Without another word, I remove my apron and rush to the counter to collect my belongings. My ears buzz with the panic building in my chest, panic I have to push through until I'm outside, carefully checking my surroundings to make sure I'm not being followed.
I can't see anyone on the sidewalk who'd be remotely interested in my existence, but I canfeelthat I'm being watched. The fine hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end, goosebumps erupting on my forearms as if in warning.
My intuition is in overdrive, and there's no more ignoring it. I thought I couldn't trust it, but it's practically screaming at me now to warn me of the danger manifesting from my nightmares. I can't make sense of it, but the death I witnessed in last night's dream, and the encounter with the stranger are enough to cause alarm that doesn't need questions.
It needs action, and that’s what leads me across the street, jogging until I'm close to the shortcut I've been avoiding taking for almost four years. As soon as I'm behind the first tree, I close my eyes and make the shift for the first time in all those years, my bones aching with the memory of being snapped into the shape of my wolf. An anguished screech rips through my chest as I land on padded paws, and the moment I open my eyes and see through my wolf's vision, I feel the intensity of my panic.
The feeling is unexplainable, but it has me racing forward in the wolf form I still have to get accustomed to. I push through the quivering of my knees until I'm through the small gathering of trees and almost out on the other side. That's when I reclaim my human form and rush toward the residential area.
Just as I'm about to approach Lyra's house, I spot her standing outside in the driveway, clutching Noah close to her as she stares at my cottage in the back. Another wave of anxiety slows down my steps, the panic so imminent that it sends acrid bile to the top of my throat.
“Lyra…?” I call out fearfully as I near them, and Noah turns around first. He jumps out of Lyra's arms and bolts toward me, and as I reach down to scoop him into my arms, Lyra turns with apologetic eyes, ensnaring me in the reality of my greatest fear.
“Your place, Arianna…it's been thrashed,” she says sullenly, and my heart skips a beat in fright.
“Who was it?”
Lyra shakes her head and begins explaining how they only heard the crashing and explosive sounds of things breaking inside the cottage before the assailant disappeared. She didn't see who it was, but I already know that it must have been whatever or whomever it is that's been chasing me in my dreams.
And that's when my inner wolf stirs and whispers the words it's been repeating inside my head for a week now.
“Go home…”
Chapter 4 - Tyler
I card my fingers through the sleek black locks of dark hair, feeling relief washing over me as my inner wolf recognizes its mate.
My true mate, whose lips I just kissed, the tingling of the aftermath lingering and spreading through my body.
I pull back to stare into her hazel eyes, noticing the glow of green specks that aren't noticeable from afar. I've never met eyes that are so captivating, so pretty, so warm that I feel the weight of my world slowly releasing the shackles it has on my existence.
It's almost freeing, liberating, and it's probably why I needed to follow her when I noticed she was leaving the party.
“Tyler…” she whispers my name, not in resistance, but in recognition of what I can feel deep down. That's when I push her against the wall and crush my lips to hers once more, desperately, greedily wanting to taste more of her sweet essence.
The farewell party my parents are throwing for me before I leave for black ops can wait. What I need right now is to immerse myself in this she-wolf's addictive taste, and how my heartbeat seems to sync with hers.
Who would have thought that I'd recognize my true mate the moment our lips met? It must be twisted fate that it's on the night before I leave.
I must be mad for letting my hand slip beneath her skirt as I kiss her, but I'm too drunk on the taste of her lips to care that I might do something I'll regret. I swore to myself that I'd never take a mate, but this is different. This feels right.
And I must have her.
I pull away again, but it's only to pepper her collarbones with more selfish, open-mouthed kisses that allow me to taste the sweetness of her honey-golden flesh as I sink to my knees, my head disappearing under her skirt as I drink in the scent of her arousal as if it's my sustenance.
“Tyler…” she moans as I place a kiss on her wet folds. “Tyler…”
“Tyler!”
Groaning in disappointment when my mate's voice becomes my father's as he knocks on my door, I open my eyes and quickly sit upright, wiping sweaty palms across my face.
After the way I stormed out last night, I didn't expect my father to be the one waking me up. I thought they'd get the message that I was still firm in my decision not to take a mate, and since I'm the alpha now, I think I have the right to decide what's best for me.
“I'm awake,” I croak out groggily as I reluctantly climb out of bed and head to the door. Father greets me with a warm smile that bears no traces of anger, apparently unbothered by my antics.
“Good morning, son,” he greets me with a gentle pat on my shoulder. “Your mother sent over pancakes this morning. I thought we could have a chat. Just the two of us.”
My eyes squint at him suspiciously. I know exactly where this is going, but I only entertain him to make up for the way I stormed out last night.
