The sound of snarling and huffing close by draws my attention. With shaky arms and what’s left of my strength, I lift my head. Just a few feet away in the surrounding trees, two intelligent golden eyes stare back at me. Hidden in the shadows, I can’t see what it is, but I can tell that it's huge; that it's wild, and that I need it more than my next breath.
Reaching my hand out, I plead for it to come and rescue me, to ease the ache I know it’s causing. “Please,” I rasp.
Breaking through the shadows in cautious yet confident steps, an enormous wolf towers over me. His slick black fur helps him blend into the darkness, but his golden, god-like eyes shine brighter than the moon above.
He’s breathtaking.
I should be terrified; I should be running for my life. But even as I observe from the heavens of my dream, knowing what’s about to happen, the only thing I feel is…purpose.
Lifting its nose to the sky, the beast inhales, its eyes rolling and closing briefly. A low, husky growl escapes from deep in its throat.
“Please,” I beg once more, my outstretched hand trembling.
With each step closer, an electric current of sheer power sizzles and sparks between us and I know he feels it too. By the time he’s only mere inches away from the tips of my fingers, he’s panting through his bared teeth.
In the dream, caution bells ring in the back of my mind, warning me that this power between us is more than deadly…it's resurrecting.
Turning my hand over, I give the wild animal my palm and bow my head in complete submission.
This is it. Sobbing, I close my eyes, unable to watch another moment of the scene below.
“Open your eyes, my child.”
Startled by the unexpected voice, I obey the command and gasp. Blinding light now surrounds the once darkened dream. Glancing down, I find that my body and the wolf are frozen in place as if it’s a movie set on pause.
“What’s happening?” I ask, my voice no more than a whisper. I’ve had this dream over and over for years, and never once has anything changed.
“You must watch, for this is your destiny.”
I search my surroundings for the source of the voice but see nothing except the light. “This is just a dream.”
“No, Janey Porter, daughter of Archimedes and Lilith Porter, this is fate.” The brilliant light dims, revealing the darkened dream once again. “What is it you see?”
I force myself to once again focus on the scene below. “I see me…and a wolf.”
“Look closer, child.”
Taking a deep breath, I obey. “I see...need and passion.” The dream starts to play, but it’s slowed down to a crawl as the wild animal reaches his nose out to touch my hand. A light I’ve never noticed before sparks between the two as they draw closer. “I see power.” I breathe, my pulse pounding as I wait for what’s to come.
“Mates,” the voice whispers, at the same time the wolf’s nose touches the palm of my left hand below.
A shocking wave of light and energy pulses from our connection and the slow motion disappears into a fast explosion.
“No!” I cry, as that untamable power explodes like a star at the end of its life. Energy and light carry across the land, knocking down trees and sending both myself and the beast flying away from each other.
Heartbreaking despair consumes me as I stare down at the lifeless bodies. “Why?” I ask out loud, knowing that I’m about to wake. “Why do I dream this heartbreak…this death?”
“You have resisted your visions. You’ve not seen what you are meant to see. Watch, my child. This is not death. It’s life.”
Confused, I blink away my tears as light begins to shine from the wolf. For the first time since the dreams started, I get lost in it, wondering what’s going to happen next.
Have I been resisting? Refusing to see what will really happen?
Questioning myself, I stare in awe as the light grows brighter, swallowing the beast whole. Something within it moves and suddenly, I’m no longer looking down from above. I am the dream. Sitting up from where I’d landed, the light changes and transforms before finally dimming and revealing what it was hiding.
A man, tall and lean with long golden hair and matching eyes, now stands where the wolf once stood.
He looks down at himself, and his hands run down his bare chest and abs to his heavy cock that hangs thick between his legs. It’s as if he’s just as confused by the change in the dream as I am. Before I can take another breath, his hypnotic eyes catch mine and the pain and pleasure that vanished a moment ago, rips back through me like a hurricane.
Taking one step closer, the stranger balls his hands into fists at his sides and speaks with a demanding tone that steals the air from my lungs. “Mine.”
“The chosen one awakens.”
Jerking awake, I gasp for breath. Sweat soaks my entire body, the dream clinging to me like a second skin. Slapping my hand against my heart, I try to stop it from beating out of my chest.
What the fuck.
A need unlike anything I’ve ever felt before ravages my mind. I’ve had this dream countless times and every time it’s become harder and harder to shake off. This time I’m trapped, and she is my only escape. Closing my eyes, my hand slides down my hardened body. Pushing aside the leopard skin loincloth around my waist, I grip my aching cock and hiss at the contact, my body bowing in desperation. I picture the woman from my dreams, with her long red hair, wild and tangled, the silky strands sticking to her flushed and sweaty skin as she kneels before me. Her dilated green eyes glow with need, stabbing me right in my fucking heart. She begs for me to help her in a throaty plea and I growl in response.
“Fuck!”
Something within me thrashes around, raging, tearing me up from the inside as it fights to be free. Jerking myself hard and rough, the pleasure builds into something that can’t be contained. My dream forms into a fantasy as I imagine myself buried between those creamy thighs, drawing out her breathy cries with every tilt of my hips. Bringing myself to the brink, I shout my release, the slick mess covering my abs.
What the fuck is happening to me?
Exhausted to the core, and still not fully satisfied, I attempt to collect myself. Breathing in deep, I catch the same enchanting floral fragrance from my dream and inhale deeply. The alluring scent seems so real. Groaning, I sit up in bed, and clean myself off, my muscles screaming in protest. Placing my elbows on my knees, I rub the back of my neck, the memory of my skin and bones breaking and shifting sending a cold shiver down my spine.
I was a wolf…
I’ve always been different from the humans around me. Stronger, faster. Growing up, I’d overhear my mother defending me to the elders of our village who were constantly pointing out that I wasn’t one of them, that I was a threat. I was five when she finally told me why I was so different. On that particular night, I’d woken to the deafening roar of the jungle. My hearing had gone from that of a human to as precise as a bat in mere seconds with no warning at all. I’d torn my room apart trying to quiet the noise, only stopping when I’d completely worn myself out. I’d been terrified as to what was happening to me, but nothing could have prepared me for the answer…
“So, I’m a monster?” I cry at the revelation. Half beast?