I woke up with a scream dying in my throat, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my fingertips. Sweat soaked through my tank top as I gasped for air, the nightmare still vivid behind my eyelids.
A massive black wolf with blood-red eyes. Marking me. Claiming me.
*Rhys Knight. My mate. Again.*
"No," I whispered, pulling my knees to my chest. "It was just a nightmare."
But even as I said it, I felt the lingering ache in my chest—the undeniable pull of a mate bond that shouldn't exist anymore. Rhys had rejected me four years ago, shattering our connection in the cruelest way possible. I'd spent months rebuilding myself from the wreckage he'd left behind.
So why was I feeling this now?
I pushed back the blankets and swung my legs over the side of the bed, freezing when I noticed the dried mud and scratches on my feet.
*Goddess, no.*
It hadn't been a dream. Last night in the forest—Rhys pinning me down, his declaration, his refusal to reject me again—it had all been real.
