Shifting Love

Chapter 11: Nightmares or Reality?

My breaths came out heavy and labored. I had been running hard and fast for hours through the woods. I dodged through trees and shrubs as I tried to put as much distance as I could between us.

The forest was too quiet. All I could hear was the wheezing in my throat and my paws pounding hard against the ground.

The snapping of a tree branch sounded to my left and caught my attention. I sped up.

I'd come too far just to get caught by them. The noises increased. They were close and weren't worried about concealing themselves from me. Branches cracked and snapped under the heavy footfalls.

I could feel their hot breath on my back. One of them nipped at my tail. He almost caught my fur in his mouth.

I was suddenly pressed into the ground when one of them jumped onto my back. I struggled under the heavy pressure. It was no use.

I fell silent and still as a man approached us. He came to a stop and bent down so my eyes were level with his cold stare. His mouth twisted into a cruel grin.

I cringed back when he grabbed my jaw with his powerful hand. His dark laugh pierced my ears and he roughly shoved my head to the side. He stood up and nodded to the wolf sitting on top of me.

Everything went dark.

I immediately shot up from the bed. I involuntarily shivered as a cold sweat ran down my back. This was the third night I had that dream since I began the mating process with Dante.

He marked me a few nights ago. It was my turn next to mark him. I had been putting it off since the nightmares about the hunters began. They scared me.

I felt a warm arm snake around my waist. He pulled me back down onto the bed and clutched me into his chest. He slowly nuzzled his face into my hair.

"Another nightmare?"

I nodded my head before turning around and burying it into his bare chest. My breathing slowed down and returned to its normal pace. He heavily sighed and lightly stroked his fingers through my hair.

"I really wish you would tell me what's going on."

What was I supposed to say? I was used to keeping the nightmares about the hunters that murdered my father to myself. But these were different from my usual ones.

"I will be okay. Just go back to sleep."

"I don't think I can. I'm too awake now," he murmured into my ear.

Tingles shot down my spine when I looked up into his eyes. His mouth twitched into a smile as he leaned over and placed a small kiss on my lips. His mouth lingered above mine for a moment. I could tell he was unsure. He didn't know if I was still shaken from my nightmare.

I placed my hands on both sides of his face and pulled his mouth back down onto mine. This was exactly what I needed to distract myself from the nightmare.

He moaned when my tongue swirled around his mouth and my hands ran up his chiseled abs. He pulled away and began kissing down my neck. The heat of his lips burned against my skin with each kiss.

His fingers tickled against my bare skin as he slowly unbuttoned the shirt I stole from him to sleep in earlier. His musky scent was the only thing that could calm me down and at the same time it excited me.

Dante roughly pushed the shirt off my shoulders. He growled in approval at the sight of my bare body. He pushed me down onto the bed and lay on top of me. I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist. He let out a loud moan when I gently ground my hips against him.