Insomnia tortured me again that night — my night terrors became a twisted mix of Victoria with her dark red eyes, hunters chasing me through forests and Kaden becoming possessed. All through this, I struggled to keep Ember safe and myself sane.
I woke with my body covered in sweat and my face covered in tears (shut up), traumatised by the night terrors — they felt so real, but I guess that's the point, right? Some of the dreams felt so real that sometimes I didn't know whether I'd actually woken up yet or not.
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"Did you ask Ember out?" Kaden asked me as soon as he saw me at school. I'd spent the rest of the previous afternoon and evening hanging out with him in the woods — attempting to teach him how to master some of his abilities. He at least needed some basic training before the hunters inevitably arrived.
"No, 'cos I went straight back to my house last night." I rubbed my eyes, trying to wake up even though I hardly slept. "And I'm not gonna when I see her."
"Why not?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest to warm up. It was getting cooler, by the UK's standards — yet fall in Lake Oldoy was nothing compared to how cold Montana could get.
Rolling my eyes, I told him, "'Cos I've got bigger problems; we both have now. One of your main problems is understanding how you can and can't talk to an Alpha."
"What did I do?" He frowned — we'd been over this all already but clearly, he hadn't taken it on board seriously. Either that or it just didn't feel real to him, as if he was living in some sort of dream world where nothing was of huge consequence.
Maybe coming back from almost dying gave him some sort of perverse death wish.
"Seriously?" I groaned. "If she wanted to, she could rip your throat out before you've had time to even blink."
He gulped, rubbed his neck and looked away. I was quickly figuring out that being brutally honest with Kaden was the best way for him to take things seriously.
Ember walked up to us, and after giving me a quick hug, she asked, "How did it go?"
"Kaden freaked out 'cos the Alpha's a girl." I smirked.
"A girl? Didn't we think it was a guy?" Her eyebrows furrowed together and she dragged a hand through her golden curls to flip her parting to the other side — something she did often without thinking.
"Yeah, we did." I nodded. "She's called Victoria, and she's right over there." I dipped my head in her direction before glancing away.
Victoria was dressed in a business casual, which was the dress code for 11th and 12th graders — or sixth-formers, as they call them in the UK. The Alpha's wild hair was scraped back into two tight braids, and she was smiling and laughing with some friends — she looksso similar to Jade. It was odd seeing Victoria acting like a normal teenager; especially since she'd been so threatening when we met her in the woods.
