Secrets and Night Terrors

POV: Delaney.

"My eyes go wide. 'First what?'" I dodge the question, pretending I do not know exactly what she is fishing for.

Sienna leans forward, her intense curiosity acting like a physical weight in the room. Her dominant Alpha blood gives her an expectant, unyielding edge that refuses to be ignored or brushed off. "Yes! I knew it! Who was your first kiss?"

"Huh?!"

"Do not play dumb with me, Delaney. Any red-blooded, non-mated woman would be a fool for not taking whatever those warriors are offering. You are beautiful. They have definitely noticed. Who. Was. Your. First. Kiss?"

I feel cornered, exhausted by the day's emotional rollercoaster. The sheer force of her scrutiny breaks through my defenses. I cover my face with my hands, my cheeks burning hot. "Wyatt," I mumble into my palms. I have no idea why I feel so embarrassed telling her. It was nice, and he was sweet with me. "But just the one time, during a foolish, drunken game of spin the bottle years ago. We were all teenagers hyped up on stolen alcohol, and I was dared. The bottle landed on Wyatt, and we just went for it. It is not something any of us talk about."

"What about Cody?" she presses relentlessly. "He does not seem like the type to stop at kissing. But I also do not get the feeling you slept with him."

I shake my head.

Sienna smiles like the Cheshire Cat, her eyes practically gleaming. "Yes! How far did you let it go?"

"What are you, a mind reader?" I drop my hands and stare at her. She just looks back expectantly. She is used to getting her way. I finally cave under the pressure. "Far enough. Look, the guys and I really do not talk about this stuff. I do not know how much they have said to Harris, and I do not want him to get weird with me if he does not know and finds out. Or getting in a fight with them. He is super protective, if you have not noticed."

I stare at her again. She just stares right back, lifting a single eyebrow. She waits with maddening patience.

"Fine," I sigh, twisting my fingers together in my lap. "It was during a game of seven minutes in heaven. It did not mean anything."

"Oh, but it did! Look at your face! How many times did he make you orgasm? He seems like a more-than-one kind of guy. Were they your first ever?"

"Seriously, this is so weird." I scrub my hands over my face.

She shoves my shoulder playfully, and I almost fall off the edge of my bed. "How many times?" Her infectious smile makes it easy to see why Harrison would love her, even without the mate bond pulling them together.

"Twice."

"In seven minutes? Using what?!"

"Just his hand," I shrug, giving up on holding out on her. She is clearly going to push for information until I surrender anyway, and it is actually nice to have another girl to talk to. "Also my first from someone who is not myself. And yes, I had sex with Dex once."

Sienna gasps quietly, leaning in even closer.

"I did not want to give my virginity to just anyone," I explain quickly, trying to justify the intimate encounter. "As a curious teenager, I wanted a safe space to understand exactly how the physical act of sex worked. Dex has always been the quietest of the group, the one who observes before he speaks. When I went to him, I knew he would not judge me or push me further than I wanted to go. He gave me control. Dex was patient with me. He is not a small guy. And again, I do not know if Harris knows. He probably does, but it is not something I discuss. The guilt of hiding it from him still gnaws at me."

A deep dread settles in my stomach as I say the words out loud. I am terrified of how my overprotective best friend would react if he ever found out about Dex and me. Harrison has a jealous streak when it comes to my safety, and the idea of him getting physical with Dex over me makes my chest tight.

Sienna remains unaffected by my dread. She gleefully rubs her hands together. "So hot!" she declares, her eyes wide with excitement over the juicy gossip.

"Not nearly as hot as what I walked into downstairs a little bit ago," I tease back. "Did he forget other people live here, or is that like a mate bond thing where you get horny all of a sudden and have to fuck right where you are?"

I mean it as a joke, but her cheeks flush bright red. The confident Alpha female turns into a flustered girl.

"Maybe a little of both," she admits, gushing over her mating urges. "I mean, I did not know you lived here, and his parents are still at the meeting. They will be back in the morning, so I did not see anything wrong with it. And it is hard to keep my hands to myself when he is around. You have seen him." She pauses, her tone shifting to disbelief. "Do you really talk to him every day?"

"Yeah, we have for as long as I can remember. Always checking in before school and before bed back then. Now we are at the same school and I train with them, so I am with almost all the guys every day."

"Knock, knock! Is it safe? I would like to be able to have kids someday, Del," a deep voice calls out.

The bedroom door pushes open, and my best friend stands in the frame. He waits for me to give him the okay before stepping inside.

"We are fine, Harris," I reply. "We just had to fill in some gaps you missed because you are a moron and let your dick take over thinking for you."

He huffs a laugh and walks into the room carrying two steaming mugs. He sets them down on the side table and climbs onto my bed behind Sienna. "I brought tea. I thought it might help."

The foul-smelling herbal aroma hits my nose. It is a specialized blend brewed specifically by the pack healer to combat my severe nightmares. Nothing else has worked, so I am forced to choke down the bitter liquid.

"We have an early start tomorrow," Harrison adds. "We all need to sleep."

He wraps his massive, protective arms around Sienna, pulling her back into his chest. It is cute watching them together. Her dark hair frames her heart-shaped face, creating a stark contrast with his light blonde hair. She leans back into his embrace, and I hear a low rumble in his chest as his wolf purrs.

"What is tomorrow?" I ask, confused. I reach for the mug of tea, the heat seeping into my palms.

Harrison drops a massive bombshell right into my lap. "We are traveling to my pack so Harrison can meet my brother," Sienna answers for him. "He is the Alpha, but he was dealing with another urgent matter, so my dad and I went to the meeting in his place."

"I am glad you did," Harrison murmurs, nuzzling her neck.

"Okay, please do not have sex in my room," I groan, slapping his leg. "You have your own room for those extracurricular activities. Harris, thank you for the tea. I should be good. Did the guys leave already? I did not even think to say goodbye."

I am trying to rush them out. I have heard that new mates escalate from light touching to fucking quickly, and that is not something I want to witness.

"Nah, they are all in the media room," Harrison says casually. "We figured it would be easier for everyone if we all just left from here in the morning."

"Why do you all have to go?" My heart sinks at the thought of being left alone in the packhouse without them.

"We are all going. You included," Harrison states firmly. "When an Alpha travels for more than just a couple days, usually his team goes as well, as long as someone is here to run the pack. Beta Nolan is still here, and my parents will be back tomorrow too."

"What does any of that have to do with me?"

"I am sure Sienna would like to have another female along. Traveling with all males all the time cannot be fun. Besides, you are one of my warriors and my best friend. I would like you there when I have to meet Sienna's brother."

"Is that code for you are afraid of my brother?" Sienna laughs, tipping her head back against his shoulder.

"Umm, yes Luna!" he growls playfully in her ear. "No sass from you. Del is always the buffer when there is too much testosterone in the room. Delaney has actually been to several meets with me. She is good with all the small talk, and she remembers everything. It is handy. It does not hurt that she is beautiful and typically earns attention quickly." His tone turns serious. "Your brother has the biggest pack territory and is one of the most notoriously dangerous Alphas. Not to mention I am about to waltz into his territory and permanently take his beloved sister away. I need all the help I can get."

I ignore his backhanded distraction comment, my mind stuck on a terrifying detail. "Wait, what pack are you from?"

"Obsidian Moon," Sienna answers.

My eyebrows shoot up. I am shocked. Even I have heard of them. The Obsidian Moon pack is practically legendary for their sheer military force and the iron-fisted way their Alpha rules his territory. I cannot remember the Alpha's name, but he is famously ruthless and bloodthirsty. He takes over weak packs and eliminates rival Alphas like I go to school and turn in assignments.

"Relax, he is not that scary," Sienna says, noticing my internal terror.

"Maybe for you. He loves you," Harrison points out. "For the rest of the world, he is intimidating. If the situation was reversed and someone came and told me they were Delaney's mate and she is packing her stuff and leaving today, I would try to beat the shit out of them. Mate bond or not."

I laugh along with Sienna, but then I stop and stare at him. The pieces suddenly click together in my brain with startling clarity. "Is that why no one here tries to date me? Because you told them you would beat the shit out of them?"

"Uh... no... not exactly," Harrison stammers, looking away.

"But pretty close to being accurate?"

"We may have insinuated that you could handle yourself, and we would take care of whatever was left over," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck.

So, Harris and the guys have been physically intimidating any random guy in town who even attempts to date me. I think back to the few guys in high school who had tried to ask me out. They always canceled at the last minute, looking terrified and refusing to make eye contact with me in the hallways. "Good to know there is a 'we' to yell at," I mutter. I look at Sienna. "How far is the drive to your pack? I need to make sure I have enough topics to yell at them for over the whole drive."

She giggles, and Harrison blanches, knowing I am not lying. He only calms down when Sienna turns her head and gives him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, go. You two are making me nauseous," I wave them toward the door. "I will see you in the morning."

They both get up from the bed. They make it to the door before Harrison turns back around. "Do you need a shirt? I can grab one."

He gently offers me yet another one of his scented shirts to help me sleep. It is a comforting, ingrained habit. I painfully know I desperately need to wean myself off of it if I am ever going to survive without him. Even with a little history, I do not know how Sienna will feel about him giving clothes that smell like him to me.

"I still have the one you gave me a couple days ago. I should be good. I have to start weaning sometime."

"Let me know if you need me, alright?"

I nod my head. There is no way I am yelling for him in the middle of the night with his mate here. They finally bid me goodnight, pulling the door shut and leaving me to rest in the quiet dark.

I sit on the edge of the mattress, staring at the steaming mug on the nightstand. The smell is atrocious, like dirt and bitter weeds, but I force myself to drink it down. The murky liquid coats my tongue, leaving a thick, powdery residue behind. I grimace, setting the empty mug down. The healer's potent tea pulls my consciousness deep under the moment my head hits the pillow. I fall asleep faster than I have in the last three nights. The heavy, drug-induced peace does not last. It shatters into a horrific, vivid nightmare.

The deafening sounds of screeching tires rip through my ears. Acrid, burning rubber singes the inside of my nose. The copper stench of blood surrounds my mind, coating the back of my throat. Screams echo from all around me, bouncing off the twisted metal and shattered glass.

But this time, the twisted dream is vastly different. It is not the mangled bodies of my parents trapped in the smoking wreckage.

It is Harrison. And Dex. And Cody. And Wyatt.

All four of the strongest men I know are trapped inside the crushed frame of a vehicle. They are bleeding out, their massive bodies broken and pinned beneath the wreckage. I crawl toward them in the darkness, my hands slipping in the pools of warm blood.

They look at me. They are staring directly at me with dead, unseeing eyes.

"No!" I scream, the sound tearing up my throat. I scream for them in the pitch blackness. "Harrison! Dex! Wake up!"

They should not even be here. They were not supposed to be in the car. Why are they here? I have lost them. The pain in my chest is unbearable, ripping my heart in two. I keep screaming into the void, thrashing against the unseen forces holding me back.

Real, panicked voices finally manage to break through the terror.

"Delaney!! Wake up! Del!! Come on girl, come back to me! DELANEY!!"

My eyes fly open, blinking slowly against the sudden light. An intense wave of sheer panic hits me as I realize my physical body feels like it is buried in heavy, wet sand. I am limp. Paralyzed. My mind is foggy and disjointed. I cannot lift my arms. I cannot move my legs. I try to force myself to sit up, but my muscles refuse to obey the commands my brain is screaming at them.

"Delaney, we are here. You are safe now, stop fighting."

Harrison's familiar, deep sandalwood scent washes over me. A wave of calm follows the scent, easing the frantic pounding in my chest. I breathe deep again. This time, a sweet, calming floral note mixes with the sandalwood, emanating from Sienna's presence nearby. My logical brain registers that other people are in my room. No one is supposed to see me like this. It is bad enough Dex was subjected to it in the past.

I try to tell them I am fine, but my jaw feels slack. "Mmmokay!" I slur out the bizarre word. I am unable to control a single muscle in my mouth or body. "Be okay. Go bed."

"Why does she sound drunk this time?" Dex asks from somewhere near the foot of my bed. His voice is thick with palpable worry. "She has never sounded like that before during a terror."

"Jus tire, Dex. Back sleep," I attempt to say, but the words mangle together on my numb tongue.

I feel my useless body collapsing backward. Strong, familiar arms scramble to catch my dead weight before I hit the mattress. Sienna leans over me. Her gentle, warm hands softly brush the damp, sweat-soaked hair away from my pale face.

"Delaney, wake up for us, please," Sienna's soft, pleading voice begs me. "Just for a few minutes, then you can sleep."

Her touch reminds me of my mom. "Nice hands," I randomly mumble into the air. My brain is working, but I am confused by the misfiring synapses. Why will my body not move? What did that tea do to me?

I try to blink, desperate to clear the fog. I suddenly feel a strange, firm tightness wrapping around both of my arms. It surprisingly does not hurt; it just holds me steady. Desperately focusing all of my remaining mental willpower on the only bodily function I still have any remote control over—my ragged breathing—I inhale deeply.

I finally feel a reassuring, tight squeeze on my numb hands. With one last surge of effort, my heavy eyelids finally manage to open.