We couldn’t have been asleep for more than a few hours when I woke to her whimpering and tossing in her sleep. I lifted myself up on my arm, watching her for a moment, “Alyce, wake up love, you’re ok. You’re safe.”

She didn’t seem to hear me as she growled and thrashed in her sleep. I reached over and grabbed her, wrapping her in my arms so she wouldn’t hurt herself, “Alyce, come on, wake up. It’s just a nightmare.” I shook her a little bit and pulled her head into the crook of my shoulder so she would catch my scent.

She let out a stifled scream, her as flying open, “No, no, no!” she wiggled against my arms and I let her go, not wanting her to think she was being forced into something again. She rolled away from me, sliding off the bed to her feet, and I could hear her heart beating rapidly against her chest. Her eyes darted around and finally settled on me as she seemed to grasp her situation, “Tristan! I’m so sorry.”

She scrambled back onto the bed and back into my lap, clinging to me like she had done something wrong, “Shhhh, it’s ok love. You were having a nightmare, but you’re safe. I’m here, everything’s ok.” I wrapped my arms around her, rubbing her back and letting her calm down in my lap.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve had one that was so vivid. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Stop apologizing, you’ve nothing to be sorry about. Do you want to talk about it?” I murmured soothingly in her ear.

She shook her head and curled in on herself some more, “No, not really. Will… Will you just hold me until I fall back asleep? You make it easier to sleep…”

“Of course, I will hold you whenever, wherever, and however long you want me to.” I laid back on the bed with her, settling on my back and letting her lay sprawled across my chest, her head in the crook of my shoulder. Once again I waited until I knew she was back to sleep before I slept myself, keeping my arms tightly around her.

‎

~Alyce/Faelyn~

I slept peacefully the rest of the night, no nightmares, no dreams at all in fact. I stirred as the first rays of light penetrated through the blinds in the room. I had a little drool at the corner of my mouth and as I reached up to wipe it away I realized I was literally laying on Tristan like he was my own personal mattress. Which meant I had drooled on him. “How embarrassing!” I whispered to myself. I lifted my head a little more and wiped my drool off his chest, hoping he wouldn’t notice. No such luck, I realized he was staring at me with an amused look on his face.

“Sorry.” I mumbled and went to roll off of him so he could move.

He rolled with me so that I was pinned under him, his body laying between my legs, “Nothing to apologize for. What’s a little drool between mates?” He leaned down and kissed me softly, “Besides, if you slept deep enough to drool, then you slept well. At least for a few hours and that is worth it.”

I blushed at our compromising position and kissed him back before pushing him off me, which he let me do, “I did sleep really well, and now I need to pee before you take over the bathroom. You didn’t shower last night, so I’m assuming you will this morning.”

He let me up and I crawled out of the bed and darted towards the bathroom. I closed the door and did what I needed to do as well as brushed my teeth and washed my face. There was a mirror over the dresser in the closet that I could use to do my hair for the trip, so I could let him get into the bathroom. I knew they wanted to head out sooner rather than later.

I slipped out of the bathroom with my toothbrush in hand so that I wouldn’t forget to pack it.

Tristan looked over at me and gave me a curious look, “What are you going to do with that? Scrub the drool away?” He was teasing me and I stuck my tongue out at him like a child.

“No, I’m going to pack it with the rest of my stuff.”

“Don’t bother, that thing has seen better days, we’ll get you a new one when we get home.”

I looked at my worn toothbrush, some of the bristles were sticking out and no longer straight, he was right, I was overdue for a new one, “I can’t even argue with that.” I tossed it in a nearby trashcan and smiled at him, “Bathroom is all yours. I’ll change and pack while you’re in there, then I’ll pop down to the kitchen and make us all a quick breakfast.”

“I’ll get Victor to go down with you. I don’t want to risk any trouble before we leave. Theo seems to be a good guy with the right ideas now that he’s in the position to change things, but still.”

“That’s probably not a bad idea. Better safe than sorry, and I’m just an Omega after all. Can’t take on the bigger, badder wolves.” I winked and gave him a playful, knowing smile.

He laughed as he gathered some clothes from his pack, mind-linking Victor, I assume, before disappearing into the bathroom, “Victor will pick you up from here shortly!” I heard him call before I heard the shower turn on.

*Okay.* I replied via mind-linked, rather than shouting. Then I mind-linked Mat, Faith and Jake, *Hey, good morning! Breakfast in the Pack Manor in 45 minutes. We will be leaving shortly after that!*

I felt more than heard Mat grumble at me through the mind-link, he was not an early riser, and I laughed. Jake and Faith promised they would all be on time for breakfast and ready to go when they arrived.

I stripped out of my sweater and leggings, shoving them into a secondary pocket in my duffel. I figured my bra and panties would suffice for travel as I had just put them on last night. I dug through the clothes that Faith and Mat had given me for my birthday, settling on a pair of fleece lined, lilac colored leggings and a long sleeve, tunic style, black shirt as well as a black semi baggy sweater. I knew the wind could be cold riding on the back of Ryder, and fall in the mountains was colder as well.

I gathered up the stuff we had brought from my ‘room’ last night and packed everything into the one duffle bag. Once everything was packed I set it on the chest and let Tristan know that it was the only bag I had to take with us. He said he would bring it down with him when he was dressed.

Using the mirror in the room I took my braids out and pulled my hair into pigtails, which I then wrapped into tight buns on either side of my head. My hair was too long and thick to put in one bun and have it stay unless I wanted a headache later.

I opened the bedroom door and peeked out, looking up and down the hallway. I saw Kami coming out of her room and Victor walking down the hallway, so I stepped out to greet them both, “Good morning Kami, Victor. Want some breakfast before we leave?”

Kami smiled and ran over to me, hooking her arm with mine, “As long as you’re cooking it and there is coffee involved, I’m all over it. Your food is amazing Alyce.”

“Hahaha, thank you. Jake actually taught me everything I know in the kitchen. So you’re stealing away not one, but two of the best cooks in this pack. Thank Goddess.”

Victor fell in step behind us as we made our way down the stairs, “What are you going to make this morning? Anything we can do to help?”

“Hmm, how about heart attack burritos? They’re basically breakfast burritos but everything is cooked in one pan so the bacon grease gets absorbed by the eggs and potatoes.”

“And coffee?” Kami asked like she might cry if the answer was no.

“And of course, coffee and some OJ.”

“Sounds amazing.” Victor chuckled.

We wandered into the kitchen and I set to work preparing breakfast with a little help from Kami and Victor.