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Natalie’s hand gripped his elbow harder. “We’re not in Kansas anymore, are we?”
“I was thinking the same thing. Jesus, we could travel the world. Think of it!” The moment he invoked the word ‘we’, he felt sick.
There was no ‘we’.
He glanced at Natalie. She didn’t meet his gaze, but she must have read his thoughts because she’d grown very still. “Forget about it, Grant. I know what you meant.”
“I need to be clear. What’s happened here can’t happen. I will soon be alpha of the Meldorin Pack or I’ll be dead. Either way, this attraction has nowhere to go, at least not where I’m concerned.”
She released his arm and shifted toward him as the dreamglide continued to hurtle through its own dimension in space. The strange, preternatural craft was on autopilot. He’d set the destination. He could feel Boulders Beach in Cape Town like a beacon pulsing in the night.
Natalie pivoted to look up at him. “I get what you’re saying and believe me, I’m not interested at all in a relationship with a wolf from Savage Territory. But what do you mean by saying you’d be dead?”
“The current alpha is a psychopath. He provokes dominance battles with the intention of legally killing his challengers and I know he’d love to do the same with me. He requires half of everyone’s wages, but no one knows what he does with the money. The compound needs a dozen major repairs, but he hasn’t spent a dime on them for the past eighteen months. Worst of all, he brutally rapes his own wolves, both male and female.”
“When you said psychopath, you weren’t kidding.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“I hate Savage Territory.”
“And Revel is full of virtue?”
“No. Of course not. In fact, I know there’s a similar level of violence because of the cartels in our territory and the fae who work for them. But Savage—”
He sighed. From science teacher to Border Patrol officer, it had taken him some time to get used to the visceral nature of Savage, of fangs that tore out chunks of flesh, of so much blood. “I understand. Wolves tear into each other.”
“Like Talya. Like your wife.”
“Yes. I won’t pretend otherwise. But your kind is duplicitous. You work in the shadows, pluck information from the future to do harm in the present.”
“I won’t pretend, either. There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of futurists in Revel who offer their skills to the highest bidder, to drug-runners and other criminals.”
“You don’t?”
“Not to criminals but I did do it once during the Fae-Wolf Wars, and promised myself I’d never do it again. Besides, do you think Kiara would have let me get anywhere near her refuge if she didn’t trust me?”
“Of course not.” Kiara was one of the finest women Grant had ever known. She had refuges in each of the five territories, even though she was a witch. She was also bonded to Alpha Warren, one of the most powerful wolves in Savage Territory.
There was a gulf between him and Natalie, understandably so. Fae and wolves didn’t trust each other easily. Yet, Kiara trusted her and everything Natalie had done so far led him to believe she was the kind of woman he could put his faith in. This assessment of her character, however, wasn’t helping at all.
The dreamglide cruised easily above the Atlantic Ocean. Suddenly, the dark shadowy front edge of the dreamglide began to thin until the vista opened and land appeared in the distance.
Soon, the distinguishing features of Cape Town took shape. Mist streamed across the flat surface of Table Mountain and the natural coves of the beachline grew clear.
It was daytime in this part of the world, yet the sun didn’t bother them at all because something about the dream
glide offered protection.
“Do you feel the sun?” Natalie asked. She held her free arm aloft and lifted her face.
“Yes. It’s unbelievable.”
As he focused on the penguins and what was known as Boulders Beach, the dreamglide began to descend then veer toward a portion of the beachline dominated by massive boulders.
“There are penguins everywhere.”
Grant sought a cleared portion of beach and settled the dreamglide in the middle of it.
