Laylah glanced around and gave a surprised laugh. She was in her dream room again. She noticed that some of the animals who had once filled the room were missing. Also absent were both of the wolves who had previously graced her side. What had happened? Why were they all leaving her?
Panicked, she looked about and shivered. The air suddenly felt heavy, oppressive and evil. The few remaining animals clustered around her. The female lioness in the front and center, yowled a challenge.
Her fear escalated. Something was coming, something that meant harm to all she loved and held dear. Her eyes were glued to the door that was violently shaking.
"We have to get out of here!" she yelled to the animals, but she couldn't get her body to move. Terror had her rooted to the silk cushions. The hair was standing up on her body and she squeezed her eyes closed, not wanting to see death coming to her.
"It's all right, I'm here."
The man from her earlier dream! Her eyes flew open and there he was, standing in front of her with a saber in his right hand and a whip in his left.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded and found herself suddenly able to move. She jumped to her feet and grabbed his left arm. "We have to get out of here, now!"
"No, we can't. This is my domain, my arena and I will not be upstaged in it by amateurs intent on feeding off your fears."
"What are you talking about?" Her gaze went to the door which was starting to buckle outward. "Oh, that's so not good!" she yelled and pointed.
"You must confront the fear or else be terrorized for the rest of your life. Stand with me, Beautiful. Let's take them on."
Wait a minute. Only one person called her Beautiful. Hope filled her heart. She tugged on his arm. "Look at me…please."
When he turned, his features were blurred for a moment before they solidified into Donil's handsome face.
"You! You've been in my dreams! But how? I don't understand." Laylah was too elated to be angry over his intrusion into the privacy of her mind.
"I'll explain it to you one day, just not right now. You're about to have an unwanted guest."
"Donil, what do I have to do?"
"Be the warrior you secretly wish to be. In our dreams, everything and anything is possible. You have to shape it to your will."
"I'm not a warrior. I mean I'm not a fighter. I get my butt kicked all the time at school! How am I supposed to fight?"
"The instincts are there. They are a part of you. Call on them, Laylah, because here comes trouble!"
She yelped as the door exploded and a monstrous thing entered. Laylah's eyes hurt as she tried to get a sense of what it was. It looked like someone had taken every imaginary monster andslammed it into one creature.
"Get behind me, Laylah!" Donil stood proud and ready. She looked at all the animals who had formed a protective circle around her and Donil. The lioness was in the front facing off against the intruder.
She threw her hands over her eyes and cowered. This was not happening! When she peeked between her fingers, she saw that Donil, the lioness and two other large felines were taking turns attacking the creature. When the thing's claws injured the cheetah, something in Laylah snapped.
She was tired of hiding! If Donil believed she could be a fighter, then she knew it had to be true. She felt a tingling along her body and glanced down. Her clothes had changed. She was in some kind of Grecian dress, but in her hand was a bow and a quiver full of arrows. She grinned.
When she was younger, Jacques had insisted she take some sort of weapons training. She'd been failing at nearly everything put in front of her until a bow had been given her. In that moment, Laylah knew that was the weapon for her. For five years she'd practiced and even won a few competitions here and there. Father had found out, flew into a rage and smashed her bow and arrows. He'd forbidden her from archery. Laylah remembered the feel of the bow and how strong she felt using it.
"No one harms my friends!" She fired off an arrow and watched as it changed into a burning missile that struck the monster in the chest. The creature let out a bloodcurdling shriek and exploded, showering the room with its bloody pieces.
"Ew! Gross! That was nasty!" Disgusted, Laylah brushed off bits from her shoulders and pulled some out of her hair.
Donil laughed. "You know, you're cute when you're angry."
"You owe me an explanation, Donil! You shouldn't be able to be in people's dreams. It's not possible."
"Yeah well, about that…I'll explain it fully when I see you again in person. You need to wake up. I have to go."
"Donil! Not fair!" she pouted.
"I know. I promise, I'll explain. Now wake up. You've been asleep long enough, Lazybones."
"Lazybones! I'll show you lazy!" She chased after him through the door and then she was falling….
~***~
Isabella sat up with gasp, her body soaked in sweat. Flinging back the sheets, she slid from the bed and walked over to her dresser. She looked in the mirror and smoothed her hair back.
"My lady? Did it go as planned?" Drayden stepped up behind her, his eyes looking her over longingly.
"Yes, although with a surprise or two."
She picked up her fan and tried to cool her body down. "How long has Donil Silentshadow been an Alpha?"
"He took over when his mother relinquished her right to lead three years ago. He doesn't play politics like the others and he tends to stick to his ancestral lands and territories."
"Hmm, interesting. Who administered the Alpha test?"
"I believe my Uncle Javier and Lord Dayid Yon of the Jaksenville Wolf Clan did. Why? Is there a problem?"
"No, at least not yet. I need to see the results from Silentshadow's Alpha testing. I want it here in five minutes."
"Yes, my lady." Drayden bowed and quickly left the room.
She stood and admired her nude body in the mirror. As a rule, her kind generated lots of body heat as bears and in human form. She preferred being naked. She donned a simple dress and pulled her hair back into a bun. She sat at her dresser and waited for Drayden to return with the information she had requested.
Each Alpha, in addition to the Alpha shield, a telekinetic body armor of sorts, had a secondary power. Any type of dream ability was rare. Isabella's secondary talent lay in creating nightmarish creatures and feeding off the fear they generated. Now, however, it appeared that Donil Silentshadow had a dream ability, too. What it was, she wasn't certain yet. She only knew that he had been in the dream with Laylah Le Croix and had inspired the normally scared teenager to fight back.
"My lady, here is the data crystal." He held it out to her.
Isabella placed it in the reader and spent the next two hours watching the testing. She paid particular attention to the comments made by the testers. It was Lord Yon's final statement that caught her interest.
"…I believe that Donil Silentshadow was holding back, that he was not giving us his full power. But since he passed the test with flying colors, there is no reason to prevent his acceptance into the ranks of the Alphas."
"How right you were, Lord Yon. How right you were," she murmured. Donil was a wild card and needed to be watched very, very carefully. "Drayden, I want you to assign a tracker to follow Alpha Donil Silentshadow. Let me know when, and if, he makes contact with Laylah Le Croix."
"Yes, my lady. Is there anything else my lady requires?"
She waggled her fingers at Drayden. "No, that is all." She saw the disappointment in his eyes, but it did not bother her. He was another little fish in a sea of males. She wanted only the best. So far she hadn't found that man. Oh well, all good things come to those who wait.