It's Not Real

                            Rain's P.O.V.

   After my fight with Zion and my panic over hurting the ones I love, I laid down on our bed and quickly fell into a dream. It started out in the middle of the argument Zion and I had just moments ago but it was as if I was floating between us, more like an observer instead of a participant. Instead of getting up to leave the table, I stayed to continue the argument.

 As it went on, we said some horrible things just to hurt each other, which is highly uncharacteristic of either of us. My eyes started to glow, but unlike my usual green glow, it was a dark, murky red before slowly engulfing my entire body. Suddenly, everything began to shake before the dark glow burst from my body, and I closed my eyes in fear.

 When I opened my eyes again, the entire castle had been leveled to the ground. The best way to describe it was that it looked like old city ruins after a war, and panic set in. I started running around, calling out for my loved ones, but I got no response. I fell to the ground as tears poured down my face in steady streams.

 Suddenly, there was an evil laugh coming from behind me. I turned quickly to see an older man with salt and pepper, short hair, standing in the rubble of the castle with a creepy grin. He slowly took steps toward me as he began to clap.

 "Who are you?" I ask in an unsteady voice.

 "You don't recognize your new King?" He asks in a sarcastic voice that sends a chill through my body.

 "You aren't the King; Zion is!" I say.

 "My dear sweet pawn, you killed Zion, your precious mate, along with all of your friends and family." He says, coming to a stop only a few feet from me.

 "You're lying!" I scream at him.

 "Am I?" He asks, shrugging his shoulders. "Look around you. You obliterated the home you hold so dear, along with everyone inside or even close to it."

 "This isn't real. I would never hurt them!" I say my voice barely above a whisper at this point.

 "But it is how this will end!" He says with an evil laugh. "This is simply a preview of what's to come."

 "No, we will defeat you!" I say before he rushes towards me in a flash, grabbing me by the throat and lifting me in the air.

 "You will fail. And when we do, I will eliminate those abominations in your womb before marking you as my mate, then you will have no choice but to help me in my conquest to take over all supernatural species!" He says.

 "I'll never help you!" I manage to get out while clawing at his hand to be released.

 "You will. I will break you slowly before marking you and making you submit to me and my every need!" He says before releasing me, letting my body fall to the ground in a heap while gasping for air. "You will be mine!"

 Suddenly, he turns from me and is gone in a flash, leaving me alone in the ruins. I start to scream as a sharp pain shoots through my belly. I cry out for Dosha, but she doesn't answer, and I can't feel her anymore. I'm truly alone as I lay down on the cold, dirty ground and cry.

 I hear a familiar humming of The Hanging Man reach my ear, and I jump up. But instead of being in the rubble of the leveled castle, I'm in a dark space that I recognize instantly. I'm in the play where I talk to the Moon Goddess. I look around and find the calming silver glow of the moon before the Goddess Selene comes into view.

 "Hello, my precious child." She says with a smile as she approaches me, whipping my tears from my eyes. "Please don't fear what you have seen. Everything will work out as it should."

 "How do you know? What if I can't defeat him?" I ask in a panic. "I don't think I'm strong enough."

 "You are more than strong enough. You have something that Douglas doesn't have, something that he could never obtain." She says. Seeing my confusion, she continues, "You have compassion."

 "I don't get it. How will compassion help me?" I ask her.

 "Compassion makes you capable of loving and accepting everyone and their faults." She says. "You also have the ability to win over the hearts of others. You will gain the support of many allies soon who will come to your aid, and You and Zion will stand firm against this evil with others' support."

 "Will that really be enough?" I question.

 "Absolutely. Do not doubt the power of love, my dear daughter." She says with a beautiful smile. "I have to go, and you need to wake up. Your mate needs you just as much as you need him. And remember, I will always be watching."

 And just like that, she was gone. I wake up in our bed and look around to find that I'm alone in our room. I take a deep breath but begin to cry as I remember the fear of my dream and almost losing control over my powers and killing everyone over a stupid argument. I jump out of bed and rush out of the room, hoping to find Zion, but I only find Jess sitting on the couch in the living room. When she sees me standing in the doorway, she jumps from the couch and rushes over to me.

 "Are you okay? Why are you crying? What's wrong?" She asks quickly as she wraps her arms around me and pulls me with her back to the couch she was sitting on.

 "Where's Zion?" I ask through my tears. "Did I hurt him?"

 What? Goddess, no! Orian and Sam needed him and your mom at the crime lab." She says in shock that I would think I hurt my own mate.

 "I need to talk to Zion." I cry out between gasps as I try to stop the tears from spilling out.

 "I've already linked him to come back right away." She says as she holds me. I nod in response, and she starts humming our favorite song to calm me down. Zion burst through the door not even three minutes later. His eyes land on me, and he doesn't hesitate to ask if I'm okay as he rushes to me.

 "I'm so sorry!" I cry out, wrapping my arms around his waist tightly, trying to get as close to him as possible. "I didn't mean to!"

 "It's okay. Couples fight, but it's not a big deal, my love. I did something that I promised I wouldn't do. It's my fault, and I'll never do it again!" He says as he rubs circles on my back. "I'm sorry I broke my promise never to try to keep you prisoner in the castle." 

 "I could have killed everyone!" I say after calming down a bit.

 "But you didn't. You chose to walk away to calm yourself down. That shows strength." My mom says, placing her hand on my arm gently.

 "I killed everyone in my dream. I became his pawn!" I cry out again.

 "What are you talking about? What dream and who's pawn?" Zion says, holding me tighter because he knows how my dreams can affect me. "My love, I need you to calm down so you can tell me about it."

 After a few deep breaths and coxing from everyone, I calmed down enough to tell them about my dream and talk with the Moon Goddess. I don't leave out a single detail as I know even the small things could be important in the future. Once I'm done, Zion places a kiss on my head as he holds me close for a few minutes before speaking.

 "Everything will be okay, my love. I won't ever do anything to jeopardize you losing control or causing you pain ever again, and you will never be his pawn. That is a promise I will always keep." He says, still not letting me go.

 "I'm sorry for everything," I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

 "I am, too. I'm sorry I couldn't see your need to protect our people the same way I do." He says, pulling back slightly so that he can look into my eyes. I can see how much he means what he says and how determined he is to keep his promise this time around.

 "I understand how you feel and why you want to protect me so much," I tell him, and I mean it every word.

 "I'm happy that we can each see each other's point of view, and hopefully, we can move past this." He says, placing another kiss on my head.

 "Nothing would make me happier. Jess said y'all went to the crime lab. Does that mean you found out who the wolf head belongs to?" I ask him.

 "Maybe, but I need to make a call to confirm our hunch." He says, and I instantly become curious.

 "Who do you think it belongs to?" I ask.

 "We believe it's the Royal Beta from the northern Kingdom's daughter." He says, and a gasp escapes my lips. 

 "And we know for a fact that it came from Douglas?" I ask them.

 "Security cameras show Ian standing outside our border watching the delivery go down." He says, and my heart sinks.

 "How did they get to a Royal Betas daughter from another Kingdom? And why send it to us and not them?" I ask quietly.

 "I've been wondering the same thing. I can't think of a reason, though." He answers.

 I'm getting more aggravated by the minute. It feels like every time we find an answer to one of the million questions we have, five more questions pop up. I need the vicious cycle to end.

 "Maybe you should make that call," I tell him. He looks at me with worry, but I smile at him while giving him a reassuring nod. "I'm okay, my Love. This is important, and I'll be right here when you return. I promise"