The Forbidden Child - Alpha’s Lost Luna

Chapter 13

***Jane***

I awoke to El and Melanie barging into my room, jumping onto my bed and shaking me awake.

“OMG!” Melanie exclaimed.

“What! Did you see something?” El asked.

“Melanie? El? What are you doing in my bedroom?” I asked, trying to sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

“You were screaming in your sleep Jane. Are you okay?” El asked worriedly. Wow, I don’t think that has ever happened before. Did I really scream out loud?

“Yea, I think I’m fine. It’s just there was this huge lion, and his roar sounded like it could bring a building down.” And yet I think I screamed more out of shock than fear. I don’t think I felt threatened by that lion, he was actually rather beautiful. And the way he jumped in front of me, facing that vampire, it made me feel protected and safe.

“It was just a dream, try to go back to sleep, okay?” Melanie suggested.

“Yea, that sounds like a good idea, I feel so drained. Sorry for waking you guys.” Melanie and El both smile at me, each giving me a hug. They then proceeded to get back up off my bed and left my room, leaving me alone in darkness once again.

I couldn't fall back asleep so quickly though. Now that I was awake, my brain went on overdrive, analyzing every detail about the dream I just had. The first part was very much the same as all the others I have been having over the past 2 weeks. The same open hall, the same intricately carved door, and the same man calling to me. Yet somehow I was able to realize I was still sleeping. I had always read you could control your dreams if you knew you were currently in one. Yet all I could control was myself. It almost seemed as if the dream man changed once I became aware, and then he said I was awakening? What did that mean? Because I didn't wake right after that, it almost felt like I was losing myself to the dream man. That is until the lion came in. That was the first time I had ever dreamed of him, and he felt so powerful. In fact, the two together, the man and lion were both emanating strength almost equal to one another.

I wonder if I should tell anyone about these dreams. They were becoming a bit troublesome if they were affecting more than me, and I always felt so tired after having them. Almost as if I didn’t get any sleep at all.

I looked over at the clock and it read 4 am. I would have to get up in a couple of hours to get ready to leave, so I better try and catch a few hours of sleep before then. I rolled over and faced the open window, the moonlight shining through. It soothed me to feel the fresh air on my skin, and listen to the life outside my window, and at one point I even thought I heard the purr of a cat close by. It lulled me into a dreamless sleep.

~

The next time I woke it was to the sun shining warmly in my room. I still felt rather drained, as if my energy had been depleted as opposed to restored from a night's rest. But there wasn’t much I could do about that now. I tossed my covers aside and walked over to my window to see what kind of day I would face. I looked out towards the tree line, and I could swear I saw the tawny behind of a lion disappear into the forest. It must have been a cougar, but it looked much bigger, almost like the lion from my dream. Shaking my head to clear that ridiculous thought, I dragged my feet into the kitchen to start the coffee maker. I was going to need some serious caffeine if I was going to survive this day.

After I got the pot to start brewing I put a couple pieces of bread into the toaster. I heard moaning from the living room, and looked over to find El on the couch starting to stir. “Good Morning sleepy head. Didn’t want to share the bed with your sister?” I questioned her.

She sat up and stretched her arms, yawning at the same time. “No, she’s a bed hog, and makes weird noises while she sleeps.” She stood up and stumbled her way into the kitchen where I was currently making some toast.

“Were you able to get back to sleep at all?” El questioned while yawning some more.

“Yea I did.” I then decided to trust El with what has been going on. “I’ve actually been having alot of weird dreams lately.” I looked at her cautiously.

“With the lion? Do you dream of him often?”

“No, actually last night was the first time I dreamt of that. I’ve been having recurring dreams with this beautiful and mysterious man claiming me to be his. It’s always the same, the same hall, the same double doors, and the same man. But last night was different.” I pondered on it.

Melanie chose that moment to walk out of the guest bedroom. A big smile on her face. “Good morning girls!” Why was she so chipper? And was she really already fully dressed with makeup and hair done? What kind of monster was she?

“Ugggg, Mel, you're too happy, can’t you just act like a normal person and be grumpy like the rest of us?” El complained to her sister.

“Sorry love, got a busy day ahead of me. Jeff is coming to get me so we can go pick up a car that was left at the party and take it back home. Then I have to head in to work. You going to be okay going to the new orientation alone? Or are you two. . . “ Melanie pointed between the two of us.

“Well, I assumed we would just go together, if that’s alright with you El. I know we never really talked about it, and I also know there is a bus that stops in town to pick up the new local arrivals. But I thought it would just make more sense for us to go together.” I was still debating on living on campus or just driving in for classes every day. But surely we could go to orientation together.

“Yea that sounds good. Hey did you get your room assignment?” El asked.

“Ummm, maybe? I got a bunch of paperwork with my scholarship acceptance, but I kinda spaced the whole living there thing since we moved within driving distance. I hadn’t really made my mind up on what I was going to do.”

“Oh, I had hoped you would be staying there like me. Maybe once you see the campus and dorms it will help you make up your mind.”

I heard heavy footsteps walking in our direction. “Ugggg, why are you guys all up and being noisy, wait, why are you guys all in my house? Jane, what's going on?” Amy asked, coming out of her room wrapped in a big fuzzy pink bathrobe.

“Hi Amy! I’m Melanie, El’s sister. We’ve never actually met.” Mel said, holding her hand out to Amy to shake. Amy looked at her like she was an alien. I stifled a laugh, out of all of us I’d say Amy was the least morning person ever. Amy sniffed the air.

“Is that coffee I smell? Oh thank God.” She brushed past Mel with her hand out still and rached for her mug that sat in the drain tray, filling it up. We all watched Amy, with Mel putting her hand back down, waiting to see what Amy would do. Once she made her coffee, she took in a deep breath of the brew and sipped it a couple of times. “Mmmmm, that’s better. Hi, sorry did you say your El’s sister? Nice to meet you.” Well that's better. “Did you guys decide to have a party without me?”

I snickered, “Amy you partied a little too much last night by yourself. Do you even remember how you got home?” I asked.

She stood there for another minute drinking out of her mug. The toast popped up and she reached over and grabbed them, placing two new pieces of bread inside and starting it. “Well, no. But since you all are here I’m going to say you brought me home?”

“Yea we did. I rescued you before a bunch of guys could take advantage of you.” Which was a big reason I was thinking of staying home, and not living in the dorms. Someone had to watch out for her.

“Pftt, I was fine. They wouldn’t have gotten very far with me. Remember those self defense classes you made me take? I was great at them!” She was actually, but not as good as I was. Our teacher said I was a natural. I had started to take other classes after that too, like kickboxing, that was fun. “Oh by the way, can you drop me off at work this morning? I left my car at the clinic and caught a ride to the party last night.” Well that explains how she got there, glad we don’t have to go get her car too.

“Sure Amy, that shouldn't be a problem.” I said.

The next set of toast popped up, and Mel grabbed it quickly, and opened the fridge for some jam. “Hope you don’t mind, but Jeff will be here soon to get me.” She explained. Putting two more pieces of bread back inside the toaster.

“Not at all.” I answered.

“So Jane, you're moving into the dorms, you can come back on weekends if you want, but you're staying on campus.” Amy announced. My jaw just about dropped.

“Where did that come from!” Seriously, she never said anything.

“I heard you talking when I came out. And I want you to live on campus. I think it will be good for you! Go make new friends, get out of your comfort zone and join in some extracurricular activities. Just go live life. You don’t need to constantly be taking care of me.”

“Are you sure about that? Last night would prove otherwise.” She was out of her mind if she thought she didn’t need someone to take care of her.

“Last night was my last time drinking like that. I decided to give it up. I’m getting too old to keep doing this crap, and this hangover is a killer.” She said while holding onto her head. She looked like she was thinking about something, then reached into one of the cabinets and grabbed some painkillers. Downing them with the rest of her coffee.

“So don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. It’s high time you started paying closer attention to your own self care instead of mine.”

“Jeffs here! Gotta go!” Melanie exclaimed. She ran off into the bedroom, coming back out with her bag. “El, text me when you get to campus and let me know how everything goes. Nice to meet you Amy!” And with that she ran out the door. I didn’t even hear Jeff's car until right when Mel walked out. She must have a sixth sense about Jeff or something. Because I never saw her look at her phone or anything.

Turning my attention back to Amy, I opened my mouth, about to say something when El beat me to it. “I think you should stay on campus too.” She blurted out.

“See, even El agrees with me. By the way El, you’ll be missed at the clinic. If you ever need a job anywhere let me know and I’ll give you an excellent recommendation.”

“Thanks Amy.” El said, smiling at her.

“Wait, why do you think I should stay in the dorms, and how come you won't be volunteering at the clinic anymore?”

“Well I won't be volunteering because I want to focus on my studies this year so I can get into a better college. Traveling back and forth will cut into too much time, so I was going to look for something else to do on campus. And I think you should stay at the dorms for all the same reasons Amy said earlier, but also for a selfish one. So I have a friend there with me.” Huh, well okay. I guess I could see her point. Having El there with me would be a whole lot better then if I had gone without knowing her.

Giving a sigh, I responded. “Okay, fine, I give! I’ll stay in the dorms!”

El did a little jump and a huge smile grew on her face as she clasped her hands. “Great! Then let's get ready! Maybe they will let us stay together and we can go shopping to decorate our room!” She said excitedly. She ran off into the guest room and shut the door.

I walked over by Amy, grabbing the next toast that was done and proceeded to butter it. “You know, you might actually have a friend there, Jane. Make sure you take care of that friendship.” Amy said.

“I know. We kinda had a breakthrough last night? El and Melanie are actually really great. Though their choice in guys they hang out with could be questionable.” I laughed at that. Jeff was hilarious, and Kai was hot, and I had an irresistible pull towards him. But it was all a little too intense for only knowing him one day. And with these dreams I was having. . .

“Jane! What are you still doing in the kitchen! Go get ready. We should probably leave in 30 minutes!” El said as she poked her head out the bedroom door.

“Okay! Alright I’m going!” I said as I walked to my own room. Well it seemed I would not only be getting ready for the day, but packing to stay in the dorm as well. Good thing I could always drive back to pick up more stuff. While getting ready, I kept having flashes of both Kai and the dream guy in my mind. Maybe what I needed was a romantic fling to get these dreams to stop. Perhaps it was my subconscious telling me I was lacking in the love life department. I’m pretty sure I could find a few candidates at the school to help scratch my itch, suddenly I was looking forward to school a whole lot more.