(The picture above is how I pictured Nia (pronounced Ny-Ah) in this story.)

Nia:

I begin to hum to the electrifying sounds of the Earth Goddess, as I allow Barbie to take over. I completely let go, humming to the sounds of the magic energy all around us. I can hear the trees breathing. I can feel the heartbeats of the little animals all around us. I can smell the sweet smell of the cool evening wind blowing by us. I can feel the water through the veins of each plant we walk by.

This is being a wolf; this is being a Moon Fae. This is being connected to the Moon Goddess and our magical Mother Earth. My body can't help it. I can feel the notes flow through me as I open us up to being a vessel for our world's magic. Fully trusting Barbie, I'm lost in this thrilling feeling. I trust Barbie to take us anywhere she wants to go, because we are one.

Yet, I can feel us moving further away from all of this beautiful energy. I begin to resurface as I notice all the yummy sea air is gone, and I can't feel the sweet little creatures anymore.

Where did all the pulsing plants go?

No longer are we running through the back hills of the pack house. I can hardly feel the moonlight's gentle hum here.

I don't understand.

Soon the familiar mist begins to thicken as the rest of our world falls away. I feel the heat rise inside me.

NO! Not again.

"Barbie, this mist, why are we here again?"

"He's called to me again. I must help him..."

"Who?"

She doesn't respond. She never responds when I ask about him. She is taking over again as our senses heighten. I can feel the thick mist running along our brilliant silver fur, and little droplets falling into our eyes.

We can't see anything. We can't sense anything. We aren't anywhere. No trees, no landmarks, nothing to show me where Barbie has taken us. No clues. Just darkness. Thick, heavy, shadowy darkness, blending together with this mysterious mist. All we can sense is the energy of a wolf, that wolf. The energy is barely readable, but it's strong, and it wants to reach us.

We continue to sniff around in this mist. We can smell that sweet sandalwood smell again. We take a deep breath, savoring that calming and alluring scent. The fog grows thicker. It is harder to sense anything again.

Barbie whines. I can feel her urges. I can feel her desire, her need. Our need.

"What is it girl? What do you want?"

"I want him... Please help me find him!"

Suddenly, we rush forward. I give her full control. I sit back in the corner of my mind, completely trusting her. The faster she runs, the stronger the smell becomes. I want to bathe in this smell. It makes me feel more powerful and at peace as it consumes me. I need to find where it's coming from.

I focus all the magic energy I have to aid Barbie. I will her to move faster. The mist is still blinding, but the smell is stronger than it's ever been. We slow down as the scent begins to wrap around us. We can see something begin to form in the shadows.

"Help me! Read him!"

"I don't see anyone, Barbie! Please show me."

I try to come to the surface of my mind. I try to shift. Barbie is being stubborn. Why would she tell me to read someone when I can't do it unless I shift? She knows this.

"I must be in human form Barbie..."

"No. Do it now. I will allow it."

"Allow it? I can't Barbie?! It's not possible!" I'm screaming from the back of my mind. She is in control and my Fae abilities don't work well in my wolf form. It takes so much magic power. We used so much to reach this creature.

We look through the fog as it begins to lift. I see the most beautiful wolf I have ever laid eyes on. His fur is black, and it shimmers as little bits of moonlight shine down on his giant form.

He is nearly twice our size, but we don't fear him. His eyes glow with a silver light as swirls of pitch black and deep purple swim in and out of his irises.

He must be a rogue, as well. Only Moon Fae eyes glow silver or white. His fur is so bushy and thick. He could pass as an enormous, mean looking teddy bear. He is so powerful, so brilliantly dark.

My concerned human mind wants me to be scared, but every bone in my body tells me to move closer. We shake when he falls through the shadows, reappearing right in front of us.

How did he do that?

He is so majestic, like nothing I have ever seen before. I can't get enough of his fur shimmering in the small traces of moonlight peaking through the fog. He inches even closer... We inch closer... He bends his head down... Our noses almost touch as I feel his power begin to meld with mine.

I should be fighting the urge to lean into this mysterious creature. Instead, I can feel the magic energy stir inside me, and I do what I always do when I feel it. I begin to hum.

Barbie relaxes immediately, and I look into the beast's eyes. I can see the calm begin to spread over him as well. His eyes soften. The dark colors swirling begin to slow, and his glow begins to get brighter.

I continue to hum, allowing the magic energy to flow through Barbie and around this wolf. Our glow spreads around us, breaking apart the fog as more moonlight begins to rain down on us. For a moment, all seems so peaceful. We don't want this to end. Barbie is beginning to stir. She wants more.

I start to sense another life again. This energy is different. It's strong, unwavering. Whoever this creature is, he isn't ready to give in to my calming magic. I force Barbie to back up as I feel this creature grow stronger. I hear her whisper before he disappears again.

"Thor..."

He bounces back further and begins to pace just at the edge of what looks like a dark forest.

Why did he leave? Thor? Was that his name?

"Barbie, who is this wolf? What does he want?"

"Thor! Tell me who this is!"

Barbie whines as we stand in silence. Who was that? That voice sends a shiver down my spine. I'm not sure if I'm scared, but I'm certainly curious, and suddenly excited! How could a mystery voice elicit such a response from my body? I want to hear more.

The wolf continues to pace as the fog begins to consume us again. Barbie thrusts herself forward, running towards him. I give in to her power as she continues to run, but it seems no matter how fast she runs, Thor doesn't get any closer. He roars, almost in pain.

"Stop, Thor! Who is this?!"

I can feel the mental link with this wolf slowly dissolve as she continues to run. I can feel us slipping through the cracks of this dream.

"Mine!" Thor roared.

Barbie growls as we continue to fall into the darkness.

"I'm so sorry!"

I jolted awake, my forehead damp, as if I just ran 100 miles with Barbie. I looked at myself in my vanity mirror across the room. My eyes were glowing, and my hair was floating around my head.

Damn it! I tried to flatten my long curly hair down again. My face was so shiny from the mental workout I just endured. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, picturing Barbie and I laying on the beach, the sun hitting our fur, feeling the energy of the waves as they ebbed and flowed. I was trying to calm myself before I ended up breaking something by accident again.

I picked up my phone off the floor. I must have fallen asleep reading again. 4:00 a.m. I groaned as I flung the blankets off of me, trying to cool down. My bare legs glistened in the moonlight.

Damn it. I'm still glowing. I must have really used a lot of power. I tried to close my eyes and calm myself some more.

"Barbie?"

Nothing.

These dreams have plagued me for the last two months, and I can't seem to figure out why Barbie disappears after them. I laid back on my fluffy pillows as I looked out my window. I brought the blankets back up over me again, trying to hide my shimmer from any wandering guard eyes.

"Thor.." I whispered to myself. This time I got a name. Thor? Funny name for a wolf. I guess I shouldn't talk, I named my wolf Barbie. When you first shift at the age of four and you're obsessed with barbie dolls, you get a wolf named Barbie. Although, my wolf accepted it without issue.

I smiled to myself thinking about how much I loved my wolf. I hated that she disappeared after these dreams. I missed her in these early morning hours while I tried to fall back asleep.

I knew she would return when I awoke again, but why would she leave me? I felt a real mindlink that time. Is this rouge wolf trapped somewhere? That voice. It sounded slightly familiar. I was too exhausted to think about it.

I watched out my window as the guards began to come in from the night shift. I saw them walk out from behind the large overgrown trees that line the massive backyard of our property. All of them shirtless with only their running shorts on.

Except for Nigel, of course. He was in his typical all black ensemble. He was a rogue Fae, one of our most powerful members.

Seeing him makes me smile. He was one of my best friends and although he was my first kiss and got my virginity, he never really had my heart. Despite my brother's efforts to make sparks fly between us, it just wasn't there.

I smirked as I watched Nigel peel his shirt off as he joined the others making their way up to the pack house. Couldn't deny that he was sexy as hell. 6'2" slim, fit, and toned. He was smaller than any wolf there, but what he lacked in muscle, he made up for in magic ability and charm. His nickname around the pack house was "pretty boy," and he owned it.

His long silver hair flowed down his back in the braids I put in last night. He came up to my room once a week under the guise of "catching up," but really he just needed me to do his hair. None of the girls he brought around knew how to braid hair. I just rolled my eyes, turned on some anime, and he practically fell asleep on me while I braided.

From the outside, we looked like the perfect couple, but he would always be one of my best friends, regardless of how little we saw each other.

I watched as they all sat on the grass and began to meditate, thanking the Moon Goddess and Mother Earth for loaning them their power. I watched as they began to shimmer. I loved watching Nigel meditate.

His shine was so bright, and he would begin to float a few inches off the ground. I couldn't help but listen to him hum to the energy as it flowed around us. It was such a beautiful thing to witness. I was nearly lost in a trance- I didn't notice them all standing up, high-fiving each other, as they walked up the steps. Ready for food, I assumed.

I could smell Raia's cooking. My stomach growled. No! It's too early. I'm not ready. Raia was my brother's mate. They were high school sweethearts and after they both turned 18, sparks flew. Literally. The moment they kissed at the end of the night, they both glowed and their power suddenly combined. It was an amazing moment to witness.

Their bodies shimmered as their lips connected. Her hair began to float around her, and their eyes glowed brightly. Raia is also a Rogue Moon Fae. Her abilities grew exponentially after they fully mated. So did my brother's. She would make an amazing Luna to our people. She was also the greatest sister-in-law anyone could ask for.

My brother could sense me watching them. I followed his eyes as he searched the second story windows. As twins, we've always been able to sense each other's magical power.

These crazy dreams had me giving off so much magical energy in the middle of the night, I was lucky he hadn't mentioned it. He looked up at my window as I tried to bury my face in my covers.

I don't need him checking up on me right now. He'd sense Barbie was missing, and go into full alpha mode trying to figure out what was wrong. He had enough on his plate at that moment.

Our mother was visiting our neighboring packs as we got closer to election season. That means Nuru was acting alpha. He was perfect for the role and would surely step into the role by the end of the year, but many in the pack felt we should lead together.

I sighed as I thought about my dream again. Something inside me was pulling me towards something else. I had always loved everything about our pack of rogues. This was my home. These were my people.

I spent my life learning and training to help lead our people, but there was always this tug on my heart. Something told me I was meant for something else. Nuru, on the other hand, felt it was our duty to lead this pack.

He hoped that with the rise of the Rogue Science Research Center (RSRC), which my mother and father built with the Moonstone Pack, things would begin to change. The Moon Fae and their "institute" would finally have a rival. Our packs, together, would release the truth about Rogues and begin a path to peace in this world.

I loved him and his passion, but to believe that our two packs could really come together and move towards a path of enlightenment seemed like a pretty hefty goal.

The Moonstone Pack and their Dark Wolf warriors were the opposite of our kind. They played dirty. They moved around the rules and broke them like they were meaningless. Their ways of doing things revolved more around "fight first; ask questions later- If you lived, that is."

At the end of the year, I would be 21 and I'll have a choice to make. I could either rule beside my brother, or move out of the pack house and become just another member of the pack.

"Barbie? Please let me know you're okay..."

Silence.

I rolled over, throwing the covers up over my head again, and tried to get back to sleep. Closing my eyes, I imagined that magnificent black wolf again. His smell. His voice. I couldn't help it. I fell asleep allowing myself to get lost in the image of his dark glowing eyes once again.