Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

| rush over and turn on the bedside lamp before | crawl onto the bed.

“Bronx, Sweetheart! Wake up! You're having a nightmare," | grasp his shoulders, his face is covered in

sweat. He easily pushes me off, cursing deeply at whoever he is fighting in his dream, "Bronx! Wake

up, please!”

Very suddenly, he becomes deathly still. “B-Bronx? A-are you okay?" | lean forward to look at him

closer.

His eye shoots open, wider than | have ever seen before and he sits straight up in bed. Fear and anger

roll off of him as every muscle in his body tenses. His skin stretches tight over his tensed muscles, he

balls his hands into fists, and lets out a roarso loud the entire room reverberates. He is breathing

roughly through his nostrils, reminding me of a charging bull as his body shakes, the anger building.

“Bronx? You're scaring me," | gently touch his arm. He snaps his head toward me, seeing me for the

first time since he woke up. There is no recognition on his face, as if I'ma green eye scares me and |

start backing away, off the bed. As if on cue, his eye turns solid black and he lunges forward at me.

“SAINT!” | scream, rolling off the bed onto the floor, "Saint, it's me. It's Kas!”

| scramble on the floor toward the door but Bronx jumps off the bed and charges at me. His hands

tightly wrap around my throat and keeps charging until he has me pinned to the wall. My feet are

dangling off the ground, kicking helplessly as he leans forward.

| can hear voices and banging coming from the hallway, trying to breakdown the apartment door. Help

is on the way. | need to stall. | need to talk sense into Saint.

“WHERE IS MY MATE?" He growls through Bronx's body, slamming me against the wall again.

“Sai-nt. It's me. I'm your mate," | try to reason with him, but he looks like he is out for blood, like he’s

never seen me before. | choke and gag, helplessly hitting his forearms as he continues to cut off my air

supply.

“WHERE IS SHE?" he snarls again. He pulls me away from the wall and slams against it again. | can't

answer, | have no air left. My eyes are bulging out of my head and tears are streaming down my

cheeks. My mate is going to kill me. This can't be happening. | can't believe | am about to do this. |

have no choice. | focus on my energy and place my hands over his, letting the energy sear through me,

burning his hands. | can feel blisters forming and bursting on his skin under my grip. Saint is wound so

tight, he doesn't even seem to notice. | try to reach out for his face, but his arms are too long, | can't

reach.

Goddess please, please help me. Don't let this happen.

The edges of my vision begin to blur and spots start to form. Darker and darker. The only thing | can

make out is the onyx abyss of Saint's eye. The wolf possessing my mate's body. | stare until | can't see

anymore. | am suddenly pulled into oblivion with such force that can't help but flail my arms and legs, a

dark abyss with no escape. | can't feel my body anymore. I'm gone. By the hand of my own mate.

“Kas, Baby...Kas?" Bronx is kneeling in front of me. He looks so scared. We aren't in the bedroom. We

are in the hallway. It's the middle of the day. What the Hell just happened? | think | had a premonition.

Wait. Which one is reality? Is this the premonition? Memories swirl and mix in my brain making me feel

dizzy.

“Bronx?” | say with confusion, "Why are you on the floor?”

Bronx's POV

“Alpha, come quick. Something's wrong with the Luna. It's like...she's frozen...and she's glowing purple,

sir," the mind link from Tyree, Kas's temporary guard, comes through a couple minutes after she leaves

the room. “Where are you?" | jump up, startling everyone at the table.

“In front of your quarters, Alpha. What should | do?” He asks in a shaky voice.

“Don't touch her, Tyree. I'm on my way," | reply and cut the link.

"Bronx, what's wrong?" Lenora says as | turn to run out of the room.

“| think Kas is having a premonition,” | say as | bolt out the office.

| run as fast as my legs will carry me down the hall. As | turn the corner | see Tyree with a terrified look

on his face, kneeling on one knee in front of Kas, who is glowing bright purple. She is as still as a

statue. He stands up and backs away as | slide to a halt and squat down in front of her so we are at

eye level.

“Kas, snap out of it, Baby. Come on, I'm right here. You're safe, Kas. No one can hurt you now,” | say in

a soft urgent voice, patting her face and rubbing her shoulders. The empty look in her eyes would make

you think she was a department store mannequin. She isn't a million miles away, she's a million

galaxies away.

| take her hands in mine. They are as cold as ice like they were the last time | found her like this. She is

glowing much brighter now than she was last time.

“Ashley! Go get Delilah. NOW!" | order without looking away from Kas. Ashley doesn't hesitate, she

runs off to go find the witch.

| feel an odd sensation coming from Kas's hands. Almost as if they are vibrating. They quickly turn

warm, then hot, then fire hot. Without warning, a surge of energy pulses from her through me, causing

a searing pain to flow into my hands.

| scream, making everyone around me take another step back. | look at my hands to see they are

bright red and blistered from being burned. Kas burned me? | remember Saint's words as | look at my

hands, 'The Goddess made us extra strong since Kas is a goddess. It's the only way we can be with

her and not get hurt. That's why you're an Alpha. Anything less and she could accidentally destroy us

and if she did, poof, our spirits’ journey would be over.’

| turn my hands over, then look up at Kas again, then around at the concerned friends standing close

by. A realization hits me. If | can't get her out of this vision she is having, other people could get hurt

much worse than me.

“Goddess, please forgive me. | don't know what else | can do," | say out loud.

Tears are streaming down from her hollow eyes. How can someone be so distant and so emotional at

the same time? | have to act now before | chicken out and people get hurt. It's my only option. | close

my eye for a moment and take a deep breath. | look her square in the face, slap her as hard as my

conscience will allow. The people around my audibly gasp.

“BRONX! What the fuck?!" Lenora screams and she tries to step forward, but Milo grabs her around

the waist and holds her back.

Kas stumbles back from the weight of my hand but | catch her before she falls. She shakes her head

out and looks at me with confusion.

“Kas, Baby...Kas?" | say looking into her eyes as her expression turns back to normal. The purple aura

around her quickly fades. “Bronx?” she looks at me with confusion, " Why are you on the floor?”

“Oh my Goddess, Baby. You scared the shit out of me," | sigh with relief. | reach up to wipe her tears

away, but she flinches back away from my touch. It reminds me of when | first met her and how scared

she was of everything, including me.

“Kas, wh-what's wrong? Please, let me wipe your tears," | swallow hard, "I-I didn't mean to hurt you. |

didn't know what else to do.”

Kas look around and sees everyone is in the hallway staring at her. A look of embarrassment comes

over her face.

“Let's get her into the apartment,” Lenora pulls herself out of Milo's arms and steps forward, unlocking

the door. She gives me a damning glare as she takes Kas by the elbow and guides her in with me

closely behind. As she is closing the door, she addresses the people in the hall, "Time to go find other

things to do, lookie loos. Except you, Tyree. Keep your post. You did the right thing by sending the

mind link. Good job.”

As soon as we're inside, Kas starts to wander to the kitchen in a bit of a daze.

“Kas are you alright, Baby? Did you have a vision?” | ask. After she flinched away from me, I'm scared

to get too close to her. | didn't mean to hurt her. | didn't know how else to snap her out of it.

“I-l just need to find what | did with my cup of water,” she replies, more to herself than Lenora or | and

wanders into the kitchen. Lenora steps forward, "Kas, what was your premonition? What did you see?

We need to know so we can help you. So we can try to prevent whatever it is you saw from

happening.”

Kas is still searching the counters for her nonexistent glass of water, ignoring both Lenora and I.

Lenora approaches her and puts her hands on Kas's shoulders, stopping her from avoiding us.

“Kas, please. Please speak to us. We need to know so we can help you,” Lenora says in as gentle a

tone as | have ever heard from her. Kas looks up at her, not speaking for a moment. | swear for the first

time in my life | see Lenora break eye contact first. Kas looks over at me with a complicated look. | see

tears starting to pool in her eyes again. “Saint killed me.”