Ease Her Mind

[Aera’s POV]

I remain in place, staring down at Ayla, who is fast asleep, as her face twists into a look of pain. I can’t help but wonder what exactly it is that she is going through there in the dream plain, where I can’t protect her. Did she find her father, and the result wasn’t what she expected? I wouldn’t know until she awoke and told me.

Feeling utterly useless, I turn my gaze to Vince and begin to take him in. When Ayla introduced us, I pretended to not know him, but I remembered the great alpha he once was. To see him like this was painful, but it was proof that even the mightiest could fall, and when they did, they fell hard.

"I’m sorry," I murmur, feeling somewhat responsible for his condition.

Maybe if all of us realized the corruption that was going on back then, this wouldn’t have happened, but we were all blinded, and in the end, we only realized when things were too late.

"Mmm."

I snap my gaze away from Vince to find Ayla beginning to stir.

Her bright green eyes slowly