Alpha Ian's The One and Only

Chapter 18

"Dr Shaw, help us!" a young wolf yells.

I take a step toward him, then another, but I stop when his face freezes and a thin horizontal line of blood appear on his neck. The next instant, his head falls from his body. I see a man of average height and lean build, his lips twisted in an evil smirk and his bloodshot eyes filled with menace, standing behind the body, holding a bloody scythe in his hand. I am standing on my front porch, and before he can run away, I shoot him in between the eyes. The night is filled with vicious growls, gunshots, and helpless cries of innocents, but all I see are the dead bodies surrounding me.

"LIAM! CLAIRE! BRI!" I yell, looking around and calling their names over and over again. Where are they? Panicking, I keep searching for them.

"IAN!"

"Natasha!" I hear a familiar voice, but it sounds far away.

I frantically look around but see no one. "Hello? Where are you?"

"Natasha! Wake up, love." I feel someone shaking me. "Natasha!"

I wake up gasping for air. My sleepy, foggy mind slowly registers my surroundings. Ian is looming over me, holding me by the shoulder, which explains the shaking. I lay there, taking deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart. The nightmares have never felt this real.

"You were having a nightmare," Ian says as he brushes my hair away from my face and gently strokes my cheeks. He takes a glass of water from the bedside table and places it close to my lips. I lean against the headboard and drink greedily my parched throat now feels better. "I was downstairs when I sensed your distress through our bond. I came upstairs to check on you, you were restless and moaning as if you were in pain."

"Did you see?" He nods. Surprisingly, he doesn't push for answers. I finish the glass of water and rub my eyes and face. Out of nowhere, he kisses my forehead. When I look at him, he shrugs, "You are adorable."

I scoff. The man is delusional. Closing my eyes, I lean my head back. I haven't had any nightmares in so many years.

"The boy was my patient in the Amazon pack. He was one of the 23 children I treated only to watch them all die brutally."

"And the man?"

"I don't know. I don't think I have ever seen him."

"Have you ever had a nightmare?" His hand wraps around mine, replacing the cold with warmth and calming the terrifying, frightening feeling.

I open my eyes and nod. "After I returned from Brazil. I couldn't sleep for weeks. Although I never said a word, Dad and Ryan knew. One night Dad found me in his office chair reading a book, and he told me that he had seen the haunted look in the eyes of many men after they had experienced something inhumane. Then he sat next to me and started reading his book. I had no idea when I fell asleep until I awoke on my bed the next morning. I didn't have any nightmares that night. It became our nightly routine until the nightmares eventually stopped, and I returned to my normal self. I have had a few flashbacks since Slade's email, but nothing like today."

The recent events must have triggered the nightmare, I thought. That reminds me.

"When are we going to see Jay? I want to speak with Slade," I say. A glance bedside table had me jumping up from the bed. "Nine o'clock! Why didn't my alarm ring? Is Bri awake? She will be late for school."

"Easy there." Ian catches me before my feet can touch the ground. With a swift movement, like I weigh nothing, he places me on his lap, catching me off-guard. His one hand rests on my thigh, and the other on my waist. The flimsy material does nothing to stop the warmth radiating from his hand, giving me goosebumps. I sit still, afraid of making any movement. Ian must have noticed because he chuckles. "Relax. I'm not going to pounce on you. At least not today." That's reassuring.