Chapter Eighteen
Olivia
Deep in sleep, Olivia was plagued with a wild dream that she couldn’t seem to get out of. She was flying through the trees of the woods, the greenery below her was blurred due to how fast she was racing. As she watched down below her, trying to discern everything underneath her, she discovered all she could see was the green of leaves and spaces of brown that she knew to be dirt. But there was something else below her, moving just as fluidly as she was.
It was golden, shining brightly in the rays of the sun. Once Olivia spotted this creature she couldn’t tear her eyes away from it. If she could only get down low enough, see what it was, she could possibly understand this creature, the only thing she’d ever seen that could keep up with her. But try as she might, there was no way to get down that low. This creature stayed just out of her reach but never slipped from her sight.
Something pulled in her chest, like a string connecting her in the sky to this golden creature. If it moves one step behind or went one step ahead, it became hard to breathe due to the intense pull. But when it stayed with her, it felt just right.
Out of nowhere came a sudden lurch in her chest that was so painful it woke her. Olivia bolted straight up, gasping for air. She pushed the hair back from her face that was stuck and looked around the cabin wildly. It took a moment for her to place where she was and why.
It came flooding back to her when she realized it, she knew instinctively that it wasn’t just the dream that made her feel as if something was wrong. Something was wrong. Olivia set her feet on the floor and lifted herself out of bed. Her heart was racing and she knew there was only one thing she could do to calm it. She needed to check on Dominic; if she could see him on the couch, if she knew he was there right outside that door, she would be able to steady the beating of her heart and hopefully clear her cluttered mind.
But when she cracked open the door to peak out toward the living room, she didn’t see Dominic’s head of mussed hair on a pillow as she had expected and hoped. The couch was empty.
Her heart gave a large slam into her chest as she took tentative steps out of the bedroom and prayed over and over that she would find him in the kitchen at the table. But when she looked he wasn’t there either. The bathroom was empty as well with no sign of him. Dominic wasn’t in the cabin, that she was sure of, but then where was he?
Shakes had started to vibrate through her body as she became more aware with each passing second that there was danger in the in the air. She could taste it, feel it, and she knew that wherever Dominic was, he was out hunting for it. She wanted him to come back to her, she needed him right in that moment. She wanted to feel the strength of his hard body, run her fingers through his impossibly soft hair, and know that whatever might be going on outside of the cabin they were both safe inside of it. Knowing Dominic as she already felt she did, she was certain that if there was actual danger outside and she wasn’t overreacting, then that’s where he’d be. If she was going to find him, she was going to have to check outside of the cabin and hope that he hadn’t gone too far from her.
Olivia knew that he was a natural born fighter and protector. Fighting had never been something she found necessary or useful, believing that even half-humans should be able to settle disputes better than that, but she somehow knew on Dominic it worked. Not only did it work with who he was, but that dark intensity he carried made him the fighter she imagined him to be, also made him even sexier than he already was..
If that was possible.
Still, she had to hope that even with his need to fight, he’d have common sense. If he went out to protect and investigate, hopefully he hadn’t done it alone.
Olivia opened the front door and stepped just outside of the frame. She looked around in the night but it was difficult to see anything in the dark. It was one of the few times she wished she had all the abilities like the others in her pack. A keen sense of sight would have been very helpful in that moment. But she didn’t possess that extra sense and found herself stepping out a little farther hoping for a glimpse around at the other cabins.
It was late, how late she wasn’t exactly sure, but late enough that the lights were off in all of her neighbor’s cabins. Everyone seemed to be sleeping, everyone but Dominic that was.
There was a creak behind her and Olivia felt her pounding heart stop as fear sliced through her. Strong arms grabbed her, one wrapping around her waist and the other around her mouth, preventing the scream that was desperately trying to escape her mouth.
“I’ve got her,” a voice hissed from behind her.
Olivia felt her knees go weak. She tried to fight back, tried to resist, but he held her so tightly not only could she not move but she could barely breathe.
“Now you’re going to want to calm down or it’s going to make this a whole lot worse for you,” he said in her ear. His breath was hot and she pulled away from his lips that were leaving droplets of spittle on her ear.
“You’re going to cooperate with me or else everyone will die. Do you understand?”
Tears streamed out of the corners of her eyes but she managed to nod that she did understand. She knew what they had done to those other packs, those families. A picture flashed in her mind’s eye, of her pack, her family, and what these poachers wanted to do to them all. Though she’d always resisted being one of them, in that moment of fear, she knew she loved them more than anything.
The only thing she could hope was that out there somewhere, Dominic was alright and going to come to her rescue. To all of their rescue. Because without his strength and his aggression, she didn’t think they stood any chance of survival.