40 Noctis Terrores

Noctis Terrores (Night Terrors)

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James awoke with his heart pounding in his chest, his blood running cold then hot as he tried to wake from the memory that was exaggerated by sleep.

He tensed when he felt something warm beside him. And he became increasingly nervous when he recognized the human's scent. Looking down he could see her brown hair peeking out from beneath the blanket. She had tucked her small body into his side, her face completely hidden.

He breathed a couple breaths then gulped. For a second he had thought that… he'd thought that it had been Lilla. Although, Lilla liked to spoon him and try to hug as much of him as she could. He felt his chest constrict with anger and bitterness. And sadness.

Hearing a whimper from beside him his raised his arm to see her better. He could hear that she was breathing rapidly.

He looked around the dark room, guessing it to be early in the morning.

"Ow!" He exclaimed when she suddenly began kicking and clawing at him. Her voice was whimpering and shrieking as she tried to claw away from him.

"Hey! Hey!" He shouted at her but she only began to struggle harder.

He sat up in the bed—causing him to remember he had removed his shirt—and grabbed her biceps firmly and pulled her up. Her legs still kicked wildly as her small arms tried to writhe out of his grasp.

"Stop it!" He yelled, getting tired of her squirming.

She flinched and his wolf whimpered. With quick uneven breaths her damp lashes slowly blinked open. Her dark eyes began observing every inch of her surroundings, as though doubting they were real. He could feel her relax ever so slightly in his arms and he let go of her. Only for her to collapse onto the bedding. She scrambled over to him her arms wrapping around his right bicep.

He sighed in aggravation. It was too early for this. "What are you doing?" He asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"There's blood everywhere." She whispered into his bare arm.

He released his nose and looked down at her shrunken form. Her knees were bent and had been pulled up to her chest.

His thoughts went back to just a few hours ago. This… woman had been mated and had been an expectant mother and she'd lost it all. He looked down at her scarred arm was was revealed in her short sleeve shirt, goosebumps scattering along the pale flesh. He couldn't see the fear that he was sure was in those dark eyes. What kind of woman had she been before?

He sighed, his wolf pacing nervously at what she'd said.

Looking down at her bare feet he pulled the blanket closer, and said tiredly, "There's no blood."

Her fevered breathing continued and she clutched tighter to his arm, "It's everywhere." She whimpered, burying her face into his arm. His brow lowered and he looked around the small bedroom that was cast in shadow. What was this poor woman seeing?

She flinched and a muffled scream came out of her lips. She began trying to hide behind him, even though his back was pressed to the headboard.

"Hey! Stop it! There is no blood." He stated in frustration. She had wedged herself behind the right side of his back, her hands still holding his arm. He looked at her bare toes again and rolled his eyes. This was exhausting.

"There's screams." She said in a broken voice, her body tensing and her breathing becoming more shrill and frantic.

He narrowed his eyes. There was no screaming. She was trembling and gasping with shrill breaths.

His chest felt heavy as another layer of guilt levelled onto it. This was why she whimpered and sometimes screamed in her sleep. He'd done nothing. But what could he do? He defended his past actions. His wolf snarled and urged him to comfort the human.

He readjusted himself so that he was facing the human. She looked at him with absolute terror. He sighed and grabbed her shoulders, doing as best he could to "reassure" her.

His fingers landing on her small shoulders he opened his mouth to say a consoling word when she kicked him square in the chest. It did nothing to affect him but he was still rather startled.

She rushed off of the bed and stood, her small form shrinking in the dark. Her hands flew to cover her ears and she fell to the floor, her heels pushing against the hardwood as she wedged herself between the bathroom door and the bed.

He sighed and sat back on the bed. Resting his head on the pillow he sought some just a few more hours of sleep, but his wolf was clawing for him to open his eyes and check on the human.

She was still whimpering, her whimpers starting to shift to shrieks every couple seconds. The anguished sounds did affect him, though he tried to deny it.

He sighed and rose to his feet, walking around the bed till she came into view. She was huddled with her head turned into the corner, her hands still covering her ears.

With cautious hands he picked up her curled form, she remained in a ball and he felt his heart prick at how vulnerable she looked.

She nuzzled into his chest, "Raph, make them stop…" She pleaded and he could only stand there for a few moments. James had never seen this side of her before; it was… different, to say the least.

Without thinking he stroked her tangled brown hair and saw her sniff and relax into him. He wanted to stop, but he could see that she was drifting to sleep.

He wasn't sure about all this physical contact with her. He'd only ever held or touched Lilla. He closed his eyes and swallowed at the memories that flooded into his mind. Her scent, her laughter. His wolf became quiet but James could still feel his sadness.

When he saw that the human was fully asleep he rested her down on the mattress and pulled the sheets and quilt over her.

Taking a deep breath he walked to the other side of the bed and laid down. He eventually found sleep, though his mind was tormented with guilt inflicted from betraying his mate.