Chapter 7: Serena Setter

Serena Setter

Macon told me to sleep. But I couldn’t. I was in a strange place where I knew no one and nothing was familiar. I was the mate of a werewolf, someone way older than me that I didn’t even really know. I tossed and turned all night, and I knew that if I closed my eyes even for a second, Damien would be there, haunting my dreams.

Literally.

That was one of his powers. He could slip into people’s minds when they were sleeping. He could take bad dreams away, or give them to people. Since I’d known Damien, I’d never had a bad dream. Now that I was Macon’s mate though, I didn’t know what would await me when I slept.

“Serena…” Someone was calling my name. I froze. Was it a ghost? Was it something else that I couldn’t see? “Serena…”

I rolled over in the unfamiliar bed I was in, and a hand reached out to trace my cheek. I bolted up at the touch.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Serena, calm down, it’s me.”

I stood up and looked around, then realized Damien was there, in the corner of the bedroom. “Damien!” I hissed. “What are you doing here? You can’t be here. If Macon finds out---”

“Relax,” he said. “You’re dreaming.”

I frowned. “I’m dreaming?”

He nodded.

“But I don’t even remember falling asleep.”

“You were probably exhausted. Your birthday didn’t exactly go as planned. I know we thought…we both thought tonight would be different.”

I blushed. We had talked about how my birthday would go so many times. We’d both been so sure of each other. I’d looked at him and seen my future and he had too. And now, that had all been taken from us. “I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“I am, too.”

I realized then, for the first time, that Damien’s mate was still out there. That I’d have to watch him be with someone else, and the idea of that made me ache. “You’re going to find someone, Damien. The Goddess will find her for you when the time is right.”

He ran a hand through his hair. I was no longer in a room, I realized. Instead, we were on clouds. Dream clouds, with the night sky all around us, and the stars glittering like a million, sparkling diamonds. He reached out to stroke my arm lightly. “Are those clothes his?”

“Yes,” I whispered, as though afraid Macon would hear me.

Except Macon didn’t even know about Damien’s powers. He would never know that I was stealing my nights away with him. And we could do whatever we wanted, without anyone ever knowing.

Damien had gotten closer to me, so close that there was barely any space between us. I could feel his breath on me. He had such sadness in his eyes that were almost always filled with mischief. “I wish you could stay here. I wish you and me, that we could sleep forever. Stay in this dream world and that I would never have to be with anyone else or see you with him.”

There was music playing suddenly. A classical version of a song we’d danced to once together at a school dance. I smiled softly at him as he held out his hand, and I took it. He wrapped his other arm around my waist. Together, we swayed, alone in the clouds and the stars.

“Serena.”

Someone was calling my name again, only it wasn’t Damien.

“Serena…”

I just wanted to sleep, to stay forever in this dream, with Damien. And to not have to worry about whatever was coming.

"Little Priestess..." Someone nudged me, and my eyes slowly fluttered open. Sunlight streamed in through the window and I realized that Macon was standing over me. “It’s morning. Did you sleep well?”

I sat up in bed, and wiped the sleep from my eyes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for sleeping. Your night didn’t exactly go as planned.”

I thought of Damien saying almost the same thing, and dancing with him amongst the clouds and the stars. “It’s okay. Did you sleep?”

He shook his head. “The pack wanted answers. I had to give it to them.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What did you tell them?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I told them that you were my mate, and that no one was going to touch you except for me. And that if anyone tried to hurt you, I’d take care of them myself personally.”

“What are we doing today?”

“I thought I would show you around and introduce you to everyone,” he said. “And then, later, I’ll take you to go visit Enora so we can figure out what’s coming for us.”

I glanced down at the big sweatshirt and boxers that I was wearing. “I don’t have any clothes.”

“Oh, I got you some,” he said. “Aldric’s mate was kind enough to give me some of her clothes. Her name is Millicent. We call her Millie. You’ll like her. They’re not the most fashionable, but they’re comfortable for what we’re doing today.”

“Shoes?”

“Got some of those as well. I had to guess at the sizes, so I don’t know if you can---” he waved his hand around as if casting a spell.

I scrunched my nose up at him. “What is that?”

“You know. Do your magic stuff.”

I smiled. “That’s not really how it works. I’m great with my own powers, I’m not so great at spells.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Mom says it’s because I’m not done with my High Priestess training. She thinks once I’m done with that, I’ll have my full powers. But not all witches and warlocks are good at everything, especially with magic. They’d be too dangerous. We’ve all got our strengths.”

“Well,” he said. “I suppose that’s good to know. What’s yours?”

“Light,” I told him. “I can make it come or make it go. I glow and I burn.” That wasn’t all, but I wasn’t about to tell him my biggest secret. There were things that I had to keep to myself until I trusted him. And I didn’t know him enough to trust him yet.

He scratched his chin. “Guess it makes sense why the Goddess paired the two of us up then.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because, I’m always in the dark.” He gestured to the clothes on the chair next to the bed. “Get dressed and ready, and come downstairs when you’re done. I’ll introduce you to everyone and we’ll go from there.”

“Right. Okay.”

He left me alone again, and when he was gone, all I could think about was trying to fall asleep again. But I didn’t want to raise suspicion, so I took the clothes he’d gotten for me and got ready for the day.