by R. E. Butler
Chapter Four
Trinity woke slowly and let out a yawn as she snuggled deeper into the covers. As she inhaled, she caught the scent of something amazing that reminded her of warm spices. She smiled to herself, thinking that it must be the body lotion she’d gotten in a gift bag for conference attendees. The dessert-themed contents had included a compact that looked like a macaroon and snickerdoodle cookie scented lotion, along with some other fun items. Since snickerdoodles were her favorite cookie, she’d enjoyed the lotion immensely.
Her stomach growled and she sighed, not wanting to get up yet. She was way too comfortable and toasty warm. The sheet she was laying on was super soft, and the blanket over her was warm and soft like fur. She frowned and ran her hand over the blanket. It wasn’t the slightly scratchy comforter she was used to but felt like animal fur.
Opening her eyes, she found herself on her side and staring at a carved rock wall, a lantern on a ledge providing a bit of flickering illumination. For a moment, she had the strangest feeling that she wasn’t in the hotel room. But then she realized what was happening.
She was dreaming.
Her eyes adjusted to the lantern light, and she knew she was in Wrath’s private cavern. She recognized an alcove carved into the wall with leather-bound books, a jar with the fangs of the vampire who’d killed his mother, and a few rolls of parchment and some sharpened coal that he used to write his plans to destroy the purebred packs.
She couldn’t remember a dream being so vivid and feeling so real before, but she liked it. Especially after the weird day she’d had and the strange woman who hadn’t left her thoughts even though she’d tried to banish her.
Easing to her back, she yawned and stretched, enjoying the way the lantern light danced on the carved ceiling. The cavern was the perfect temperature, not too warm and not too cold. Since the world lacked anything modern, including air conditioning, the Blood Wolves had found an underground cave system that kept them from the elements and maintained a comfortable temperature year-round. She rolled to her side, knowing that she’d be facing Wrath. His chest was bare, and his right arm was slung over her waist, a warm, comforting weight across her skin.
He was asleep, his lashes casting shadows on his cheeks, a day’s worth of stubble visible. She laid a hand on his cheek, smiling at the scratch of the stubble. The blanket moved when she did, and her gaze landed on his right arm, where a dark red mating tattoo was visible on his skin.
“What the hell?” she demanded in a harsh whisper.
The mating tattoo was unique to purebred wolves, but Blood Wolves had inherited the ability. The mating tattoo only appeared when true mates were near each other. The red tattoo was for the Blood Wolves and their true mates. It would appear soon after the couple met—on their right arms.
But Wrath couldn’t be mated.
He was hers!
Well, she’d just kill her in the next book, whoever she was.
No, wait, that wasn’t good. Then Wrath would go insane—males couldn’t be separated from their true mates by death; their beasts were unable to handle it and they’d go cuckoo bananas.
Damn it, that weird woman had planted an unwanted seed of doubt in Trinity’s mind and look what happened! Now her subconscious had given Wrath a true mate.
Wrath’s eyes opened and the emerald green flashed to the amber of his beast for a brief moment. His hand flexed on her waist, and then he delved his fingers under her tank top, the callouses deliciously rough on her skin.
“You shouldn’t do that,” she whispered, moving a little closer to him.
“Oh? You’ve never said that before.” His voice was smooth and deep, and a frisson of pleasure slipped down her spine at hearing him talk. It was as if she was actually hearing his voice for the first time, which wasn’t true since she’d been talking to him for years in her dreams.
But why did this dream feel so different? So real?
She must be crazy tired.
Trinity moved her hand from his cheek to his shoulder and gave the taut muscle a squeeze. “You’ve found your true mate.”
He glanced at his shoulder, his brows winging up. He sat up abruptly, and she got a better look at the tattoo, which was a complicated pattern of swirls and points that stretched from the top of his shoulder down to his elbow. It was quite large and a deep, vivid red.
He hummed and touched the mark as if he thought it might wipe away.
She let her gaze trip down his broad and well-muscled chest, the abs defined from years of hard work and training. The fur had slipped down when he sat up and she could tell he was naked, which wasn’t anything she didn’t know. None of the Blood Wolves slept with clothes on, and she’d woken up in bed with a naked Wrath before.
Sitting up, she looked down at herself and realized she was still wearing the pajamas she’d had on when she went to bed in the hotel room. When she’d dreamed of him in the past, she’d usually either been naked or wearing the hide clothing he and the pack preferred. Sometimes he would come visit her in her world, and while she’d be wearing modern things, he would always be wearing the clothes of his people.
“I know why I have the mating tattoo,” Wrath said. “Because I’ve found my true mate.”
Trinity felt tears spring to her eyes. She was not going to cry because a figment of her imagination had found his true love. Blinking at the sting, she inhaled shakily and said, “Who is she?”
He rested his hand on her right shoulder. She looked where he was touching and gasped.
She had a mating tattoo.
It matched Wrath’s, but the marks were more delicate because she was a female, where his were bolder.
“It’s you,” he said, his voice like a gruff purr. “I can’t believe you’re finally here with me. Finally mine. I’ve waited for you forever.”
“Uh, I’m dreaming, Wrath,” she said. She pushed his hand away and twisted her upper body into the lantern’s light to get a better look at the tattoo. If only it were real. She’d often toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo just like this, but she’d never been able to picture what Wrath’s mating tattoo would look like, so she hadn’t wanted to do one.
“You’re not dreaming, Trinity. I’m not dreaming. You’re here in my chamber, and I don’t know how the hell it happened, but I don’t actually care.”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “Oh, okay. It’s not possible, you loon. You’re a dream, part of my subconscious.”
His eyes narrowed, and he growled softly. He grasped her hand and let the claws spring from his fingertips. He swiped a claw across her wrist, and she hissed and jerked her hand from his.
“Ouch, damn it. What the hell did you do that for?”
“To prove you’re not dreaming.” He grabbed her wrist and held it up into the light. “It hurt, right? You’re not dreaming, I’m not dreaming. Somehow, you came to me.”
He held her gaze as he lowered his head and swiped his tongue over the cut. She shivered at his touch, and then sucked in a sharp breath as her skin healed before her eyes. She touched the place where not even a faint scar remained.
“Fuck, you taste good,” he said with a chuckle. “I knew you would—I mean, you smell good to me all the time, but your blood. Damn.” He scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. “How did this happen? Why are you here?”
She stared at her wrist. She’d felt the pain of his claw cutting her. She’d smelled the coppery scent of her blood. And she’d definitely felt his tongue on her skin and the way it took the pain away and healed her.
Something was very wrong about this whole scenario. This wasn’t at all like her dreams in the past, those were always kind of fuzzy and had the feeling of not being real.
This felt real. Very real.
Trinity moved from the bed, her heart pounding and her mouth going dry. What the hell was going on?
Chapter Five
Wrath was one hundred percent certain he wasn’t dreaming. He’d gone to bed alone and woken up with Trinity in his arms
, which was exactly what he’d been hoping might happen for the last twelve years. Their matching mating tattoos were proof to him that this was real.
That and the fact he’d been able to cause her a bit of pain when he scratched her. He hated doing that, hated causing her even an ounce of pain, but he’d felt compelled to prove the truth. He could see in her pretty sapphire eyes that she still thought she was dreaming.
She was wearing clothes, but he didn’t recognize them. Whenever she visited him in his dreams, she was either blissfully naked or wearing hide clothing. She had on some kind of soft shorts and a sleeveless top. The mating tattoo was identical to his except the strokes and swirls were thinner and more delicate on hers. Anyone who saw them would know they were mates.
They wouldn’t officially be mates—with her as his alpha counterpart—until he marked her with his fangs in her neck on the full moon before the ceremonial fire. Then they’d make love and be bound together.
His cock went hard as he thought about being with her in the flesh. Finally! After so many years of pining for her, she was here.
“Come back to bed. Lay with me, let me love you. For real this time.”
She wrenched her hands in her top and shook her head. “This is a dream. I’m going to wake up in the hotel. I’m going to wake up.”
She looked past him to the doorway, and he could see the wheels turning in her head. She was thinking about running.
“Don’t do it, Trin.”
She sucked in a breath at the nickname. She’d told him in one of their dreams that she never let anyone call her that, just him. He’d cherished that knowledge.
“I’m dreaming,” she said, but the conviction was gone.
He could scent her fear, acrid and bitter, and his wolf snarled angrily. She wasn’t supposed to be afraid; she was supposed to be happy they were finally together.
He slipped from the bed slowly, attempting to position himself between her and the door. He was fast, but she was faster, racing past him, her dark hair flying. He chased her, marveling at how she knew exactly how to get to the main tunnel. She lost her footing on the soft sandy dirt at the entrance to the tunnel, but her determination was a thing of beauty and she charged up and out into the early morning.
“Trinity!” he roared.
She stopped so abruptly that she toppled forward, landing on one knee. She hissed as she rose to her feet and put her hand on her bleeding knee. “Damn it. I’m dreaming. Wake the hell up!” She shouted to the sky, as if the rising sun was mysteriously in charge of bringing her to Wrath.
He stalked to her. “You’re hurt. Let me help you.”
She swallowed audibly. “No. Don’t touch me. This is a dream.”
“You keep saying that, but I can scent you’ve lost your conviction. Now you just smell scared. There’s no way in hell you should feel that way around me.” He took her hands. “It’s me, Trin. I’ve waited twelve years for you. Twelve fucking long years. I don’t know why you’re here or how it happened, but you are, and I’ve never been happier.”
Tears slipped over her cheeks. “Why am I here?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll thank whatever magic brought you here.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, and then she lurched away from him, racing off into the woods.
“No, Trinity! You can’t leave our territory, it’s too dangerous!” He lunged after her, surprised at how she dodged and ducked around the trees as if she’d planted the forest herself. It wasn’t just that there were purebreds on the hunt for him and his people who could harm her. The forest was guarded by the most dangerous monster ever created—the Mytan. The fearsome beast was built like a huge horse and covered with white, black, and gray fur. His howl struck fear into everyone who heard it.
And she was heading toward the mountain range where his lair was.
“Trinity!” Wrath felt the magic of the forest descend on him, separating her from his view. She’d crossed through a magical path and it had distorted what he saw. People who lived near the woods knew to avoid the magical paths, but Trinity was running in a panic and clearly didn’t know where she was.
Wrath let out a deep howl, calling her back to him.
“Trinity!”
Chapter Six
Trinity heard Wrath following her, and she knew the only way to get some distance between them and wake herself up was to trip one of the magical paths that were strewn about the forest. She ducked and dodged around the trees, instinctively knowing exactly where to go. She saw the glittery pale dirt of a magical path and stepped right on it, twisting her bare foot to dislodge the magic. She continued on her way, glancing over her shoulder. She couldn’t see Wrath, but she could see the magic that distorted everything behind her, and she knew she was on her own now.
Slowing her steps so she could catch her breath, she glanced overhead through the majestic trees to the sky. The night sky was slowly disappearing, pulled away by the rising sun and changing the midnight blue to a medley of reds, oranges, and ambers. She stopped walking entirely and put her hands on her hips, the slowly increasing light giving her an opportunity to fully look around. The forest was as beautiful as she’d imagined when she wrote about it.
Dropping her head, she exhaled and tried to force herself to wake up.
The strange thing was that she felt like she was awake. Since she’d woken in bed with Wrath, everything had felt real and not at all like a dream. It was impossible, though. She had to be dreaming. There was just no other explanation. It wasn’t like dreams just suddenly came to life, or as if she’d fallen into the pages of her books.
She slapped her cheek a few times, the sting making her eyes water.
“Damn it.”
This wasn’t possible. She wasn’t in her dream world; she was just exhausted from the conference.
She turned in a slow circle and saw nothing but trees. This was the first time she’d ever had a dream where she ran away from Wrath. She’d always been happy to be by his side, excited for their time together.
She ordered her subconscious to wake up and let out a grunt when nothing changed. She wasn’t suddenly in the hotel room with earbuds in her ears, Gloria snoring in the next bed. The thought crossed her mind that she could maybe find a place to sleep, and then she’d wake up back in her hotel room in her real life. But where the heck could she find a place to sleep in the forest?
Because she’d drawn a map of the forest—hell, she’d drawn a map of the entire continent and knew where all the packs and vampire kisses were—she could navigate the woods blindfolded if need be. If she headed to the left, she’d find herself back at the tunnel and the cavern where she’d woken up with Wrath, assuming she didn’t stumble across him on the way. If she headed right, she’d eventually cross into the territory of the Arktrik Pack, led by Alpha Veltris. She could see his character in her mind’s eye—gray eyes, blond hair, a sexy chin dimple. He was from her latest book, her best-selling one so far. People loved how fierce he was, and how much he loved his human true mate, Gemma.
Shaking her head from her thoughts about fictional characters, she returned her attention to the forest. Ahead of her were sections of dense trees, the creek that twisted and turned its way from north to south, and a small mountain range that she’d named Nomans Peak. She’d intended to name it No Man’s Peak as a description to the fact there were no humans anywhere on the mountain range, but a spelling correction program had changed it to Nomans Peak; she liked it, so she’d stuck with it.
In one of her books, she’d written about a small cave at the base of the mountains where a pack stashed supplies for travelers. That pack had moved out of the area in a later book, and she’d never written about anyone using the cave again, so she decided to head in that direction. It was absurd that she was making a decision on where she’d sleep based on a book she’d written a few years earlier, but she was still convinced she was dreaming. If she was in fact dreaming, then it wouldn’t hurt her to go find that cave and lay down.
She didn’t want to think about what would happen if she wasn’t dreaming.
She wanted to wake the hell up.
* * *
Wrath returned to his cavern and dressed swiftly in hide trousers. He strapped on a sword sheath at his back and picked a sword from the rack on the wall. After strapping knives to his thighs, he raced from the room. He was one hundred percent panicked. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so worried in his entire life, and that included when his mother’s kiss had come looking for him to kill him, too. He’d only been sixteen and hadn’t known how to fight. He would’ve been easily bested by any of the vampires who hunted him at night, so he hid and hoped that he’d live to see each dawn.
The terror he felt then now paled to being unable to find Trinity. She’d hit the magical path and disappeared. He could feel her, but he couldn’t find her. He charged into the forest, stopping where he’d lost track of her.
“Trinity!” he shouted, cupping his mouth. “Call my name so I can find you!”
He was the best tracker around, able to find anyone and anything he desired. Except, it seemed, his true mate. They hadn’t mated fully, so he couldn’t find her like he’d be able to once that happened. Once she’d triggered the magical path, he’d lost not only sight of her, but her scent as well as it disappeared into the air. It was tempting to shift, because his senses would be even more heightened, but then he wouldn’t be able to speak to her. While he’d shifted for her in their dreams, he wasn’t sure she’d remember what he looked like and he didn’t want to frighten her.
Blood Wolves were far larger than normal wolves. Bulkier, with shaggy fur and glowing eyes. A nightmare to someone unprepared for the sight.