Premonitions

Victoria woke up gasping, her heart in her throat.

That dream... her dream, it was...

She turned to her side, feeling a warm presence weighing down one side of the bed.

It had been two days since she had kissed Liam. Two days since Ethan locked himself in the bathroom, lacerating her emotions as he went.

Ethan had been right in what he said; it was his turn. Because of this, Victoria had let Ethan sleep in her bed for the past couple of nights. She supposed this was the best way to heal her guilt, allow her to choose without bias.

Yet, something didn't feel right. Sleeping next to Ethan was comparable to sleeping next to a stranger; although his body was warm, it was strange and different. It didn't let off a soothing scent, fresh and forest-like, whereas her Alpha did.

Her Alpha.

Ever since that day, Victoria had been unable to keep Liam off her mind. Her once source of anger now someone she found solace in, someone who was slow and gentle in all the right ways.

Her dream had done nothing to solve this issue, either. Liam had been all over her, whispering sweet melodies in her ears as she drifted off to sleep after...

After their... activities. His hands, roaming over her, sneaking up on her, rough and calloused...

Ethan stirred, mumbling slightly in his sleep. Some part of her mind wondered what he was thinking about, if she was inside his head, there in his dreams like Liam was in hers.

Yet nothing came down their connection, nothing but uncomfortable silence.

Apparently he wasn't thinking of her.

Interrupting her train of thought, the bedroom door began to creak open. It was a terrifying sound, one reminiscent of a horror story told around a campfire, of ghosts and creatures from beyond her imagination.

Turns out it was just Liam.

Liam opened the door slowly so as not to wake Ethan, and beckoned to Victoria. It looked like he wanted to talk to her... to spend some time alone with her... Victoria's dream flashed before her eyes again. How was she supposed to function like this?

Victoria slid out of bed slowly, being cautious of the sleeping person next to her. She had promised Ethan that she was his fro a little bit... but she couldn't resist the call of the Alpha.

You were sending some thoughts down the line,

Liam said as she finally reached him. Victoria exited the room as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn't heard Liam, but then-

Her gasp echoed throughout the hallway as Liam's thought registered in her mind.

He had heard her.

This was dangerous; no, more than dangerous. She had openly shared with him the one thing she had planned on keeping a secret until it faded, the one thing that would doom her.

It wasn't as if she had felt this way over Ethan, either. It was just her and Liam, him stuck on her prefrontal cortex like a fly in honey.

I... um, I had some dreams last night.

Liam said to her mentally, his words and their meanings bounding down Victoria's entire being.

I... I had some dreams, too.

She replied, her mind going a mile a minute. It was obvious; so obvious what was to come next. She hadn't felt this way with Ethan, had she? She hadn't dreamt about him, she hadn't kissed him, she hadn't felt the burning fires of passion in her chest.

All she had felt was guilt. Guilt, burning like passion, it's flame blue with intensity. It threatened to overthrow her, to gut her while she was standing on her own two feet.

Ethan... Ethan was toxic, wasn't he?

"You're my true mate, aren't you?"