Chapter 19 - Senna

Jet's brow furrowed, deep and intense. The worming nausea that had filled me since I had startled awake was growing stronger, and it didn't pair well with the emptiness of my stomach or the grating feelings of guilt for worrying Jet so much.

"Senna, you're freaking me out. What's going on?" He took my hands, guiding me back to the table where I'd apparently slept for the evening. "Are you okay? Is the baby—"

I shook my head. "We're fine. It's…Gods, this sounds so stupid. It's about the nightmare. I saw something similar the morning I learned I was pregnant. And I hadn't been dreaming then. I was wide awake, heading to the shower."

The furrow somehow deepened, and Jet squatted in front of her, closing his eyes briefly as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, wait. You're saying…you're saying you had a…vision or something?"

A humorless laugh escaped me, and I leaned back in the chair, scrubbing my hands down my face. "See. It sounds stupid. But I…we'd talked about the V?lva, and my brain was just churning away. I didn't want to worry you, though. It was just some fluke. Latent fear. But then the nightmare…"

He squeezed my hands when I put them in my lap again, and I shivered despite not being cold in the least. My heart rate was up, and flickering memories of those images filled the space behind my eyes.

"I wanted to know more. So, I came down here."

"Senna," Jet adjusted, pushing himself between my legs to wrap his arms around my waist, "you're not stupid. This…this could mean something. I'm not as familiar with the V?lva legends as I should be. But I trust you. I trust your instincts."

My eyes burned as the gentle scent of leather and pine bloomed around me. Looking down at Jet, my heart swelled for how open his expression was. I leaned down and kissed him, tasting that perfection that was simply him. One of his hands came to the side of my face, and I leaned into it.

"Thank you, Jet. You can't know how much it means to me that you just…believe me."

"I can tell, sweetness. Truly." I felt his reassurance through the bond, and it took everything, including looking up at the ceiling and fanning my face, to keep myself from crying.

"I don't want to risk you. Risk my new family. If these visions do mean something, I have to protect you all."

Jet nodded, kissing me again before he rose from his knees, only to grab the other chair at the table and pull it beneath himself.

"Let's leave the protecting to the alpha, yeah?" He quirked a crooked grin. "Tell me what you saw."

I had to swallow—twice. Recounting the details was oddly painful, both physically and mentally. I didn't want to think of those images again. The dead faces of the pack. Jet being torn in half. But it also felt like leaning into a headache to access them again.

It suddenly felt like the world was coated in molasses as I tried to push past the mental barrier that made the vision fuzzy and disjointed. I yanked on the threads in my mind, trying to pull them this way and that. After a moment, and giving myself a migraine, I was able to see it again—all laid out in order.

Detailing the vision to Jet, I finished practically ready for bed again at around 7 a.m.

"Gods, that was something. I'm…whew, I'm wiped."

"Senna, that was…detailed." Jet looked down at the floor between them, shaking his head as he frowned. "You saw all that just before the shower? In a dream?"

I nodded, my stomach growling again. "Yes. I know it's not much. It's so vague. But I guess that's probably because I'm just getting these gifts."

Jet looked up at me, smirking a little and quirking a brow. "Did you learn that from your reading?"

"Yes, actually. I learned quite a bit. Before passing out in my chair, I guess."

Pulling over the open book toward him, Jet looked down, scanning the passage. "Can you tell me more? I should understand this better."

"Sure." I refocused, trying to recall everything that I'd tried to digest during the middle-of-the-night study session. "I can try. There's a lot, and most of these things were written in less-than-common English."

Jet laughed. "Do your best."

With a nod, I sucked in a breath, reaching for the two books that I'd found the most helpful. One of them was still open to that passage from before, and I let Jet look it over.

When he finished, Jet looked up at me with his brows furrowed low over his eyes. "New era? What do you suppose that means?"

"I'm not sure. I've been seeing Terrance attack, though. I can't imagine that's just a coincidence. He's power-hungry and will definitely be upset if he learns that I'm not just your breeding slave or sacrifice. That we're actually mates."

Nodding, Jet took my hands in his. He met my eyes, the deep green vibrant and sparkling. An absent thought about what color eyes the baby might have filtered through my brain, and I had to blink against the tears. Terrance was coming. I just knew it.

And he wanted to hurt Jet. Hurt my child.

"He won't—"

I put my fingers to Jet's lips. "I know you're trying to help, to make me feel less freaked out and overwhelmed, but I know this is real. Terrance and his pack are going to attack us. I think…I think we need to be ready. To tell the other and prepare."

There was a beat of silence, and then Jet stood up, pulling me along with him. I stepped into his arms, laying my head against his chest.

"Okay, sweetness. We'll tell them. I'll call for a meeting with the entire pack."

I looked up at him. "Really?"

"I told you." He took my chin in his hand. "I trust you. So, yes. Plus, I'm not about to argue with hundreds of years of lore that speaks to the seriousness of your visions. We'll protect our family. I promise."

Pressing myself against him once more, I held on tight, squeezing myself against Jet like I might fall if I didn't keep a hold of him. A lifeline, an anchor—he was it.

"So much is changing. I'm…well, it's fair to say that overwhelmed is an understatement. Still," I breathed deep against Jet's pec, "this feels right. Not just us, which is, of course, wonderful, but the visions, the baby. I feel like I've been waiting my entire life to be right here. Does that make any sense?"

He chuckled. "Yes and no. I'll admit the magic stuff is a bit alien to me. But this? You and the baby and how you fit so perfectly here? Yeah, that makes sense."

We stood there, and I wanted to stay in that moment forever. I didn't want to face the turmoil ahead, but that's not how life works, is it? Jet pulled my face up by my chin, laying a gentle kiss on my lips before stepping back and taking my hand.

"All right. Let's go. We have a meeting to arrange."