8

"Hi, who are you?"

"I'm Jena, and this is my wolf, Lana. We've met before, you know!"

"We have? And how come you own a wolf? Is that legal?"

"Not sure what you mean by legal, but I do not own her. She is me and I am her."

"That makes no sense. I must be dreaming."

"Well, that's new. Never had a dream person tell me he is dreaming before."

"Do I know you? I read somewhere you can only dream of people you've already met. And how come you're talking to me? In my dreams, people never talk to me."

"You are the dream character, friend. Can you tell me your name? You never did tell me your name when we met."

"What do you mean? I'm me."

"Yes, but don't you have a name? Like my name is Jena and you are?"

"I'm... I can't! I can't remember my name and I'm sure I have one. Everybody does."

"Jena, he can't know his name because you don't know it. Since he is part of your subconscious, and he never told you his name in the real world, this version of him coming from the depths of your mind can't know it."

"Your beast talks!"

"Her name is Lana. I already told you that. And she is a wolf, not a beast."

"Ok, sorry! But you should stop talking about me like I'm not real. I'm more real than you are. I'll wake up and you will be gone."

"For a dream mate, you talk too much." She walks forwards and kisses him, strong and needy at first, then slowly relaxing as she is kissed back by the nameless person in front of her.

"What was that for?"

"This is not how this dream usually works. That felt so..."

"Different, palpable, real," Lana supplies the words she can't seem to find or say.

"You two are strange, I feel odd being talked about like I'm not here by a couple of figments of my imagination. And you still haven't told me why you kissed me."

"Because you are our mate!"

"Say what now?"

"Lana means you are our soulmate. I sometimes dream of my soulmate, but you are a bit more cooperative usually."

"I'm NOT A DREAM CHARACTER-PERSON or whatever you think I am. And how the hell can a wolf be my soulmate? Not that I believe in soulmates too much, but let's ignore that for a moment."

"Because she is me and I am her."

"You speak as if you are a werewolf and she is your wolf aspect."

"That's actually rather well put."

"Ha! My dreams are mocking me. Werewolves don't exist. They are myths, book characters, things you read about online."

"Maybe your Earth world doesn't have werewolves, though I wouldn't bet my life on that either, but on my world..."

"You mean dream world?"

"No I mean, Calla."

"Is that a synonym for dreamworld in your language?"

"Does it seem to you like I'm speaking another language? Calla is my world like Earth is yours."

"So you're an alien?"

"Alien?"

"Extraterrestrial, not of Earth – alien?"

"Then yes, just like you are not of Calla."

"Ok, so how come you know of Earth?"

"Because I was there."

"You are an alien from another world that visited Earth. And you've met me?"

"Yes."

"When, how, why?"

"I came to Earth to kill someone."

"So you are a killer alien werewolf that came to Earth, met me and thinks I'm her soulmate. Lucky me."

"I know you are."

"Riiight. Damn, this is the most vivid dream I've ever had."

"I'm beginning to think this is not a dream," Lana says.

"I agree."

"Well, I don't believe you, missy! How did we met then, pray tell? Was I the one you were trying to kill? Did I get Stockholm syndrome? Did we have sex or something? I don't remember you!"

The last words feel like a dagger to Jena's chest and she has to hold back tears.

"You are an insensitive asshole!" Lana rebukes him.

"I've definitely never met you, wolfie!"

"You did not. You only met me. You just said you can't dream about people you've never met. And I wasn't trying to kill you. I was only after my father's killer and I ended up staying with a friend. I attended a class with her. You were in your second year in a - campus I think it was called inside a university or the other way around, don't quite remember. I attended one of your courses with you and we talked a couple of times. That's it. You don't remember any of that?"

"Jena?"

"I don't... you're the girl from Africa?"

"Jena? Wake up, please!"

"Naleea? What the? Nooo, why did you wake me?"

"Uhm, you fell asleep at your desk and you were supposed to get ready for the journey."

About a month and a half after Jena left for the West to find evidence about the warhogs and just a few days before celebrating 5 years since the absorption of the Oasis Pack into Multi-Unity, preparations for a grand celebration are fervent.

It was also the first time for the large majority of the wolves involved to have a female as an Alpha, a fact to which most of them adapted, partially motivated by the continuous access to clean water, so sought after almost everywhere else and by the fact that her rule was established through combat and not just a handover of the reigns.

A strong, confident wolf is running the perimeter of the territory, making sure patrols and sentries are where they should be.

A sudden stab to the heart sends the wolf tumbling down the edge of the large rock formation it was running on.

A leg is dislocated, and several bruises will probably make themselves known the following day because of the minor rock slide its undignified acrobatics provoked.

The wolf is not happy. Its human side is hazy in the back of its mind, as if unable to wake up; and it is obvious why.

The stab to the heart is not physical.

"Find...

thw...

the witch...

Ss-a..."

"Sandra?" The wolf asks back.

"Yes. Find...

Her,"

"As the human falls back, completely engulfed into the darkness of their mind, the wolf rams his body into a nearby boulder, resetting his leg and once more regaining full functionality.

The way is familiar. They've been there before and the pain is a good motivation for running. Fast. As fast as they can; they need to reach the witch's hut.

~~~

Much farther in the West.

"Alpha Jena, the Chieftain is ready and requests your presence."

"Thank you, Jamil. Would you mind walking with me?"

"Not at all my lady. I would follow you anywhere. After what you did..."

"It's nothing. Anyone would..."

"Anyone would have run away if they had half a mind working right on them. And I wouldn't blame them. All our encounters with the warhogs so far were disastrous. They had us beat every time and with every attempt to stop them more of us were killed. And yet you saved me, my son, my brother and my sister's mate in that fight you intervened in."

"It was the right thing to do."

"Yeah, but you've never met us before."

"Yet I've had dealings with the warhogs. Not a pleasant enemy to have, but they don't leave us much choice, do they?"

"What irks me the most is we can't even reason with them, yet they seem organized. We've noticed every group has at least one leader."

"Have you seen any wolves with them?"

"Collaborators?"

"Yeah... you could call them that."

"No. Why would anyone do that, since they are unreasonable? You wouldn't even be able to get close enough."

"You'd be surprised."

"What's that?"

"I'll... explain later."

"Ok. Anyway step right through here and the Chieftain is inside."

"Join us."

"I couldn't possibly..."

"I insist!"

"You heard the lady, Jamil. She insists. Join us!"

"Yes, Chieftain!"

~~~

Somewhere far, faaar away.

"Morning, honey!"

"Hey! How did you sleep?"

"Great. I had the wildest dream!"

"Really? That's nice! What was it about?"

"Well, there was this girl, and a wolf. Her wolf, I think. Not sure."

"Yeah, and?"

"Aaand... I don't know, I forgot the rest."

"Can't be that important though then, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. But it was so vivid."