Chapter 5

Elena's POV:

Once the decision was made, a strange calm settled over me. The nightmares didn't return for the next few days, a quiet reprieve that felt both welcome and unsettling.

Our living room was a landscape of sweet chaos. Blair hummed a pop song as she tossed clothes into her suitcase with cheerful abandon. I was more methodical, carefully folding a stack of T-shirts on the floor when a thought made me pause, my hands stilling on the soft cotton.

Blair noticed my faraway look. "Thinking about him again?"

I nodded slowly. "I was just wondering... what if he's real?"

She came over and sat on the rug beside me, her expression encouraging. "Tell me about him," she urged. "Describe him. The more specific you are, the more you'll see he's just a figment of your imagination." It was a cognitive therapy technique she'd read about in one of her psychology textbooks.

I hesitated, then decided to try. I closed my eyes, letting the dream-images surface.

"He's tall," I began, the words coming softly. "Taller than any Alpha I've ever seen. He has this... presence. An aura of command. Even when he's perfectly still, you feel this overwhelming need to show respect."

"His scent..." I frowned, trying to grasp the elusive memory. "It's like a forest just before a thunderstorm. Clean pine, and the sharp, electric smell of ozone. It's dangerous, but... compelling." The scent was a mate's scent, a unique signature only I would recognize.

Blair listened, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Okay, so forest and storm," she murmured, already analyzing. "That symbolizes your conflict. You crave the natural world of the pack but fear the chaos of it."

I ignored her pop-psychology diagnosis, lost in the memory. "His eyes are pure gold. Not yellow, not amber. Gold. Like they're literally molten. When he looks at you, it feels like he can see every secret you've ever kept."

"And his voice," I added, a shiver tracing its way down my spine. "You don't hear it with your ears. It just... appears in your head. It's deep and magnetic, but every word is an order you can't refuse."

The more details I gave, the more certain Blair looked.

"See?" she said, a triumphant smile on her face. "A tall, powerful, golden-eyed Alpha who can read your mind and command your every move. It's the classic prince-or villain-from every werewolf romance novel ever written."

She laughed, a light, easy sound. "Your subconscious just took every stereotype about powerful males, mashed them all together, and created the ultimate boogeyman to torture you with."

Her explanation was so neat, so logical. It was a relief to hear it.

A small smile touched my own lips. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right," she said, patting my shoulder. "When we get back, we'll have the Pack Doctor check you out, you'll talk to the Oracle, and you'll forget all about your 'dream lover'." She wiggled her eyebrows, trying to tease me into a better mood.

I shoved her playfully. "He's not my lover. He's my tormentor."

We laughed, and the heavy tension that had filled the room dissipated. For now, I was convinced. The Alpha was a creation of my own troubled mind. A personal demon.

What I didn't know was that every single detail I had just described-the height, the scent, the golden eyes, the crushing presence-was a perfect, chillingly accurate portrait of a man who was very, very real.

Blair stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "Alright, demon analysis complete. Time to discuss real-life hotties."

She winked at me. "You know, that Rick Miller from our Econ class is kind of what you described. If you ignore the eye color, anyway."

My good mood vanished. My nose wrinkled in distaste.

"Don't even mention him," I said, my voice sharp with disgust. "He's a walking hormone, a textbook arrogant Alpha."

Blair just laughed. "Someone's made a big impression."

I didn't want to talk about it. I balled up a T-shirt and threw it at her face, ending the conversation.