Lethal✔️

Chapter 16

I was in the middle of having my stomach stabbed in dreamland repeatedly when I was shaken awake.

I immediately summoned a knife and flipped my attacker over onto the bed, the knife pressed against his throat. 

When I recognized my "attacker" I sighed in relief. For God's sake, Axel. Don't sneak up on a sociopathic killer. Didn't anyone ever tell you that? I asked through the mindlink as I got off of him and removed the knife from his neck, discarding it on the nightstand. 

Axel didn't have any humor in his tone as he spoke. "Luna, you were screaming. I was worried," He admitted, and I could see the leftover panic in his voice. "What the hell were you dreaming about?"

I hesitated before answering, deciding that making a joke about my chronic nightmares was the best way to go. The usual. Being murdered brutally, same old same old. I shrugged indifferently, but I could feel the sweat dripping down my face from the dream-induced terror.

Axel searched my face, concern embedded in his features like a second skin. "How often do you have these nightmares?" He questioned, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.

I shrugged again, but he didn't let me off the hook so easily. I tried keeping my face neutral, but he read me like a book and winced as he asked, "Since the Wilson incident?"

The look on my face must have been confirmation enough, because I saw his face twist in pain. "Why didn't you say anything about it to me before?" He sounded hurt, and I didn't understand why. It's not a big deal, that's why, I answered passively. 

"Of course it's a big deal. Even your dreams are violent," Axel argued sympathetically. I didn't like the way he looked at me with pity. 

I glanced over at the clock, which showed that it was 7:00 a.m. I don't want to talk about it, I warned him not to press the subject.

"What does Cain say about it?" He questioned, and the last thing I needed him to do was running to Cain. If he thought I was dealing with the nightmares alone, I knew he would make me come back. 

It's not Cain's problem, I finally answered. They're just bad dreams. Everyone gets them. He knows that, I know that. It's really not a big deal.

Axel frowned. "You went through something traumatic. It is a big deal. You should talk to someone about it, since I have the feeling you're not showing how much its affecting you to Cain."

I was quiet. He was right about the fact that Cain didn't know the true extent of the lack of sleep I got every night, and I had no intention of telling him how bad the trauma was hitting me even months after the incident. He knew about the nightmares, but I was pretty successful in convincing him that they weren't impacting me too badly.

He has enough on his plate with the Red Crescent issues. He doesn't need to be bothered by some silly dreams, I brush off his concern with a dismissive wave of my hand. 

"He's your mate," Axel looked at me incredulously. "Your pain will never be a burden to him. It is as much his pain to bear as it is yours."

His words made my throat constrict, but before I could give another dismissive reply, I was saved by a mindlink from Thane.

Are you okay? I thought I heard screaming.

I'm fine, I responded. A smile crept on my face as I had an idea. Hey, are you up for a little bit of hunting?

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Truth be told, I had a lot of pent up rage from the nightmares, and I was desperate for a distraction. I knew that Thane wasn't as emotionally intuitive as Axel, and he wouldn't be hounding me about my traumatic past.