Part 14
She was dreaming of him again.
She woke up with a terrifying headache. It took her a minute to recognize where she was and another minute to realize she was naked.
Ashley immediately paled as the body beside her stirred awake. Pulling the covers away from his face, Peter greeted her with a smug grin.
"Well, hello there."
Ashley's heart started racing and she swallowed nervously.
"Di-Did we…?"
"Did we what?" Peter catching her line of thought, the grin still on his face. "Had the best night ever?"
Ashley blushed at what he was implying but still managed a tiny nod.
"What do you think?" Peter gestured to their naked bodies.
"Noooo!" Ashley jumped out of bed, pulling the covers away and wrapping it around her body.
Unwittingly, she pulled the covers off Peter as well, exposing his chiseled body. Though embarrassed, she couldn't help but appreciate how sexy he was. Her eyes momentarily hovered from his face to his well-toned chest and then down to his exposed manhood. Peter grinned as he watched her eyeing his body and let out a chuckle. Embarrassed at having been caught staring, she turned away and shook such thoughts from her head.
"This-This can't be happening." She kept mumbling to herself as she searched for her clothes that had been spewed all over the ground.
Her eyes snapped open. She recognized the ceiling as the same one she's seen for the past weeks. She was back in the Hale lodge.
Perhaps, it had been triggered by the previous night's events but it embarrassed her to have dreamt of Peter, and naked at that.
Ashley could feel her cheeks heat up. How could she have such lewd thoughts about her host? She let out a grunt of frustration and hid her face beneath the covers as if that would erase her thoughts.
xXx
It happened one afternoon.
Ashley was rummaging through some boxes and found some photo albums and loose photos. She recognized Peter and some others who she remembered from her dreams. One man in particular stood out to her.
"That's Derek."
Peter appeared beside her causing her to jump slightly.
"Sorry." He apologized for startling her.
"This man?" She held up a photo of the two of them.
"Yes. He's my nephew." Grabbing another photo, he pointed at an older woman. "This is his mother, my sister Talia."
"Do you miss her?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"She was more of the matriarch than my sister. The prodigy of the Hale family. Back then everybody wanted to be good with her. She was too busy with pack matters to really spend time with either me or Derek."
Ashley noticed a hint of jealousy and sadness in his voice. It seemed like the younger Hale had feelings of resentment towards his dead sister.
She dropped the photo and put her arms around him to comfort him.
Although surprised, Peter appreciated her hug.
She pulled back and smiled comfortingly at him.
He caressed her face, his forehead crunching in thought.
That's when he knew.
This girl was in love with him.
He could tell.
Afterall, she was gazing at him with the same eyes that he looked at her with. Eyes that held a deep longing.
Suddenly, he started coughing. He covered his mouth with his hand and turned away from her.
"Are you ok?" Ashley asked with concern.
"I'm fine." He managed to say in between coughs. "I–I gotta go."
He left her and hurried to his room. Alone at last, he uncovered his mouth and stared at his blood-stained hand.
His worst fears were coming to past. It was something he had tried so hard to hide from Ashley but by the looks of it, he won't have to hide much longer.
Time was running out.
