The fourth one. "Fine, you won't call back. But you should know something's wrong with the pregnancy. The doctors are running tests and they're not telling me everything and Sarah's been acting weird. I think... I don't know what I think. Just call me."
His voice in that last message sounded different, less aggressive and more scared, like he was starting to suspect that things weren't what they seemed.
I looked at my phone and realized Marcus was beginning to figure out the truth about Sarah and the hybrid and everything Vivienne had orchestrated.
And when he learned the full truth, when he understood he'd been manipulated into creating a weapon and that the woman he thought loved him was actually a paid agent working for
someone else, his reaction was going to be catastrophic.