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“Braxton!” I shouted again.
Braxton.
I jerked awake in bed, drenched in sweat and breathing hard. I swallowed hard and looked out the window. The sun was bright outside, the light soft through my white curtains. I strained my ears and heard nothing.
There were no sounds outside, no darkness. No creatures, and no Braxton.
I got out of bed and tiptoed to the window, looking out to be sure.
Nothing.
I let out a breath and jammed the palms of my hands into my eyes. It had just been a nightmare, but I’d never felt any kind of dream be that real. It wasn’t the first time I’d had that dream, either.
I’d had some version of this dream every night for the past four nights since we’d been in the forest together.
It wasn’t always exactly the same—sometimes we were in different places. Sometimes we weren’t having sex, but we were messing around. But it was always the two of us, until he was ripped away, and then the darkness came, and I couldn’t reach him no matter what.
Always.
I got into the shower and washed off the sweat. I combed and dried my hair and got dressed and then ventured out of my room. I hadn’t seen Braxton since then—he’d been busy with pack business.
Maybe that was why I’d dreamed about him. I missed him. I ached for him. I was still worried that he didn’t want me. It was just a small worry, but it was there, like sand in my shoe—nothing crazy, but just a little uncomfortable.
I needed company.
I needed advice.
I wandered through the large house. Everything was quiet and empty. The staff had done their cleaning, built the fires, and then left to do… I wasn’t sure what, until they came back.
The longer I stayed here, the more I got used to the place. It was going on the second week, and I knew the layout of the house and the routines of the staff better.
When I got to the kitchen, Uma stood in front of the stove, making something.
“That smells amazing,” I said.
“Yeah? It’s a new pasta sauce recipe. Do you want to taste it?”
I nodded and walked to the stove. She held out a wooden spoon with red marinara on it, and I blew on it before I tasted it.
“Oh,” I said. “That’s incredible.”
Uma beamed at me, pleased with herself. She pulled the marinara off the stove and mixed the sauce with the pasta. She finished it off with way too much parmesan cheese and took out two bowls.
“Are you always here?” I asked. “It looks like you know the place like the back of your hand.”
Uma shrugged. “I have a home in West Linn. We all have our own homes, but when the alpha needs us, we come. I’m here to help him.”
“With what?” I asked.
Uma glanced at me. “What don’t men need help with, right?”
I giggled, and she passed me a bowl filled with pasta and cheese.
“Come on, let’s sit on the deck,” Uma said.
We walked through the bar area and out onto the deck. The sun was shining, but the air was crisp. It wasn’t hot during the day anymore. The sun lit up the day, but that was all it did.
Uma took two blankets out of a cabinet inside the sliding door and offered me one. We wrapped ourselves up and sat on the loungers, eating our pasta.
