Soren

Chapter Fifteen

Soren woke to the sound of screaming, the sound was raw and loud, like someone in excruciating pain. It wasn't until James flew through the door in only his boxers, that Soren realized the sound was coming from her. He was at her side in a flash, arms wrapping around her as she struggled to breathe. Her heart was pounding, and it felt like it was going to rip out of her chest at any moment.

"Outside." She forced out from between shallow breaths. Luckily James didn't argue, he just wrapped one of the many blankets around her, cocooning her in warmth before sprinting outside. They were there in seconds, James sat on the porch steps, letting Soren look up at the moon, watching as slowly but surely her breathing evened out and deepened.

He couldn't explain the pure terror that had shot through him at the sound of his little mate screaming for dear life. He thought someone had gotten into the house, that she was in danger, but in fact it was her dreams that haunted her, that had woken her up. He could feel the clammy nature of her skin, how the night air was freezing it, making her colder than she had been just minutes ago. Placing her down on the steps as if she was made of glass, he forced himself to pull away from her. Standing up was one of the hardest things he had to do, but his wolf's need to protect was trumped by his need to keep her safe and comfortable, he didn't want her to catch her death outside in the chill.

"Wait. Don't go, please." Soren's voice was raw and scratchy, evidence of the painful screams that had clawed their way out of her. James heart broke,

"I'm not leaving you, I'd never do that. It's too cold out here for you dressed like this though. I promise I'll be right back."

Soren's head nodded ever so slightly, her eyes pleading at him to come back as fast as possible. James sprinted inside, collecting the sweatpants and hoodie she had been wearing before bed and grabbing some blankets up off the floor – he'd have to remember to question her about that later, now was definitely not the time.

Back outside she wasn't where he had left her. His heart jumped for what felt like the thousandth time that night until seeing her huddled against a tree along the line of the forest. Walking over he didn't comment, just pulled the hoodie over her head, moving the blanket only to pull the sweatpants up and over her shorts-covered legs. The other blankets he used to wrap her up once more, layering her as much as possible.

Her gaze lay on him the whole time, and yet he felt as if she wasn't truly seeing him, like he was invisible. He hated that feeling, crouched before her he waited until her eyes came back into focus, and she noticed him.

"Thank you." She said, motioning to the blankets that lay partially in her lap.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come back." She said.

James refrained from reminding her that he had said he would, right as he was leaving,

"Of course, I did. You're going to have to try harder than that to get rid of me."

She didn't have the energy to smile back.

"Do you think you're calm enough to go back inside?" He asked softly, his hands aching to pull her into him, and his wolf howling to get her back where it was warm, and he could protect her.

"I can't, James. I can't go back in there." Her voice had a pleading tone to it, and James wondered just how much she hated living with him. His wolf whined, he was failing at keeping his mate happy.

"Alright." He conceded, he just wanted her to be happy, and by the way her body had stopped its shivering, he was reassured that she was warm enough.

"Do you think maybe you could shift? I think it would help me sleep." With the way she was looking at him, James would have granted her anything.

"Of course." The shift came easily. His wolf had been dying to come out since the second he heard her in distress. Going to take off his clothes so they wouldn't get ruined, James noticed he was still only in his underwear. As a wolf the cold didn't bother him, but he felt bad knowing he might have made Soren uncomfortable with his nakedness. Shifting came fast and the pain was gone before he knew it. In his place stood his chocolate wolf, deadly to all but her.