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“The Alpha grows within him,” Julian said.
“What? No. No way.” Rafe shook his head. “I’m just a regular dude.”
“A wolf who drinks blood,” Greyson corrected “You will be fine.”
“As long as he doesn’t go killing a human by accident. Or shifting while feeding. I’m telling you the Alpha is in there.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence, Jules. But no way I’m Alpha material. I’m just out here livin’ my life. Got no interest in leading a pack. I’m in what I’d like to think of as more like a day-to-day survival mode.”
“You’ll get there,” Julian assured him.
“And you, Alpha?” Greyson pinned him with his question. “You’ve been shaken by this woman you found? You going to let it go?”
“Already have.” Julian swallowed the lie like a bitter pill, but feigned indifference. His wolf urged him to find her but he’d fight the instinct. He knew better, but sometimes in life we all deny the truth…until we no longer can.
* * *
Julian’s dream transformed into a nightmare. The scorching flames licked over his body as he ran through the maze of rock and ash. The demons pursued close on his heels, but he kept on with the chase. As long as he could occupy them, they’d go after him, not his sister. Days turned into weeks before he realized he was lost in Hell. Panic rose in his throat as fangs pierced his skin. As they dragged him away, he fell into the dust.
Julian’s eyes flew open, his heart pounding as he gasped for air. “Jesus Christ. Fuck.”
You’re alive. You’re fine. He glanced at his alarm clock, rolled over, and closed his eyes again. The nightmares had intensified over the past weeks and he struggled to shake the feeling he’d brought something back from Hell.
Gooseflesh broke over his skin as a cool breeze grazed his arm. An ethereal sense alerted him to a presence and his eyes snapped open again. The woman from the mountain. Dressed in a yellow sundress, she radiated with light. Julian pressed upward, aware that her presence was a mere ghost.
“Run,” she whispered.
“What are you?” he replied, unsure of what he was seeing.
“Run,” she repeated.
“What are you talking about?”
“They’re coming.”
“Who?”
“Get out!” Her voice grew louder.
“How are you doing this?” Julian reached a hand forward, his fingers brushing through the ethereal presence.
“I said run!” the voice boomed as she disappeared.
The scent of smoke wafted into his nostrils. What the fuck? Julian snatched a pair of jeans off the floor, slid on his boots and set off to investigate. As he wrapped his fingers around the doorknob and pressed his palm against the warm door, the smoke intensified. Fire.
Julian took a deep breath and opened the door to discover an inferno blazing inside his cabin. Greyson materialized next to him as embers fell from the burning rafters. “Time to go, Alpha. Rafe’s outside.”
“One sec?—"
“We don’t exactly have a lot of time here. I don’t do well with fire.”
“I’ve got this. Get out, Greyson.”
Julian ran back inside his room and Greyson followed, shutting the door behind them. The Alpha shoveled his laptop and phone into his bag and slung it over his shoulder.
“One more thing.” Julian reached for the small paper card tucked into the mirror. As it slid out of the crack, he spotted another card on his dresser.
“What the hell?” His heart pounded in his chest as he reached for it, his fingertips tingling as he flipped over the tarot card and caught sight of the image.
