Suddenly Kade was back. Snarling, every hair standing on end. But she saw clear through him. And Braden emerged from the bushes, jaws parted in his twisted grin.
“Not feeling quite yourself, Kade?” The words were crystal clear, undistorted by his mouth. “She is mine. I have been inside her for almost a full month. There is nothing you can do.” He peeled the lips back from his long teeth. “I am in control here. You are merely an annoyance.”
“You, and all the others like you, are a threat to everything we are,” Kade rumbled.
“Everything we are? The Sabres are a dying breed. The council cannot help you.” Braden laughed. “You are a fool to trust them. Or your tame Watcher. That old bitch always puts her nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Watcher? What was a Watcher? Was he talking about Cara?
Teeth closed on Jessie’s leg, hauling her away from Kade. She twisted and snapped. Kade lunged, but his swipe passed straight through as the shadow vaporized, teeth and all. Another grabbed her by the neck, yanking her sideways. Kade spun, his claws a blur, but there was nothing there.
This was Braden’s show. He had the power here. Something unseen hit Kade, hard, driving him into a tree. The trunk cracked beneath the onslaught. And shadows pounced on him, tearing out hunks of blond fur.
“No!” Jessie screamed. Where was Zach? They needed Zach. Braden was too strong, and Kade wasn’t strong enough.
Shadows grabbed her, dragging her down. As Braden loomed over her, Jessie focused. And sent a pulse of pure terror into the darkness.
The darkness answered with rage.
It swept through the forest, shattering branches and trunks with a gust of hurricane wind. Braden howled, but it swept him away, too. It scoured the land to bedrock.
Then it all shut off. Silence.
Braden was gone. So was Zach. But she was still locked in the dream. Why?
Something panted in pain. She climbed to her feet. The dim outline of Kade hunched on the bare rock. He straightened as she staggered to him and nudged him with her nose. To her surprise, he appeared solid. Her nose bumped against him.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he answered. “Just got hit by a tree. Or two.” He looked around. “An entire forest, actually.” His golden gaze came back to her. “How about you?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Thanks for the rescue.”
Kade swung his heavy head sideways. “Wasn’t me. That was all Zach.”
“Not all,” she noted. Where had Zach gone? He’d blasted Braden away and left.
“Why are we still here?” Jessie asked. “Why aren’t I waking up?”
Kade stood and shook his thick fur. “I think that’s because of me. Of my blood.” He looked around and then back to her. “Do you trust me?”
She tilted her head to look at him. Did she trust him? Her answer rose from deep inside. “Yes.”
He touched her lightly on the shoulder with his nose. “I want to show you what being a Were is really like.”
Jessie wasn’t sure what he was on about, but she nodded. “Okay.”
And suddenly, the land around them came alive. The sun emerged, lighting the forest with dancing rays that dazzled her eyes. Trees and bushes and vines—it reminded her of Cara’s yard. Flowers and insects and small animals hopping and running through the undergrowth. Chirps and whistles and hums—and the scents! Rich and intoxicating. Her nose twitched, trying to identify them all.
“Run with me,” Kade invited, trotting away.
And she did, matching strides with him as they raced through the forest, ducking and diving through the bushes. Kade’s big jaws opened as he grinned at her. It lit the very air around him and dazzled her so that she stumbled.
He caught her with a supportive forearm until she got her feet back beneath her. Kade’s scent was different from Braden’s. Not as wild, but musky, warm, and very male. As they dodged a tree, their shoulders brushed together. They split to go around a bush and came together again. The lightest of touches. Touching him was like touching steel, but steel covered in silky-soft fur.
The sensation of running with him was similar to her early dreams with Braden. But not the same. Like Braden, Kade exuded a confidence that bordered on arrogance. And he was fearsome as hell, huge with rippling muscles and vicious claws and teeth.
But he didn’t treat her like an object. Something to be conquered. It wasn’t in him to do so. She knew that, as certainly as she knew the day would dawn. Why that mattered when they ran in a dream, with reality suspended, Jessie wasn’t sure. But it did. Perhaps it was because Were dreams were not pure fiction. Weres bled and fought and mated in their dreams.
