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Arc 1 – Omegaverse: The Hunter and the Omega Prince
Day 7 – The Fever Dream
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Kyle's Mind
The fever blurred the edges of the cabin until it dissolved into something vast and shifting. Snow became clouds, wood grain became the texture of wolf fur.
Kyle drifted weightless, his childish squeamishness melting into something softer — helplessness. He felt eyes on him again, the same golden fire he'd seen before. They didn't blink.
In the dream, the wolf wasn't huge and threatening; it was close, too close, its breath brushing his cheek like warm mist. Its gaze wasn't hunger for food — it was hunger for him.
Why?
His fevered mind couldn't answer. The feeling it stirred was unfamiliar — half-fright, half something unnamed, pulling him and pushing him away at the same time.
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Outside the Dream – The Cabin
Eira wrung the cloth in the basin, her hands shaking. "His fever's not breaking."
"He's weaker than he should be," Torren muttered. His eyes darted toward the window where frost had built up thick as ice plates. Beyond it, a shadow moved again.
Aldric was sitting by the bed, not moving, his presence a wall between Kyle and everything else. "If the beast wanted him dead, it would have done it already."
"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Torren shot back.
The wind howled. No — not wind.
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The Wolf's POV – The Vigil
It stayed outside the entire night, pacing, circling.
The scent of fever was maddening — bitter, damp, threaded with that same sweetness.
Every few breaths, it pressed its nose to the wood where the bed's headboard lay on the other side. The faint trace of heartbeat there was the only thing that kept its rage at bay.
He's too fragile. Too thin. These others… they're not careful enough.
The wolf lowered itself to the snow, curling up against the wall, ears swiveling at every sound inside. No one touched him while it was here.
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Fever Reality – Touch and Warmth
Somewhere between dream and wake, Kyle felt a weight settle beside him — large, solid, protective. In his mind it was the wolf, but when his lashes lifted, it was Aldric's shadow he saw.
"You're safe," Aldric said quietly, his voice unusually soft.
Kyle frowned faintly, trying to focus. "You… keep… blocking the light." His voice was weak and childishly petulant.
Eira huffed a relieved laugh. "If he's complaining, he's still alive."
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New Arrivals
The door banged open — not from the wolf this time, but from two figures bundled in heavy fur.
"Huntsmen from the ridge," Torren explained quickly. "They saw it in the forest. They'll help."
One was a tall Beta woman with a scarred jaw, the other a broad-shouldered Alpha with steel-grey eyes that lingered on Kyle a moment too long.
Outside, the wolf's ears twitched.
The moment the Alpha stepped into the cabin, a low, deep growl rolled through the snow.
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