The Mate Time Stole

SAYA

I was running again. The forest stretched endlessly around me, dark and unfamiliar, yet somehow I knew every turn. I knew which roots would catch my feet, which branches would scrape my arms, and which narrow paths would lead nowhere. I’d never been here before, at least, not awake. But I’d been running through this forest for eleven years, always chasing him.

The man ahead of me moved effortlessly between the trees, never looking back. I could never see his face, only the broad line of his shoulders, the dark hair at the nape of his neck, and the impossible certainty that if I could just catch him, everything would finally make sense.

Tonight, I was closer. Much, much closer than I’d ever been. My lungs burned as I pushed harder, ignoring the branches tearing at my skin. “Wait!” I shouted after him, but he didn’t stop. I ran faster, and the distance between us shrank.

Ten steps. Eight. Six. My fingers stretched toward him. “Please!” The word tore out of me, raw with desperation.

He finally slowed down, and my heart pounded against my ribs because he had never slowed down. Not for a second. He stopped, and for the first time in eleven years, he turned and I froze. I was finally going to see his face. My heart pounded so loudly in my ears that I could barely hear anything else.

He finally slowed down, and my heart pounded against my ribs because he had never slowed down. Not for a second. He stopped, and for the first time in eleven years, he turned and I froze. I was finally going to see his face. My heart pounded so loudly in my ears that I could barely hear anything else. Then, finally, his eyes met mine. Icy grey.

The world around us fell silent. The trees stopped moving, the birds stopped chirping, and even the wind seemed to disappear, as though the entire forest knew how important this moment was to me. But I still couldn’t see him clearly. His dark hair fell across his forehead, shadowing most of his face, while the darkness of the forest seemed to swallow everything beyond his eyes. I strained to see him and took a step towards him, the need to see his face fueling me. I needed to know who I’d been chasing all these years.

But the shadows refused to give him to me. All I could see were those eyes, icy grey and fixed on mine.

And then—

“Saya!”

I jolted awake. My eyes flew open as I sucked in a sharp breath. For several seconds, I couldn’t remember where I was. My bedroom slowly came into focus: the familiar ceiling above me, the curtains shifting gently with the morning breeze, and the pale light slipping through the window.

But my heart was still in the forest. I sat up, pressing a hand against my chest. I could still see them, those eyes. Icy grey. After eleven years of chasing a man whose face had always remained just beyond my reach, I had finally seen something. Not enough. Never enough. But something.

“Saya.”

I turned and found Elara standing beside my bed, her eyes fixed on me with a worried look. “You were shouting,” she said quietly.

I stared at her for a moment, still trying to understand what she meant. “I was?”

She nodded, her gaze lingering on my face as though searching for an answer I hadn’t given her yet. “The dream again?”

I nodded, and she didn’t ask anything else. She already knew. She’d known about the dreams for years, eleven years of waking up with the same emptiness in my chest and trying to understand why a man who didn’t exist outside my dreams could feel more familiar than people I’d known my entire life.

“What did you see?” Elara asked, her voice softer now.I hesitated, searching my memory for something more than the lingering image of those eyes. “I don’t know.”

It was the truth. Whatever those eyes meant, I had no idea. Yet the moment I closed my eyes, they were still there, watching me, waiting, and for the first time since the dreams began, I had the unsettling feeling that I had been close. What exactly I had been close to, I had no idea.

Elara reached for the curtains and pulled them open, letting sunlight spill into the room. She turned back towards me, the morning light falling across her face as she gestured towards the door. “Come downstairs.”

I remained where I was, squinting slightly against the sudden brightness as I looked at her. “Why?”

“Because your mother has been waiting for you.” There was a hint of amusement in her voice, as though she already knew I would rather stay in bed.

I reached for my phone on the nightstand and glanced at the screen before looking back at Elara. “It’s my birthday, isn’t it?”

“Twenty-one.”she said,a small smile touched her lips as she nodded. I groaned softly and fell back against my pillows, staring up at the ceiling. Of all the mornings to wake me from that dream.

Elara laughed as she watched me, shaking her head before walking over to the bed. “Come on, birthday girl.” She grabbed my hand and pulled, and I let her drag me to my feet. But as I left the room, I glanced back once, my eyes lingering on the bed where I had just been lying. For no reason I could explain, somewhere deep inside me, I knew this dream was different. I just didn’t know yet how different.