Willow
Am I dreaming?
The only thing that I trust in this place is pain. And now? I am dreaming about meeting my mate and being rescued from this horrible prison—once more imagining the impossible. Except now Ifeelit.
I feel the scrape of the silver as my manacles were ripped in half and pulled off of me.
It’s impossible… but I even feel the burn of a soul mark against my skin.
I peel my eyes open, only to see a man torn from my wildest dreams staring down at me.
Dark eyes. Perfectly tousled waves of brown hair. High cheekbones and thick brows, currently drawn together as they look down at me in worry. This man has a jawline sharp enough to pierce through all the defenses I’ve built around my heart.
From the faint shadow of stubble across his beard to the pure strength in his arms as he holds me—it’s as if everything I never even knew I wanted has suddenly come to life.
There is no way that he’s real. I’ve been hoping and yearning for someone to take me away from here… for someone to just care… for so long.
When the man of my dreams opens his mouth, asking me with a deep, sultry voice to tell him my name, I do.
I am going crazy.
It all feels so real. The warmth of his skin, the rough calluses on his hands. I can even smell the wild musk of his wolf.
The sickness in my mind has come to a breaking point. There is no going back for me if my daydreams arethisout of control.
I don’t know how much time I’ve lost already, trapped here… all I know is that the last shred of my sanity must have just left the building.
But maybe that is… okay?
When was the last time I felt warm and safe? I don’t think I’ve ever been this comfortable in my entire life, held in these muscular arms that cradle me like I’m something precious…
I’ve been so cold. So lonely…
I’m just imagining my soulmate right now, some sort of hallucination as the medications leave my system or something… none of this is real—but what else do I have to look forward to? I might as well enjoy it.
He leans down and whispers into my ear, “Hang on, angel. I’m going to get you out of here.”
I tuck myself closer against him and close my eyes, hoping that my daydream will last.
Chapter 7
Nyx
My mate is fading in my arms. She’s looking up at me and smiling with a dazed expression. Her eyelids droop, as if she barely has the energy to keep them open—let alone focused.
I can’t let her fall asleep.
The last shifter I saw who’d stirred awake after we pulled off his shackles… had fallen back asleep, and nothing I did would wake him up again.
I ran out of this maze of a laboratory, moving as fast as I can without jostling my poor mate in my arms—she has been through enough already and still has visible injuries and the skin around her wrists is red and raw from the constant exposure to low grade silver. I can smell old bruises and antiseptic all over.The fuck have they done to her?
But right now I have to focus—I have to get her out of here. The industrial complex that houses the laboratory is on the edge of a city. There is nothing but an empty lot and an abandoned gas station bordering the nearby forest. The same forest several shifter packs call home.
The humans were too close. The smell of them is everywhere. I have got to get her out of here.
Holding my soulmate tight, I run. Noticeably faster than any human, my feet eat up the yards as the lights from the human city blur around me. I clutch my little mate to me as I run to the edge of the forest, maneuvering us both into neutral territory.
Even once we have left the stench of humans miles away, it still doesn’t feel safe. My mate is staring at me all dreamy-eyed. Her little hands are clutching the collar of my shirt, lightly pulling.