The Hybrid's Second Chance Mate

The Nightmare

Kinley had just crawled into bed, eyes closed when it seemed only moments later that she heard piercing screams and crying coming from Sam next door. She bolted upright in the bed and scrambled out hurriedly, not even pausing as she opened the connecting door and raced through to the other bedroom.

Sam was drenched in sweat, wearing summer pyjamas and kicking and twisting underneath his duvet cover. Kinley could see that his eyes were closed as he thrashed about and she moved closer, trying her best to avoid his hands and legs, unsure what was causing him this much distress and becoming determined to soothe him back to sleep.

"Sam" she called softly, kneeling beside the bed and placing a reluctant hand on his wrist. As usual the thoughts went flying through her mind and she almost lost contact at the sheer amount of grief and fear? that flowed through her.

Please, I said I was sorry.

It won't ever happen again.

I didn't mean to.

I know I shouldn't have done it.

The same phrases seemed to run through his mind on a constant loop and Kinley gently shook him, trying her best to awaken him from the nightmare that seemed to be plaguing him. She couldn't help wondering though why those particular sentences ran through his mind. What had Sam done that had this much of an effect on him even now?

"Sam" she tried, shaking him more vigorously and relieved when the boy's eyes shot open and he sat upright, Kinley just avoiding him hitting her by mistake.

"Kinley" he sobbed seeing her and she was taken aback when he flung himself into her arms and cried on her shoulder as she rocked him back and forth, putting up a mental block to avoid reading even more of his thoughts and invading his privacy.

"Don't go" he sobbed "don't go."

She patted his back. While Sam might be seven years old, he was still a child, one still in the midst of grieving the loss of his mother. She could no more leave than contemplate it. She couldn't leave him in such a state. She pushed back his hair from his forehead and gave him a kiss as he clung to her tightly, refusing to let go and she relaxed, knowing it would be a long time until she got to go to sleep but not caring at that point.

Instead she began to hum a lullaby as she rocked him back and forth. His cries grew weaker and she smiled into his hair as he began to loosen his grip enough that she could stand still holding him. Kinley debated with herself. Should she put him back in his own bed and hope that he wouldn't have another nightmare or should she just put him in hers in case he needed to be settled again through the night? Sam settled the debate for her.

"Kinley" he sobbed "can I sleep with you?"

She gave a wry smile. It looked like she was having company tonight then. She held him in her arms and staggered into her room. Man was Sam heavy but then she was strong and could handle it. She pulled back her own duvet and placed him lying down, seeing his eyes still open and looking at her stricken as though she might leave him alone.

"It's ok" she soothed "I'm just going to close your door and then come into bed with you. Do you need anything?" she asked gently "any stuffed toy to sleep with or a toy?"

He shook his head. "I don't have any stuffed toys" he said and she frowned. What kind of child didn't have any plush toys, even ones from when they were smaller? He had toys, she'd seen that when she first came in but now that she was looking again before she closed the door, there weren't very many at all and some were for younger children. When was the last time someone had given Sam a toy that was for his actual age? Even the paints and brushes were old as though he'd had them for a long time.

She cut off her thinking and shut the door, creeping back into bed and surprised when Sam rolled over and hugged her, burying his face against her breasts which to be fair were quite large and soft she thought amused, and snuggling right in. She stroked his hair and hummed, the boy relaxing enough to roll back onto the pillow, his eyes eventually closing as she tucked the blanket over him and kissed him on the forehead. Thank goodness it was a large bed otherwise it would have been extremely uncomfortable and most likely she'd have ended up having to sleep on the floor she thought with a giggle. As it was she closed her eyes, checking that he was definitely asleep before her thoughts going in a million different directions.

She'd had children have nightmares before but this seemed to be something different. The thoughts that Sam had running through his mind? They sounded a lot like apologising over and over for something he'd done wrong, as though he felt guilty or was used to doing it. If she asked Thomas about it would he know what was upsetting Sam so much or would it be a complete mystery to him as well? Then she stiffened. What if the thoughts were Sam apologising to his absent father over and over again? Was the father somehow responsible for Sam feeling so guilty and apologetic? She resolved to ask Thomas when this so called Alpha Spencer was due to come back and personally ask the man himself. Not to mention give him a stern talking to about abandoning his son so often. It wasn't right. The child needed a stable parental influence in his life, not the coming and goings of a father who should be there for him instead of going back and forth and leaving him in other's care.

She felt her eyelids becoming heavy and she began to feel drowsy, the mental block she'd placed slowly dissolving in her mind as she felt darkness overtaking her, completely passing out next to the sleeping child beside her. She was so drained and out of it that she didn't even hear the bedroom door open, let alone the footsteps of someone coming close to the bed, pausing for a brief minute and then just as quietly leaving. If she had, she might have gotten her wish to speak to Sam's father like she'd been hoping to.