Chapter 3

Chapter Three

FREYA

" C asey?"

My chest constricts painfully as I watch myself twist and writhe on the hard cement. My omega cries out for our mate like I refuse to do outside of this nightmare.

Or is this real? The pain sure looks like what I've been going through as I'm pumped full of drugs to hold off my heat. It wouldn't hurt so epically if I weren't already in fucking heat when they decided to hit the pause button on it.

I watch my omega's chapped lips stretch around a soundless scream. I watch her, my other half, in excruciating pain, wondering where she ends and I begin.

Am I watching what she's going through in my mind while my body is blacked out on another round of drugs?

She looks exactly how I've been feeling. Even while physically differentiated from her in this hellish moment, it's hard to imagine this is just a dream.

"Casey! P-please!" she cries, making me flinch and step toward her.

I open my mouth to soothe her, but nothing comes out. Instead of forcing my voice, I kneel and soothe my hand over her clammy, pale skin. Pebbles and dirt roll beneath my fingertips, causing a deep shiver to run through her already shaking body.

"Freya?"

My silent gasp gets lodged in my throat when Casey's voice cracks through my omega's harsh breathing and pained whimpers.

I thought this wasn't a dream. But it must be for one of my mates to show up.

I watch his eyes widen a second before he's rushing forward and slamming to his knees beside her. "Freya! Baby, what's wrong?!"

Casey's frantic, his hands hovering over her body like he's afraid he'll make it worse.

If I could, I would tell him the only thing that would make this worse is if he were to leave .

"What?! I would never leave you!" he shouts, eyes searching for something.

He heard me?

"I hear you," he whispers, flicking his gaze from my omega on the ground, then to my general direction in the shadows. "Baby?"

"Casey?" my omega whispers, sounding broken and fragile. The urge to shove him away so I can help her rides me hard, but I know she needs her mate. Now more than ever and because this isn't real life, I won't stand in the way of my subconscious getting the comfort I have craved my entire life.

"Tell me what's wrong! How can I help you?" Now dream Casey is gripping her shoulders and pulling her head into his lap. I'm shocked to find tears running down his cheeks, but I suppose if I could dream of anything, it would be that my mates care about me as much as I care about them.

I watch as her mouth opens just as a sharp stabbing pain tears my insides apart, making me keel over and release a shocked scream. My forced silence has been swapped with my omega, who now shifts to her knees and scrambles toward me.

Casey's eyes are wide behind her as I fight back the nausea burning my throat. Before my omega can caress my cheek or Casey can snap out of his stupor, they both begin to fade.

"No! Freya! Tell me where you are!"

I frown, tears blurring my vision, while his voice echoes through the confines of the cell. I guess if I were to create a dreamscape, I would hope my mates are trying to find me.

"I just wish it were real," I whisper into the empty darkness as everything ceases to exist once again.