Not Mine but His Mate (Completed)

Chapter 6: Sleep 🐾

"Maybe I don't want you to wake up yet."

That line kept ringing in my head. I've never experienced anything like that before. The Lion beast actually talked to me, through my dreams. How is that possible? It couldn't be possible. Of course not. I'm the one psycho that must have made all of that up.

I heard someone come into the room, it was uh....Leaf again...or whatever her name is. I sat up and I surprised myself with the first thing I asked, "Is he sleeping yet?"

"Actually I came to talk about you. Yes you've been making progress, but the progress isn't going as fast as it could."

"I actually don't prefer that we talk about me, I'm fine," I said, basically cutting her off.

"It wasn't an option, Hazel. Not only are you the Beta's mate, you are the mate of a close friend and brother of the pride. I will do whatever it takes to make sure he's under as minimal stress as possible and that begins with you."

Who the hell did she think she was?!

"Listen Leafy, I don't know whom you think you are or who you think I am, but I'm not the type to just roll over when it benefits other people. Dealt with that in my last marriage, I'm not going through that again."

"Hmm, so you were married before," she said as she wrote something down on her paper.

"Excuse m-"

"Again, my name is Clover and I've never been the type to run from a challenge either. You may not know who you are and how important you are to this pride, but I will not stop until you've maid a full recovery. Dominic just wants to see you healthy and I intend to do that."

D**n, she told me...I'm lowkey salty as f**k.
Well hell....since she put it that way....
The last thing I'm doing is putting my walls down, but the least I could do is be friendly. Just until it's time for me to go back to my old life.

We stayed silent for a moment before I finally decided to speak.
Be nice, "So, how exactly does this sleeping thing work?" I asked her.

She lowered her paper and placed her glasses onto her head. She sighed, "Being stuck in our Lion form wasn't easy. We often went thousands of years without sleeping. I remember when I returned to my human form, I slept for two years. It varies really, anywhere from weeks to years."

The hell?

"But Betas and Alphas are different, at most they sleep up to four months. Us regular pride members cannot be woken up from our sleeping, However the Alpha and Beta can," she added.

I stayed silent. I mean what were there to say?

"He needs to rest, Hazel. He can't rest unless he knows you're completely okay."

I didn't have an immediate response. What did she want me to say? Anything I would have said that showed an ounce of care toward Dominic, it would be a lie. The last thing I want to do is lead anyone on.

"Could I just have a moment please? I'm really exhausted," I asked her. I could see the resistance in her eyes but eventually she granted my request.

After she left, I curled up in the bed and stared at the stars from the window. I'll admit, I was afraid to fall asleep. Not because of having a nightmare, but because I was afraid the nightmares I've had weren't actually in my imagination. I was afraid that the black cat actually could speak to me and has been. My mind hasn't been right since our first encounter and I don't know if I'll ever recover.

~Third Person~

Dominic paced the hallways in front of his room. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't just sleep and not be sure if Hazel would be alright. She's okay now, but anything could go wrong at any moment. He couldn't help his feline and wolf like instincts to protect her. He could sleep for months on in and not wake up in time for Hazel if anything were to happen.