Karmically speaking anyway.
He hit one of the support beams and slid to the ground, unmoving.
In just seconds it was all over. There were five men laying on the ground whimpering.
As the red haze started to clear from my mind something odd happened. I stared at the bodies on the ground. Everything around me came into sharp focus.
Memories came flooding back.
Memories of the entire night.
The night I took Krista to the woods.
I staggered away, leaning against the side of the stadium. I knew who they were. I recognized them. These were the guys who had tried to mess with Krista. I’d beat up after the last game. Big guys, too. They had been surprisingly easy to take down.
I was tempted to make sure they stayed down, to really maim them. Not because they’d tried to beat me up. Because they’d dared to touch what was mine.
That would be a risky move though, morally and legally. I wasn’t afraid of getting into trouble. They were scum and deserved everything they got and more.
But Krista definitely wouldn't like it. Hopefully, after this time, they'd stay away.
For their own good. Their own survival.
I brushed myself off and walked home.
Chapter 6
Krista
I stared at the alarm clock across the room. I'd been doing this for hours, closing and opening my eyes endlessly, unable to get back to sleep. The blue lights rearranged themselves again.
4:45 AM
The dream had woken me up from a deep slumber. Or rather, I'd somehow torn myself out of it. The rending had been so abrupt that I'd literally felt myself land back in my body with a heavy thump.
For the first time ever, I'd gotten scared in a dream.
Not just scared. Terrified.
I never got frightened in my dreams. The dream world was my domain. I was more powerful than anyone I'd ever encountered. Asleep, I was pretty much a queen.
A brave and powerful queen, not a socially awkward mouse.
Last night, I'd felt completely taken by surprise. Once again, I'd been drawn, pulled almost against my will to Dean's suite. It felt as if he was demanding my presence.
And I couldn’t do a thing to stop it.
I was starting to resent it, truth be told. My freedom was gone. I was no longer in control of the dreamscape.
Each night since the full moon I made the familiar journey. The campus looked ordinary in dreamland, as I traversed it in what felt like minutes. My steps were huge, long and high.
I grazed the top of the street lamps with my fingertips.
Once I got inside his suite though, nothing had looked the same. This was not a college campus anymore. This was not a dorm room, or even any type of room I'd ever seen before.
His room looked almost... medieval.
It took me a second to realize what had happened. I wasn’t on campus anymore. I’d traveled somewhere else entirely.
I’d opened that door to step into another world.
That wasn't what spooked me though.
What I saw made my body break out in goosebumps and my throat dry.
Dean was there. And he was… not himself.
I hadn't noticed him at first. I was staring at the dark stone walls, wondering if I'd jumped to Rome or someplace farther than I'd ever been.
The room was more or less a stone cavern. It took me a moment to notice the table at the center of the room. Dean was strapped to it.
No, not strapped.
He was chained.
I had been shocked. Horrified. Dean was in pain. He was struggling against the chains, clearly in agony. My first instinct were to help him, set him loose, to do something.
Anything.
But as I'd crossed the room it became apparent that he was chained for a reason.
It was dark in here, but there were torches lining all the walls. I could see him much better than that night in the woods. The details of his other form.
I could see everything.
Dean was thicker, bigger, more feral looking than a human should be. He was definitely in his altered state. He looked like something out of a horror movie.
He wasn’t a man anymore. He was truly a monster. Dean was gone, replaced by a powerful creature with a heavy brow and thick jaws.
But his eyes, his glowing red eyes, were clearly his. I could see him trapped inside them struggling to get out. His beautiful eyes were full of pain and fear.
I remembered how slowly I'd walked over to him. How tentatively I had reached out and touched him, pressing my hand on his chest. A shock went through me at that moment that I could still feel.
The power of the connection echoing through me even now, hours later and a world away.
The moment I'd touched his skin, his eyes had shifted to a warm glow. From hungry, blood red to gold in an instant. He'd stilled, his breathing slowing until he seemed almost calm. Peaceful.
His eyes were deep and soulful when he stared at me. The look in those eyes took my breath away.
They were full of love.
Dean might be an animal, unable to speak or communicate, but he was still himself in a way that was hard to describe.
We were still us.
That's when I felt it. Behind me, hidden in the shadows. My perception shifted until I could feel everything around me, even the horrible thing watching us. I could hear ragged breath coming from a powerful chest. I could hear it growl.
Something else was in the room with us.
I turned in time to see a beast come tearing out of the darkness. A wolf human hybrid, like Dean, but larger, more ferocious.
And not chained.
That's when I catapulted back into my body, leaving Dean behind to face the creature alone. There was nothing I could to help him.
I’d nearly screamed from the jarring sensation of landing on the bed. Thankfully, I'd covered my mouth.
Just because the world was ending, there was no reason to freak out my roommate.
Charise was pretty much the only 'normal' friend I had.
So now I was awake, wondering what the hell I was going to do.
I sighed and turned over, pulling my special quilt around me. I sniffed it, catching a whiff of the homemade detergent my grandma made at home with borax and lavender she grew in her own garden. I had a ziplock baggie of it here to do my wash in the dorm laundry room.
Gran didn't believe in store bought anything. Especially if you could make at home. She never wasted anything, not even a scrap of an old dress that could be made into a quilt.
I wished I was back home right now... I wished I could talk to my gran. Or, better yet, my mother.
But she wasn't here. I could call my gran, but that wasn’t even an option with my mom. No one knew where she was. Or if she was even alive.
I prayed every single night that she was still out there, alive and trying to come back to me.
Sometimes it was less painful to imagine she wasn’t.
I gave up on falling back to sleep and reached for my sketch pad. I started to draw the room we'd been in. The table. Even the beast.
Who was he? Another werewolf? Were there more people who turned into these creatures? Cursed monsters like Dean?
The idea that this was bigger than the two of us was terrifying. If there was another man who was suffering like Dean… well, I understood very little about the world I lived in awake or asleep.
Whatever else might be happening I knew one thing for sure. I was not going to let Dean face this alone. I felt an almost urgent need to see him, to touch him, to know he was okay.
For the next two hours I sketched the dream. The odd chamber, the chains, Dean's transformed visage. And the other that had been there. He was huge, well over six feet tall. Like Dean, he was incredibly muscular. A distinct streak of white fur had run up the side of the creature's face from it's muzzle.
I stared at my drawing, tracing the fur with my finger. I pulled it back sharply. As
if the image could burn me. Or see me.
Or bite.
I scooped up my phone the minute that Charise's clock turned to 7:00 am. I tapped in a few letters and hit send, before collapsing back on my bed.
A feeling of relief flooded my body as I glanced at the message on my phone. I was tired of fighting. It felt good to give into the inevitable. But it was more than that.
It felt like destiny.
You win
I curled up against my pillow and stared out the window at the cool gray sky. A moth appeared, fluttering against the screen. And then another.
And then another.
Until they covered the entire window.
Chapter 7
Dean
I clutched my phone, willing her to answer it. We'd been exchanging texts all day. It had all started this morning when I got the first text.
You win
I knew what it meant. I knew she was going to be mine, fully and completely. I knew, but I had to make sure. I needed to hear it. I'd written back immediately, sleep still heavy in my eyes.
Does that mean what I think it means? We’ll be together for real? Don't tease me Krista
She'd written back one word.
Yes
The heavy chains of the dream fell away. I felt free. Krista was mine.
My face felt warm as I thought of all the things that entailed. Touching her. Kissing her. More.
A whole lot more I hoped.
Lord knows I was pent up enough.
Oh yeah, I had ideas. I was going to treat her so good, I'd make her forget all about the rough stuff she'd been through. Losing her mom. The hardships she’d suffered growing up. I'd make it all go away.
I'd keep her safe.
But most of all, I'd keep her close.
Always.
That created a problem though. I couldn't bring her to my suite without the guys acting like idiots, and she had a roommate. I wasn't sure Krista would go with me to a hotel or not. She might feel uncomfortable doing that, or worry about the money.
Then inspiration struck.
We didn't have a game this weekend.
That meant I could take her away somewhere. Just the two of us. To cement our relationship.
To see where it would go.
I closed my eyes, imagining a whole weekend to be alone with her. It wasn't just fooling around I was looking forward too. I just wanted to be near her. To feel her presence around me all day. To pamper her.
To wake up with her in my arms.
I texted her after she didn’t answer my call.
Hey pretty girl
Hi sorry in class whatsup
I need to see you tonight. Meet me after your shift.
Okay. I get off at 9.
Good. I cant wait to kiss you Krista.
Her reply made me laugh.
I hope you like the smell of french fries.
I didn't miss a beat. I was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning when I wrote back.
Hmmm… I love french fries.
And I love you.
That’s what I was thinking. I didn't say it. But it was there, in everything I did. I loved her.
It was more than love. I belonged to her. Mind, body and soul. I just hoped she felt the same.
I would tell her this weekend.
I went online and started looking for places to go.
The day flew by. I was spaced out in classes, thinking about the weekend. Go someplace romantic. A hotel or spa… or maybe just rent a house. That would be cozy. I could cook for her. Pull out all the stops.
The only second I wasn't thinking about my plans for the weekend was at practice. I loved drilling. Mostly because I loved running fast and slamming into things.
I finally relaxed in the showers after practice. The water was hot and for once, my mind was clear. I closed my eyes, letting the water take away all my worry.
My eyes snapped open when I realized what had been different last night in the dream. It was right there in the back of my mind all day, but I'd been distracted by more pleasant thoughts.
I’d been chained to the table again, without knowing how I’d even gotten there. The metal burned, tearing into me as I changed. The other had laughed ominously, lurking in the shadows.
It was hell, torture.
Until I saw her.
Krista had been there, trying to help me. But that wasn’t what scared me. It was the other.
And he’d seen her.
He’d roared like a devil when she disappeared. It was as if he wanted her for some purpose. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to hurt her, but there was no way in hell I was letting him near her again.
A shiver went down my spine. If he wanted Krista, if he could summon her the way he summoned me…
How was I supposed to protect her?
Chapter 8
Krista
I tossed my dark green apron into the basket by the kitchen door. It had been a long shift and I was hot and sweaty. I wasn't psyched about how I looked but there wasn't much I could do about it.
I shook my head and thought about it. Maybe I should make an effort to be less grungy. Tonight was kind of a big deal. And Dean had mentioned something about kissing...
That did it.
I grabbed my bag and ducked into the tiny employee bathroom with the flickering light. The mirror was not forgiving. I cringed when I saw my sweaty face and frizzy hair.
Yeah, this was not going to cut it.
I splashed cold water on my face and applied a thin layer of lipgloss. I brushed my hair and spritzed myself with vanilla body spray, another new gift from Charise. I looked at myself in the dingy mirror and shrugged.
That was the best I could do without an actual shower.
Dean was outside, waiting. I knew it without a doubt. I could feel him as usual.
My very own Dean GPS.
Technically, he'd already been waiting. He’d been here for almost three hours at this point. He hadn't come into the dining hall until the second half of mealtime. He'd gotten his tray and gone straight to my station. Then he'd just sat in the back, watching me.
It was a little disconcerting.
But also kinda sweet.
I stepped outside and blinked in the darkness. There was a bright light over the trash and recycling, but there were shadows everywhere else. It was after 9 o’clock and most of the staff were still inside eating their free meal that came with the shift. I had skipped it, though usually it was one of the best meals I had all week.
Almost as good as Gran's home cooking. Certainly heavier on the quality protein. It was almost like a five-star restaurant in there most nights.
Yeah, the athletes at this school ate very, very well. Not to mention they could go back for seconds and thirds if they wanted to. There was still always enough left over for staff.
But I didn’t mind skipping it. I was too nervous to eat anyway.
And I really didn't want to keep Dean waiting.
"Krista."
I stepped forward tentatively, immediately swallowed up by the darkness. I looked around, letting my eyes adjust. I could barely see a thing in the dim light.
"Dean?"
"Over here."
I turned and there he was, about ten feet away. He was perfectly still, staring at me. I couldn't see his expression clearly in the darkness, but I had a strange feeling he could see me in excruciating detail.
I patted my hair self-consciously, wondering why I even bothered. There was no sneaking up on Dean. Or tricking him. I was sure he could see and smell me, even with the vanilla spray.
I knew that his physical agility and strength were part natural, part unnatural. Supernatural, really. He'd told me so himself. He had noticed the changes way before I had that night in the woods.
Increased strength. Unchecked aggression. And being suddenly impervious to physical pain.
He wasn’t even sure he could be hurt anymore. Not by a human being anyway.
Dean had been f
rightened of his new abilities at first, but now he reveled in them, loving how he could run circles around any opponent on the field.
Dean was pretty much unstoppable.
Maybe he reveled a little too much.
It was almost as if he could tell what I was thinking. He immediately did something that a normal guy shouldn't be able to do. Something impossible.
He moved so fast that all I saw was a blur. He was over there and then he was behind me, lifting me into his arms.
He lowered his head as he turned me around and kissed my startled lips.
Then he grinned, his bright white teeth flashing.
"Let's get out of here."
I felt my cheeks grow red. I was still shy but I felt a thrill at the feeling of his strong arms around me. He'd lifted me like I was as like as a feather.
"Okay. Where?"
"To the woods. I want to be alone with you."
I swallowed and nodded.
"Not too far this time, Dean. Okay?"
He squeezed me and took off at a run, carrying me easily in his arms. It was almost frightening, how fast he went. But his stride was smooth and he was careful not to jostle me.
I had no idea how far we went but it was quiet and even darker by the time he slowed. He stopped, setting me gently on my feet. Then he brushed his fingers over my cheek and kissed me softly.
I still had my eyes closed when he pulled away. I blinked and looked around. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness. Out here the stars seemed so much brighter. I watched as he rolled out a blanket. He'd come prepared. I rubbed my shoulders, chewing my lip nervously. He obviously had more than kissing in mind.
"It's chilly."
"I'll keep you warm."
Moon Bound (Dreamshifters Book 2) Page 3
