15. Dealing with Nightmares

Aria

As I jolted awake, a piercing scream ripped through the air, my heart pounding wildly in my chest and my breaths coming out in gasps. I felt the nightmare clawing at my sanity, its memories so vivid they seemed to etch themselves onto the back of my eyelids.

And then, I felt two arms wrap around me that brought some small measure of comfort, but not enough to erase the terror that still gripped my soul.

"Aria, calm down. It was just a dream," the familiar deep voice comforted me.

Ah, that's right. I was sharing a bed with Nathan, so I wasn't alone. I leaned into his embrace, enjoying his warmth as he stroked my hair.

My chest heaved as I remembered Destiny in my nightmare, she was in agony at Alpha Aldric's hands.

"De...Destiny," I choked out her name, "she is in agony. Alpha Aldric was torturing her, and she..." I could no longer suppress my tears.

"Shh...you don't know that," he murmured softly. "She smiled when you saw her, right? She still has hope." Nathan's words were gentl