POV: Ashina
The nightmares started three days after her mother's revelation.
Ashina would dream of fire and blood, of symbols carved into stone, of a woman's voice chanting in that ancient language Mira had used. And always, at the center of it all, she stood bound to an altar while something dark and terrible crawled toward her through the flames.
She'd wake gasping, Kendrick's arms already around her, his voice murmuring soothing words she couldn't quite hear over the pounding of her heart.
"Another one?" he asked softly as she jerked awake for the third time that night.
"Yeah." Ashina pressed her face into his chest, breathing in his scent pine and earth and safety. "Same as before. The altar, the fire, something coming for me."
Through the bond, she felt his helpless frustration. He couldn't fight her nightmares, couldn't protect her from her own mind. For an Alpha used to solving problems with strength and strategy, it was torture.
