Page 45 of A Chance at Love for the Twin Alphas

With his opinion clearly voiced, Khaldun returns to the depths of our mind, making me responsible for the final decision.

“I would like to visit her mind,” I tell Cassiopeia and the others. “There is no guarantee it will work, but it’s worth a try.”

“You can do that?” Anthony asks.

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “No guarantee, as I said. Technically, it is my gift.”

“How exactly does it work?” Elodie wants to know. Her interest clearly differs from those of the others; she is more interested in the facts than anything else.

“It’s hard to say,” I admit. “Every mind is different, and I’ve only just now started to train it.” I pause. “Uncle Elden and Alpha… and Liam say—”

“You’re training with Uncle Elden?” Henry interrupts me.

I would be annoyed by his impolite behavior, but I am aware of his issues with acting and reacting in social situations. In a way, we are not too different. “Yes, with him and Liam.” Both of them are alphas of allied packs of Moon Blood, the pack Marcel and I are from. Liam is Elden’s first-born son and inherited some of his gifts. They have been a great help to me and my sister Leila so far.

“And what’s your gift exactly?” Tony asks, his voice softer. He seems to be far more aware of my tension than the others.

“My gift is dream walking,” I explain shortly. “But it’s not my dreams I walk through. It’s others.”

“By all means,” Cassiopeia says all of a sudden. “If this means you will find answers and connect to her, do what you need to do. I wasn’t aware that’s what you wanted when you asked to try something.”

I figure Henry isn’t the only one who should work on his social skills. Years in a pack full of abusers had taught me to keep my opinion to myself and talk as little as possible. I give her another nod before taking Auset’s hand into mine. She isn’t really old for a shifter, fifty isn’t much of an age, but she has obviously lost weight here, and her mind is in turmoil.

Well then, Khaldun, let’s take a look inside.

I close my eyes, blending all the noises around me until I can only hear my breathing. I allow my spirit to merge with my Lycan’s until our mind is one. It’s hard to tell who thinks what and who is the driving force. We both give up control and gain it at the same time. It feels like energy is flowing through the tip of my fingers, connecting me with the woman in front of me. Uncle Elden explained it to me like chains are wrapped around me that hold me back, and one after one, I untie each and every one of them until my spirit is free to roam.

When I open my eyes again, I’m not in the hospital anymore but in a sand desert. There is silence engulfing me, silence and the vast desert stretching itself so far I don’t know where it ends. When I take a tentative step, I sink into the sand, feeling its hot surface almost burning me.

The sun is burning mercilessly while I drag my feet in a direction. I don’t even know where I’m going. It’s eerily quiet. Not one sound can be heard. If it weren’t for my breathing, I’d feel like I was deaf. A whisper cuts through the uncomfortable silence. I don’t know what it says. It’s like a mixture of different voices. I decide to follow it, almost running in its direction, but no matter where I go, the whisper seems to change its direction, chasing me around the desert until I drop to my knees in exhaustion.

I feel thirsty and tired, my skin burning from the sun.

The whisper picks up again and seems to swirl around me as if it wants to make me mad, crazy.

It’s all in your head.

I look around in confusion. This one was clearer than the others.

It’s all in my head?

Right, I forgot! I get up on my feet again, taking a deep breath. This isn’t real. I’m not in a real desert, surrounded by real sand. I’m not burning in the sun and not running low on water. When I take the next step forward, I’m suddenly inside a building, huge walls of bricks surrounding me, feeling cold to the touch.

This is it. This is where I’m supposed to be.

With newfound confidence, I walk forward, focusing on my instincts more than anything else. My gift will lead me when I trust it. There are several crossroads I walk by as if I’m walking through a pyramid. I close my eyes, not to get distracted by anything aside from the connection I built towards Auset, allowing my gift to pull me in the right direction.

I feel it instantly when the atmosphere around me changes. It gets colder and more eerie again until I step forward into a room. In the middle of it, there is a majestic pond and a long-haired person is drifting in it, chains binding them to the walls of the pond and keeping them floating in the water.

Maybe that’s Auset?

“Auset,” I mutter while I step forward. I reach forward, touching the chains, but they don’t move a bit. When I touch the person’s skin, though, checking if they are alive, their body shivers slightly, and their eyes snap open. Surprisingly, I don’t look into the dark eyes of an Egyptian woman; instead, their eyes are as white as the moon and the stars in the sky.

Can this truly be Auset?

It’s impossible.

Now that I’m close by, the presence of this being is too strong to be a mere shifter. Also, it’s incredibly hard to tell their gender. “Are you Auset or someone else?”

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