A Swan for The Wolf

Jayden woke up in the Alpha's house again, he yawned while looking around, and he realized where he was, He noticed that Swan was sleeping on the ground beside the bed he was lying on.

When his head cleared he realized he was just wrapped in a comforter and had no clothes on, he quickly looked around and found a shirt and a pair of trousers hanging on a chair.

He quickly wrapped the comforter around him tighter and quickly wore those clothes while staring at Swan, he was both blushing and embarrassed.

Right after getting dressed he wanted to get out of the room when his eyes stopped at Swan's face, she sure was a free, confident woman, she was sleeping on her stomach on the ground while her hands tucked under her pillow and one leg curled up to her stomach, and the other one straight.

Jayden found it hilarious, while her face, it was attractive enough for a man to get lost in her beauty, she was sleeping peacefully with her hair braided.

No matter how beautiful she looked, Jayden didn't feel anything it was as if he died with Rose. He kept staring at her for a couple of minutes as he slowly tiptoed toward the door.

If only he'd known about the rusty hinges of the door, as soon as he opened it, a loud creak woke her up all alert.

She rolled on her side directly from her sleep with one of her hands on the ground and the other wrist against her chest to defend herself, but within a minute she felt embarrassed. Jayden pressed his lips "I was just…" He pointed his thumb toward the gate.

"I know, I know I was just…" At first, she thought of an excuse to justify her behavior but it turns out she was too sleepy for that so instead, She apologized "Sorry I fell asleep!" she was standing way too straight now.

"What time is it?" He asked when she got close to the window to pull the curtain, it seemed like the sun has just set and the stars started appearing in the sky, she turned back to him and pursed her mouth "Sorry our clock ran out of batteries!" She giggled.

"How long have I been in here?" He approached her.

"A night and a day! You had a fever!" Swan touched his forehead to make sure that he was alright now "There's something you should know." Swan opened her mouth to speak further but she noticed the beads of sweat glimmering all over his face "What is wrong?" She asked.

"I feel suffocation!" Jayden loosened his collar while gasping for air "Can we talk later?"

"Of course! Please!" She stepped back.

After getting out of that room Jayden saw Emric sitting on the bench by the porch. Jayden reached and sat beside him.

"How are you feeling?" Emric asked.

"Better" He took a deep breath and rested his head on the back of the bench.

They both were star gazing when Jayden realized they'd been quiet for longer than usual, as he slowly turned his head toward Emric just to find himself sitting beside a half-eaten man, who was dead. Jayden looked down on his lap where Emric's hand was resting, with its bone coming out of its flesh and skin.

Jayden quickly stood up and kept getting back while his eyes stuck on Emric's body, he turned back and saw a braided dead body hanging from the ceiling, with its skin ripped off from its face.

Jayden crouched and got inside to call someone to help while looking back but then he heard a squeaking sound from under his boot.

When he looked down at the ground he found a dead rat under his boot, and afterward, he realized the entire ground was covered with the dead bodies of rats and the walls were covered with splashes of blood.

Jayden wanted to get out of there so as soon as he turned back again he saw Emric tapping him on his face "Jayden!" He called out to him "Jayden are you okay?" He asked.

Jayden looked around heavily breathing and found himself on the bench beside Emric. Swan was standing in front of him too.

"Was that a dream?" Jayden was trembling with fear.

"No! You just sat beside me and when you looked up at the sky you started whimpering with your eyes open wide!" Emric explained.

Both Emric and Swan took him to the Alpha, where after taking a few sips from the juice he described his vision.

"Call Brigid! This isn't something we can forget and sleep! Swan? You, connect yourself to him!" Alpha Maverick commanded, "Emric! You are on the watch tonight!" Even though Jayden just met him once before but he knew how jolly and brave Maverick was but this time he seemed worried.

After taking Jayden back to the room Swan approached him.

Jayden raised his hand to stop her "Wait! Why is it always you? Why am I in your room? Why are you always looking out for me? Why are you connecting yourself to me?" He asked all these questions at once.

"Hmmh… I won't if you don't want me to!" She stepped back.

"No! I mean no! Of course, I don't want you to risk your life for me!" Jayden hid his hands inside his pockets and turned his face away from her.

"This is why you are rejecting my help?" Swan giggled "Come with me!" She held his hand and made him sit on the bed.

"Listen Jayden… You don't have to worry about me! This is why Children of River were sent to the earth!" She sat down on the floor by the bed close to his feet "This is an honor for me! Imprinting is rare Jayden, and I am glad the river chose me to mark you!"

"Imprint? What does it mean?" Jayden scratched his head "What are you saying? Please explain!" Jayden insisted.

"Imprinting is like getting marked by someone, and that means you have to stay by that person whose mark you carry, no matter what happens until the mark fades away" Swan looked him in his eyes.

"And how does it work?" Jayden asked.

"Usually we are told that we are imprinted by someone, and that's when I saw your face in my dream, a lot of visions where I will fight by your side" She smiled.

"And how do you know that it is the reason why I was in your dream?" Jayden asked.

She turned back and removed her hair from her neck, a little lower from her neck, close to her shoulder there was a mark of a claw.

Jayden's eyes widened with amazement, he still couldn't wrap his head around all the new reality he was slowly finding.