Chapter Three

Nelson

With a yawn, I stretched out on the bed. I didn't feel the weight of any blankets on me, probably having kicked them off again. Yet, where I usually knocked my knuckles against the headboard, I touched only empty space. No, not quite. There was something there, but it brushed against my hand like grass. Tall, dry grass.

I jolted upright and tried to take in my surroundings through my half-open eyelids. I wasn't used to being alert as soon as I woke up. But then again, I usually didn't wake up in...what was this? A meadow?

Wait! I'd dreamed I was in a meadow like this one, and there'd been a naked man. A very hot naked man.

I glanced around. Was I dreaming again? That little punk at the club must have slipped something into my drink for me to be so out of it. Because I saw a beautiful meadow filled with white, yellow, pink, and purple flowers. Behind me stood a majestic forest filled with lush maples and poplars, along with full pines and spruces. Somewhere nearby, I could hear the tinkling of running water. How did I end up in such a place?

I checked my body to ensure someone hadn't harvested my organs then dumped me far away from the city. No, everything felt intact. And I didn't feel groggy like I had been drugged. Just confused. I had no idea how I'd arrived there.

So, if I was in the same meadow, where was the naked guy?

I stood and wiped off my pants. Yep, white was a bad idea. They were ruined forever.

When I looked around, I couldn't see a single soul. Yet, I heard plenty of birds chirping.

I tried to make my way toward the sound of water, hoping it would lead me to some answers.

"Oh, you're awake."

I leaped from my loafers, shocked by the sudden voice. I hadn't seen anyone before, and I was sure I wouldn't have missed a whole person. Yet, there on a log to my right, slightly hidden behind a bush, was the same, sexy man from my dream. Only he had clothes on. The bare minimum with a pair of cloth underwear tied with a string rather than using elastic to hold them up. Probably more eco-conscious, so that was a plus.

Had he brought me to this place? I ran my hands through my hair—likely a mess from sleeping on the ground—and tried to recall if he'd told me his name. My mind blanked. I couldn't remember a thing. I needed answers.

"Did you bring me here? Did we...have sex?" It had been a while since I'd been with anyone—no one since my ex—so I really wanted to remember something like that. Though I didn't feel like I had been fucked. Probably hadn't even been out of my clothes.

He sat up before standing, only slightly taller than myself, but he was rather muscular with adorable laugh lines in the corners of his golden eyes. Yes, I definitely would want to remember sleeping with him.

"No, we did not have sex. You are not for me."

His words came like a punch to the gut. I didn't know him, but he'd rejected me already. Then worry quickly took over. If I wasn't for him, who was I for? Was I being trafficked? How did that even happen? And why in the middle of nowhere? I'd had one drink, left early, and ended up in the wilderness. "Where are we and how did I get here?"

"You are in the Enchanted Forest, and you made a wish that brought you here."

I would have laughed if terror hadn't clenched my gut. "I didn't wish my way to any enchanted forest. Who brought me here? And how?"

"Did you receive a card from a hooded man?"

I thought back to the previous night, of standing in line and the strange man who approached me. "Yes."

"And did you make a wish while holding that card?"

I gulped. The world didn't work like that. I couldn't travel somewhere simply by making a wish. Could I? "I wished for a man who would love me for the rest of my life."

"Then that's how you ended up here, in the Enchanted Forest." He gestured toward a path I hadn't seen earlier. "There are plenty of men here who will love you for the rest of your life. Shall I take you to them? Give you a tour? I can get you something to eat if you're hungry. Or some water."

I suddenly realized where I was. A commune. And the believers called it the Enchanted Forest. That made logical sense but still wasn't a situation I wanted to be in. I needed to ask more questions, find out more information so I could get out of there. Fast.

"Wait, wait, wait." I had to figure this out before I was forced to meet the others in the commune. "Why is this place called the Enchanted Forest?"

A smirk played across the other man's lips like he thought my panic was amusing. "There are magical creatures who live amongst these trees as well as many shifters."

I didn't know if he was placating me or if he was really high. "Shifters, huh?"

He nodded as if he truly believed they existed. "Have you ever met one?"

I didn't know how to answer, not wanting to turn him into an angry addict. "Can't say I ever have."

He stuck out his hand for me to shake. "Well, you have now. I'm Holden, a turtle shifter."

I shook his hand, not wanting to seem rude. "I'm Nelson." Yikes, I probably should have given him a fake name. "You actually turn into a turtle?" Of all the animals to believe you turned into, a turtle would not have been high on my list.

"Yeah, do you want to see?" He untied his underwear before I had a chance to answer and let them fall to the ground, like being nude was the norm. Though maybe it was, in the forest.

I gulped, unable to say a word, too busy taking in the amazing figure of the guy in front of me. Holden. How did he believe he was a turtle? What a waste of such a gorgeous body.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Outer-worlders. Are you all the same?"

I had no idea what he meant, but suddenly a shimmery glow appeared around him. Smoke rose off his skin before his entire body began to shrink and transform. The color of his skin changed first; a dark green with red, orange, and yellow lines up and down his arms and legs. Then his stomach hardened as he continued to shrink. A shell formed out of his back, almost like wings, but not really. At one point, he looked like a kid dressed in elaborate costume, like one of those martial arts turtles on television. His face changed last, his neck elongating while his nose and ears seemed to disappear. His eyes slid to the side. And with a light thud, he fell to the ground. As a turtle.

I pinched my arm. Hard. I needed to be dreaming. Because shifters didn't exist in the world I'd lived in all my life. And if I wasn't there, I was somewhere else completely. A commune was easier to wrap my head around than what Holden had told me and what I'd just witnessed.

My chest ached. I'd watched a man turn into a turtle. I gasped for air. I was in an enchanted forest. My knees weakened and I fell to the ground. Somehow, I had wished myself there.