6.Is it Love or a Headache?

***Rolf's POV***

Grandma Petiet is in her element. She flits around table to table in the small diner, like a humming bird floats from flower to flower. The place is casual, and she seems to treat us all like we were invited to her own dining room for a meal. As she walks over to us her smile brightens, instead of standing at the booth she scoots in next to Axel.

"Dear, I have fresh doughnuts frying for you right now to take home with you." Grandma Petiet turns from Axel to look at me. "And you don't get any of them after teasing this sweetheart about being obsessed with little more than dough, oil, and sugar. I heard you being a snot to this growing male right here," she leans over and attempts to nudge Axel's shoulder with hers, but really only comes up to a few inches past his elbow. Axel wrapped his arm around her shoulders for quick hug.

"Thank you Nana! I keep telling him that the main ingredient isn't dough but love from your hands that roll it out." Axel gives Grandma a peck of a kiss on top of her head and she blushes.

"Oh you sure know how to sweet talk a female." Granda coos as she taps his hand on the other side of her shoulder. He moves his arm and she stands to float away to the next table.

"You had better be careful, Grandpa may be old but I bet he could floor you instantly if you keep flirting with his wife," I tease Axel.

"I heard that Pup! And I will have you know I know that my Jan would never leave me for some pup that hasn't come into his canines yet," Grandpa Petiet hollers from behind the counter at the end of the diner in front of the kitchen area. "And I'll have you know, the love your tasting came from these paws on that dough!"

Grandpa Petiet looks like he is as wide as he is tall. Not a fat male, but broad and gruff. We look over to him, and see the grin on his face. Axel better not get us banned from this place. I may be leaving for Capitol City soon, but I will come back here just for this barbecue. Grandma walks over to him and he leans over so she can kiss his cheek. "Love, I know you aren't scaring away those sweet boys, they like our food and company too much to be scared of you for long. But I do love you," she bats her eye lashes and smiles sweetly up at him. Now it is Grandpa's turn to blush.

While I am watching the adorable scene, something pulls at me. I want that, I don't want whichever female my Uncle thinks will be a solid presence in the Protector Family. He hasn't told me that he will choose my future wife, but he has started making comments about how Zev and I will need wives to stand at our sides and it is only time before he presses the issue. Hopefully, this is a problem for when I am announced and I still have time to figure out a way to find my own spouse.

Suddenly, I feel almost hollow. At the same time, the hairs raise on my arms and I feel almost as if I am in a free fall. "Reed, you alright?" Axel's voice is laced with concern and I am pulled back to sitting in the booth across from him.

"Yeah, just felt like someone walked over my grave for a moment. That was weird," I brush it off and try to sound as normal as possible.

"I get that, it happens any time someone says the M-word around me," Axel refers to anything about matrimony as a slow death. "Ugh, just thinking about it gives me a headache."

"I'll go pay Grandpa, go get your box of precious love doughnuts," I sigh as I shake my head at the meat head.

***Thyra's POV***

Goddess, why does my head hurt so bad. I was at a club but I didn't have more than a couple drinks. This can't be a hang over. The light in the room pierces my brain as I open my eyes and I slam my eyes shut again. I am sure I am in my bed, and groan as I roll over onto my side.

"Ra! Oh goddess you're awake," Ana calls out as she jumps out of a chair next to my bed. Her cool hands grab my wrist and she checks my heart rate. Covering my eyes with my other hand I try to open them again with out the glare from the window blinding me again.

"Quite, please. My head kills right now, what happened?" I question her while still trying to remember what happened. I pull my hand away from Ana and try to sit up, and she clucks her tongue like a mom frustrated with a pup.

"Y'all she woke up! Come in here!" Ana completely ignored my request for quite as I groan again. "Oh Ra, I am so sorry. Just excited, you have been out for 12 hours," Ana's voice drops to a whisper as she helps me sit up against my headboard. "I knew you wouldn't want the drama of going to the clinic. Then having Med/Pers asking questions about your health eligibility before the leadership academy. Your vitals were stable, but I was about 15 minutes away from giving up and bringing you anyways," she says in the same quiet voice. Med/Pers is the abbreviated way of saying Medical and Personnel, which keeps our medical and administrative records for the Army.

While she was talking, I heard someone crash to the ground and yelp. Mak opened up my bedroom door with a frantic look on her face. Behind her, Kenny rushes in, holding the side of his head. Looks like he fell off of the couch in a rush and must have brained himself on the coffee table.

"Ra-ra, oh my goddess what happened?" Mak questions, as Kenny is talking too.

"Thyra, you gave us a scare," his voice boomed through my head.

"Goddess, my head! I need quite," I complained again. Ana took the opportunity to flash a light in my eyes, making me groan again.

"What are you feeling besides the head ache?" Ana questions in the quite tone from before.

"Just the headache. How did I get home?" Saying that, I look around at the trio of concerned faces.

"Ra-ra, you asked me to go dance with you and Ana. Then you passed out. It was so scary. It looked like your eyes were flashing like lightning behind clouds. Kenny said it had to be the lights in the club. But I was so scared for you," Mak's words all flowed out like they were smooched together. "Kenny heard me yelling and came and carried you out. We brought you home after Ana said you were stable."

I started to remember when Mak mentioned yelling. I heard her, she sounded muffled. Abruptly, the rogue attack came back to me.

"What was that, what did you just realize?" Kenny questioned me.

"I had a dream when I was out. That is all, but it was weird. I was watching around 120 rogues attack some random pack," I was able to eek out before laying back down and rolling on my side away from the same concerned looks. Remembering the vision brings me back to being 15 years old and running up on our pack destroyed. The scent of burning homes and the creatures inside them fill my nostrils. It doesn't make sense I know I am laying on my bed but it smells like the fire from that day.

I can feel the rage monster start to build up again, but I am trying so hard not to scare my friends anymore than I already have. The vision feels like it was a kick to my chest. Nausea builds up as I feel the small burned body of my brother in my arms. I should have taken him into the forest that day, but I wanted to have a day without looking after the young pup. Without hearing my dad saying "family first" and expecting me to follow the 7-year-old Jakob around. Now I would give everything to hear dad saying "family first, and always" and Jakob pleading to come with us. We were only 15, but to him we were the favorites to hang out with because we not the adults always telling him to calm down and do chores.

Now I only see my father's mangled body in front of my house. My mother's burt on the floor inside our front door, and Jakob's in the living room. It looks like they died protecting him. Maybe if I was there I could have gotten him out and my parents wouldn't have been distracted trying to protect him. Maybe if I brought him with me they could have fled coming to look for us instead. Most likely, we would all have died together, but at least then I would still have them with me. Sel growls at me, inturupting my selfpity.

You need to stop blaming yourself. It isn't healthy. She sighs then rubs her body along the side of my mind, trying to comfort my dark thoughts.

I know, it sounds illogical to feel the blame of this, but I can't help it. I respond, leaning into her. I'm glad you are here, I wasn't able to feel you last night. It almost made me panic but I didn't have time to worry.

Your visions are starting. I am surprised it took so long. She says that like it wasn't the strangest thing to ever happen to me.

Visions?! It was a bad dream. You know I still get those. She must have misspoke. Right?

Yes visions, I have told you before you were different. You just never believed me.

Sel come on, you know everyone's wolf thinks they are special. You are telling me you knew this would happen? I am getting worried about what she actually means.

This and more, but you wouldn't believe me if I could tell you. Just be ready, a fight is coming and you will decide if we win or not. Sel stretches out again and lays down.

What do you mean more?! Tell me what is going on please!

Did you not hear me say IF I could. You have to come up with this on your own dear. I will tell you what I can when but I've effectively been muzzled on this topic. I know Sel won't say anything else about this so I stop asking. At least this interrupted the rage monster for a while. Now all I can think about is if this was really a vision instead of a nightmare.

"Let me take you to the clinic for a check up. We can tell them you want to get a physical before moving to Capitol City so you don't have to waste any time before starting the academy," Ana says as she sits next to me and rubs my back.

"That's a good idea, can I have a few minutes for a shower first?" I request as I sit up again. Getting out of bed is easier than I thought it would be, and I can grab a bottle of water to drink in the shower. If I can keep it down that is.