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My heart races in my chest, and I can feel the blood pulsing in my veins. I'm seized by a sudden urge to respond. Without thinking, I take a deep breath and plunge my head into the water, immersing myself completely in the dark, swirling depths. The water is like a cocoon, surrounding me with a sense of weightlessness.
'I hear you,' I think, the words forming silently in my mind.
In that moment, I'm struck by the feeling that I'm communicating telepathically like most wolves do. Did I just mindlink with someone?
It's an unsettling thought but one that's quickly overtaken by a more pressing concern. Who am I talking to?
A chill runs down my spine as the voice replies, 'And I see you, child. I see you, and I know you at last. Come home to me…'
I surface once again with a gasp, sucking in air as fear courses through me. 'Who are you? How are you doing this? What do you want?' I ask the voice in my mind.
But my panicked questions are interrupted by another voice.
"Flower! Where are you?"
The sound is like a lifeline, pulling me back to reality. I struggle to steady my breathing in an attempt to collect my thoughts. As I look around, I realize how far I've drifted from the shore, how deep into the lake I've gone.
"Are you out here?!"
This voice is real. It's not coming from me, nor the wind, nor from a mindlink. It's frustrated and familiar, and it's coming from the path that leads to the villa.
It's Tristian… and he doesn't sound happy.
Shit.
I swim towards the edge of the lake, feeling the water clinging to my skin like a second layer. I'm such a fool. I shouldn't have come out here. As I swim, I chastise myself for wandering so far from the manor and for exposing myself to danger. Who knows what sort of creature I've unwittingly allowed into my head?
Tristan warned me that the Rovers have many enemies, but I got reckless. I was stupid enough to feel safe, and now I've mind linked with a stranger.
As if answering my thoughts, the voice calls out one more time, quieter now that I'm closer to the water's edge. I shiver involuntarily, my skin prickling with goosebumps as it echoes in my mind.
'What do I want? Child, I told you that already. I want you to come home to me. I want you.'
I trudge out of the water, frantically dragging myself onto the bank of the lake. The voice flickers out and fades into silence as if too far away to reach me now that I'm heaving myself across slick stones and mossy pebbles of the shore toward the villa.
"Girl, where are you?!" Tristan's voice calls out again, a few yards away from where I've emerged from the lake. His voice is husky and uneven.
What have I done?
I didn't mean to upset him. I didn't mean to stay out so late or wander so far. But I couldn't face him, not after hearing what he thought of the mating bond. I was too much of a coward to confront his weariness and contempt of me and everything that I represent.
Is he angry that I missed dinner? Or does he think I've tried to run away? I'm still shaking, though I can't tell if it's from the cold or the fear.
Now that I'm out, the night breeze bites my wet skin. My undergarments are soaked, and my hair is dripping, but I left my clothes farther up the shore, closer to the path where Tristan is searching for me.
How can I tell the Rovers that I wanted to swim in the lake and wash away stains on my soul that went deeper than my scarred skin? And how the hell can I explain that I heard a voice in my head that called out to me? Did I really just mindlink with a random creature in these lands? How is that even possible? And who was it exactly? Or what? And why?
Too many questions swirl around my head, and I feel a sense of frustration and unease deep in my gut. I couldn't face Tristan before, and I sure as hell can't now.
I'm out of the lake, but I'm dizzy and drowning in my thoughts. I can't find my clothes, which means I'm drenched and shivering in my underthings, and I'm not sure if I should run toward Tristan or try to hide from him.
Before I can weigh my options, I lose my balance, too scared and disoriented to find my way in the dark. In my haste, my bare foot slips on a mossy stone by the water's edge, and then the world falls around me.
I'm not sure if I faint from the fear and fatigue, or if it's from the blow to my head, but the last thing I hear is Tristan's worried voice calling out to me before everything goes black.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tristan
