One second, I was in Rion's room, the next in mine. I'm getting used to this teleporting thing. There are so many possibilities. I could go to Paris or Italy. Australia or Ireland. I'd have to get guidance from Ford, since I don't want to end up in the middle of somewhere I shouldn’t be. How cool to be able to travel anywhere in the world and not have to spend hours on a plane to do so.

I text Paige, letting her know I'm home. She wants to come over again tonight so we can talk. I'm sure she still has a lot of questions.

Five minutes later, she's up the stairs and in my room.

“Were you waiting down the street for me to text you?” I ask.

“No. I figured you'd be home soon, so I was headed this way when I got your message.” She drops onto my bed. “What happened this afternoon? Did I miss anything?”

“Rion told me he loves me.”

Her eyes widen. “Get out!” She stands and rushes over to me, engulfing me in a quick hug. “How did he say it? Was he all brooding and hot, or was he sweet and gave you flowers or something?”

“We were arguing, and he came out and told me. Then we kissed and something happened. We're connected now.” I tap the side of my head. “I can talk to him telepathically.”

“Interesting. So, can he hear your thoughts?”

“No. I have to deliberately send him a message.”

“This could be fun. Ask him where he is.”

“You're not serious.”

“I am. I want to know what he's doing. Also, I think it's great you can talk to him this way. I wish I could hear the conversation.”

“One sec.” I send a silent message to Rion, stating Paige wants to know where he is and what he's doing. He sends one back. “He said he's in the mansion talking with Cace about security. He'll be headed our way after he eats.” He doesn’t call it the mansion. That’s all me.

I told him that he doesn’t need to be at my house every time I am; that he should take some time to himself or do things with the pack. I love that he’s protective, but he needs to do other things as well. One day I’ll understand this shifter mate business.

“Cace... He was very hot when we saw him at the signing,” she says.

“Oh, yeah. And his brothers...” I fan myself. “Red wolves, who are so different in personality, but all gorgeous.”

“I need another invitation to the mansion. So much hotness in one place. I could get lost in there for weeks.”

I cock an eyebrow. “They have mates, Paige.”

“I'm sure some of them are single. Not every wolf in the pack is mated. You never know, one of them might be my mate.” She winks. Paige can never be left in that house unsupervised. She'd cause all kinds of mayhem.

I'm back in the clearing, but the wolves don't appear. I'm alone. Then I hear the snarling and snapping of jaws. I take off in the opposite direction, my bare feet carrying me as fast as they can through the dense forest. A wolf howls, and I know this is my chance to find Wake. There are answers I need, and he's the key to what the other pack knows.

Making a sharp right, I dart toward his howl. He and I are the only ones in this dream who know what's going on. The others are merely part of the premonition and will have no recollection of any of this. Wake howls again, this time a lot closer. He must be running toward me as well. Then I see him, a blur of white fur rushing toward me. He stops fast when he reaches my side, his wolf's green eyes assessing me, scrutinizing me.

My breath is coming in fast pants. “You must be Wake's wolf,” I get out through short bursts of breath. I need to talk to him. He has to be willing to go with me. No way am I going to try to grip a wolf by the scruff to teleport him when he doesn’t want to go. I could lose a hand that way. “I'm Ariane, Orion's mate. Wake said we could leave next time we’re in the dream together.” Nothing happens. I don’t have time for this. The others are closing in on us. Their footsteps are getting louder. “Wake, please come out so your wolf stops looking like he's going to jump at me at any moment!”

Wake's brown eyes flash through a second before he shifts to a human. His hair is mussed, he's wearing nothing but a pair of black sleep shorts. And holy muscles. Every hard ridge of him is on display for me. It's like the trees parted where we stand so the moon could shine down and showcase the magnificence that is Wake.

“Ari, we have to go,” he says while shaking my shoulder. How long was I staring at him? I might be falling fast for Rion, but I'm not blind. Wake is incredibly handsome.

“Oh, right. Give me your hand,” I state, finally getting my act together.

He reaches out for me and I do the same. The second our skin touches, a group of five wolves charges us from all angles. I snap my fingers quickly to get us out of here.

We appear inside Ford's home in the Outer Banks. It’s still dark outside. I have no idea what time it is or how long I was asleep. Tall windows are in front of us. If it weren’t still nighttime, we’d have a view of a tall sand dune, covered in grass and other vegetation, and the ocean past it. The way his home is situated, the dune protects the house from the sea in case of storms. You can’t see the beach on the other side of it, only water. But it’s there: a gorgeous beach where families spend time enjoying the beauty of the area. From a higher vantage point, you’d be able to see more.

“Boo!” Ford yells behind us, making me jump high in the air and causing my heart to pound in my chest. Wake has a different reaction. He immediately shifts into a wolf.

“Why would you scare a wolf shifter?” I ask, throwing my hands up in the air. “Honestly, sometimes I wonder about you.”

“You should wonder about me every day, princess.” He winks then turns his attention to Wake. “Good evening, fine sir, and welcome to the Verascue home in magnificent Duck, North Carolina.” Ford bows for show. “If you wouldn't mind shifting back into a human, I don't like fur on my floors or furniture. Go on, back to a human now.”

Wake growls at him but ultimately returns to his muscled glory.

“Why, Ari,” Ford observes, “this does add a lovely twist to your little situation, doesn't it?”

“Get out of my head!” I keep forgetting to have Rion teach me how to put a block up so Ford can't read my mind.

“What's going on?” Wake asks, clearly confused by our conversation.

“It seems our Ari likes the way—”

I get in Ford’s personal space. “If you finish that sentence I'm going to remove a certain part of your body you won't want to part with.”

“You're no fun,” he pouts.

“Can we get down to business and talk? We're here for a reason.” Freaking vampire. He’s always got something to say.

“You mean not so Wake can walk around and model for us?”

“Ford, I didn't know you thought of me that way,” Wake responds with a grin as he bats his eyelashes.

“Could you two be serious?” I ask. As if Ford’s penchant for joking isn’t bad enough, Wake seems to enjoy doing it as well. Lovely. I focus back on the matter at hand. “My mom could enter my room at any second and see me missing. It's one thing for me to be in a dream state, but quite another to be at the beach with a vampire and a wolf.” Paige. I forgot about her. She's going to flip if she wakes and I'm gone. “One second,” I say and snap my fingers to go back home.

The light on my desk is on, and Paige is leaning her back against the wall where my bed is tucked into a little alcove in my room. I love how it’s set up. With walls surrounding three sides of the bed, it’s like a massive window seat, minus the window. I always feel so cozy in there.

“Were you going to tell me you split?” she asks. “I woke up because you were thrashing around in your sleep and then poof, you were gone.”

“I had another premonition, and I found Wake there, so we left to go to Ford's house where I could talk to him.”

“Wake, huh?” She stands and pulls her hair into a high ponytail. “Let's go.”

“I'm not taking you with me.”

“Oh, yes you are. I'm not staying here alone while you get to have a midnight rendezvous with two smoking hot men. Nuh uh. Teleport me away, bestie.”

She steps up to me and entwines her fingers with mine. Looking at us together right now, we’re complete opposites. Even in the middle of the night, she’s stunning, whereas I appear to have crawled out of a cave. She has on a tight tank, no bra, and boy shorts, while I'm wearing an oversized T-shirt and yoga pants. At least I remembered to put pants on before bed this time. I have to stay comfortable if I'm going to run through the woods every night. My feet! I glance down and notice I'm bleeding on the hardwood in my room.

“Shoot!” I walk on my heels to my dresser, where I pull out some gauze and bandages I stashed here after my first jaunt in the wilderness. Then I hobble to the bathroom to wash my feet quick before I bandage them up.

Paige is waiting for me when I emerge. “You really should start wearing sneakers to bed. Your feet are all torn up.”

“I know. But really, who wants to wear sneakers to bed?”

“The girl who runs through the woods while she’s asleep. I bet you move faster with sneakers on, too.”

“Probably,” I mumble. I wipe up the blood on the floor and take Paige's hand in mine. We're about to leave when Kiara appears.

“Don't mind me,” she says while yawning. “Just filling in for you.” She takes my hand in hers and something passes between us. Her body transforms in a flash to be my twin.

“What was that? Ari, there are two of you,” Paige says, looking back and forth between us.

“Sorry. Paige, this is Kiara. Kiara, Paige.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kiara says as she climbs into my bed. “It's a good thing you've got a comfortable bed, Ari.” Her eyes flutter closed.

“If my mom comes in, tell her Paige is in the bathroom not feeling well.” Kiara doesn't reply but gives me a thumbs-up. I quickly turn the light on in the bathroom and shut the door. Then I flip the light off on my desk.

“Let's get this show on the road,” I say to Paige. With her hand in mine again, we teleport to Ford's house.

“What took you so long?” he asks. “I'm bored over here. Wake is tired and not very entertaining. Nothing I say is irritating him.”

“Poor baby,” I reply to him. You'd think I took away his toy.

“You did. You left.”

“Get out of my head, vampire! I’m not your toy!” I yell. At least here I can raise my voice all I want and not have to worry about waking my parents up. “He can read your thoughts, Paige. Keep things locked down the best you can.” I don't know what I'm talking about. If I did, I'd be able to block his spying butt.

“Paige, your mind might be more interesting than Ari's.” He smirks.

“I have nothing to hide, sexy. Feel free to take a spin inside my brain.” Her eyes are on Wake as Ford trains his on her.

“You dirty minx,” Ford states. “I like you.”

“I knew you would.” She winks. For the love of…

“Can we please get on with this?” I ask.

I take a seat on the couch and look out the front windows into the darkness. Wake sits down beside me. “You should be wearing shoes to bed,” he notes as he takes in my bandaged feet.

“I've figured that much out. Thanks.”

“Ari, I'm not the enemy.” I give him a hard glare. “Okay, so my pack is, but I don't want to be part of fighting beside them. I've learned a lot since I've joined the Diaminsey Pack, and part of that is they don't show mercy, ever. They know it was Rion who hurt me and left me knocked out. They knew it was over you. They’re more enticed than ever to capture you.”

“Hold on. They want to capture me?”

He nods. “They think if they can sway you to their side, you'll make a powerful ally.”

“I have an Avynwood mate.”

“Not yet you don't. Until you two are fully mated, you're free game for any wolf out there.” This again? I still have the vision in my head of wolves circling me, each trying to pee on me to claim me as theirs.