"Hi, Kaleb." Kaia was smiling widely, her eyes shining like she was the happiest person in the world. "It worked!"

"Um..." Kaleb felt like sleep was weighing him down, like a pressure behind his eyes. He rubbed them. "Why are you glowing?" 

She pursed her lips and shrugged, stepping closer and resting her hands on his chest. Kaleb looked around, confused and trying not to let her distract him. He had a bad feeling for some reason, like something was off. 

"This is a dream, isn't it?" Kaleb asked, looking around. They were in the woods still, but everything was blurry like he hadn't memorized it all that well and his dreaming brain was trying to fill in the details. 

"Absolutely," Kaia said, smiling, "That's why I'm happy." 

"Well, it's my dream," Kaleb said, smiling despite the dark worry festering in him. He touched her chin with his thumb, "Of course you'd be happy." 

Her smile faltered. "Of course." 

"Kaia, what's wrong?" Kaleb asked immediately, pulling her closer. He stared into her eyes, and they gave her away. Her dark doe eyes were where she kept her secrets. One need only look to see the darkness behind her light, that darkness that so perfectly matched his. 

Kaia's face darkened as she reached up and rested her hands on either side of his face. It was such a soft touch, and slow, like she was cherishing it. "I can't hide anything from you," Kaia said, her eyes sad. 

"That's my line," Kaleb said, tucking her hair behind her ear. God, she was beautiful. He had to be sure she knew that. He'd tell her every day from now until forever. 

Kaia smiled, a brief break in her sullen demeanor. For Kaleb, that smile was like coming up for a short gasp of air before being pulled under again. "I don't know how to tell you this, Kaleb, so I think I'll just come out and say it like ripping off a bandage." 

"This dream started out nice, but it's going downhill," Kaleb mumbled. It wasn't just a suspicion now. Kaleb knew. Something terrible was happening or had happened. Or would. 

She almost immediately broke into silent tears. Kaleb hurt looking at her like this. He leaned down and kissed her tears as he always had and always would. Kaia took a deep breath, and her voice broke when she spoke. "I have to leave." 

Kaleb, the day he'd seen his parents killed in front of him, had fallen into a deep, dark hole. He'd spent his life trying to claw himself out of it, but it had been too steep, too rocky. And then there was Kaia. She appeared above him, glowing and silver; he'd looked up at her like she was the moon, the only thing he could see far above him, another world outside of his hole. She was his moon and his hope. 

She reached down and pulled him out of his hole with graceful ease. The moment he kissed her, his world was bright again. 

And when she said she was leaving it was like sinking, sinking back into the dark hole he'd only just escaped, more and more every second. 

It must have shown on his face because Kaia's eyes immediately filled with worry. "No, no I'm not leaving leaving, Kaleb. Oh my god." 

"You promised you wouldn't," Kaleb said quietly, staring into her eyes, scanning them for an explanation. What was she thinking? Why would she leave him now of all times?

"Kaleb," Kaia repeated, her voice desperate. She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She hugged him tightly, comforting him. "I'm not going to break my promise. I'm coming back." 

"I can't read your thoughts, Kaia," Kaleb said weakly, wrapping his arms around her waist. "So you need to tell me what's going through your head." 

Kaia hesitated too long, and Kaleb knew what she'd say before she did. "I can't tell you the entire truth." 

"Kaia," Kaleb begged. He pressed his lips lightly to her mark, and her fingers dug slightly into his skin. 

"Ever since I was young, I've had this creepy dream over and over again. It's full of such hatred...My mom," Kaia said quickly. It was like she knew that she'd break if she let Kaleb kiss her there. "Someone killed her," Kaia said, her voice fractured. Kaleb wanted to see her face, but he didn't want to stop hugging her. So he didn't move and just closed his eyes, listened to her. "A lycanthrope." 

"Your dad said that," Kaleb remembered. 

"I...need to find him," Kaia said. 

This time, Kaleb did pull back to see her face. He was shocked. How did Kaia even know where to start? What had given her this idea? To hunt down her mother's murderer? "What the hell are you-" 

"Kaleb, listen!" Kaia said, her voice serious. "I have to do this, and I know that I can. This dream alone is proof that I have a better handle on what I can do even if I don't know how I can do it. I have to confront him, to find out the truth. Somehow I know that there's a truth out there in the darkness that's been eluding me for years, and I need to find it." 

Kaleb's shock and grief transformed in an instant into anger. The frustration that he'd always felt, that Kaia had so easily assuaged, roared to life. He grabbed her shoulders tightly and pushed her against a tree, his voice a growl, "You can't leave, Kaia. I won't let you. Not now." 

His anger didn't phase Kaia. She'd seen it before, and she understood--at least in part--what caused it. Instead of fear or fury in her eyes, Kaleb only saw love. "I want to stay, Kaleb. I want to spend every day with you. I want to go to sleep with you and wake up with you next to me. I want to kiss you until you know my lips better than you know your own heart." 

"Then stay," Kaleb begged. 

Kaia took a deep breath. Her eyes were glassy. "I have a plan, ok? And if everything goes right, I'll be back in just a few days at most." 

Kaleb let out a long breath, and he lost a bit of himself with it. It sounded like defeat. He let his head rest on Kaia's shoulders, and she petted the back of his neck like he was a wolf again. "I don't get it. Give me something, Kaia." 

Kaia was quiet for a long time, leaving Kaleb's mind to wander in the worst directions. He tried to ignore all of the possibilities that ricocheted around his brain, but it was impossible. "I'm starting to figure out...whatever my snapshots are. My visions." 

Kaleb listened to her carefully. Maybe something she was going to say would rid him of all of the dread inside of him. However impossible that seemed. Just take it back, Kaia. Just say you'll stay, that whatever this is, it isn't as important as us. 

But then Kaia's words finally reached him. His head jerked up. "Your nightmare?" 

Kaia didn't say anything, but her eyes gave her away. "You had a vision again? Was it of him?" Kaleb asked, holding her face. 

He watched her face transform. She went pale, her eyes scared and shocked. "You...knew?" 

Kaleb clenched his jaw. "After your last dream, I knew that he had to have been nearby. You only form a connection with someone after you've touched them, so he must have touched you sometime."

Kaia placed her hands over his, "I know that this is completely unfair, Kaleb. It's the last thing I want to do, and it's completely unreasonable of me to ask this of you. I need you to trust me." 

"You're putting yourself in danger," Kaleb breathed. Kaia had said that this man was a killer. He didn't want her anywhere near this stranger. 

"I'm not an idiot, Kaleb. I know what I have to do, and I'll come out the other side."

"How can you be sure, Kaia? You're not a lycanthrope. You have no way to defend yourself!" His voice was only getting louder, his blood hotter. "He's a murderer, Kaia! What makes you think he's not just going to kill you? I'm telling you right now, Kaia. My Kaia. My moon. If you die, I won't survi-" 

Kaia crushed her lips to his without warning, pulling him down closer to her so that she could taste him. Kaleb's heart hurt because he knew. He knew. 

This kiss was a goodbye. 

It felt like one, like desperation and memorization and despair. All the same, Kaleb couldn't have stopped if he'd wanted to. The second Kaia's hands touched his hair, his skin, his chest--

"Where's my...shirt?" Kaleb asked between kisses. 

Kaia smiled against his lips. "This is my dream as well as yours. I just wanted to look at you." ...for one last time, he heard. 

Kaleb pulled away, staring at her. "There's nothing I can do, is there?" 

"There's nothing either of us can do. But no matter what, Kaleb, you get hurt. I had to make a choice." Kaia reached out and slid her hand over Kaleb's defined muscles, over his chest, his shoulders, his arms, his hands. Kaleb closed his eyes and let her, let her touch him, let her take his heart all over again. He knew had had to...let her leave him. 

Kaia smiled and rested her hands on his hips, looking up at him.  He let himself take her in, his eyes studying her even as she blushed deeply under his gaze. She was still wearing her dress, that lovely thing that clung to her curves and left her pale shoulders exposed. It was beautiful, of course, but all he wanted to do was rip it off. 

Kaleb didn't understand Kaia. She was a mystery: a human mated to a lycanthrope, possessing a peculiar scent and even more unusual abilities. There were so many questions that they needed to find answers to. Given that it was answers Kaia had said she sought, Kaleb began to think it best that he let her unearth them; if she felt she could find something out, trying to stop her would be nothing short of cruel. 

He had no idea what potential she had. Reading minds might have only been the tip of a very mysterious iceberg. Who was he to stop her? It was among the hardest things he'd ever had to do, but he came to accept the reality. 

"What do you need me to do?" Kaleb asked finally, "Explain this to me, tell me what you can. I trust you." 

☾

"Uncle Kaleb!" Albert was running towards Kaleb as he returned from the woods. When he'd woken up, Kaia was already gone as she'd said. She'd described how she was coming to understand her abilities. Kaleb wasn't sure how she'd done it, but he'd woken up alone with a weight in his chest. He'd shifted back into his human form within minutes and was walking back to the mansion trying not to think about what he'd just done. He'd let his mate walk towards a murderer. It felt backward. It felt stupid. He kept wavering between faith and fear. 

"Albert," Kaleb said fondly, leaning down to pick up Lionel's little brother. 

"We were wondering when you'd come back," Lionel said, stepping forward. The casual gleam in his eyes vanished when he saw that Kaia wasn't present. His arms dropped to his sides. "Kaleb, what's-"

"We need to talk," Kaleb said. He had his wall up. There was no way Lionel would be able to see the knife in his heart. Kaleb was good at hiding pain, even if Kaia had assuaged his fears. Somewhat. 

"What's happening?" Lionel asked, stepping forward and taking his brother. Albert knew to stay quiet; he just watched, his eyes wide and an expression of intense focus on his face as if he were trying to decipher what his brother was saying. 

"Kaia needs our help."