Dream of Us
Chapter Eight

Denali’s POV.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

“I’m fine,” she replies and waves me off with her hand. “But I need to talk to you, Denali.”

I tense up as she uses my real name. She knows who I am and that is dangerous. She could be working for King Inteus.

“I’m sorry, I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Adrian.”

She shakes her head, her lips pressed firmly together. I try and work out who this woman is if I recognise her. Ten years is a long time, I have forgotten many faces.

“No, it is not.” She gives me a sad smile. “You don’t remember me, do you? Why would you? I was Dyani’s friend, not yours.”

Dyani?

“You know my mate?”

“Yeah, I do,” she tells me, looking down at the ground. “We were friends since nursery. I was there when it happened…when her memory was erased.” She looks up at me, her face filled with empathetic hurt and determination. “I want to help you.”

I consider it for only a moment before agreeing. “We need to talk about this properly. What time do you finish?”

“12, I’m on the half-shift today because I need to pick my friend’s kid up from nursery…I’m her childminder on Tuesdays.”

“That’s fine. Can I meet you at the restaurant at 12?”

She shakes her head quickly. “No, I don’t want anyone seeing us together, they’ll ask questions. Can we meet on this road here?”

She points to one of the lanes breaking off from this main road. I memorise the name of it, Laker Road.

“Okay. Laker Road, twelve o’clock.”

She nods. “Okay. Good. See you then.”

She rushes back to the restaurant, and I watch her go. I cannot remember her from my past, but if she can help me get my mates back, I have to jump at this chance.

I’m conflicted as I take the bus back to my flat. I’m thankful that I’ve met Dyani’s friend, although I forgot to get her name. She is a link to my past and can help me navigate this crazy world I’ve dropped into. A world where my mate doesn’t recognise me and is dating another man.

My hands curl into fists. I feel like my blood is boiling, I’m so hot with anger at the thought of that pathetic human touching my mate. The fates were harsh enough to take me from her for a decade, it is a step too far to give her another lover.

Does he kiss the way I used to? Does she dream of him? Picture their future together? Want to have children with him?

The questions flood through my mind, driving me crazy. I stomp off the bus when it finally reaches my stop, startling the queue of people waiting to get on.

The sooner I can meet up with Dyani’s friend, the better. I need to get this sorted, I cannot live knowing that someone who is not her mate is touching her, kissing her, holding her.

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Third Person’s POV.

“Give me an update,” the king demands the guard who quakes in their shoes before the irritable monarch.

“He was seen travelling on a train in Ryton, but we lost him at the airport, we don’t know what alias he is using,” the guard says nervously. He notices the anger flashing across the king’s face and adds, “Yet. But we will, your highness. I have all my best warrior’s looking into it. There were only a limited number of flights that day, we’ll be able to track him down.”

The king grumbles under his breath. “You better. Get out of here.”

He shakes his head in disappointed incredulity, amazed by the ineptitude of his own staff. His guards only have one job, to follow the orders he sets out for them. He won’t admit it aloud, but his anger is coming from a place of fear. He isn’t a fool. He knows what Denali’s escape means. His death warrant has been signed and his days are now numbered if he doesn’t act fast and fix this mess.

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Sian’s POV.

“Where did you get off to in such a rush?” Ani asks curiously, looking me up and down.

“That customer had left an umbrella under the table,” I lie quickly, hoping she buys it.

Ani frowns. “Umbrella? I didn’t see him come in with one.”

“It was one of those small, contractible ones,” I tell her. “It was probably tucked in his pocket or something when he walked in.”

I can see that she isn’t fully convinced, but can’t seem to decipher why I’d be lying, either. I carry on wiping down tables around her.

“You can never be too careful with our weather, can you?” I segue out of the conversation. “Changes all the time.”

She nods absentmindedly. “Mm, that’s true.”

The shift passes without any more questions or interrogations from either Ani or Gwen. Just after twelve, I say goodbye to everyone and clock out. I get into my car and drive one minute down the street, parking up on Laker Road. Denali is already waiting for me. He’s leaning against a half-wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

He looks both different and the same. He is still the same Denali, with the same features, but he is grown up now, more mature. It is strange to see him as an adult after last seeing him as a teenager. We’ve all changed so much through the years.

“You came,” he states, and I wonder if he thought I might bail on him.

“I did,” I reply. “Are you happy to talk out here or do you want to get into my car?”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m fine talking here. So, please can you explain…” He looks around, seemingly searching for the right word. “Well, everything, really.”

I nod and walk over to him. I turn my back to the wall, place my palms on top of it and lift myself up to sit beside him as he props himself up.

“As I said before, Dyani and I have been friends for years. We were close, not super close like she was with you and your mates, but close. I knew the trouble she was going through with her parents, and it only got worse after she met the three of you.”

His expression becomes shuttered at the mention of King Inteus. His jaw clenches and the veins in his arms become more pronounced.

“I was there when her father cast the spell that wiped her memory. She didn’t recognise me; she was so confused.” I struggle to keep my voice even; this memory always chokes me up. “She was taken away and given a new identity, a human identity. She was placed with a foster family, and I managed to replace the information by eavesdropping in the castle.”

I look across the road, staring at a patch of lichen on the opposite wall, mentally travelling back to that day.

“King Inteus was responsible for the death of my parents. I wanted to get back at him. I found out where she was staying and decided to watch over her. I knew the king had nothing good planned. I embedded myself in her life by joining the same school and we became friends again. It was hard at first, not to let things slip, you know?”

“But, I managed. Eventually, we left school together and started renting a flat. I had noticed the king’s guards watching us over the years, but there was one in particular that was always around. Hovering at the corners of streets, eating at the same restaurants, loitering in alcoves.”

I can see that my words are angering Denali, but he needs to hear it and he knows that.

“One day, I’m walking home late with Ani, we’ve been out for some drinks. We get near the flat and I hear something down this alley. I make Ani wait on the street and call the police while I investigate. I can still shift, she can’t, so I figure she’s safer waiting in the open. I replace the guard, the one that’s been tailing her for years…he’s dead. Someone has killed him.”

“Killed him how?” Denali asks suspiciously.

“Stabbed. There was a silver knife sticking out of his chest. It was pretty horrific, but not my first dead body thanks to King Inteus. I witnessed the horrors he instilled on surrounding packs before he split you and your mates up.”

“Why would someone attack a king’s guard? They must have known he was a shifter to use silver.”

“I don’t think they did know if I’m honest. The knife was a sterling silver steak knife, not a dagger or sword. It was strange, but I used the opportunity to convince Ani to move. While the king didn’t have his sights on us, I snuck her away. That’s how we ended up here, in Laleston.”

“Wait, hold on. He doesn’t know she’s here?”

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