Saving the Alpha's Dream Mate

The Mist

I stared at Alpha Walker for what seemed an eternity before I came to my senses and bowed my head as I took a step back; I was waiting for him to chastize me, or call me over to punish me for such a wilful disrespect for his authority.

When he didn't speak, I assumed I had been wrong - perhaps he hadn't seen me after all. This place was so surreal that he could easily have been staring at the ancient looking trees surrounding the clearing, or the path that had led me here.

I looked up again and saw that his eyes were still focused on me; he hadn't moved from the edge of the clearing, but he seemed transfixed by me, and I swallowed nervously and took a tentative step closer to him.

I remained silent; I had no right to address an Alpha without his permission, and even approaching him like this would have been seen as an indiscretion by some Alphas.

He was wearing the same fine clothes that he had been when his new Mate was murdered, and I noticed that there was a bloodstain on one of the cuffs of his shirt when I stopped in the middle of the clearing and looked over at him.

I still hadn't said a word, and I was beginning to feel uneasy at the way Alpha Walker was watching me, so I clasped my hands in front of me and looked down at them. The moon was so bright that it made my pale skin was illuminated and it seemed that it was almost glowing.

The mist that had surrounded me when I awoke in this place was swirling around my ankles and it seemed almost as if it had a mind of its own as it drifted around me and concealed the ground of the clearing.

I wasn't afraid, but my heart raced when Alpha Walker took a tentative step forward into the mist.

He didn't take his eyes off of me as he walked toward me, and my stomach twisted when he stopped in front of me.

He was definitely looking at me, and I swallowed nervously as I looked into his ice blue eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

I didn't know what to do; every part of my body was screaming at me to turn and run, but I knew that I shouldn't ignore a direct question asked by an Alpha.

I was trembling, and my lips parted as I tried to say something, but there was nothing I could possibly say to him.

Who was I?

The rejected former Omega of the Pack that had cost him his Mate... the woman who had watched him as he mourned for the loss of a woman I couldn't save.

I felt tears well in my eyes and I shook my head slightly before I tried to blink them away.

A single tear slipped down my cheek, and Alpha Walker reached out to me and wiped it away with a touch far softer than anything I had known before.

He was so gentle that his touch felt kind and I felt a warm, comforting feeling of peace wash over me for a moment before it dawned on me - he could touch me. Wherever we were, I wasn't a spectre.

I drew a sharp breath and the fear that had gripped my heart when I felt his touch made my chest feel tight; it was too much for me to bear, and I flinched away from his touch and turned sharply.

The mist was so thick that I couldn't see where I was going, but I lifted the fine silk dress so I wouldn't trip and ran back towards what I hoped was the path I had followed through the forest to get to the clearing.

As I ran, I heard Alpha Walker call out to me, but I didn't stop until I was back where I had been when I awoke; I didn't know where the path led in the other direction but I couldn't turn back and it drove me to keep moving.

Every step I took felt like the mist around my ankles was wrapping around them and holding me back until it felt like I was being pushed back by an unseen force and the mist rose up around me and thickened so that I could barely see what lay in front of me.

There was no point trying to keep moving through the mist, and I doubted it would even be possible; I had no choice but to turn back and walk back towards the forest - and Alpha Walker.

The uncomfortable feeling that had taken over as I walked further away from the forest eased as I moved back along the path and the mist began to clear around me as I walked.

The air was still balmy and warm, and as I reached the edge of the forest and took a deep breath, I was calmed slightly by the pleasant scent of pine and moss that filled the air.

I was hesitant to go back into the forest, but the mist began to rise around me again, and it was clear that whatever this place was, it was going to determine the path I took.

As soon as I stepped into the forest, I heard the sound of leaves gently rustling around me in a gentle breeze; it was as if the trees were making their approval known to me, and it stilled my fears.

This was my path - my destiny - whether Alpha Walker was still there when I got to the clearing or not, it was where I was supposed to be.

He should have been intimidating; he was a powerful man, and I had run away from him and ignored a direct question, but when I got back to the clearing, I found him sitting with his back to one of the ancient trees the same way he had been sitting with his back to the door in the extravagant room he had retreated to when he needed to be alone. He would never know the truth - that I had been there as he grieved.

I wasn't sure whether he hadn't seen me, or if he had simply chosen not to acknowledge me, but I couldn't leave him the way he was, and I walked over to him and sat down with my back to the tree next to his.

It felt awkward, but I didn't know what else to do and he didn't tell me to leave, so I stayed where I was.

I rested my hands on the ground beside me and felt the soft grass between my fingers; it was a pleasant distraction, and I turned my eyes up to the bright, twinkling stars shimmering in the sky above us.

"Who are you?" Alpha Walker asked me again, his voice wavering as I saw from the corner of my eye that he had turned to look at me.

I took a deep breath, and a cool breeze whisked the mist up around us as my lips parted.

"Sienna..." my name disappeared into the breeze as I felt myself fading away.