Last Chance Mate: Tate (Paranormal Shapeshifter Mystery Romance)

by Anya Nowlan

  Tessa sighed, drawing in the fresh air and wiggling her bare toes around. This looked like the place she used to come and have picnics at with her mom. Her chest tightened at that thought, memories flooding in of the two of them spreading out a huge sheet, and unpacking the cucumber sandwiches mom had made…

  A cracking sound drew her out of her reverie, making her snap her eyes toward the tree line in the distance. It sounded like a twig breaking, which in itself didn’t mean anything, but it got her heart beating faster, nonetheless.

  She stepped forward, craning her neck, trying to make out shapes in the trees. Nothing jumped out at her, but there was another soft crack, followed by leaves rustling. The ground beneath her feet suddenly felt cold, the dirt squishing between her toes.

  A chill ran over her as she took another step closer to the forest, the trees darkening with shadows. Wind howled, making her hair whip around her face, but oddly, the trees remained still.

  A sense of menace swept over her, making her back away from the trees altogether. Turning around, she started walking back toward the middle of the meadow, where the flowers had been.

  But when she looked down, the grass started to wilt around her feet, the decay spreading with each step she took. More rustling from the forest made her whirl around, her skin prickling and a sick feeling swirling in her stomach.

  This time, when she looked at the trees, she knew she wasn’t alone. A shape began to emerge. A man, broad and tall, walking toward her in long strides. She recognized him immediately, her hands starting to tremble when he got close enough for her to make out his face.

  Loch.

  That urge to run raised its head again inside her, just like at the shop. This time Tessa didn’t fight it as she turned around and bolted, her only thought a desperate wish to get away from the man.

  His laughter echoed out behind her, far away at first, and then terrifyingly close. A small whimper escaped Tessa’s lips as she pushed herself forward, the earth thudding beneath her feet.

  The town popped into view before her, and she doubled her efforts. If she could only get there, someone would help her… So she ran and ran, until her breath burned in her throat and her legs ached. But the town never got any closer.

  “Hello, little girl,” Loch’s voice came from behind her, his breath tickling her ears.

  With a frustrated cry, she turned around, lashing out at him in impotent anger. Her fist shot out, but he was no longer there, standing two feet away with a smug grin on his face.

  “You’re on my turf now,” he said, his hands clasped behind him.

  The sun dimmed in the sky, until it was just a black orb, casting nothing but shadow on the forest. All of the grass was now dead, and when Tessa looked down, she could see maggots crawling around in the dirt.

  She yelped, trying to avoid stepping on them, but it was no use. They were everywhere.

  “What do you want?” she called out, glaring at Loch.

  “You know what I want,” he replied.

  “Tell me why it’s so important to you and maybe I’ll give it to you,” Tessa kept her voice even, despite the fear spreading through her.

  Loch was wearing his human face again, but she knew what lay beneath it. Every second that passed, she was expecting to see that horrible sight again, and it made her fingers curl up, her nails pressing into her palms.

  “I don’t bargain with humans,” Loch scoffed. “This is me asking nicely. You don’t want to see me when I lose my temper,” he warned.

  “Let’s say I give it to you, then what?” Tessa asked. “I’ve seen who you really are. Are you just going to let me walk away from all this?”

  Loch tilted his head at her, his expression unreadable. Who could ever tell what this creature was thinking with those lifeless eyes of his. He looked more like a shark than a man, staring at her with dark, dull orbs.

  “You know what I am?” he asked, an odd cadence to the question.

  Tessa had to make a split-second decision – put her cards or the table or not. What did she really know, though? She hadn’t even gone through that book from Thompson’s house yet. And her gut was telling her it was better to play this close to the vest.

  “I know you’re not human,” she shrugged.

  “True,” Loch conceded. “Neither is your new friend, the wolf,” he added, arching a thin brow at her.

  “Just answer the question,” Tessa blurted out.

  It probably wasn’t a good idea, giving attitude to a demon. But this was supposed to be her dream, after all, and she was getting tired of him invading it. How could he even show up in her head like this in the first place?

  “I suppose if you were a good little girl and returned what is mine, I could spare your life.”

  “And Tate’s, too. You can’t hurt the wolf, either,” Tessa quickly added.

  “Fine,” Loch spat out, clearly growing impatient. “Now that we’ve come to an agreement…” she started, but Tessa cut him off.

  “I didn’t say that. We’re just discussing terms. I need to think about it, first.”

  “You insolent...” Loch muttered under his breath.

  In a second, he was in her face, his nose almost touching hers. Fuming, he glared at her, the rage within him barely contained.

  “You are in way over your head, little girl, and I’ve had enough of your disrespect,” he growled, a strange echo to his voice.

  Tessa tried to back away, but he grabbed her by the shoulders, pressing her into the ground.

  “Back off,” she told him, gathering up all the courage she had left. “And get the fuck out of my dreams.”

  “Are you sure that’s what this is?” Loch sneered, his grip on her shoulders tightening. “What if I plucked you out of your bed and dragged you here, to a place where I make all of the rules? It doesn’t feel like a dream, does it?” he questioned, his hot breath on her face making her grimace.

  “That’s not true…” Tessa started to argue.

  But Loch was right. This didn’t feel like any other dream she had ever head. Everything was so vivid, so real… From the wind to the dirt beneath her feet, it was more sensory than her imagination had ever cooked up before.

  Even the heaviness of Loch’s hands on her shoulders felt so immediate. A sliver of self-doubt crept in to her mind, sending panic through her body. Her knees almost buckled as she stared back at Loch, unsure of what was real and what was not.

  “That’s it, my dear Tessa,” Loch hissed at her, his hands trailing up her shoulders and to her neck. “Let it sink in. You’re my toy now, and I’m going to have so much fun breaking you.”

  Ten

  Tate

  Tate woke to the sound of Tessa, tossing and turning in the bed, whimpering under her breath. He got out of his sleeping bag to check on her, crouching over her restless frame. Her brow was furrowed, and her jaw set, distress painted on her face.

  The hair on her forehead was sticking to it, beads of sweat running down the sides of her face. Tate could hear her heartbeat, racing out of control.

  “Tessa,” he said softly, but she didn’t react, just kept shuddering and trembling in her sleep. “Tessa,” he tried again, louder this time.

  Her whimpers were getting more intense as her face jerked from side to side. Tate’s wolf was on edge, whining and clawing at him. Whatever this nightmare was, it was a bad one. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gently shook her, a modicum of her dread seeping into him as well, but in a way that made him resolved to get her out of it. By any means necessary.

  “Tessa, wake up,” he said. “You’re having a bad dream.”

  When she still didn’t respond, he shook her harder, a sick feeling beginning to swirl in his gut.

  “Tessa,” he finally almost yelled, and she snapped her eyes open.

  Her hands shot out as she swatted at him, struggling against the hold he had on her shoulder. Tate quickly pulled away, taken aback by the wild look on her face.

  “Hey, shh, it’s
just me,” he tried to calm her down, holding up his hands.

  Sitting up on the bed, her gaze darted around the room, a haze over her eyes. Her hand flew to her throat and she coughed, looking confused but more awake at the same time. Tate crouched down beside the bed, quietly waiting for her to speak.

  Brushing the back of her hand over her forehead, Tessa’s eyes fixed on him.

  “Sorry,” she shook her head, her voice raspy. “I thought you were someone else.”

  “It’s all right,” he replied. “You were having a bad dream.”

  “It felt like more than that,” she said, shaking all over. “Like he had infested my dreams, and was using them to speak to me.”

  “Who?” Tate asked.

  “Loch,” she replied, running a hand through her hair. “It was Loch. He was trying to make a deal with me, for the amulet.”

  Hands falling to her lap, she stared at them. Tate looked over to see deep gouges in her palms, from where her nails had dug into her skin. Without even meaning to, he scooped one of her hands into his palms.

  She didn’t pull away, just sighed softly.

  “It’s okay. You’re safe now. It was a nightmare, that’s all,” he said, listening to her heartbeat slowly get back to normal.

  “Was it?” she questioned, her voice breaking. “What if it was really him? I mean, we don’t know what demons are capable of.”

  That was certainly true. Tate didn’t want to believe Loch could haunt Tessa even in her dreams, but he really couldn’t rule anything out.

  “Can I get you something? Water, or…?” he asked.

  He wasn’t used to being helpless. Tessa was scared, rightfully so, and he couldn’t do anything about it. There was no one to fight, to punch, to take his anger out on. Just a terrified woman he desperately wanted to make feel better. There was a long pause before she spoke.

  “Could you…” Tessa started, but stopped herself. “Never mind,” she shook her head, staring down at her hand, still in his.

  “What? You can ask me anything,” he urged.

  “I just… I don’t want to sleep alone, you know,” she replied, giving him a nervous smile. “It feels like I could be snatched away from this bed at any second, and I wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it.”

  “Scoot over,” Tate said, getting back on his feet. “You’ll wake up right here, and there will be no snatching. I promise.”

  Tate woke to being wrapped around Tessa, his arm thrown over her waist and his chest pressed against her back. That wasn’t how he’d fallen asleep. In fact, he had done his best to stay as far away as the small bed allowed.

  But sometime during the night, he must have pulled her into his embrace. His wolf definitely didn’t mind this turn of events, peaceful as a puppy for once. Tate was left to wonder for the hundredth time, what was it about Tessa that he found so familiar, and so magnetic?

  An answer floated into his mind but he pushed it down. It was too early to consider that.

  Tessa stretched out next to him, sighing softly. Her soft, round ass rubbed against him, and suddenly, Tate was wide awake. Having her so close was maddening, because he knew it didn’t mean anything.

  She had been afraid, and turned to him for comfort, that was it. So despite wanting to pull her closer, to nuzzle the back of her neck, to kiss that little spot behind her ear… He pulled away instead, removing his hand and rolling onto his back.

  “Good morning,” Tessa whispered under her breath.

  “Good morning,” he replied. “Any more nightmares?”

  “No,” she answered, turning around and sitting up in the bed. “Thanks for squeezing yourself in here, next to me. It really helped, I think,” she said, flicking her hair away from her face and giving him a smile.

  “That’s good,” he nodded, pushing himself up on his elbows and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. “I’d offer you breakfast, but all I have on hand is whiskey.”

  “Not a very nutritious start to the day,” Tessa chuckled. “There’s a diner right around the corner from here. I could really use some coffee.”

  “If they serve steak, I’m in,” Tate replied.

  “Steak for breakfast?” Tessa asked, brow furrowing. “Well, that makes sense, actually.”

  Tate stood, stretching his arms behind his back and turned to face her.

  “How’s that?” he asked, as she looked him up and down.

  “No reason,” she answered, quickly looking away. “Uh… We should really get started on that book, though. I still feel like that dream I had was more than a dream.”

  “We can take it with us, get started while we wait for our food,” Tate shrugged, walking over to his duffel bag and rummaging around for some toothpaste.

  “Don’t you think the book is a little… conspicuous?” Tessa asked.

  “So we might start a rumor around town Tessa Mayberry is into witchcraft,” Tate shrugged, happening to find a spare toothbrush at the bottom of his bag. “That’s not so bad. Might even bring more customers to your store,” he said, tossing the toothbrush her way.

  She caught it, laughing.

  “You just see the bright side in everything, don’t you?” she commented.

  “I’m working on it,” he replied. “Come on, bathroom’s down the hall.”

  They both got cleaned up as best they could, with Tate waiting outside the door while Tessa freshened up. When she emerged, she had a little more color in her face, and her hair was tamed into a high ponytail.

  Tate grabbed the book from the room, wrapping it into his leather jacket before they headed out. Outside, it was another sunny day in Whitefish, people strolling on the sidewalks, chatting with their friends.

  Tessa led the way to a small diner on a nearby street corner, a greasy spoon joint like many others he had happened to visit during his road trip. Grabbing a booth near the back, they both ordered coffee, with Tate getting a steak and potatoes and Tessa settling on a stack of pancakes.

  It was as if they had stumbled onto an oasis of normalcy, sitting there, sipping their coffees and waiting for their food. But there was still something tense about Tessa. That wasn’t a surprise to Tate, really.

  Whatever her dream had been about last night, it had really shaken her up. Running into Loch on the street was unsettling enough, not being able to get away from him while you’re trapped in a dream? Now that had potential to be far worse.

  Tate slid the jacket-covered book Tessa’s way and she pulled it into her lap, unwrapping it.

  “Tell me if you find anything interesting,” Tate said, and she nodded, already engrossed in the book’s pages.

  He watched her read it, stopping longer in some places and rushing over others. Brow furrowed, she didn’t take her eyes off the book even when she drank her coffee. Sometimes, her lips would move along to the words on the page.

  When she finally looked up, she looked pale again, her lips in a thin line.

  “I was right,” she said, in a way that suggested she would have rather been wrong. “He was really there, in my dream.”

  Tate leaned back in his seat, a dull ache starting near his temples.

  How the hell am I going to keep her safe in her dreams?

  Eleven

  Tessa

  Leg jiggling under the table, Tessa watched a waitress place a plate of pancakes in front of her. She smiled at the woman and waited for her to get out of earshot before leaning in to talk to Tate.

  “It says here the necklace is something called a linking amulet,” she explained, tapping her fingers on the book in her lap. “From what I can gather, it can create pathways, usually between different dimensions. Now I’m not an expert or anything, but Loch definitely seems like he might be from a different dimension.”

  “A hell dimension,” Tate remarked, and she nodded.

  “But there are also some references of it being used to link minds,” she continued. “There was a warning written in the margins. Beware of what the devil shows you.
It cannot be unseen,” she quoted, her appetite suddenly gone.

  “That’s some ominous shit,” Tate commented.

  “Tell me about it,” she replied. “I think that when we both grabbed it, Loch and I accidentally got connected somehow. As far as I can tell, he can’t physically hurt me, and the effects should fade over time… But having a demon inside your head is still not a good thing.”

  “At least we know he can’t actually harm you,” Tate remarked. “And it’s not permanent.”

  “True,” Tessa nodded. “But he still really wants to get his hands on the amulet. He even offered me a deal.”

  “What kind?” Tate asked.

  “He won’t hurt us if we give it over to him,” Tessa said, studying his reaction closely.

  “For some reason I’m not eager to take him on his word,” he replied.

  “I don’t trust him either, not by a long shot, but there has to be some way to make sure he honors his end of the bargain, right? I mean, if demons are real, there has to be like a spell or something that works like a contract or a bond?”

  “That’s possible,” Tate nodded. “But I think the real question is… Should we give it to him? I for one wonder, what’s he planning on doing with it? What kind of pathway does he want to create?”

  “That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Tessa sighed. “He’s a demon, after all, so I doubt it’s anything good.”

  Even if Loch did keep his word and didn’t harm her or Tate after they gave him the amulet, could she really go through with it? Tessa wasn’t one to see the world as black and white, but when it came to Loch, it was clear the guy was just pure evil.

  And if he wants this amulet so bad, it has to be important to his plans, whatever they are.

  “At the end of the day, you’re the one he’s haunting in your dreams,” Tate said. “I think it’s your call more than mine.”

  “No,” Tessa shook her head. “You saved my life, and thanks to you, we have even the slightest clue about what’s going on here. Every decision we make, we make together.”