Werewolf dream
1188 Words
BRAHAM'S POV
"Braham, there are monsters in my room."
His small voice pulled me from sleep. I blinked in the darkness and found him standing in the bedroom doorway, his dragon book clutched to his chest, his eyes wide with fear.
"What kind of monsters, buddy?" I asked softly, careful not to wake Millie. She'd finally fallen asleep an hour ago after tossing and turning, her mind clearly stuck on waiting for test results.
"Big ones. With teeth and claws. They were chasing with me." His voice trembled.
I slipped out of bed and scooped him up, feeling how small he was in my arms despite how fast he was growing. "Just a bad dream. Come on, let's get you back to bed."
In his room, I tucked him back under his covers. The nightlight cast soft shadows across his face…shadows that made him look so much like Millie, but with my eyes staring back at me.
"Want to tell me about it?" I asked, settling on the edge of his bed.
Leo nodded, his grip on the dragon book loosening slightly. "I was running. In the forest. But I wasn't me. I was..."
He paused, struggling for words only a three-year-old would struggle with.
"I was different. Bigger. Faster. And there were other things running with me."
My blood ran cold, but I kept my expression neutral. "What kind of things?"
"They looked like big dogs but they weren't dogs." His eyes were impossibly wide in the dim light. "They had really big teeth and their eyes were shiny. Like yours sometimes."
I forced myself to breathe normally. "What happened then?"
"We were hunting something. I could smell it. I could hear its heartbeat." He looked at me with those too-intelligent eyes, and I saw the confusion there. "Braham, how could I hear a heartbeat in a dream? That doesn't make sense."
"Dreams don't always make sense, buddy. Sometimes our brains mix up things we've seen and heard and turn them into stories while we sleep."
"But it felt real. Like I was really there, really running, really hunting." He sat up slightly. "And I wasn't scared. I should have been scared of the monsters, right? But I wasn't. I liked running with them."
Every word he spoke confirmed what I already knew…his wolf was active, even in sleep. Three years old and already experiencing the dreams that preceded manifestation.
"Did anything else happen in the dream?" I asked carefully.
"I woke up." He tilted his head, studying me. "Have you ever had dreams like that?"
The question was inevitable. Leo was too smart to miss patterns, too observant to ignore similarities.
"Yes," I said honestly. "When I was young, I had dreams about running in forests too."
"Really?" His eyes lit up with curiosity rather than fear. "Did they mean something?"
Everything. They meant everything. They meant his wolf was waking up, trying to communicate, preparing for the day it would fully emerge.
But he was three. How do you explain that to a three-year-old?
"Sometimes dreams are just our minds processing things," I said carefully. "You've been watching animal movies and reading cartoon books too. Maybe your brain is working on those things."
He seemed to accept this, settling back into his pillows. "In the dream, when I was running, I felt happy. Like I was supposed to be doing it. Is that weird?"
"Not weird at all." I smoothed his hair back. "Dreams make us feel all kinds of things."
"Can you stay until I fall asleep?"
"Of course."
I watched his breathing slow, his fingers gradually relaxing their grip on the dragon book. But my mind raced.
Three years old and already experiencing wolf dreams. That was unprecedented for a child. Most didn't start until five or later.
But Leo wasn't most children. He never had been, not even before he was born.
When I was certain he was asleep, I returned to find Millie awake, arms wrapped around her knees.
"I heard," she said quietly. "Wolf dreams?"
I nodded, climbing back into bed. "Running in a pack. Hunting. Hearing heartbeats. Classic manifestation dreams."
"He's three years old, Braham." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Three."
"I know. It's early, but it means his wolf is healthy and aware."
She was quiet for a long moment, staring at nothing. Then: "I keep thinking about those four years in Barcelona. When it was just Leo and I. I was the only one protecting him, providing for him, making every decision."
She looked at me.
"Part of me is still in that mindset. Like if I stop being vigilant for even a second, everything will fall apart."
I understood that fear. I saw it in the photos my investigator sent…Millie walking through markets with her hand protectively on her pregnant belly, later carrying a newborn Leo with that same fierce guardedness in her eyes. She'd survived alone for so long that trusting others didn't come easily.
"It's not just you anymore," I said gently. "You have me. Callie. Renan. People who won't let you fall."
She nodded but didn't look convinced. Old habits died hard.
"When do we tell him?" she asked. "About what he is?"
"Soon. Before his wolf surfaces, he needs to understand what's happening." I took her hand. "We'll prepare him slowly. Books about wolves, conversations about how some people are special. By the time we tell him the full truth, it won't be such a shock."
"How did your parents tell you?"
"I was five. My father took me to the forest, knelt down, and shifted right in front of me." I smiled at the memory. "I should've been terrified. But I was amazed. When he explained it was our family's gift, I could barely contain my excitement."
"That's because you were raised knowing about wolves. Leo has no context."
"Then we give him context. Starting now."
My phone buzzed. A message from Renan:
Update on the phone. The specialist says there's audio data intact. Full recovery should be done by tomorrow.
I showed Millie. Her eyes widened.
"Tomorrow. We'll know if Sabrina's confession was recorded."
"And in less than two weeks, preliminary toxicology results." I pulled her close. "Everything's moving forward, Millie. Justice is coming."
From down the hall, I heard Leo's door creak open. Small footsteps padded toward our room.
"Monsters again?" I asked as he appeared.
"No. Just wanted to be with you guys. Can I sleep here tonight?"
“Sure buddy.”
He climbed into bed between us, fitting perfectly in the space we made.
Millie pulled him close, pressing a kiss to his head. "You're always welcome here, baby."
"I love you, Mama. I love you, Braham."
"We love you too, buddy," I said, my chest tight with emotion.
He fell asleep quickly, one small hand curled around Millie's finger, the other resting on my arm.
And as I lay there with my mate and my son, I knew that no matter what challenges came; wolf dreams, manifestations, murder trials…we would face them together.
Because we were a family.
And families protected each other.
Always.
- Writer
