Chapter 2: Dream

I woke in the dead of night, my body still warm from the kiss Jeremy had left on my lips. The night had been perfect—filled with laughter, dancing, the promise of something more. I could still feel the weight of the tiara resting atop my head, the sensation of being queen lingering in my skin. But as I closed my eyes again, sleep didn’t come easily.

Instead, I found myself pulled into a dream.

It began with the feeling of cold—a chill so sharp it cut through the air, creeping into my bones. The world around me was blanketed in white, an endless sea of snow stretching out in every direction. There was no warmth, no sounds, no life—just me and the snow. The wind howled, but strangely, I wasn’t cold. Not even a little.

In fact, I felt more alive than I’d ever felt before.

The snowflakes danced around me, swirling like delicate bits of glass, each one unique in its intricate design. They didn’t touch me, didn’t melt, but hovered near my skin like they were waiting for something. The silence of it all was haunting yet peaceful, a stillness that wrapped around me like a cocoon. I could feel the power in the air, a force, ancient and untamed, thrumming beneath the surface of this frozen world.

I moved forward, stepping lightly through the deep snow, feeling the crunch beneath my feet with every step I took. The cold did not bite. It didn’t sting. It embraced me.

I looked up at the sky, and it was a color I had never seen before—a cold, deep silver-blue. The light of the moon flickered, distant and strange. It wasn’t just a night sky. It was... something more. Something that felt like it had always been a part of me.

I walked deeper into the snowy expanse, the wind at my back now, urging me forward. There was something ahead—a presence, a pull, a call. I didn’t know what it was, but I followed it instinctively. The snow parted as I moved, the path clearing as though I was being guided by something—or someone—beneath the surface of this vast landscape.

The dream shifted then. The quiet, endless snow began to hum with an energy, like the heartbeat of the world was just beneath my feet. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it. A power, ancient and overwhelming, coursing through the snowflakes, through my blood. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply, letting the energy fill me, seep into my skin, my soul.

It was mine.

Unlike anything I’d ever felt before. The light pulsed, shimmering like liquid ice, and it reached out, wrapping around me, pulling me into it. My heart raced, but I wasn’t afraid. I was exhilarated. The light felt like a call, something older than the world itself. It filled me with a fire I had never known, yet it was icy and sharp, like a winter storm surging through my veins.

I stepped toward it, my heart beating faster with every inch I drew closer to that blue light. The snow swirled around me, and I could hear a voice, soft and faint, in the distance. It was a whisper. A woman’s voice.

Find your power, Aurelia. Let it flow through you.

Before I could understand what was happening, the blue light engulfed me, wrapping around my body like a blanket of freezing cold. The air went still, and the world around me blurred. I felt it in my blood, the deep, relentless power, pushing its way through every part of me.

And then, just as quickly as it had started, everything went black.

I woke with a sharp breath, my body cold, yet my heart was racing. The blankets were tangled around me, and my skin was drenched in sweat. I reached out in the darkness, my hand trembling as I tried to steady my breathing.

I sat up, blinking into the night. The room was still, silent. My heartbeat slowly returned to normal, but the feeling of the dream—the cold, the power—lingered, like it had never really left.

I slipped back into the covers, trying to shake the lingering feeling of the dream. But as I closed my eyes again, I knew one thing for sure: nothing would ever be the same.

Not anymore.

_________________________________________________________________________

The last day of finals was a relief—one that I had been waiting for the entire week. As I sat in my last class of the semester, my pen moving across the paper with ease, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation building in my chest. Summer was just around the corner, and this year, it felt like it was going to be more special than ever.

Jeremy’s 18th birthday was approaching fast. The whole pack was buzzing with excitement, and the air felt electric with it. Everyone was ready to celebrate, and I couldn’t wait for the day when we would finally be able to stand together, as mates, under the goddess’s blessing. We were almost there. I could feel it in my bones.

But first, I had to survive this heat.

Arizona. I had spent my entire life here, but the summer heat always seemed to take me by surprise. The sun was relentless, baking everything beneath it like a giant oven. The temperature was already pushing 100°F by the time I finished my final exam, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

"Can't wait for this heat to be over," I muttered, adjusting my loose tank top as I tried to keep cool. The sun was beating down on me, and the pavement was so hot I could feel the heat radiating up from it. I pulled the hem of my shirt down, trying to cover as much of my skin as possible. Being a person with albinism, it was hard to stay out in the sun for too long.

“Ready to escape this oven, Snow?” Ares’s voice cut through the haze of heat as he approached me from behind. He flashed me one of his usual grins, the kind he wore whenever he was up to no good. “Maybe I should throw you into the pool tonight, just to cool you off.”

Ares, my twin brother, and ever the confident guy, shrugged nonchalantly. “What do you expect? We live in Arizona. You’ve been surviving this heat your whole life.”

We reached Melissa’s car, and I climbed in, finally grateful for the cool air conditioning that washed over me the second I sat down. The heat outside had been nearly unbearable, but the car felt like an oasis of chill compared to the sweltering parking lot.

I sank into the seat and let out a long breath. “I swear, I’d rather face a rogue pack than deal with this heat.”

Ares snorted from the backseat. “You say that now, but I bet once summer hits full swing, you’ll be wishing you were outside with the rest of us. Trust me, it gets worse before it gets better.”

Melissa laughed from the front seat, her long brown hair cascading over her shoulder as she glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “I think she’s just hoping to survive the next few months without turning into a red shrimp.”

As we drove through the streets, I couldn’t help but think about what the summer would bring. Jeremy’s birthday was coming up, and that meant everything was about to change for us. The goddess would finally confirm our bond, and our lives would shift in ways I couldn’t even imagine. It was both thrilling and terrifying.

For now, though, I focused on surviving the heat, enjoying the last few days of school, and looking forward to what summer held. Because I had a feeling this summer would be like no other.