Chapter 3

Reality came rushing in through increments of a few minutes at a time. Some were calm and collected where I could hear familiar voices of people around me talking in hushed tones, others were from a fantasy movie with distorted faces of monsters, black blood pouring down my throat so bitter I prayed to whoever would listen to allow me to die so I don't have to endure it anymore. Through it all, there was one constant. Well two if you count the guilt over Alice as a thing.

Dominic's hand held mine through it all. Not helping when I begged him to kill me but not letting go when I felt like I would float away and disappear into nothingness either. Somewhere in the back of my mind a voice was persistent that I needed to wake up. But the moment I tried to open my eyes, searing pain would stab my retinas and I'd promptly pass out after a shrill scream.

"She should've been awake by now if you are telling the truth." A familiar voice growled as I struggled to place it. At first, I thought it was my tormentor and savior from the nearby cage who refused to let me die in peace. But no. This voice was distinctly male unlike the one reaching my ears from the dark shadows from the cages. Plus, I was on a soft nicely scented mattress, and not on top of packed dirt soaked with my body fluids.

"Do something." That same deep voice grumbled and the hand holding mine tightened the hold.

"She's coming around." A second voice muttered from right above me. "It's taking longer than I expected but I also have no explanation why we found her collapsed in the hallway. She seemed okay when I saw her in passing this morning."

"Brooklyn?" Dominic cupped my face and turned it to where the sound of his voice was coming from. "Can you hear me? Open your eyes, Love. Look at me."

A memory filled me of his mouth on mine, his tongue swirling with my tongue, the feel of the slightly raspy texture sending a shiver through my body. Heat bloomed everywhere I remembered his hands touching and an embarrassing moan was ripped from my throat so guttural I felt my face burn in an instant.

"I'd say she's awake." Clearing his throat, the second male that I recognized now as Rowen the witch, couldn't hide his amusement. "I will go check on the human. The potions I brewed keep her barely alive and her situation can go sideways fast. Don't allow Brooklyn to get out of this bed until we are sure she won't collapse again when no one is around and she's outside of this house. The last thing we need is the Syndicate getting their hands on her again. If you need me, you can find me there."

A soft click after a moment indicated that Rowen left while I still gave everything I had to unglue my eyelids. It was as if some invisible power was holding them down and no amount of struggling helped. I was horrified that my heartbeat was still hammering loud enough to wake the dead while the shifter with his acute hearing was looming over me, his face close enough I could feel the heat of his skin from the nearness.

"It's okay." His deep voice reverberated in my chest sending me on another hormone filled spin down the gutter. "Don't force it, Brooklyn. There is no danger. You can take your time; as long as you need." Callused fingers brushed a strand of hair from my face, the gesture too simple to be felt as intimately as I was feeling it.

I was losing my mind. There was no other explanation for my reaction to Dominic.

I mean the shifter was every female's wet dream, but I had always been able to hold tight control over my hormones and basic needs. Unlike most of my kind, I didn't trust anyone enough to allow them to share my vulnerable moments, be it sex, feeding, or the universe forbid, sleeping next to me. It must be the tainted blood and the prolonged process of healing as it was purged from my system that muddled my brain.

I convinced myself that it was true.

After a while, slowly, my eyes adapted to the light, and I managed to crack them open wide enough to make out Dominic's handsome face. Worry wedged two grooves between his eyebrows, and the five-o-clock shadow I was used to seeing was longer than I remember it being. The dark strands of his hair were sticking out every which way tousled over his forehead as if he's been running his fingers through it; and the white t-shirt he wore was creased and crinkled indicating he at least slept in it for one night. Disheveled as he was, he had no right to look so damn handsome or irresistible that my fingers were twitching from the need to touch him. Even the dark smudges under his eyes looked good emphasizing the intense green color of his eyes.

"I've lost my mind." I blurted out, still unable to look away from him.

"Tell me something I don't know." One side of his full lips quirked up and the intensity of his gaze softened when he brushed his knuckles over my cheekbone. "You are awake."

With a herculean effort, I took a deep breath and looked away from his knowing gaze, my eyes latching onto anything around the room so I don't look like a love-sick fool. The tall boy, the side table, the chair, even the thick curtain bunched up on one side of the window so that the star filled night sky was visible through the glass was a better option than staring at Dominic.

"I guess I should've listened to Samir and rested more instead of keeping vigil over Alice. It's not like I could help her." Uncomfortable as hell, I looked at everything but him. "You found me in the hallway?" switching the subject away from my friend, which was the main cause of discomfort between Dominic and I, I decided to act dumb.

Ignorance was bliss and I clung to it for dear life. I wasn't pretending that nothing happened between us because my memory was all over the place. The erotic images circling around my head could've been a product of my imagination, and for all I knew he found me crumpled on the floor in front of Alice's room.

Okay, fine, I was fishing for information before making an idiot of myself.

"You don't remember anything before you lost consciousness?" the shifter gave a valiant effort to drill a hole into the side of my face with his intense stare.

"Nope." A headache started developing behind my eyes and I rubbed them absentmindedly. "I can't afford to allow this to happen, Dominic. Whatever is left of the Syndicate is searching for us and they'll find us sooner or later. Me dropping like a swatted fly could cost us all our lives."

"No one will harm you anymore." The certainty in his one made me lock gazes with him. "Rowen made a potion that will speed up the process of purging the tainted blood from your system. I should've found you sooner to ask you to take it but I got sidetracked. It took even longer because you spat out the first mouthful and I had to hold you down to force you to drink it."

"You mean Rowen's blood." My face twisted in a grimace remembering the bitter taste of the thick fluid. "I'd rather keep fainting than drinking that again."

"His blood?" Dominic snarled and I jerked away from him instinctively. "You think I will let the witch feed his blood to my mate?"

Awkward silence filled the space between us dense enough to be cut with a knife.

"Yes?" I tested his anger tentatively tensed enough to spring out of bed if he tried to grab me. The expression on his face said he wanted to kill someone, and I was the only person within reach. Call me stupid, but I'd rather be prepared to bounce than test the theory mates can't physically hurt each other.

"It was a potion made of tinctures and herbs." He squeezed between his grinding teeth and hysterical laughter bubbled up in my chest.

After a few snorts I couldn't hold it back, and I guffawed in his face before slapping a hand over my mouth. A few more giggles and snorts escaped before I could take a breath and control myself.

"Sorry." I told him between my fingers not trusting myself not to laugh again if I removed my hand. "It must be the potion." More giggles followed.

Much to my surprise, he snorted and joined me, his chuckles slow coming but getting louder by the second.

"I couldn't imagine Rowen's face if he was here when I said I thought he gave me his blood." Wiping at my eyes, I scuttled up the bed to sit up straighter. "Poor witch could've tinkled in his robes seeing that glare you gave me."

"You are definitely testing my control, female." All amusement gone, he looked me up and down as if to assure himself that I was not going to collapse again. "I meant what I said before, Brooklyn. Until now, I let you do things your way but that can no longer be the case. My animal will not let me watch you destroy yourself."

"You think I'm trying to hurt myself?" appalled by his remark I recoiled from him.

"I didn't say you do it on purpose I just said I can't sit back and watch anymore. This is me apologizing for getting in the way of your plans from now on." One shoulder rolled in a half assed shrug.

He didn't look sorry at all.

My mouth opened so I could tell him exactly what I thought about it but scratching at the door got both of our attention. I sat up straighter as Dominic irritably rushed to open the door, his legs eating up the space in two long strides. The wolf stuck his head in as soon as the handle was lowered, and one look at the animal had me jumping out of bed and running toward my friend with my mate hot on my heels.

My mate.

It still gave me goosebumps to even think it.