Pieces Of Me

Chapter 14 Garret

I am running faster and faster. My chest heaves as my Angel is whisked further away. Hands grab at me, trying to slow me down and I tear them away. I have to reach her; she is mine. My broken Angel. I can feel myself panic as she becomes smaller in the distance. A feral growl rips from my throat. They cannot take her from me!

A swift kick to my legs has me shooting up off the ground I had landed on last night, instantly alert. My hands shoot out to grasp the trespasser’s neck.

My eyes lock on my brother’s startled ones and I release my grip as he quickly jumps out of striking range with a smirk forming on his face.

“Losing your touch brother, not like you to let anyone sneak up on you.” He says, surveying my rumpled appearance and noting the alcohol bottles on the ground.

I grunt at him, not bothering to dignify him with an answer. My body recognized his energy. If it had been a stranger, my body would have alerted me. I only lashed out as he should know better than to poke the beast.

I sit back down, rubbing my hand over my face. I am so damn tired. Tired of the fight with my feral dragon side, tired of living, tired of searching for my non-existent mate. Tired of not sleeping more than a half hour without the aid of drugs or booze to keep me down longer. Tired of this bullshit search mission he has me on.

This past week, on the odd occasion I did sleep, I’d had the strangest dreams. About a woman in a cell, begging me to find her. I couldn’t see her face, it was always in shadows, she was weak, bound in chains, naked, and beaten. I was drawn to her, the smell of her calling to me in a primal way. Her scent of Jasmine overshadowed the smell of the blood coating her, soothing my beast as it called to mate.

Every step I took towards her, made the cell longer, I would be running towards her, but never getting closer. Her cries for help tugged at my heart, as I sensed her despair and pain.

I would wake up, breathless from running, panicking now that I couldn’t see her. Angry that my mate was hurt, distraught I couldn’t get to her. Then the fog would lift and the doubts would set in.

Was this my brain’s wishful thinking for a mate, or was this why I couldn’t find her? Was she locked away somewhere and I was finally dreaming walking? Or was the hunt on the wolves' behalf, playing into my fucked-up brain. Knowing the description of where she was being held?

The dream would fuck with my head, setting off my rage and destroying my surroundings. My brother was lucky that even my primal side still recognized him as kin or he would be a puddle of goo on the floor right now.

I know my time is running out to find my mate, my dragon side bleeding into my human more and more. My eyes permanently sporting the golden amber eyes and slit pupil of my dragon form, my temper quick to trigger and out of control.

My brother always looks me over whenever he sees me, his gaze assessing to see if I have slipped too far and if it is time to put me out of my misery. I wish he would just do it already.

Sitting beside me, my brother cocks his head to the side, looking me over. He snaps his gaze back to my eyes.

“You good?” He inquires. I shrug at him. Doesn’t matter anymore. I am fucked and we both know it. He sighs. “Are you any closer to finding them? Any signs of the base?”

I frown, rummaging through the bottles I had consumed to help me sleep last night. I find one with a quarter of the liquor left in it. Quickly uncapping it, I chug it back, before I throw it back in the pile. I reluctantly shake my head. I can’t pick up a damn thing, no unusual movements, or people out of place. No foreign scents. I am about to expand the perimeter. Maybe they have calculated the location wrong.

“Is your dragon side making it hard to get a beat on it?” My brother asks wearily. I give it serious thought for a moment. No. Surprisingly, even the feral side of me is invested in this hunt too. I shake my head again slowly.

Suddenly my vision goes white, the roar of white noise in my ears, as she appears in front of me. My surroundings darken, as I take in the shadow that is her in the cell. I can feel her helplessness and her pain as I smell the fresh blood falling from her. I watch her jerk and spasm, as unseen forces tear at her, maiming her skin.

A roar tears out of me as I lunge at her determined to pull her away from harm, but she moves further away and I can’t get to her. I can’t reach her no matter how fast I sprint in desperation.

Unseen hands hold me back. She moves further away as I am pinned down. My hands scramble to pull away from the pressure that binds me but it continues to hold me in place. My roar of rage shakes my surroundings, as I am kept from what’s mine.

A swift slap to my face brings me back to my shell-shocked brother. He has me pinned against a tree, breathing heavily as he struggles to hold me in place. I snarl and struggle against him.

I freeze, my eyes darting around me. I am back in the forest and she is gone. My shoulders slump. I know I am really starting to lose it. I meet my brother’s eyes and speak to him for the first time in ages.

“Once this is done...so am I, got it?” My voice comes out guttural and barely human, hoarse from lack of use.

He looks at me wide-eyed as I begin to hit my head. Trying to punch the memory of what I saw away, her broken body tormenting me. I can’t have myself distracted. I need to find this base and the kidnapped wolves so I can rest my mind... permanently. My brother grasps my fists.

“Get it together!” He hisses, placing his forehead on mine. His eyes show his sorrow at my words. “If that’s what you want, fine, but not until it’s done. So, get your shit together and go find them. The sooner you do, the sooner you rest. Got it?”

I nod back, lowering my fists as he releases them.

“And for God's sake, take a shower. You smell like a brewery and the enemy will smell you a mile away.” He pats my shoulder reassuringly, offering a crooked smile before walking towards the clearing to transform.

He is buying himself time. I know he dreads the day he will end me. Always one more mission he needs one more favor. Selfish shit doesn’t want to let me go. I should have gone long before now, I should be dust in the wind already.

I sit back on the ground, my back to a tree, contemplating my next move and tugging at my hair in frustration. I can’t understand how I can’t track the mutts. They aren’t in the town, or the ones nearby. I will have to start looking in the countryside and the deeper wilderness. Time to bring my dragon form into play.

I spare a thought for my woman, my Angel. If these dreams, visions, whatever the fuck they are, are a way to let me know she exists, I need to find this base fast.

That way, if I still have any form of wits left and she is my mate... I shove my hair out of my face. This is it. One last attempt to find her. One more chance to live... And pigs might fly! I bash the back of my head against the tree behind me, until I feel my blood run, trying to knock some sense into myself.

It is stupid to believe I am dream walking. Just my dragon side’s desperate way to keep going. It is a dream and nothing more.

The sooner I accept it, the better.

Whoop, let's hear it for our unstable dragon!
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