Levi was not expecting to wake up the way he did. He really did not expect the magazine to fall off the couch and land on his face. He sat up and glared at Brian, who was fast asleep with his head tipped back on the arm of the couch, snoring. A blanket was draped over Brian, and Levi looked at his own lap to find a blanket. He glanced over at the twins. Declan was draped over the arms of the armchair with Drystan curled under a blanket.

Levi sleepy blinked as he looked around the quiet living room. They had been playing games. He glanced at the tv to find it off, along with the game system. After rubbing sleep from his eyes, Levi squinted at the cable box and frowned at the lack of numbers where they should be. He stumbled up onto his feet and stood looking around. Walking over to where the coffee table was shoved to the side, Levi snagged the remote and tried to turn the tv on. Frowning down at the remote, he let it clatter to the coffee table. Turning, he headed for the kitchen only to pause at the basement door.

Levi frowned. He was seventeen years old. He should be able to go into the damn basement. His hand froze over the door handle. Levi could feel the fear climbing up the back of his throat. Basements scared him for as long as he could remember. He gave a growl and yanked the door open as he snagged the flashlight. Clicking the light on, he hesitantly walked down the stairs. As soon as he reached the bottom stair, he leaned against the railing and reached around the load bearing post. He started groping around for the light, accidentally putting his hand in a web and cringing at the odd feeling. “Oh, that’s gross.” Levi found the switch, and the old dim basement lights didn’t flicker on.

Glancing around at the darkness, he gave a grumble. “Stupid old houses.” He shined the light around and almost had a heart attack when he turned around and came face to face with a large grinning Santa decoration. Levi gave a growl and stormed past the decoration. “Hate fucking basements.” He found the leftover boxes from when they moved in. Most of them were boxes he and his mom still had to go through before putting them in storage with the rest of their stuff. “Going to beg mom not to get a house with a basement.”

Levi finally found the circuit breaker when he squeezed past the boxes. He opened the metal box and frowned. Reaching out, Levi popped the breaker into the off position and then turned it back on. When the basement lights didn’t come on, he gave a grumble. He slammed the metal door shut. “Stupid old houses!”

“Hey.”

Levi reacted to the voice by grabbing something near him and throwing it at the voice. The person shouted and ducked out of the way.

“All I said was hello!”

Levi squinted into the shadows at the person. “Sorry, I don’t do well alone in the basement.” He paused. “Wait, you don’t sound like anyone I know.” The person sounded male, but Levi didn’t want to rely on just his ears.

“Feeling's mutual.” They walked closer, and Levi lifted the flashlight up to shine in their eyes. “Hey, put that down!” Definitely male.

Levi quickly lowered it to their chest, and he could make out the other male’s body shape a little more. “Sorry.”

He blinked and rubbed at his eyes before looking at Levi. “Where are we?”

“In my grandfather’s basement.”

“I can see that, but what country, state. A location.”

“In Oregon, near Idaho and Washington.” Levi held the flashlight up at the ceiling, causing the light to spill over the room better. Now he could make out the other male a little better. “Do I know you? You look familiar?”

Gray-green eyes squinted at Levi from a fair-skinned face. “What do you mean? I can barely make out your face.” Dark hair was pulled back out of the other teen’s face, and when he turned to look around the basement, Levi could tell it would be much longer. “Wait, I’m in Oregon?”

“Yeah.”

“Who are you?”

“Levi.”

The male teen paused and looked at Levi. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is this your first time talking to someone like this?”

“Like what?”

“In a dream.”

Levi looked around him. “I’m dreaming?”

“Yeah.”

The male teen jumped when Levi slapped himself on the arm. He stared at it and sighed. “No, that makes sense now.” The last few weeks, he had been in some form of pain from his injuries. Now he wasn’t.

“You're awfully calm about this?”

“I was chased by a large wolf almost three weeks ago. It was abnormally large. I’m not an idiot. Just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“Wow.” The male teen looked surprised at his words.

Levi leveled him with a blank look. He’d leave if his brain was doing this to pick on him. “What?”

He scratched at his chin with a sheepish look on his face before pointing at Levi. “I’m not used to meeting people like you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

The male teen waved his angry words away. “You can call me Pax. I have a feeling I’ll be back here.” He looked around the basement with a hum. “If you meet someone like this and they’re not me, don’t give them your full real name.”

“What do you mean?”

Pax shrugged his shoulders. “There’s power in a name.”

Levi looked at the boxes next to him before he decided to sit on one of the sturdier ones. “I wouldn’t even know if it was my real name.” He looked up at Pax, who was squinting around at the room. “What is it?”

“Bad feeling. Look, if you find out what your real name is, keep it close and don’t tell anyone.”

“What about you?”

“Maybe I’ll tell you if we ever meet in person.”

“Okay.”

“I think you should wake up.”

Levi glanced at Pax to find him staring at one of the barred windows in the basement. “Why?”

“That.”

Looking at the window again, when Pax pointed at it, he jolted to his feet. Orange eyes were peering at him from the other side of the window. “That’s the wolf.”

“You should run when you wake up. Go somewhere public.”

“I can’t. My friends are sleeping upstairs!” Levi gripped the flashlight tight as the wolf growled and started digging at the window. “I’m not leaving them behind.”

He looked at Pax. “Where are you?”

“North. Far north, it’s covered in snow already.”

They looked at each other. Levi gave a grin, and Pax was startled at how wild the grin was. “I don’t run when my friends are in danger.”

Pax gave an amused laugh as he shook his head. “This is just a what if. A warning, wake everyone and get them out.”

Levi stood slowly. He looked at Pax, who gave him a crooked smile. The sense of familiarity washed over him again. He had to have met Pax at some point in his life. “Hey, Levi.”

“Yeah?”

“Take a deep breath.”

“What?”

Pax shoved him hard against the chest. Instead of falling against the boxes, he sat up gasping for breath in the living room. He looked over at the cable box. It had the time in red numbers. Midnight. He looked at everyone sleeping in the living room.