“I know you,” I continue, my voice steadier than I feel. “You can beat this.”
For a heartbeat, there’s nothing but the sound of his breathing, jagged and uneven. His wild eyes continually scan my face, like he’s searching for a lifeline to grab a hold of. I want to be that for him, at least for now, until he’s capable of floating on his own.
“Please don’t leave me,” he whispers, resting his forehead against the bars.
I shuffle even closer until his breath breezes over my face with each trembling exhale.
“I won’t leave you, Christian. Iwon’t.” I tighten my hand around his.
His gaze flicks to my lips, and the raw yearning in his eyes takes my breath away. He leans in even closer?—
A howl cuts through the silence.
Christian backs away from me as if he’s been burned. “He’s here.”
“Who’s here?”
“My wolf.” Christian stares up at me with unbridled fear shining in his eyes. “You need to run, Izzy. You need to hide.”
“Your wolf won’t hurt me, Christian,” I whisper, though I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince—me or him.
“We don’t know that.” Christian begins to tremble as he pulls his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around them. “You need to go, Izzy.”
“Christian…”
I won’t leave him here. This may be nothing but a dream—a nightmare—but I know there’s no way in hell I can leave him behind.
Immediately, I begin to study the perimeter of the cage, searching for any locks. There must be a door somewhere, right?
“Izzy.” Christian’s voice is a broken murmur that slices off pieces of skin.
And then I feel it.
A pair of eyes.
Watching me.
Studying me.
Hunting me.
Slowly, my heart hammering in my chest, I turn to stare into the darkness, squinting.
The only light is from whatever magic illuminates the cage, so it takes me a moment to see properly. To seehimproperly.
The wolf watches me—silent, still, his amber eyes locked onto mine with an unsettling intelligence. His ears prick forward, and his nostrils flare, as if inhaling my scent, weighing my presence in this dark landscape.
Even from this distance, I can feel the wildness of the creature, the ferality, the quiet power in his lean, muscled frame. It’s not fear I feel, though. Not exactly.
More like an awareness, a sharp, electric tension that runs along my spine.
The wolf doesn’t move closer, nor does he retreat. He simply watches, studying me with unreadable patience, as if trying to decide what I am to him. A threat? Prey? Something else entirely?
I exhale slowly, and for a moment, it feels as if time itself has paused, the space between us charged with something ancient and wordless.
The creature cants his head to the side.
“Mate.”
