Chapter 51

I wake with a start, my heart pounding and my skin clammy with sweat. It's that dream again—the one that's been haunting me for years, but now with sharper edges and more vivid details. Ever since that strange encounter with the Alpha King last night, when he called me by a name that wasn't mine and assumed I was someone else, my subconscious seems to be working overtime.

In the dream, I'm always a child, surrounded by chaos and fear. Screams echo in the distance, and there's a pervasive scent of smoke and something metallic—blood, perhaps? I see flashes of faces: a woman with wild, dark hair and panicked eyes who feels achingly familiar and a strong, protective man whose features I can never quite make out.

There are other elements, too—snarling beasts, shadowy figures, and an overwhelming sense of loss. But it's all fragmented, like pieces of a puzzle I can't fit together. The emotions, though, are crystal clear—terror, confusion, and