Chapter 74
Chapter 74
CHARLOTTE’S POV
E 55 vouchers
I had another dream. I was tied down in a small space that looked like a dark prison, no windows, no light. My hands and legs were bound with thick chains. Everything felt fuzzy, like I was underwater. In the dream, some men dressed like prison guards dragged me out and threw me to the ground. I was publicly whipped by them without mercy. Each time the leather touched any part of my body, pain tore through me and I screamed. The people watching were cheering, laughing, calling me names like it was entertainment.
As they dragged me back to that dark hole, I saw a woman walking toward me in red heels. She had dark makeup on that made her look evil, her lips curved in a smile that wasn’t real. I knew that face anywhere. It was Ace’s wife, Moon. My body was shaking, weak, and barely holding on. I couldn’t stand, couldn’t fight back. She bent close to my ear and whispered, “You deserve whatever is happening to you, ugly.” Her nails dug into my face, ripping my skin. I felt blood run down my cheeks. “This is only the beginning,” she said in a cold voice that made me tremble with fear. “If this doesn’t kill you, I’ll make sure I do.”
She stepped back, smiling, and for a second I thought she was done. Then she rushed forward again and wrapped her hands around my neck, snuffing the life out of me. I clawed at her hand, struggling to get myself free from her strong hold but the guards held me down, allowing her to do what she was doing.
My eyes snapped open and I couldn’t breathe. My chest rose too quickly but no air went in. I could still feel her hands around my neck, tightly crushing me. I began coughing, my fingers digging into my own skin, trying to pull her invisible hands away. The pressure only felt stronger.
“Leave me alone!” I cried out, my voice breaking as the pain tightened around my throat.
“Hey… hey. I’m here. It’s just a dream. Easy… easy.” I heard Ace’s voice beside me. “You’re safe. Nothing is touching you. Feel me, baby. I’ve got you.”
His strong hands wrapped around my wrists and gently pulled them away from my neck. “No one is choking you, you’re safe here in my arms. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. Calm down, baby. Breathe, my love. Breathe.”
His forehead rested against mine, grounding me. “In… and out. Take it easy, stay with me. Listen to my voice.”
I tried to follow, but my body was still trembling.
“That’s it,” he murmured softly. “Take your time, I’m not going anywhere. You’re right here with me, just breathe.”
He took deep, steady breaths, slow enough for me to match. “In… out… good. Again.”
His thumb brushed lightly over my cheek, wiping away tears I didn’t realize had fallen. His other hand moved to my back, rubbing slow circles, firmly, reassuring me that he was here with me. The warmth of his chest against mine made the fear loosen little by little.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered, his voice softer now. “Nothing will touch you while I’m here. Just focus on me.”
I clung to him without thinking, my hands fisting into his shirt. My breathing slowly evened out, the tightness in my throat fading. He held me closer, one hand cradling the back of my head, pressing my face into his chest like he could shield me from everything, including my own mind. I stayed there, wrapped in his arms, listening to his heartbeat until mine stopped racing. Even after I could breathe properly again, he didn’t let go.
My head began pounding hard, the kind that always came whenever I dreamt of my past. But being in Ace’s arins calmed me, his presence steadying me without effort. I relaxed slowly and before I knew it I fell asleep again, curled up against him.
When I woke up again, it was around eleven in the morning. The headache was gone. That alone felt strange. The headaches
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Chapter 74
55 vouchers
that followed my dreams usually stayed for a day, sometimes longer. This one had disappeared in a few hours. I reached out without thinking, but Ace wasn’t beside me. I sat up quickly, my eyes searching the room. There was no sign of him anywhere.
The thought that he left after seeing me in that condition made my chest ache. Panic crept thinking that he left because what happened was too much for him. But wasn’t that what I wanted? For him to leave, to stay away from me. So why did it hurt so much knowing he actually did?
It had been weeks since I last had a dream. This one was different, intense and painfully darker. For the first time, I saw faces clearly. Dad once told me he found me at the bottom of a cliff close to the borders of the Brown league pack, but I never really paid any attention to that detail.
Now my mind wouldn’t let it go. Was I from Ace’s pack? How was Moon connected to my past? I saw her clearly in that car, driving straight at me. I didn’t run to save my life, I just stood there and let her hit me, the impact throwing me off the cliff. I was sure of what I saw.
But I had some doubts. Maybe I saw her face because I’d been thinking about her lately, even though I didn’t want to admit that to myself. She had come to my office, and we had an encounter. People say when you think about someone too much, they find their way into your dreams. Maybe that was all it was. I didn’t want to believe she was the one who did that to me. Was I ready to accept that truth?
I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. I needed facts. I needed to know if she had any real connection to my past. I had seen Gavin in my dream too, not his face though, yet it turned out we knew each other before. So it could be the same with Moon. Nothing felt random anymore.
And if she truly was the one who did that to me, the one who clawed at my neck, the one who tried to end my life… then Ace married her. The woman he chose above everyone else. I couldn’t fully trust him. A good man couldn’t love a woman like that. It didn’t add up, no matter how I tried to twist it.
I was still lost in those thoughts when I heard the bathroom door open. Ace walked out, a white towel wrapped loosely around his waist, water still clinging to his skin. Just like that, every thought in my head vanished. My eyes dropped before I could stop them, tracing his waist, the deep V that disappeared beneath the towel. I swallowed hard. His body was perfectly sculpted by his maker, his stomach was very flat with his abs making him sexier than anything I’ve seen. My mind went blank, replaced by one very clear urge to pull that towel off and see exactly what he was hiding.
I heard him take a sharp breath.
My head snapped up and his green eyes were darker than usual, they were heated as they locked on me. “You keep staring at me like that,” he said, his voice was unbelievably husky, “and I promise you, I’ll break my promise of waiting till you’re ready.”
I looked down at him again and the towel did nothing to hide how hard he was. His erection was poking through the towel. My throat went dry and I licked my lips without thinking. That action earned me a loud growl from him.
“Don’t lick your lips, mi amor,” he warned, his voice thick with lust. “I’m the only one allowed to do that to you.”
Heat pooled low in my core and I pressed my thighs together, trying to ease the ache building inside me.
“I can smell you from here,” he said, his eyes dragging slowly over my body. His hand moved down, gripping himself through the towel. A soft sound escaped me before I could stop it. “You’re needy,” he murmured. “You want me, don’t you?”
I could barely breathe. I had never felt this out of control before. And he wasn’t even touching me. My body reacted to him like it had a mind of its own. Without thinking, I shifted, my legs parting slightly as I watched him. My pulse pounded in my
ears.
A soft knock landed on the door. “Mom?” Liam’s small voice broke through the thick tension in the room.
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Chapter 74
E 55 vouchers
His hand still and in one quick move, he turned and disappeared back into the bathroom just before the door opened. Liam walked in like nothing had almost happened, climbed onto the bed, and planted a loud kiss on my cheek.
“Good morning,” he said happily. I blinked, trying to steady my breathing, my heart still racing for an entirely different
reason.
I didn’t know if I should cry or be grateful that he ruined our moment. My body was still heated, but the second my son wrapped his arms around me, a huge smile made its way to my lips.
As I held Liam close, breathing him in, I made a decision. I needed to find out the truth. I would go to the festival. Moon will be there, she is expecting Ace to mark her. The woman behind the wheel that night had a tattoo on her finger. I saw that part clearly. I needed to see Moon’s hand with my own eyes. I also needed to look closely at the other Alphas, to see if any of them carried that same moon mark on their necks or if it was only Ace. I needed to figure out why my son had that mark on his neck.
I remembered reading that the mark only appears on special Alphas, they start small, almost unnoticeable, then grow bigger and rounder as the child grows. I made a mental note to ask Ace how his Moon mark came to be. Why does Liam have an Alpha mark on his neck? If Ace doesn’t give me a good enough answer, I’ll ask Gavin if my ex mate was an Alpha.
