Anna smiled sweetly, nodding her head. "I promise," she said in a quiet whisper before she took in a deep breath, feeling his body relax and his heart rate slow down to a steady pace. Anna curled into his side before closing her own eyes, deciding to let sleep take over for a few hours instead of laying there with him asleep.
Derek dreamed. For the first time in a long time, he dreamed. He didnât have even a trace of a nightmare. He watched in his slumber as his brother came toward him, tackling him like the old days. They rolled around on the forest floor, lunging after each other, flashing their eyes and baring their teeth playfully. Because of that, Derek smiled. But later, much later, when he woke up, thatâs why he cried. He missed his brother. He missed his parents. He missed Laura. Everything was so simple back then, he thought. There wasnât much of a threat as far as the hunters went; the treaty had made sure of that. Waking up without his siblings there though, after remembering them and having them oh so close to him, even if it was in his sleep, was painful. It hurt. And it hurt in the most bittersweet kind of way. As the alpha woke and a tear rolled down the side of his cheek, he instinctively pulled Anna in closer to him. His eyes remained closed for a little while longer, then he allowed them to open, smiling weakly at the warmth seeping into his torso.
