A Howling Heart
Chapter thirty-six

A caress of love fills me with warmth. Matias's warm voice follows, cradling my ears with care as he tells me how much he loves me. "Anima Mea, you are mine. My fated mate. My love. Stay in my arms. You are safe." And that's what I feel. Safe. As each moment passes and I feel the feathery strokes of his lips against my jaw and cheeks, moving to my temples, over my forehead and back down, like a circuit of affection, I want to lose myself in his embrace. I'd even vow to never leave him if this goes on further.

It all comes cracking down around me when I finally open my eyes, and I'm not in his embrace, but in the dirt in the middle of the woods, being watched by eyes that are his. Eyes that are familiar but feral, filled with hatred, thirsty for revenge only to be satisfied by my blood.

"Matias!" I scream, but he doesn't come.

A growl follows my scream. I scramble onto my elbows, trying to edge away from the monster in the trees, only for the growl to grow fiercer, more threatening. I know now escape is impossible, so I brace for impact, gasping as it comes. I'm ripped from the nightmare vengefully. Matias's name as a plea for help remains on my lips.

My comfort. The one I've been denying so much. The one I think I try to protect myself from, as if the moment I genuinely accept his advances and love, he will run off into the woods, never to be seen again.

I guess it comes with the territory of having no father figure. That abandonment still lives inside me. It's embarrassing but true.

"Matias." My voice sounds like that of a stranger. It's cracked and low, and there is a deepness to it that would better suit a wounded animal or a young boy finally hitting puberty.

I don't like it. It makes me think I'm more injured than I thought, that I've been deprived of water for too long.

I'm disoriented. The surroundings are unfamiliar from the glimpses I steal while managing to get a sliver of my eye open.

"Matias?" His name is a bit clearer this time. I clear my throat once more and try to steady my breathing for fear that I'll begin hyperventilating and pass out from the panic. I need to remain alert.

My eyelids feel heavy, a dull pain throbbing in my skull as I attempt to collect myself and sit up. The pain is radiating, humbling even. I can't seem to pull myself to a complete sitting position.

I beg and pray for God to remove the pain from my skull, but even the barrier of wherever I am can't reach God because the pounding continues.

"Think," I croak. "What happened?"

Okay. What do I remember?

Images flash in my mind. Adrenaline spikes in my body, sending my heart galloping alongside my racing thoughts.

I remember running.

I remember Matias. He must have been the one I was running from. He was yelling something, maybe for me to stop. Then it went black.

Then nothing.

I groan and open my eyes fully. I sit upward and take in the unfamiliar surroundings. My eyes skate through the barren room, and I frown. I peer at the door with alarm as it dawns on me that I am no longer in the mansion. I know that Matias is far away, and danger lurks near.

It's the wolf in me.

The wolf I didn't know existed until a few weeks ago. The one I wanted to keep denying. My rejection of it hasn't gotten me anywhere good, that's for sure. Maybe it's time to accept instead of reject and embrace who I truly am. I shiver, rubbing my hands down my arm, before I take a deep breath.

I pull myself upward, lurching sideways as I stand, and the pain in my skull crescendos. I double over, pressing my hands to my temples before taking a few steadying breaths as the pain dies down, and I fixate on the door.

I need to get the hell out of here.

Now.

I'm careful to take gentle steps to not alert whoever has put me in this room.

Maybe Matias is coming.

Maybe he's looking for me.

I don't want to bet my life on maybe, though... I want to do something.

When I get to the door, I reach for the handle, my heart pounding anxiously in my chest as I test the knob, turning it slightly only to have it halt twisting. This is an utter nightmare. The kind of crap that you only experience through movies. Never reality.

Tears sting my eyes. I blink rapidly, trying to suppress them, but they fall without my consent, rolling pathetically down my cheeks as panic swarms.

It's locked!

I'm locked in!

Panic starts to get comfortable inside me.

I'm trapped!

Matias!

Matias! Please!

I cling to that voice that typically invades my thoughts - the one belonging to my alpha - my soul, but it doesn't come. That's when I realized something was seriously wrong.

"He can't hear me. If he could, he'd respond to me. I'm -" The words get caught in my throat as the painful truth winds me. Finally, I spit it out into the empty room, where they bounce around, causing the walls to begin closing in around me. "I'm alone. Completely."

Mentally.

I grit my teeth, scanning the room for windows, but I already suspect the answer before my eyes search.

None. Not one. Whoever took me thought ahead.

I know my best bet is to wait, but how long until I starve to death? What if that was my kidnapper's motive, to begin with? A million thoughts circle in my head until it's all just noise that worsens my headache. Think, Fae. You can't be this helpless?

My eyes flutter closed as I try to think about what happened earlier.

A wolf was watching me in the woods...

I assumed it was part of the pack... I don't know.

I groan and bury my face in my hands before I huff and continue to think back.

The wolf looked familiar... or so I thought.

My mother was right.

Nothing good has come from meeting Matias... but now he's the one I'm hoping will come to save me. The one that I absolutely can't live without. I feel the need for him inside of me, eating and eating until I submit. Until I mate for life. Until I'm his completely.

I eye the door again, deciding to pound on it when my thoughts are interrupted by heavy footsteps. Someone is coming!

I scurry backward, petrified to see the face of someone in the Amoux pack. Someone who clearly wants to hurt Matias and my pack. And I'm that chip.

The alpha's mate...

My legs wobble, my anxiousness rattles me as the doorknob twists and the door is pushed open to reveal the face of my kidnapper.

No way...

This isn't real.

I gape at him. Unable to fathom the sight before me. Wordlessly, he steps farther into the room, closing the door before finally addressing me. Him... this whole time.

Nate lips his lips, his eyes alight with delight.

"I can't believe this..."