Chapter 8

_Anya's POV_

At noon, a soft knock came at the door. I stood and opened it carefully.

A young girl stood outside holding a tray. She looked sweet-faced and nervous, with dark hair tied back neatly and kind brown eyes.

“Hello,” she said softly. “My name is Jess. I brought your lunch.”

I stepped aside to let her in.

She carried the tray to the table near the window and set it down carefully. As soon as she lifted the lid, the smell of warm food filled the room. There was fresh bread, roasted chicken, vegetables and a bowl of hot soup. The scent alone made my stomach tighten with hunger.

Jess looked at me shyly. “Do you need anything else?”

I looked down at my torn clothes. “I… I would like to change but I do not have any spare clothes.”

Jess’s expression changed at once. “Oh. Of course.”

She looked me over quickly, then nodded to herself. “There should be clothes in your size.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Wait here.”

She hurried out and returned only a few minutes later carrying neatly folded dresses, underclothes and a simple robe.

She laid them on the bed with a smile. “Try these. If they do not fit, I can bring others.”

“Thank you."

Her smile widened slightly. “You are welcome.”

Then she left.

I stood there for a moment staring at the clothes. They were plain compared to the rich things I had seen downstairs. But to me they still looked expensive and too good for someone like me.

Maya nudged softly inside me. Eat first.

She was right.

I sat at the table and began to eat. At first I ate slowly because my stomach hurt but hunger quickly took over. The food was warm and tasty. More than once I had to stop because my eyes burned with sudden tears. No one had ever sent a meal like this to my room before.

When I finished, I changed into one of the dresses Jess had brought. It was simple, soft and it fit surprisingly well. Then, because I did not know what else to do with myself, I turned on the television in the corner of the room.

The moving images helped distract me for a little while but not for long. A strange heaviness began to settle over me.

At first I thought it was only exhaustion. That made sense. I had barely slept in days. My body was weak. My mind was worn thin. But this felt different too. It was deeper.....like something was pulling me downward.

My eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Maya’s voice sounded distant. Too sleepy.

“Yes,” I murmured, already moving toward the bed.

I lay down only to rest for a moment. The moment I closed my eyes, sleep swallowed me whole.

Then the dream began.

I was in a forest.

The trees were thick and dark and the ground was uneven beneath my feet. Branches snapped somewhere ahead. I could hear harsh breathing and fast footsteps.

A woman was running through the woods.

She held something tightly against her chest and kept looking back over her shoulder. Her movements were desperate. Fear rolled off her so strongly that I felt it like it was my own. She stumbled once, caught herself and kept running.

Then I heard the men. A large group was chasing her. They crashed through the forest behind her, shouting to one another. I could not make out every word but I could feel the danger in their voices. They were hunting her.

I followed without understanding how.

The woman suddenly changed direction. She moved sharply to the left, vanished through a cluster of trees and somehow drew the men after her scent. But then, in the next instant, she slipped away again and ran in another direction entirely. She was trying to trick them. Trying to buy time.

The thing in her arms shifted.

My breath caught.

It was a tiny baby wrapped in white cloth.

The woman kept running until she reached a clearing. At the far end of it stood an old cottage. It was small and lonely beneath the trees. Smoke no longer rose from its chimney. It looked abandoned.

The woman rushed to the door. With shaking hands, she set the baby carefully on the doorstep. Then she leaned down and touched the child’s face. Even from where I stood, I could feel the grief pouring out of her.

She turned then and I froze because the face looking back at me was my own. It was not exactly the same but it was close enough to make cold shock rush through me. The shape of her face was the same as mine. Her mouth and eyes were shaped like mine, yet her eyes were green and her hair was blonde. Everything else about her looked exactly like me.

“No,” I whispered into the dream. “No…”

The woman looked toward the forest as if she could already hear the men coming closer. Then she looked back down at the baby one last time. Her lips moved. She said something but I could not hear it. I tried to run toward her but my feet would not move.

I was trapped where I stood.

The woman took one step backward. Then another. Then she turned and disappeared into the trees.

The baby began to cry.

The sound sliced through me.

I jolted awake with a gasp.

My whole body was shaking. My breath came fast and hard and my nightdress clung to my skin. For a few seconds I did not know where I was. The forest still seemed to follow me. The woman’s face still burned in my mind.

Then the room slowly came back into focus. I pressed a trembling hand to my chest.

“What was that?” I whispered.

Maya was awake now too. She was restless and uneasy. That was no ordinary dream.

I swallowed hard and looked around as if someone might answer me.

My heart would not slow down. It had felt too real. I had never had a dream like that before. Never. Not once.

So why now?

And who was that woman?

Why did she have my face?

A cold shiver moved down my spine.

Outside the window, the light had already started to change. Evening was coming.

And somewhere deep inside me, a terrible feeling began to grow.

That dream had meant something.

I just did not know what it meant and that was what frightened me the most. Dreams like that did not come from nowhere. They felt too real and too painful to be only a dream.

“Maya,” I whispered softly, “what was that?”

Maya was quiet for a moment before answering. I do not know. But it did not feel like an ordinary dream. It felt like a memory.

“A memory?” I repeated in a small voice. “That is impossible. I do not remember anything like that.”

Maybe it is not your memory, Maya said slowly. Maybe it is your past.

I did not understand what she meant and the more I tried to think about it, the more confused I became. My head started to hurt, so I pressed my fingers lightly against my temple and closed my eyes for a moment.

“Why would I dream of a woman who looks like me?” I whispered. “And why did she leave that baby? And why did it feel like my heart was breaking when she walked away?”

Maya did not answer this time.

The room felt too quiet suddenly. I swung my legs slowly over the side of the bed and sat there, trying to calm my breathing. But no matter how much I tried, the image of the woman’s face would not leave my mind.

“I do not like this,” I whispered. “I do not like any of this.”

Just then, there was a sudden knock on the door.

I jumped so badly that my heart slammed painfully against my ribs. For a moment I just stared at the door. I was too startled to move.

Then I heard Alpha Jacob’s voice from the other side. “Anya. It is time for dinner.”