He was asleep, his lashes castingshadows on his cheeks, a day’s worth of stubble visible. She laid ahand on his cheek, smiling at the scratch of the stubble. Theblanket moved when she did, and her gaze landed on his right arm,where a dark red mating tattoo was visible on his skin.
“What the hell?” shedemanded in a harsh whisper.
The mating tattoo was unique topurebred wolves, but Blood Wolves had inherited the ability. Themating tattoo only appeared when true mates were near each other.The red tattoo was for the Blood Wolves and their true mates. Itwould appear soon after the couple met—on their rightarms.
But Wrath couldn’t bemated.
He was hers!
Well, she’d just kill her in the nextbook, whoever she was.
No, wait, that wasn’t good. Then Wrathwould go insane—males couldn’t be separated from their true matesby death; their beasts were unable to handle it and they’d gocuckoo bananas.
Damn it, that weird woman had plantedan unwanted seed of doubt in Trinity’s mind and look what happened!Now her subconscious had given Wrath a true mate.
Wrath’s eyes opened and the emeraldgreen flashed to the amber of his beast for a brief moment. Hishand flexed on her waist, and then he delved his fingers under hertank top, the callouses deliciously rough on her skin.
“You shouldn’t do that,”she whispered, moving a little closer to him.
“Oh? You’ve never said thatbefore.” His voice was smooth and deep, and a frisson of pleasureslipped down her spine at hearing him talk. It was as if she wasactually hearing his voice for the first time, which wasn’t truesince she’d been talking to him for years in her dreams.
But why did this dream feel sodifferent? So real?
She must be crazy tired.
Trinity moved her hand from his cheekto his shoulder and gave the taut muscle a squeeze. “You’ve foundyour true mate.”
He glanced at his shoulder, his browswinging up. He sat up abruptly, and she got a better look at thetattoo, which was a complicated pattern of swirls and points thatstretched from the top of his shoulder down to his elbow. It wasquite large and a deep, vivid red.
He hummed and touched the mark as ifhe thought it might wipe away.
She let her gaze trip down his broadand well-muscled chest, the abs defined from years of hard work andtraining. The fur had slipped down when he sat up and she couldtell he was naked, which wasn’t anything she didn’t know. None ofthe Blood Wolves slept with clothes on, and she’d woken up in bedwith a naked Wrath before.
Sitting up, she looked down at herselfand realized she was still wearing the pajamas she’d had on whenshe went to bed in the hotel room. When she’d dreamed of him in thepast, she’d usually either been naked or wearing the hide clothinghe and the pack preferred. Sometimes he would come visit her in herworld, and while she’d be wearing modern things, he would always bewearing the clothes of his people.
“I know why I have themating tattoo,” Wrath said. “Because I’ve found my truemate.”
Trinity felt tears spring to her eyes.She was not going to cry because a figment of her imagination hadfound his true love. Blinking at the sting, she inhaled shakily andsaid, “Who is she?”
He rested his hand on her rightshoulder. She looked where he was touching and gasped.
She had a mating tattoo.
It matched Wrath’s, but the marks weremore delicate because she was a female, where his werebolder.
“It’s you,” he said, hisvoice like a gruff purr. “I can’t believe you’re finally here withme. Finally mine. I’ve waited for you forever.”
“Uh, I’m dreaming, Wrath,”she said. She pushed his hand away and twisted her upper body intothe lantern’s light to get a better look at the tattoo. If only itwere real. She’d often toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo justlike this, but she’d never been able to picture what Wrath’s matingtattoo would look like, so she hadn’t wanted to do one.
“You’re not dreaming,Trinity. I’m not dreaming. You’re here in my chamber, and I don’tknow how the hell it happened, but I don’t actuallycare.”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “Oh, okay.It’s not possible, you loon. You’re a dream, part of mysubconscious.”
His eyes narrowed, and he growledsoftly. He grasped her hand and let the claws spring from hisfingertips. He swiped a claw across her wrist, and she hissed andjerked her hand from his.
“Ouch, damn it. What thehell did you do that for?”
“To prove you’re notdreaming.” He grabbed her wrist and held it up into the light. “Ithurt, right? You’re not dreaming, I’m not dreaming. Somehow, youcame to me.”
He held her gaze as he lowered hishead and swiped his tongue over the cut. She shivered at his touch,and then sucked in a sharp breath as her skin healed before hereyes. She touched the place where not even a faint scarremained.
“Fuck, you taste good,” hesaid with a chuckle. “I knew you would—I mean, you smell good to meall the time, but your blood. Damn.” He scrubbed a hand through hisdark hair. “How did this happen? Why are you here?”
She stared at her wrist. She’d feltthe pain of his claw cutting her. She’d smelled the coppery scentof her blood. And she’d definitely felt his tongue on her skin andthe way it took the pain away and healed her.
Something was very wrong about thiswhole scenario. This wasn’t at all like her dreams in the past,those were always kind of fuzzy and had the feeling of not beingreal.
This felt real. Very real.
Trinity moved from the bed, her heartpounding and her mouth going dry. What the hell was goingon?
Chapter Five
Wrath was one hundred percent certainhe wasn’t dreaming. He’d gone to bed alone and woken up withTrinity in his arms, which was exactly what he’d been hoping mighthappen for the last twelve years. Their matching mating tattooswere proof to him that
