by Elle Lincoln
Dad had no reason for paperwork, but I’m realizing there was so much more to the man than I ever even knew.
Shaking, I step into the room, and the stale air envelops me in a cocoon, diving into my lungs to steal my breath. A sliver of electricity ghosts across my skin as the room becomes charged. I take another step, and the feeling disappears.
Turning, I look at the doorway, uncertain if I just walked through a spiderweb or not. But no vile creature dangles from the ceiling. Feeling foolish, I step back through, and once again the feeling returns. I jump back, cursing as the air shocks my body.
“What the hell?” I back up into the room, shaking my head to dissolve the weird, and walk over to the desk. Framed pictures of us with our biggest catches litter the back wall. Images of Dad and his siblings. Of my grandparents and horses. A wall that tells a tale of life and love. My fingers graze each one, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
A knock on the door has me screaming and my heart pounding. Then, a more insistent knock sounds. I look at the desk longingly before I head back through the curtain of electricity and close the door. Rounding the corner, I find Nix standing at the entrance. His curly hair is pulled back tight into a low ponytail, and his eyes are looking off into the forest.
I swing the door open, and the scent of food instantly envelops me. “What do you have there?” I’m not even looking at him, but at the bag in his hand as the need to eat overwhelms me.
“Liam said you may be hungry.” With a teasing glint, he wags the bag before me.
“He’d be right. How’d you end up with the task of delivery service?” I snatch the fast food bag and march to the kitchen table where I settle in and start pulling out food.
“Alpha thought it made more sense to send me.” He walks over the threshold cautiously and taps the door closed. Standing there in dark jeans and a black shirt, he makes no move to join me at the table. Content to just watch.
“So they sent the only one who more than likely wouldn’t force me into anything I wasn’t ready for.” Or want. But I keep that to myself. They left me alone long enough to get me food from some random nearby town, because I don’t remember seeing fast food here within a twenty-mile radius. “Sit,” I command, because I feel like if I don’t say it, he won’t move over to the table.
His dark eyes stare at me for a moment before he shuffles over, the chair skipping along the floor as he pulls it out. I note that this table has six chairs.
The bedrooms.
The chairs.
“My dad knew.” I unwrap a chicken sandwich, snarling as I bite into the juicy chicken deliciousness. Flavor explodes over my tongue, the buttery bun a perfect complement to the chicken. I moan with appreciation.
“That has always been my assumption.”
“About the mate thing?” Food flies out of my mouth, Nix watches as the crumbs land mere inches from where his forearm rests.
He blinks at it before settling his gaze back on me. “Yes.”
“He knew packs moved onto his land.” I take another bite, watching as Nix’s head tilts to the side and he studies me closer.
“Yes.”
I nod, already knowing this, but having someone else who agrees with me gives me that bit of validation I crave. Trying not to dwell on the topic of my dad, I change the subject. “What’s a girl got to do around here to get some cable?” I fling my arm at the TV and the old VCR and newer, but still old, DVD player. Not even a Blu-ray. “Dad was old-school.” I pop a waffle fry in my mouth, moaning around the salty perfection.
Nix turns, eyeing the TV before slowly turning back to me. I can almost see the debate clattering in his head. “I can probably take care of that for you if you wish.”
I wiggle a fry at him. “You’d do that for me?”
“For a price.”
Shock freezes me to the spot before I bark out a laugh. I watch as a crimson blush creeps up his neck to highlight his stubble. His knuckles rap once on the tabletop in what appears to be unease.
“I’m not laughing at you, that just shocked me is all.” I smile back at him, hoping to ease the blow. “Tell me what your price is.” Because now I’m curious as hell.
“I like to watch movies. The other guys, not so much.” His pouty lips frown. “Except Liam, but if I have to watch another episode of Parks and Rec or even Scrubs, I’m going to lose it.”
I mull that over. It doesn’t surprise me that Liam is a Parks and Rec fan. I would never peg him for The Office kind of guy. “That’s because he’s like Andy.” The foolish man child on Park and Rec who never grows up.
That gets a chuckle out of Nix, the sound like chocolate on a warm day. Soothing and calming, even with that dose of mirth. “He is.”
“What’s your favorite movie, Nix?”
He gazes at me sheepishly. “Lord of the Rings.” He shakes his head. “The Hobbit.”
“Well, lucky for you, I’ve never seen them.” I pop a waffle fry into my mouth, wondering if I’d even like the movies. But as I watch the shock drift over Nix’s face, I realize it doesn’t matter so much if I like them because I’ll be spending time with him. That matters.
“Really?”
“Truly.” I wag my brows.
His smile is so damn pure it makes my insides burst. Maybe those are my ovaries. Which isn’t something I should think about at all. But here we are.
“It’s a date.” His eyes widen as the words leave his lips.
I only laugh again. Shit, he’s adorable. “It’s a date.” I smile back, taking a chance and hoping like hell that maybe Nessa isn’t wrong.
Chapter 10
I’m dreaming. During times when I find myself in outlandish scenarios, the only answer is the dream world where fantasies feel real and I can mold them to anything I desire.
I’m lying on the couch I fell asleep on. That ugly plaid monstrosity I begged Dad to burn, and now I’ll never get rid of it. Except I’m not alone. In front of me sits a large white wolf while the rest of the guys lounge around the room—until the wolf shifts and in its place stands Athos.
Tall and lean, he towers over me.
Smoky blue eyes stare at me with unabashed heat. His skin gleams in the firelight, naked and glistening.
It’s that last part that tells me it’s a dream, and I’ve just woken up in said dream. Which may sound weird, but it’s a thing. Not a dream inside of a dream, but lucid dreaming where I now hold the ability to shape the world around me. I know what’s happening, and I can control what transpires next.
Here, I don’t have to worry about crossing a line, though I crossed that line with Nix by agreeing to a movie date. But is it really a date if it’s just in my living room? I can’t be sure. Maybe there’s a wolf’s mate handbook I can get complete with the dos and don’ts.
I sit up slowly, turning my body until my legs dangle off the couch. My eyes rake across his abdomen, careful not to look too much lower even though that is impossible. I mean, he’s standing over me, so his penis is literally just hanging in my face.
I feel like one of those women who ties a stick to a hat, then dangles a treat in front of it to motivate them to exercise. Stuck chasing a damn treat. But yep, there it is. His penis is threatening to poke my eye out, dangling in front of me like a delicious treat.
A penis treat.
I shake my head, moving my eyes up his body and past the scars that mar the surface. Why would I conjure those? His stubble has grown a fraction more, tipping toward a beard, and damn if it doesn’t look good on him. His hooded eyes take me in completely while his fists tighten at his sides. Silent and imposing, his body taut and rigid.
“I’m dreaming, right?” Bean, you are totally dreaming, why not just take the dream in hand? Literally. “Asking for me.”
“You’re dreaming.” He kneels before me, his eyes hungry as they roam over my body in a slow perusal, leaving fire to burn in my abdomen. Those corded arms cage me against the couch as he leans closer. His scent of pine and the wild
float over me until I shift closer into him.
“I like this dream.” I settle my palms on his torso, touching his scars. Little ripples of goosebumps pop up under his skin where we connect. Slowly, I move down and around to his waist, pulling him closer. His heat melts my core and my hips twitch toward him, seeking that hard length I only allowed myself a quick glimpse of.
The groan that spills from his mouth does insane things to me. My body craves him like the air I breathe. Everything inside of me turns into untamed desire. Warmth spreads through me, the inferno wild and unchecked. I can’t control it, and I doubt I even want to, so long as he moans like that again. For me. Only me.
Leaning down until our eyes are on the same level, he looks right through me, seeing into my soul where he implants himself. He’s so close. His minty breath washes over me. My lips twitch and burn with the need to bruise his. To unleash the passion roaring inside me.
“I need you.” I pull him closer, grinding against him as I seek sweet relief.
Tilting my head to the side, I close the distance between our lips to brush mine against his as my entire body hums and vibrates. Until it all spirals out of control. Dizziness washes through me, heady as the lust rushes then flees, leaving my body needy and wanting.
His roar pierces something inside me, and my unfulfilled desire and closeness evaporates as my body disintegrates before him. My arms reach out, grasping nothing more than ashes as something pulls my body from his with a violent tug.
I expect to wake up, but when I find myself in a clearing, confusion grips me. Not to mention sexual frustration. Glancing down, I run my hands along the teal blue chiffon dress draped over my curves, kissing my skin with teasing brushes as I twirl in the moonlight.
“No underwear.” I peek below my top. Like it would have been that hard to materialize underwear? Just a slip of fabric to cover my bits from the elements.
It’s a dream, Bean. A dream. Dream me is clearly a hussy, underwear need not apply.
Hands on hips and mind veering away from the underwear issue, I glance around the clearing I’m standing in. Trees surround the area, boxing me in. Below, the grass sits softly under my feet, teasing my calves with its length. Darkness engulfs the forest beyond as the crescent moon sits low in the sky.
I frown, not at all impressed with this dream. I much liked the other one better. How does one wake from a dream? I pinch myself, yelping at the pain.
“This doesn’t feel like a dream,” I mutter, rubbing the sting away. Shadows catch my eyes, darting from tree to tree, darkening the space between as they roam. “What the hell?”
I squint, leaning closer as a shiver chases up my spine. Two yellow eyes illuminate deep in the thicket. Then another pair, and another. Fear freezes me in place.
Wake up.
Wake up.
Wake up.
I stumble backwards, glancing frantically all around me. My heartbeat sputters, stops, then starts again with an electric charge. Everything inside of me screams danger. But there’s nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. Just grass that isn’t even long enough to crouch in.
I swallow thickly as bile inches up my throat. My body shakes. I’m not made for this shit. I’m not strong. I’m not built with muscles to fight, nor do I have the endurance to outrun a predator.
I don’t belong in this world.
A wolf steps into the clearing, large and gray with specks of white threaded through its fur. His head is slightly down as his beady, ethereal eyes stare at me. He ambles closer. Closer.
“Stay!” My voice shakes with the command, pitiful and weak.
Tears spring into my eyes. Is this what my dad felt? Is this how he died? Am I reliving his death or my own that has yet to happen? Fear brings me to my knees. An itch begins on my neck with the eerie sixth sense just before a heated breath gusts across my flesh.
My body locks, and my eyes stay fastened on the lycan in front of me, though the one behind me feels like the imminent threat.
Can I die in a dream? I think I read that somewhere. I do not want to test a fake news theory.
A huff heats my back as the beast behind me sniffs my spine. I can’t help the whimper that escapes me as chills of foreboding slither under my skin.
Wake up, Bean.
Fear crawls through my veins like a plague. No cure, no antidote. Only the rush of time as I anticipate the end of this nightmare.
My head shakes as I move it to the side to gaze at the beast sniffing my back, but all I catch is another and another creeping toward me from the thicket. Wolves larger than nature’s creation. Ones with intelligence lurking in their eyes, marking them not as wolves, but lycans.
I fold into myself as I sink to the cool damp earth, tears now falling freely from my eyes as fear grips my heart. My hands wrap around my head in a paltry attempt to hide. I can’t do this, I can’t.
Teeth graze my neck, and I scream.
And scream.
And scream.
Until darkness washes away the dream, my body convulsing in a terror far greater than any I’ve ever felt. Throat raw, I can only whimper now as hands lift me.
“Hey. Shhh. Wake up. You’re safe. You’re safe.” My eyes clamp down as I refuse to look, to wake fully, afraid I’ll find myself in yet another hell.
I’m not safe, even in reality a wolf is before me. I can feel him. His minty breath rushing over me.
“What the hell happened?” The door slams open, and with it, my eyes.
Athos kneels in front of me, his brow furrowed and his chest bare. Just like my first dream. Only the fear and terror of the second taints that feeling of passion.
“Are you real?” I whisper into the dim light. Outside, night holds the world in her clutches, while inside, I pray for the light of day to wash away the stench of fear. Just like that night so long ago when I sought comfort from my dad.
Only now I know there are worse things that exist in the world. Terrible things that now terrorize my dreams.
Tears spill from my eyes as a sob breaks free. As quickly as they fall, Athos swipes them away. “Why are you here?” I focus only on him and not the others as they step inside in varying degrees of undress.
“We heard you screaming.” His voice deepens as he kneels before me. Yet it isn’t with desire this time, but concern. Deep lines wrinkle his forehead. “Why were you screaming?”
“I had a nightmare.” Still, my body shakes as the memory of that clearing prowls through my mind. “Athos. This isn’t my world. I don’t think I belong here.”
“Why don’t you tell me about the dream?” he requests, as his hands sweep down my body to rest on my hips where he squeezes once in assurance.
I shouldn’t depend on him, on them. But again I’m reminded I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole and I’m sipping whiskey tea with the Mad Hatter while egging him on for more. Baiting him to tease the dormouse, the hare, even the caterpillar toward insanity.
“There were two.” I inch closer to him, unconsciously seeking his comfort. Needing someone to hold onto, to tell me I’m okay. Even the other guys who spill in and lounge around the room stay quiet. No jokes. No innuendos. No humor.
“Two dreams, go on.” His voice soothes me as much as his touch.
“I woke in the dream like lucid dreaming. That one was a pleasurable dream.” Okay, it could have been an illicit sex dream if I had allowed it, but we never got that far. Dream me, though, was ready to pounce on it. Desire floods my system and my panties grow damp just from remembering the look of pure desire on Athos’s face.
Ah, so that’s what was missing from the dream.
Athos inhales deeply, his lips twitching as he suppresses a smile. All the while, his hands roam my body in comfort. “I get the idea of that dream, what happened next?”
Why does he have to look so smug about it? “Well, I disintegrated, and then I was in a clearing.” My body shivers again with the memory, the chill of the night. Not only with the wind, but that ethereal chill of wrongness i
n the atmosphere. “It was night.” I glance out the window, catching the crescent moon. “Tonight.” How?
Athos turns my head, gently pinching my chin in his grip. “Focus.”
“The moon was the same.” My brows furrow as my heart kicks up. My confusion swamps me until my palms sweat. Wiping them on my sleep shorts, I continue, “There were wolves all along the clearing, stalking me. Then they were surrounding me. I felt like prey. Like an object.” I reach over my shoulder, brushing along the strap of my top only to feel a slight graze.
Panic pumps adrenaline through my body until I can taste its bitter essence on my tongue. I hop up and dart to the bathroom, my fingers shaking as I seek out the light switch.
“She’s going to puke again,” Christian states, but it lacks the usual snark ever present in his tone.
I turn, catching the guys standing in my living room before I glance over my shoulder and gasp. “No, no, no. That’s impossible.” The tears spring forth once more. My finger brushes along the long scrape on my shoulder ending at my neck. “Do you see this?” My voice turns hysterical, panic bleeding into every word.
“Sabina?” Athos walks toward me, his steps creaking the floorboards under his weight. “What is it?”
“This.” I wave my hand. “The wolf in my dream. He scraped my neck with his tooth. Look!” I spin around, closing my eyes against the onslaught of emotions. I struggle to breathe as my freak out sets in. This one is so much worse than the one from yesterday.
Fingers brush along the cut, fresh red and raw. “You got this in a dream?” Doubt fills his voice, unbelieving.
I turn around, poking a finger against his chest as anger infuses my veins. “I know it sounds insane. But it’s real. It happened in a dream, and now it’s real. On my skin kind of real. The Matrix kind of real. This kind of shit doesn’t happen to me.”
Athos grips my face, his touch gentle but commanding. “Relax.”
“How can I relax when you don’t believe me?” My voice turns shrill. “Leave.” I blink away the tears in my eyes, trying to get them under control and failing miserably.