“When I shifted at sixteen.I only had a few dreams that year, and then the following year Ihad them more regularly.”
Trinity nodded. “I was fifteen whenthey started.”
“You were meant to be inthis world, Trinity,” Isolde said. “I don’t know why you weren’t,except that fate sometimes has a warped sense of humor. However youwere separated, the dreams were a way to bind you twotogether.”
“How did you know where Iwas?” Trinity asked.
Isolde mused in silence for a moment.Then she said, “I was at the market in Carreth, and I heard somechatter that Alpha Veltris had sent word out to every alpha withinfive hundred miles to come to a meeting. He planned to form an armyof purebreds to take out Wrath.”
“They can certainly try,”Wrath said with a snort.
Trinity’s hand flew to her mouth. “Iwrote about that. It was in my last book.”
“What the hell books areyou talking about?” he said.
Trinity explained how she’d started towrite down the dreams, that it made her feel connected to him. Sheturned the dreams into a series of books.
“You wrote about me?” heasked.
She pursed her lips and then said,“Yes. You’re the villain.”
Auberon barked out a laugh and thencovered it with a cough when Wrath shot him a dirtylook.
Isolde smiled. “Don’t bemad, Wrath. She wrote you as she saw you. You two basically grew uptogether. She watched your rise to power; she understands theferocity and feralness of this world. Whether you feel it’sflattering or not, you arethe villain of this world. You’re the most fearedalpha on the continent, considered to be the most dangerous malealive. Of course you’re the villain.”
He looked at Trinity. “You know whatI’ve done to become alpha.”
She nodded. “Sometimes I saw thebattles and the things you did, and sometimes you’d tell me aboutthem. When you put down the previous alpha of the Blood Wolves,that was the first story I ever wrote. It didn’t actually become anovel; it was a prologue of the first book to introduce you andyour pack. The books are about the alphas of the purebred packs inthis part of the continent finding their true mates. Each alpha hashis own book. When you had your first battle against a purebredpack, that became the first story I published.”
At his confused look, she explainedhow she wrote and published books, giving him a quick overview ofthe process. While his world lacked technology, books stillexisted, although they weren’t mass produced by machines or read onelectronic devices.
“What I still don’tunderstand,” Trinity said, looking at the witch, “is how you knewabout me.”
Isolde settled back in her chair andtucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “A few weeks ago, I stoleonto the Blood Wolves’ territory and witnessed Wrath’s behaviorwith his people as well as overhearing his plans to go afteranother purebred alpha. I saw him for what he is—a male in need ofhis true mate. I cast a spell to locate his true mate, intending tobring the two of them together. The spell opened a portal to yourworld. I had no idea that I could even open a portal to anotherworld—that’s special magic reserved for witches far older than me.But because of Wrath’s unique power as alpha, I was able to tapinto that and bump the power of my spell up tenfold. The spellrevealed not only your location, but the fact that you and Wrathwere able to see each other in dreams.”
“If you hadn’t cast a spellto find me, would Wrath and I have ever met?”
“I don’t believe so,”Isolde said. “Blood Wolves are powerful, but not in the way ofmagic, and I could tell that you believed it was a dream world andnothing more. I asked you to give Wrath a true mate in the books,not because I believed you would do that, but so I could see yourreaction.”
Wrath looked at Trinity. “You couldchange things here with your books?”
Isolde shook her head and answered,“She could’ve written into a book that you found your true mate,but it wouldn’t have actually happened. She had minor influenceover this world—like the creation of Mytan and the first alpha’shistory. In reality, our world operates as hers does, withoutintervention from anyone or anything. She wrote about the dreamsyou shared and had an almost god-like view of this world. Becauseof your bond and the shared dreams, she knows about the alphas andtheir mates as well as their people… everything about thisworld.”
“Is that why you moved sofast in the forest and knew where the magical path was?” Wrathasked.
Trinity nodded. “I drew a lot of mapsof the continent. Sometimes in the dreams you and I would bewalking in the woods and I would always feel like I was home. I’dwake up and draw the land. I hadn’t really been paying attentionwhen I was walking earlier—I knew there was a cave with suppliesfrom a previous pack at the base of the mountain, but I wasn’tthinking about Mytan’s lair being there. I thought I could go tosleep in the cave and wake up in my own world again.”
Wrath’s eyes narrowed. “You do notwish to do that now?”
“No, I don’t.”
“So,” Isolde said, “you’rehere, but it’s not permanent yet.”
“What do you mean?” Trinityasked. She touched the wood and gemstone beaded necklace she stillwore around her neck.
“That necklace brought youinto this world, and the portal will remain open for seven days.I’ll come to you on the morning of the seventh day, and you’lldecide whether you want to stay here or return to your world.Before you make a decision, you need to know a couple things.First, if you go back to your world, you can’t return here. And I’mnot entirely sure that you’ll be able to continue to have theshared dreams. You’d essentially be rejecting Wrath as your truemate, which may make the hands of fate swing a differentdirection—give him a new true mate, here in this world. Second, youcan’t step foot in your world for even a minute. You’re either hereor you’re there. No saying goodbye, no tying up looseends.”
Trinity sucked in a harsh breath.Wrath growled. “You wish to return and leave me behind?”
“No, it’s not that. Ijust... I have friends that
