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Serena had never wished more that she’d been born with a physical wolf than she did at this moment.
“We’re here.” Vince stopped the car at the top of a steep dirt drive. They’d driven over such crazy dirt roads, twisting in so many directions, that she had no idea where they were. She just knew that it was so far off the main drag that she’d never be able to find help, even if she could get enough breath to outrun him. Her mind spun from desperate idea to desperate idea, trying to figure out what she could do and how she could escape.
The tiny house, tucked under the shadows of two massive pine trees, was so dilapidated that it made her dark, depressing guesthouse look like a cabin from Candy Land. The roof was sagging and covered with pine needles, the porch had a massive hole right in front of its short flight of stairs, and two windows stared at her like hollow eyes.
Everything about it said, come inside, little girl. We’re hungry.
She shivered in the late afternoon sunlight, rubbing her bare arms for warmth and wishing she could stay in the car she’d wanted out of just moments before.
“It’s not much, but it’s private. No one will find us here.” Vince gave her a proud grin and got out of the car.
For a brief moment Serena thought of locking it tight against him, but he had the keys. She’d have to wait. Her moment would come. It had to.
“Come on, Serena, I have some food inside. We can get some dinner.”
It was even worse inside. The old wood paneling smelled of dust, disuse, and rancid cooking oil. Dirty, limp curtains with a sad, faded yellow-and-green vegetable pattern hung in the windows. An old, sunken love seat took up most of the room, a few broken chairs and a small Formica table the rest. To the right were the bare bones of a kitchen—sink, drainer board, and a freestanding two-burner stove, overlooked by two crooked wall cabinets of knotty yellow pine. A short, white refrigerator with wide, rounded shoulders huddled in the corner.
“How did you find this place, Vince?” There was a narrow hallway with two doors that split the wall opposite the door in two. One of those doors had better be a bathroom. She’d used outhouses before, but if the condition of the house was any indication, the outhouse would be horrendous.
“It was my dad’s old fishing cabin. He’d come up here to drink and get away from my mom. Sometimes he’d come back early.” Vince shook his head. “I don’t think about that. I’ve made this place my own. Look.” He opened up the old refrigerator, his voice rising with enthusiasm. “See, wine instead of cheap beer. I even have real glasses for you.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll wait a little bit. Can I use the bathroom?”
“Sure, it’s that door.” He pointed to the one on the right.
She nonchalantly grabbed her purse and made her way down the hall. Closing and locking the thin door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. He’d let her take her purse. She dug into it, pulling out her cell phone and checking for service. “Come on. Come on!”
“Are you okay in there?”
“Just fine.”
While she waited for the bars to appear she took advantage of the flushing toilet. Who knew when she’d get another chance to pee. On the wall across from her was a hand-embroidered sign, its glass dusty. If it’s brown, flush it down. If it’s yellow, let it mellow.
She choked back hysterical laughter. Someone had worked hard on that one, trying to express a water shortage in the mountains in terms a lady could read without blushing. She wondered who that had been. Vince’s mother? His grandmother?
She flushed and washed her hands, letting the water run while she checked her phone for bars, but none appeared. She dialed anyway, trying the main number at the ranch first, but it didn’t go through. “Damn it!”
“Are you sure you don’t want wine? It’s almost happy hour,” Vince called through the door.
“I’m sure.” The room had a high window she doubted even a child could squeeze through, and even if she could, it looked like it was painted shut. There was no escape.
“Are you coming out?”
No, she wanted to scream, leave me alone. But she turned her phone off to save the battery, tucking it safely out of sight in her purse, and opened the door. He was right there.
“Just finishing up.” She gave him a bright smile and squeezed past him in the narrow hallway, catching a glimpse of the other room where an enormous bed took up the entire floor.
One bed. She had to get him to take her down the mountain before he drank any of that wine.
She led him back out into the main room. “It’s getting late, Vince, I really do have to finish my packing and get ready for tonight.” She turned just as the mercurial switch from genial host to angry suitor flashed across his face.
“I’m not taking you back until we get things straight. Now, have a seat and I’ll pour you a glass. No one comes here but me. No one will find us. We can stay here and talk for as long as we need to.”
Serena tried hard to calm the panic closing her throat.
Someone would find them, wouldn’t they? If she didn’t show up for her goodbye dinner with the council, would they even think to send out a search party? Or would they think she’d just skipped it and taken a taxi instead? And, if anyone looked, how would they find her? There wasn’t a scent trail to follow with a car.
Now she wished she’d gotten over her shame at turning tail and running home and at least called her family and told them, but it was too late now. It might take them a few days to start to worry when she didn’t answer her phone.
And Gabe. A wash of regret brought tears to the corners of her eyes. She blinked them back, not wanting Vince to see.
She’d told Gabe she never wanted to see him again. She’d lied. She desperately wanted to see him again. And it was not just because of Vince, but because right now, she wanted to run into his arms and feel them wrapped tight around her, keeping her safe and warm. And loved.
“Let me help.” She reached for the bottle of white wine Vince pulled from the refrigerator.
“I’ve got it.”
She watched carefully as he poured the wine into glasses that still had white stickers on the bottom. At this point, she wouldn’t put anything past him, and she didn’t want him to slip anything into her glass. Gone was the friend who had helped her settle into her new job. Instead there was this man who seemed like a spoiled, fretful boy.
“Come on, sit down.” He led her over to the couch and perched on the edge of the caved-in seat. “I’ll give you the good side that still has a few springs.”
She set her wine down on the battered coffee table and put on the firm voice she used with clients. “This is ridiculous. I’m not pretending any more, Vince. It’s getting late and I need to go. Now.”
He put his glass next to hers and stood up, his fists clenched at his sides. “I love you, Serena. You’re the perfect mate for me. You’re smart and beautiful. We can walk the dreamscape together. I can’t get the Fever again, because I don’t have a physical wolf, but on the dreamscape, I can give you the Bite and we can mate like wolves.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Vince. You can’t give me the Bite on the dreamscape. It’s a live virus. It doesn’t exist in the night realms.”
“You don’t know that.” His face turned red. “In my dreams, my wolf is just as big and strong and powerful as those fucking shifters. I’m an alpha. You’ll see.” He grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the couch.
“Ow! You’re hurting me. Let go of me, Vince.”
She tried to fight free, but he moved back toward the hall, dragging her with him, his fingers digging into her flesh.
“You have to understand. I’ll make you understand. Once you see my wolf, the Fever will start and I’ll have the Bite. I’ll sink my teeth into your neck and infect you and you’ll want to mate with me.”
“No, I won’t.” She kicked him, the toe of her sneaker bouncing off his shin. He ignored her as if he hadn’t even felt it and shoved her into the bedroom. She hit the edge of the mattress and fell back, scrambling to get up as his heavy body landed on top of her.
She hit him like a wild thing, scratching and clawing, punching when she could. But it was no use. He had her wrists and he wrapped them tightly with rope, the sharp fibers digging into her skin.
“I didn’t want to have to do this.” He sat up, shoving his hand through his hair and panting. “But once I’m in your dreams, you’ll see we’re meant to be together.” He left the room, coming back in with something in his hand.
“I’m not letting you in, Vince.”
“You’ll have no choice.” He showed her the small vial and syringe. “I have the Narcolite here. You know, once you take it, you’ll be in REM sleep, and there will be nothing you can do about it.”
Panic raced through her. She’d used Narcolite on patients, but only with a doctor’s prescription and only in extreme cases. Most patients came willingly to dream therapy.
“You can’t do this. You have to have my permission, Vince. And a prescription.” She struggled with the ropes as he measured the dose, but they only seemed to dig in deeper.
He pushed up her sleeve and leaned on her body, keeping her in place. “Hold still,” he grunted. The needle pricked her arm. “There.” He moved off her and smiled. “Just a few minutes, sweetheart, and we’ll be together in your dreams. And then your wolf will see my wolf and we’ll enter the Fever together. Don’t you see, Serena? It’s fate.”
Serena fought the sleep falling over her. Could Vince’s crazy scenario be possible? Could the heat she already felt under her skin become the real fever without the stimulus of the live virus? She’d never heard of such a thing, but she wasn’t a doctor or a scientist. Was her wolf so desperate for a mate that she’d change her mind and take Vince, simply because he was there?
If that were true, then fated mates were a myth and it was all just an accident of chemistry. She slowly shook her heavy head. No, she didn’t believe it. There was true magic in dream walking, not just science. There had to be magic in mating. There had to be fated mates, and her’s was definitely not Vince.
Despite her best efforts, her eyes grew too heavy to keep open. The mattress shifted as Vince climbed into bed next to her, snuggling up against her bound body, and she shuddered in revulsion.
“Go to sleep, my love. I’ll be in your dreams.”
She tried to fight the heaviness pulling her down, but it was no use. She could only flinch as Vince tucked up against her defenseless body. His hand crept up under her shirt and cupped her breast, just as she fell into the darkness.