The Traitor's Brother

05 ~ Once upon a dream

“You!”

Teddy, in one of his rare moments of showing sharp instincts, is staring at her with narrowed eyes. “Who is he?” he asks.

At first, Alys pretends not to know what he’s talking about but he simply stares at her with those uncanny sharp eyes. There’s no use lying to her brother when he’s like this so she tries the aggressive tactic instead.

“I already told you—it’s none of your business!”

“Of course it is. You are my sister. Whoever this chosen mate is will be family, and I intend to make sure he’s worthy.”

She bares her teeth, suddenly very pissed with his intention to meddle. “Whoever it is I have chosen, you will accept and respect, because he is my choice, and it is my life, my heart and soul I will tie with his, not yours. Now leave me alone! You’re giving me a migraine!”

Teddy continues to stare at her pensively for a few more seconds before leaving without another word. Alys collapses back to bed, feeling drained. She wasn’t exactly lying to Teddy. Her temples are throbbing now and the pain is starting to radiate all over her head.

With a sigh, she reaches out for her doll, the one Jayden had given her many years ago, and clutches it tightly to her chest, hoping it could somehow help ease some of her pain.

But after only a few minutes, there’s a soft knock on the door and Alys groans in frustration. “Go away! I’m trying to sleep!” She snaps to whoever it is, past caring about being rude. It’s her birthday and she’s overly stimulated and in pain at the moment. They will just have to forgive her for being a brat today. She grabs a pillow and puts it over her head, wishing she could escape to the dream world now.

However, whoever it is is not easily intimidated by the lycan princess’s fury. The door opens and a familiar voice penetrates the pillow over her head.

“Well, if sleeping is the plan, then we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”

Alys sits right up. “Aunt Maeve! Uncle Eli! You made it!”

“Happy birthday, little princess,” Sir Elijah Whitemane, King’s Guard to her father, has been dealing with some last minute chaos back at the Royal Residence, and his mate Maeve has called earlier to apologize in case they arrived too late for the party.

“We took the chopper. Heard there was traffic on the way,” Maeve admits. “But it seems the party still ended a little too early for you, darling girl.”

Alys sighs with relief and embraces her. “Oh, Aunt Maeve. I’m just glad you’re here. Now I can finally have the best birthday gifts. My head is killing me and I could really use a breather from this reality.”

Deep, calm sleep from Uncle Eli and an escape to a world of lovely dreams from Aunt Maeve. Every year, for as long as she can remember, these have always been their gifts to her. Their lycan gifts are very powerful and in her case, very convenient.

Maeve hesitates. “Don’t you want to wash up first and change into your sleeping gown?”

Alys shakes her head. “I can’t wait. I don’t think I can walk to the bathroom anyway. It feels like there’s been an elephant stampede inside my head right now.”

Maeve and Elijah exchange a glance as they silently communicate through their bond, which makes Alys’s heart twinge with envy. Will she ever have that connection with Jayden? Probably not.

Elijah takes a deep breath, looking resigned, and Alys wonders what Maeve told him. “Very well, little princess. Make yourself comfortable.”

Alys eagerly obeys. “Thank you…”

“Eli will help you sleep now. And my gift will soon follow. I hope, this time, you’ll find closure.”

What?

“Wait… what closure?” She asks, suddenly confused, but before she can hear Maeve’s answer, Elijah has worked his powerful lycan magic and Alys finds herself falling… down, down, down the rabbit hole of sleep and dreams that alternate between light and dark, and some grays in between.

The next time she opens her eyes, Alys finds herself in a simple bed of a small room. The place looks vaguely familiar and she realizes it’s Aunt Maeve’s room back when she was still just a seamstress. A very talented one, but previously financially struggling as well.

She frowns, wondering why Maeve has taken her here.

Alys can hear someone humming downstairs, where the dress shop is. She knows because she has actually been here a few times. She slides out of bed, grateful that she’s no longer feeling the headache, and hurries downstairs, to see what Maeve has planned for them to do today.

Maeve is a Dreamwalker. She can take others with her in the realm of dreams. When Alys was younger, Maeve would often take the girl with her to calm her down and make her feel better, especially whenever Alys has been suffering too much because of her own gift. Or curse. It depends on one’s point of view, really.

Thankfully her empath gift does not work here. She gets to rest and feel… normal.

Alys finds Maeve downstairs, busy designing something on several papers. Despite being able to afford all kinds of expensive materials now, Maeve prefers to make her designs on paper first.

“Hey Aunt Maeve… what are you working on?” She asks, peeking over her shoulder.

“No, no… no peeking!” Maeve exclaims, covering the designs with both hands. “I’m working on something special and it’s going to be a surprise!”

Alys smiles. “Is it something for me, then?”

Maeve purses her lips. “I’m not sure yet, actually. I will know when I’ve done more.”

She laughs. “But Aunt Maeve, aren’t you supposed to take me elsewhere today? It’s my birthday present, afterall. Why are you working?”

“When the genius hits, there’s no saying when or where. Now go outside and explore for now. Hopefully, when you come back later, I’m done with this.” Maeve motions with her hands, as if to shoo her away.

Alys stares at her in disbelief. “Really? You’re shooing me out? Where am I supposed to go? There’s nothing to do in this sleepy little town!”

The dress shop is located in Alpha Seth and Luna Marie’s territory, several hours by train away from the city.

But Maeve appears to be completely absorbed by her project and no longer paying attention to her.

Alys sighs, feeling a little miffed that she is being ignored. However, eccentricity is a familiar trait and she, of all people, knows better than to be offended or to take it personally. With a shrug, Alys decides to explore outside the shop, hoping it’s not going to be the usual empty place. It would be nice to be able to talk to somebody, especially when she doesn’t have to worry about the pain or suffering radiating from other people.

To her dismay, the village is empty. It’s not even really a picturesque place, so she can’t think of anything else to do. Is there even anything interesting in this godforsaken place?

And yet Maeve brought her here.

Why?

The answer comes out from one of the nearby houses. An old cat, white and fluffy, carrying something in its mouth. It looks around first, as if to check if anyone is around. It growls a little when it sees Alys, looking rather annoyed that someone is watching.

Alys frowns, narrowing her eyes as she tries to see what it is that the feline is stealing from whoever-it-is’s house.

“Is that a… bracelet?”

The cat backs away slowly, like a criminal caught red-handed, and Alys almost laughs. But then the cat suddenly bolts away, as if the hounds of hell were going to chase it, and she just had to see what is going on and what’s going to happen. Where is the cat going to take the bracelet?

It doesn’t even look expensive, however, the cat’s suspicious behavior is very amusing and right now, with nothing else to do, she decides to follow it. Maeve will just have to find her later.

The cat might be old, but it can still run like the wind. Alys is starting to regret her ill-considered decision to follow the feline… until she sees a bridge farther down the road, where someone is currently standing, staring pensively into the water.

Alys stops walking, forgetting about the cat and its bounty.

Is it part of the dream? Maybe she’s just hallucinating. It can’t be him. This can’t be happening… it certainly hasn’t happened before.

And yet he stiffens when he finally feels her presence, and her heart slams into her chest as he slowly raises his eyes to meet hers.

She sighs. “Jayden…”