by Multiple
“What happened to you, girl?”
I‘ve been shot, and quit talking to me like I'm some mangy mutt.
He jerked his head up to meet her gaze. The wolf stared at him with eyes so human he could be having a conversation with some woman in a bar, not squatting in the forest, talking to a wolf and hearing her respond in his mind. Jason glanced around, sensing for imminent danger. Those deadly wolves were out there and he sat crouched between a rock wall and an injured animal. The scent of their blood alone would draw all manner of beasts, but he couldn’t leave her. She'd saved his life, and he had an affinity for animals.
“Come on, girl, let's get you to a vet and then maybe I can have my head shrunk.” He bent forward to scoop up the black beauty when a threatening growl stopped him.
The bullet was silver. I don't have much longer. Run while you can. They'll kill you! Her eyes burned red, then slowly shifted back to amber.
“Silver? What the hell are you, a Werewolf?” He laughed at the ridiculous notion, but quickly sobered when the wolf didn’t even blink. Realization caused his stomach to bottom out. The wolves that’d attacked his fellow travelers were much larger than normal, and their eyes had glowed red, too.
“I have seriously lost my mind. Or maybe it's all a dream,” he added, liking that explanation a lot better. “Yeah, this is all a dream and I'm supposed to save you. You'll turn out to be a real hot woman and we'll get freaky in the woods while danger surrounds us. I can handle that.”
She growled again, the sound weaker than before. Leave, you fool. They'll kill you!
“Yeah, sure. I'm going to be killed by Werewolves.” He laughed, his muscles relaxing. “Go ahead and shift for me then. You've gotta be fine as hell since this is my dream.”
Run, you idiot! I can't shift with silver in my body and I'm too weak to protect you!
“Well, that's all you had to say.” He studied her wound, squinting to see it clearly in the dark. “I'll just get this out of you.”
Her eyes blazed red again then quickly flickered out. If you so much as attempt to stick that knife in me—
“Relax, darlin'.” He chuckled. “I happen to have a few cool tricks of my own.”
He focused on the wound, and the prickly sparks of warm energy came alive inside his body as he held his hand over the wolf, sensing for the bullet. Once detected, he trained his power on the piece of silver and quickly extracted it, catching the bullet in his hand with ease. “All set.”
How did you do that? The wolf's eyes were wide, and a sense of satisfaction warmed him from the inside.
“I told you I had a few cool tricks. Now let me see what you can do.”
They're coming. The wolf swiveled her head around and attempted to rise, whimpering in pain when the feat proved too much.
Jason’s heart went out to the animal’s pain. “I can't heal you. Will the wound be there when you shift?”
No, but I'll be weak from the exertion.
“Then I'll carry you.”
Why are you helping me? The wolf cocked her head to the side, and Jason swore the animal’s brows furrowed.
“Because I just got out of prison and wouldn't mind getting laid, even if it's just a crazy dream,” he answered with a devilish grin, growing more amused with each passing second.
Fool. She actually shook her head at him.
He frowned and started to respond, but words caught in his throat as a kaleidoscope of colors shimmered over the wolf's body. Before his eyes, the animal metamorphosed into a beautiful Asian woman with long dark hair, pale skin and lips red as rubies.
“Hey!” He took in her tight jeans and black rib-knit sweater. “If this is my dream you should be naked.”
“This isn't a dream, you stupid human.” She sat up with much effort spent on the move. “They're coming. They'll kill us both.”
“Why would your own people, or whatever they are, kill you?”
“Just run, fool!” The irritation in her tone came through strong.
‘You know, you're starting to annoy me with the name-calling.” Jason scooped the petite beauty into his arms, winced as pain ricocheted through his body from his own wounds, and straightened to a stand. “So what's your name, darlin'?”
“Ming.”
“Well, Ming, do you know a safe place I can take you?” He shifted her more securely in his hold which pressed her firmly against his chest while he tried to place where he'd heard the name before.
“Follow the hawk. He’s my friend,” she whispered before she passed out in his arms.
“Follow the hawk? What the—”
A loud screech sounded over his head and he peered up to see the outline of a large hawk circling above him in the night sky. “Okay,” he muttered, “I'll follow the hawk through a dark forest while Werewolves are on the prowl and see how this crazy dream ends.”
Chapter Two
Cold invaded Ming’s body first, followed by pain as she raised herself off the hard floor of the cave to inspect her surroundings. She stretched her back and flexed her neck side to side, easing the soreness that sleeping on the hard earth in human form caused.
A pile of smoking tree limbs sat nearby, the absence of fire causing the air to grow cool. She gazed around the enclosure and realized she was alone in the rear section of the cave. Had he left her here? No, he wouldn't. He was too honorable to desert her with danger imminent. Adamant in Jason's defense, she shook her head. She didn't really know the man and all she'd gleaned from their first physical meeting was that he was a horny convict who refused to believe the truth when he stared right at it.
That wasn't fair. Jason was human, unused to her kind. She should be thankful he hadn't tried to kill her. He could have taken one look at her, decided she was as evil as the rest of her pack, and killed her with the silver blade he carried, but he didn’t. Instead, he'd even used his own magic to extract the bullet from her body without further pain.
She sure hadn't seen that in her dreams.
Despite the magic issue, Jason was exactly as he'd appeared in the dreams, which had entertained her over the course of her life. His eyes were greener than the forest floor, his skin as flawless as the painting the sun etched into the sky each day it rose, and his voice...his voice a low roll of thunder, so undeniably arousing she'd long for him even without the assistance of the full moon drawing near.
Oh, why did her dream lover have to step into her reality now of all times? With the full moon so close and her entire pack crazed from the effects?
The moon phase was time for mating and war, not peace and understanding. Why couldn't he have come when she'd have more time to learn of him? To allow him to learn of her and her kind? Why had The White Wolf listened to her plea now and not the many she’d made before?
She knew he'd been hurt many times in his life, a victim of violence early in his years. She recalled the astral visits when she'd held him as he huddled in his closet crying, fearing the next slap of leather against his skin. They'd both been children when she’d come to him in those moments and whispered words to soothe his battered soul.
Man had tried so hard to break him and judging by her most recent dreams, they nearly had. Why had he been imprisoned? There was blood on his hands, she knew, but he was so honorable, so pure of heart...not the type of man to kill for sport, so unlike the men of her pack.
Thoughts of her pack reminded her she needed to find him and assess his physical state before the pack found them. He'd been wounded the night before and carrying her through the forest couldn't have helped his healing.
There was a small tunnel before her. Cautious, Ming crept through, sniffing the air, unsure of what she would find at the end. Her breath caught in her throat when she traveled the length of the tunnel and came upon him. He rested with his back against the cavern wall, blade held tight in his hand at the ready despite the fact that he slept soundly. He guarded her, not even aware the strength of what he would go up ag
ainst or the seriousness of his own injuries.
Ming narrowed her eyes on his form, trying to find his wounds. She could smell the rich coppery scent of dried blood on his body, but, despite her excellent vision in the dark, she couldn't see any injuries without a closer inspection.
She crept nearer to kneel before him on the ground. So beautiful, such a fine specimen of masculinity from his hard, stubble-covered jaw all the way down to his lean, muscular legs. She had to close her eyes and suck in air. She couldn't give in to the pull of the moon. Not until they were out of harm's way, at least.
She opened her eyes and focused on the tears in his bloody T-shirt. Her heart leapt in her throat at the sight. Straight across his chest. A miracle his heart still beat within. Ming fought off the heavy weight of guilt. Her pack had brought this man's blood to the surface. Careful to avoid hurting him further, Ming reached out to delicately touch his chest and inspect the degree of damage he'd taken.
His eyes snapped open, and, before she had time to react, she found herself slammed to her back on the hard cave floor, his legs straddled over her thighs as one calloused hand encircled her neck, the other raised above her, poised with knife at the ready.
Panic caused her to start to shift form, but she fought off the automatic change as she witnessed the fury in his gorgeous green eyes change from confusion to guilt.
“Shit,” he muttered and released her to back away. “Don't sneak up on me when I'm asleep.”
“I'm sorry,” she half-croaked as she rubbed her throat and rose to a sitting position. “I didn't think. I wanted to inspect your wounds.”
“I'm fine.” He let out a frustration-filled sigh and ran a hand through his dark hair before resting his elbows on his raised knees. “How are you doing?”
She smiled, warmed by his concern. “I healed when I shifted. You're still hurt.”
“I'll survive.” He narrowed his gaze on her for a brief moment before turning his head to look toward the mouth of the cave. “At least I will if I don't have any more run-ins with those demon dogs.”
“Werewolves.” The heat of shame rose in her cheeks as she corrected him. “I'm sorry for everything that happened last night.”
“What the hell did happen? I left the group to gather some firewood and all hell broke loose. I came back to find them being eaten alive.” He shuddered, and Ming could only imagine the scene he'd witnessed.
“So I take it you're not still trying to convince yourself this is all a dream?”
“No, I remember you. I haven't seen you since we were kids, and I didn't instantly recognize the name. But after I'd slept a bit and dreamt about what happened all those years ago, I remember you, Ming.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. “What the hell is going on? I'd convinced myself you were an imaginary friend after you quit visiting me, but now you're here and you're a—a Werewolf? I'm losing my damned mind, definitely too much time in the joint.”
“You're perfectly sane, Jason. And I never stopped visiting you on the astral plane. I've been with you on several occasions, you just couldn't see me.”
“The astral what?” His brow crinkled in confusion as he stared at her.
“The astral plane. That's how we met. We just didn't know what it was called. I'd feel your distress and I'd leave my body to come find you.”
He blinked, shaking his head. “I never left my body.”
“No, but you saw me anyway. And then there were the dreams.”
His eyes widened. “When I dreamed of you, that was real? You were really there?”
“We met each other in our dreams all the time back then.” Ming lowered her voice. “And a few times since.” She looked into his eyes, willing him to remember the dream they'd shared the night of his high school graduation. Eighteen years old and free to flee his childhood home, his only worry had been whether or not to leave his mother alone with her drunk of a husband.
She'd come to him in his dream and celebrated his newfound freedom, reassured him when he voiced concerns for his mother's welfare. Sometime during the night they'd given in to the temptation that had been growing between them over the years. They'd made love in the little dream world they shared, but it had been so real she'd woken up smelling of him.
Then he'd shut down on her. He ignored her astral visits, even when in jail. She'd all but screamed in his face, but it was as if she spoke to a wall.
No response.
Nothing.
He'd looked right through her, didn't even flinch when she yelled in his ear. Hell, he walked through her once. She couldn't find him in her dreams, either. Any dreams she'd had of Jason were bittersweet memories and even with his presence being there, she was alone in them.
She'd given up on him, accepted the fact that he no longer needed her.
But still, every once in a while his pain and heartache would find her while she rested, and her spirit would leave her body and travel to his side...only to be ignored.
“So you're saying my whole life I've had a little guardian Werewolf peeking over my shoulder?” His gaze, full of incredulity, bore into hers.
Ming held it despite the sting of tears behind her eyes. His disbelief wrapped around her heart like barbed wire.
“I was your friend, I was there when you needed me, and apparently after you decided you no longer wanted me.”
“What do you mean by that?” His eyes lit with irritation.
“I came to you in prison, Jason. You ignored me. It was like I wasn't even there.” Her voice cracked, and she quickly swallowed to avoid a sob.
“I didn't see you,” he murmured, scratching his head. “I saw you as a wolf a few times but only for a second. I haven't seen you like this since—” His body went still as heat entered his eyes, his gaze slowly caressed her body. “Let me guess. That wasn't a wet dream I had the night of my graduation?”
“No,” Ming answered, relieved he remembered. “We made love that night. Our first time together was in the dream realm, but no less real.”
“I'm not in the dream realm now?”
“This is real,” Ming answered. A twinge of guilt crept down her spine. She couldn't tell him the truth now, not if she wanted to keep him safe. Being human, he wouldn't understand unless brought in slowly. And this was real, even if in a different realm. “I've lived here in North Carolina for a while now. You've stumbled upon the land my pack has claimed, finally meeting me in the flesh.”
“Ming?”
“Yes?”
“Did you know I was real?”
“Yes. I realized it shortly after the last dream we shared.” Her body heated with the reminder.
“Then why didn't you get in touch with me?”
“I told you I visited—”
“No, not astrally, whatever the hell that really is! I spent a damned decade in prison with not one visitor, not one letter. If you visited me there and knew where I was, why didn't you come see me in the flesh? The few times you came as a wolf, why did you vanish as soon as I saw you?”
Ming took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She hadn't come to him in wolf form. He must have seen her in a vision, a good sign. “For one thing, when you couldn't see me anymore astrally, I thought you didn't want anything to do with me. And then there's the simple fact that I stick to your side when I project myself to you. I couldn't travel away from you to tell what prison you were in, and you never told me your last name. So finding you wasn't as easy as you think.”
She didn't answer his last question. He was confused enough without her explaining to him that she wasn't there when he saw her, only when he didn't see her. Hell, she almost confused herself thinking about it.
He turned his face away but not before she saw the pain flitting through his eyes as his jaw set tight.
“Why are you here now? Why did you bother to save me from those wolves?”
Because you're mine, she started to say, but stopped. Bad enough he would ha
ve to take a crash course in Werewolfology in order to survive the moon phase, but she could at least ease him into the other issue. “I would never leave you to die, Jason. I never left you at all. You simply stopped opening yourself to me.”
“How could I stop doing something I wasn't even aware I did?”
“I don't know. It doesn't matter now,” she lied, pushing back the hurt inside, knowing how close he'd come to completely forgetting her over the years. “You're a wanted man. We need to focus on keeping you alive.”
“What did I do? I was minding my own business and your people, or wolves, ambushed me.”
She winced at the accusation. “They ambushed your group. You came here with Were-hunters.”
“Were-hunters?” He shook his head. “Look, I don't know anything about the people I was with. I was traveling, enjoying the wild blue yonder after spending the past ten years locked up. I hitched a ride with them a few miles back.”
Ming frowned, curious as to why the mystical being who’d brought Jason to her had chosen to bring him with hunters. “Why were you all in the woods?”
“They said they camped out as they traveled, preferred it to motels.” He shrugged his shoulders. “They were my ride so I went along. Hell, after ten years in a cell, I've lost the ability to care about my sleeping arrangements.”
“They weren't traveling for fun, Jason. They were hunting us. Their kind travels in groups armed with silver bullets and blades.” She paused to look pointedly at the blade he twirled in his hand. “They weren't innocents. My pack took them out before they could take us out. The fact that you were with them and even tore off a wolf's muzzle with that damned silver blade, not to mention injuring several others, does not bode well for you.”
“Shit.” Jason swallowed heavily. “They think I came here to kill them?”
“Yeah, they do. They've got your scent and they'll track you as long as you remain in the woods. The only reason I was able to save you from the familiars was because I have a connection to you which allowed me to hone in on you much faster than they could achieve with only their sense of smell. If they'd caught up to you before I did—”