Page 1 of Stay With Me

CHAPTER1

NIGHTMARES

He’s chasing me.

It’s the same dream I’ve had for more than seven months now. I’m in my fur, dashing through a crowded woods, my ears flat against my skull, my white tail streaming behind me. As a she-wolf, I’m usually considered a predator; with the dark gold wolf dogging my every step, I’m the most enticing of prey. He snaps his jaws, almost closing on me before I swerve, barely avoiding his fangs.

There’s humor in his honey-gold eyes, a humor that is somehow also cruel and calculating. He has plans for me for when he finally runs me down. And while he uses his dominance against me, I’m so damn scared that my self-preservation wins out. I run because there’s no alternative.

I can’t let him catch me.

When I’m awake my human brain reminds me that this is nothing but a nightmare. In reality, Jack “Wicked Wolf” Walker never chased me, though the few times he lowered himself to gloat about taking me captive, the dark humor was written on his deceptively handsome face. If he decided to hunt me, I have no doubt it would play out just like it does in my dreams—but he didn’t, because while I was prey, I wasn’t his target.

I was hisbait.

I also know that he can’t chase me now anyway. The former Alpha of the Western Pack is dead, murdered by a pretty boy vampire who wanted to save his lone wolf mate.

Lucky her. When I was in a cage in the Wolf District, I knew no one was coming for me. I’d burned too many bridges with my Alpha and his mate to think they cared, and though I have friends and family among my packmates, I’m not theoneto anybody. I don’t have a mate, and I never thought anyone would risk their hide for me.

But they did. Gemma—the female alpha of our pack, and the last shifter I expected to come to my rescue—took the trip from Accalia to the Wolf District, bringing two of her personal guards with her while Ryker, Mountainside’s Alpha, stayed with the rest of the pack. And I know it wasn’t just because I was trapped in a cage across the country from my home. Gem was actually the Wicked Wolf’s biological daughter, and she had her own score to settle with him.

She’s not in my dreams. When her father chases me, it’s just the two of us until my wolf collapses from exhaustion, and Walker howls in triumph as he grips the scruff of my fur with his fangs, preparing to mount me.

That’s how I know for sure it’s not real. While shifters are part human, part beast, our human side rebels at the idea of mating while we’re in our fur. It’s just… it’s not done. Even a sadistic bastard like Walker wouldn’t try to mate me when I wasn’t wearing my skin—which was exactly why I stayed in my fur nearly the entire time I was his prisoner.

Tonight’s dream is different, though. Just when the ghost of Walker is stalking toward me, the air splits with a menacing growl of a bark. His ears twitch, one paw paused as he searches for the source of the sound, while I crawl a few paces away on my wolf’s belly.

The wind whips by, the leaves over my head rustling. As the echo of the howl dies down, I don’t hear anything else, which makes me wonder if I imagined it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the dark gold wolf flick his ears again before padding forward. He’s panting, but it’s not because he just tore through the trees that surround his hidden territory.

He’s panting because he’s excited from the hunt, and I have no escape.

I whine, the sound pulling from my wolf’s throat. In response, another howl breaks through the night before thunderous paws pound against the ground. Seconds later, it becomes clear that they’re heading straight for the clearing I collapsed in.

I find the strength to lift my head off of the dirt right as a moving shadow leaps out the darkness, landing beneath a stray moonbeam. The Luna bounces off of his sleek fur, flashing against his golden shifter’s eyes.

It’s a grey wolf, I see. Bigger than the Alpha, though his dominance is nowhere as strong, the grey wolf doesn’t need to be a higher rank to get his point across. His size does it for him, as does the warning he puts into his rolling growl.

He’s come for me—and he’s not about to let Walker get in his way.

Instead of being frightened, I feel an inexplicable pull toward him. I don’t know this wolf—at least, in my dreams, I don’t—but there’s something about him. He makes me feel safe, and if there’s one thing I’ve craved more than having someone pick me for me, it’s knowing that I’m protected.

The giant grey wolf… he’ll protect me. It’s just instinct. I have to get to him.

I yip. Too weak to do anything but move my muzzle, I gaze up at him. If I can get to him, everything will be okay.Iwill be okay.

If I just—

My eyes spring open. I’m laying on my naked belly, just like I was in my dream, only I’m in my two-legged, human form. Not surprising, since I’ve maybe shifted a handful of times since I was rescued, but I’m completely bare in case I lose control while I’m asleep. I’ve sacrificed too many pairs of good pajamas to sleep-shifting, and it’s my habit to strip down before climbing into bed.

Why not? It’s not like I’m sharing it with anyone else…

Now that I’m awake, I give my head a clearing shake and shove my blanket away from my lower half. The thin covering is wrapped around my legs, another casualty of my recurring nightmare. I must’ve been “running” in my sleep and now my blanket is twisted all around me. Frustrated and still confused as to what woke me up so suddenly, I kick until I’m free.

Then—another habit—I take a deep breath, sampling the scents in the air.

It’s the first week of May. Shifters of all types run hot, and though it’s still chilly up on our mountaintop settlement this time of year, most of my packmates keep their windows open to the breeze. Not me. It would be easier to protect my territory—my cabin—if I could use my wolf’s nose to scent any threats creeping up on me… but I can’t. I need to know no one can sneak in through my window, even if it’s harder to catch nearby scents through the glass windows and wooden door.

As a delta, my senses aren’t as strong as other wolves, but I can still pick up the enticing aroma of bacon nearby regardless. That must be what woke me up. No self-respecting she-wolf can ignore the enticing scent of cooked meat when it’s so close. And it’s powerful enough to reach me inside of my sanctuary.

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