Chapter 362: Twin Nightmares
Graeme raked a hand through his hair once he left the room their alyko were kept in. They were safe, which was a huge relief. And he would make sure that this pack would do everything to keep them from being endangered again.
It was such a huge, unexpected blessing to have them back—it was hard to even fathom that they had returned. This whole situation was unbelievable. He almost wondered if he wasn’t going to wake up in the woods somewhere to find that he was back tracking strays and that all of this had been some kind of wild dream.
Unfortunately Camila and Elsie were not currently able to create a talisman for him, so he was suspended in this state of not remembering the past few months. All of this would continue to feel slightly unreal until he got his memory back.
He would go look for his father’s lost talisman himself. It had to be in the woods.
"Graeme, you are here quite late," Calix remarked as Graeme descended the steps onto the main floor of the pack house. "Did Lucas bring that lost, wet pup to find you?"
"Yes," Graeme answered distractedly. "How are you Calix?" he asked, the question naturally coming out as it seemed he had not seen the male for a very long time when in fact it had only been the previous day.
Calix’s eyebrows pinched together momentarily. "All is well. Just making sure all of the clean-up has been taken care of."
"From Samhain," Graeme nodded, "of course. Thank you."
"Not a problem, Alpha," Calix smiled. "Are you going home?"
"Oh, um," Graeme looked back up the stairs toward where he would likely be sleeping, "no. I have lost something of my father’s in the woods and am hoping to find it."
"What is it? My crew and some of the guards have already cleaned up most of the woods in the area. The guards insisted on taking over the task of cleaning up the haunted forest, despite the pups wanting to keep it up for the rest of the season. Do you know why that is?" Calix asked curiously, realizing something unusual had happened tonight, though he was not aware of the extent of it. Clearly if the Alpha was here this early in the morning, something was not right.
Graeme recalled being told about how Finn was discovered out that way. As a pup, Finn always tagged along with him. He was a good male. So much was happening tonight that Graeme had not even been able to register the idea of that loss yet, and he felt horrible about it. It was yet another part of this night that seemed completely unreal.
"I lost the medallion my father used to wear. It holds special significance to me," Graeme told Calix, avoiding the male’s question. "Did they discover anything like it?"
"No. Surely if they would have, it would have been brought to me—especially if it has your scent on it. Perhaps you would have better luck looking for it when the sun has risen," Calix suggested, his head tilting to the side in curiosity.
The Alpha was spending time away from his precious mate to look for a necklace when he could easily send someone else to do it? How odd indeed.
"You are right," Graeme smiled uneasily. "Thank you, Calix. I will see you in the morning."
He watched as Calix walked away, disappearing in the direction of the kitchen. Graeme sighed, raking a hand down his face this time before turning around to climb the stairs again. He told Violet he would check in on her. He should do that, and then he would try to close his eyes for a few hours before the announcement would need to be made to the pack about what had unfolded here tonight.
Without his memory and the conviction of his Alpha position, all of this felt like such a huge task—like he was walking through mud, each step becoming more laborious as the mud fought to keep him.
Graeme knocked at Violet’s door before opening it slowly, allowing her time to scent him and know he was entering.
"You came back. I thought you wouldn’t come back," she said tremulously, still huddled in the exact place that he had left her. She did not look any more at ease. If anything, her eyes looked more sunken and haunted.
He sat in the chair next to the bed once again.
"Will you stay with me?" she asked, eyes suddenly dancing with a small glimmer of hopeful light.
"I will sit here with you until you are able to fall asleep," he said gruffly. "And then you will call your family in the morning. Understood?"
She nodded, but she didn’t move. She just stared at him with her knees tucked up into her chest.
"You can rest, Violet. I will watch over you," he reassured her.
"But you will leave when I fall asleep," she said in a small voice.
He sighed, a muscle feathering in his jaw. Why did she remind him of a small pup? This was so unlike her. Clearly she had been through a lot.
"I will stay," he said reluctantly.
Her face brightened, and she finally scooted toward the pillow on the bed, gently tucking herself beneath the blankets.
"You make me feel safe," she sighed into the darkness of the room.
The shadows were less threatening with the familiar scent of Graeme near. She thought now about how he was the perfect, most ideal male. There was not a better one she could think of. That was why he was so hard to get over.
"Get some rest, Vi," she heard him say.
She smiled hearing the nickname. She loved when he called her Vi.
Eventually, Violet fell asleep. Graeme could hear the way her breath became even and relaxed, and he considered leaving. He certainly wanted to, but he had given her his word that he would stay.
Listening to the sound of her breathing with nothing but the light of the moon peaking through the window began to lull him to sleep as well, and he slipped into a restless dream. He was running on all fours, his paws barely touching the earth as he raced after someone. She was in danger. He could scent her—her scent consumed him. It was all he could focus on, and the desperate need to find her drove him faster in pursuit.
But she was always out of reach, being threatened by the most terrifying thing he had ever encountered—someone who he could sense looming large and dark over the forest. He couldn’t defeat this enemy. The realization shook him to his core, but he would never stop trying to reach her. Losing her was not an option.
He heard her whimpering in the distance, and when she screamed and called out his name in panic, he jolted awake, panting and gripping the sides of the chair with his heart hammering in his ears.
Violet was tossing in bed, whimpering. She was having a nightmare.
"No, no, no. Please..." she cried. "Stop. Stop!" Her voice rose high and thin, panicked as the nightmare took hold.
Graeme groaned and got up, sitting on the side of the bed and touching her arm to try to rouse her. "Violet..." he called softly, not wanting to scare her more. But she continued to cry, stuck in the nightmare. Being this close to her, he could scent the blood from her injuries, and he realized at once just how extensive they must be. "Goddess, what did they do to you, Vi?"
She whimpered and rolled over, curling into a ball at his side.
