Page 113 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

A figure I recognize all too well.

Charlotte?

Chapter 23

Charlotte Sanguinite

I didn’t even bother with my slippers, my mind hazy.

It’s the same thing every night.

The woods, that spot by the waterfall.

I keep seeing it in my dream.

My hand, tightly held by the man walking next to me.

I see the path we take.

I need to see it. I need to go.

My feet hit the wet mud, but I don’t care. The dream from tonight jolted me awake, my heart pounding, this vicious need building inside my head, this throbbing sensation that won’t go away until I see it, until I know.

My thoughts are a tangled mess. I can’t distinguish one from the other. The only prominent thought in my mind is to find that waterfall again. Robert took me there. I know where it is. I have to find that rock, that cave, the one from my dreams.

The urge is especially strong tonight, and I cross the road.

I can barely feel the scraping of the stones, the rough ground underneath my feet.

I keep on walking, no concept of time in my mind, stuck in a state of deliriousness. Something is screaming within me, but I can’t find the will to focus on anything but the goal in my mind.

Although we drove here, I remember the way almost as if a map has opened up in my mind. Once in the woods, I go deeper, stumbling over roots and picking myself up, wiping my hands on my pajamas. The sound of falling water has me breathing easily.

I’m here.

This is it.

I head toward the waterfall.

I just have to—

A hand grabs me as soon as I put one foot in the water. I’m yanked back against a hard chest, and a familiar voice growls, “What the hell are you doing?”

My head jerks up, and I see a furious-looking Robert glaring at me. I stare at him blankly, the noise inside my head fading away.

“Wh—What?”

He whirls me around, forcing me to face him, both hands gripping me by the arms. “What were you planning to do, Charlotte?!”

I’ve never heard Robert so angry before. And even when he’s been mad, he has never directed his rage at me. To see him this way makes me freeze up. “What are you talking about?”

“Why were you getting in the water?” He gives me a little shake, and then I see it, the raw fear in those cerulean blue eyes.

“The rock,” I manage to say. “I was trying to get to the rock. Th—The one from my dream.”

His brows furrow, some of the anger dissipating. “What rock?”

“Let go of me. You’re hurting me.” I pull away from him, and he releases me. Rubbing my arms, I point to the center of the water. “That rock. I was trying to get to it.”

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