The Dream Queen
913 Words
POV: Aria Vale
Fire.
That was the first thing I saw.
Silver fire.
It burned across a black sky.
Across mountains.
Across forests.
Across entire kingdoms.
Everything was burning.
Thousands of wolves knelt in the flames.
Their heads bowed.
Their bodies trembling.
Not from fear.
From devotion.
They were worshipping someone.
I followed their gaze.
And my heart stopped.
A throne stood at the center of the inferno.
A woman sat upon it.
Silver hair.
Red eyes.
A crown made of moonstone and bone.
The same woman from my visions.
The same woman from my nightmares.
The same woman who kept whispering my name.
She smiled.
The entire world seemed to tremble beneath that smile.
"Welcome back."
I stumbled backward.
"No."
The queen laughed softly.
"I've waited centuries for this moment."
I tried to run.
My feet wouldn't move.
The flames grew higher.
Closer.
Hotter.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"You already know."
"I don't."
The woman's smile widened.
"Liar."
Fear twisted through my stomach.
Something about her felt familiar.
Too familiar.
Like a forgotten memory buried deep inside my soul.
She slowly rose from the throne.
Power exploded outward.
The kneeling wolves lowered their heads even further.
Even the fire seemed to obey her.
"You have my eyes."
My blood turned cold.
"You have my power."
"No."
"You have my blood."
"No."
The queen took another step forward.
"You have my soul."
The world shattered.
I sat upright with a scream.
My chest heaved violently.
Sweat soaked my clothes.
Moonlight poured through large windows.
The room around me slowly came into focus.
A bedroom.
Massive.
Elegant.
Definitely not mine.
Then I remembered.
Shadowfang.
The rejection.
The silver power.
The council.
Damian.
My stomach twisted painfully.
Rejected.
The memory still hurt.
Which was ridiculous.
I barely knew the man.
So why did it feel like someone had carved a hole in my chest?
A movement near the window caught my attention.
I froze.
Someone was standing there.
Watching me.
Golden eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Damian.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
The silence felt strangely intimate.
Dangerously intimate.
His scent reached me.
Cedar.
Smoke.
Rain.
Mate.
My wolf immediately became excited.
Traitor.
Damian looked exhausted.
Dark circles sat beneath his eyes.
His normally perfect appearance looked disheveled.
Like he hadn't slept.
Not that I cared.
Okay.
Maybe I cared a little.
His gaze remained fixed on me.
"You were screaming."
His voice was rough.
Deeper than usual.
I looked away first.
"I've had worse nights."
A lie.
That had easily been one of the worst dreams of my life.
Damian moved closer.
The bond instantly tightened.
My pulse accelerated.
His jaw clenched.
Apparently he felt it too.
Good.
At least I wasn't suffering alone.
"What did you see?"
I hesitated.
Then laughed bitterly.
"Which part?"
His expression darkened.
"The queen."
My blood froze.
Slowly, I looked back at him.
"How do you know about her?"
The silence that followed answered everything.
My stomach dropped.
He knew.
He actually knew.
Which meant I wasn't insane.
The woman existed.
The dreams were real.
Suddenly that realization was somehow more terrifying.
Damian sat in a nearby chair.
His movements were cautious.
Like he was approaching a wounded animal.
Annoying.
I wasn't fragile.
Mostly.
"You collapsed."
"I noticed."
"The council saw the mark."
My heartbeat stopped.
"What mark?"
Damian looked uncomfortable.
Interesting.
The terrifying Alpha Blackwood looked uncomfortable.
That couldn't be good.
Without speaking, he handed me a mirror.
I looked at my reflection.
At first everything seemed normal.
Then I saw it.
Silver markings.
Tiny glowing symbols winding across my neck.
My wrist.
My collarbone.
The same symbols from the clearing.
The same symbols from my vision.
The mirror slipped from my fingers.
It shattered against the floor.
"No."
The symbols continued glowing.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Impossible.
"What is happening to me?"
For the first time since meeting him, Damian didn't have an answer.
That scared me more than anything else.
Because powerful men always had answers.
And Damian was one of the most powerful wolves I had ever met.
Yet right now?
He looked just as lost as I felt.
A sudden knock interrupted the silence.
Three sharp knocks.
Urgent.
Damian immediately stood.
The door burst open.
Lucas rushed inside.
The Beta looked pale.
Worried.
And slightly terrified.
Not a combination I enjoyed seeing.
Damian's expression hardened.
"What happened?"
Lucas looked directly at me.
My stomach dropped.
That couldn't be good.
"The drawings."
The room became silent.
Damian frowned.
"What drawings?"
Lucas swallowed.
"The ones she made while unconscious."
Cold dread settled inside me.
I didn't remember drawing anything.
Not a single thing.
Damian's eyes narrowed.
"What about them?"
Lucas looked genuinely disturbed.
"The historians identified the location."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
I felt it.
So did Damian.
"What location?" I asked.
Lucas slowly turned toward me.
His voice dropped.
"Beneath the Ashen Mountains."
Neither Damian nor I reacted.
Because neither of us understood.
Lucas continued.
"The place in your drawings isn't a place."
My heartbeat accelerated.
The Beta's expression became grim.
"It's a prison."
Silence.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
Terrifying.
I swallowed hard.
"A prison for what?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Nobody wanted to.
Then Lucas finally spoke.
And I immediately wished he hadn't.
"The Wolf Queen."
The room seemed to grow colder.
Outside the windows, thunder suddenly shook the night sky.
A storm was coming.
A very bad storm.
And deep inside my head...
A familiar voice began laughing.
The Wolf Queen.
She sounded delighted.
- Writer
