Chapter Six

(James)

I couldn't believe how trusting Tracy was. She didn't hesitate as I drug her down the old overgrown trail that I used to take with my grandfather. I hadn't been out here since he passed away, but with her being here, and living in that house, it felt like a sign. It was time for me to return to the place that once held so much for me.

Memory led me right to the old wooden bridge that crossed over the falls. Time had not done it any justice that was for sure. She would really have to trust me if I was going to get her to cross it. I stopped at the edge and turned toward her.

She was looking at the falls with a smile on her face. Her purity and innocence was like a fire that lit her from the inside. She was radiant.

"This is amazing," she said softly, almost as if afraid that her voice would disturb the beauty around her.

"This is nothing. Just wait." I tugged her across the bridge and she followed with a look of sheer happiness on her face. Never once did she hesitate. I on the other hand silently prayed that it would hold up under our weight. It would be my luck that I had something so perfect within my grasp only to lose it. But it wasn't really in my grasp. Was it? I had asked her to pretend. Is that what she was doing? Pretending.

"I can't believe this is here. It's like the one I saw in my dream," she muttered to herself. Any normal person wouldn't have been able to hear her, but being a wolf my hearing was much more astute. I wondered about her dream for a moment as we continued down the path. It couldn't have been this exact waterfall since she'd never been here before. Maybe similar.

"If this path leads to cave under the falls I'm going to freak." Now that she said a little louder and her hand tightened in mine. "There's no cave, right?"

There was a cave. How in the world could she have known that? I stopped and turned looking at her, searching her eyes for any kind of answer. It simply wasn't possible. She was human, and yet she wore my mark around her neck, a pattern she came up with from scratch. And now she knew about my secret place. One only my grandfather and I knew about.

"There is. How could you have known that?"

Tracy chewed on her bottom lip as she pondered something. Then she took the lead, pulling me behind her. "Let me show you."

And like her, I followed without hesitation. I had to see what she knew.

She stopped and closed her eyes, moving her head slowly from side to side as if searching for something. When they reopened she turned to an unmarked trail off of the one we had been on. The one we were on would eventually lead to my home, but this path…she knew. She knew the way.

I pulled her to a stop right before the she hit the spot where the traps were set. She may have known the way, but I didn't have faith she knew everything. The last thing I wanted was her to get injured. But she didn't stop fully. She turned toward me, pulling her hand from mine, and then before I could tell her stop she was in motion. Moving forward with such grace as she ducked, jumped, and flipped over all of the traps I'd set.

"It's safe now. Come on." She motioned me to follow. I, on the other hand, stood there like a statue.

I honestly think I'm in shock. So many questions were running through my head it was if they were fighting to see which one would come out of my mouth first. "How?" was all that managed to escape.

"I don't know."

She sounded just as confused as I felt. I walked a little further then between the rocks. There was a hidden switch that opened a door into the cave. I wondered if she knew about it too. I gestured for her to proceed, which she did.

She stepped in front of me. The space so tight that her body rubbed against mine, making it awfully difficult to concentrate on her actions. Her butt was pressed against my front, and there was no way she could've missed how turned on I was getting.

When the door cracked open I assumed she knew exactly what to do. I was surely too distracted to even notice exactly what she did.

"Is this a dream?" she asked in wonderment as she held her arms up and twirled around.

She was adorable. I couldn't have stopped myself if I'd wanted to. And I didn't want to. I pulled her into my chest and pressed my lips to hers. Fireworks. I saw them, felt them, they were everywhere. What surprised me the most, she was kissing me back. I swept my tongue into her mouth, coercing hers to play. A moan rumbled through the cave and I wasn't sure if it had come from me or her. Tracy's arms wrapped around my neck pulling me closer. Yes!

Too soon she pulled away. I didn't want to let her go. How had I let this happen? It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since I met her and I wanted to keep her. I could feel my wolf just beneath the surface begging to claim her. Could this human be our mate, our Luna? I shook the thought from my head before I let it consume me.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I honestly couldn't help myself." As if that made it okay.

She smiled. "People usually regret things they didn't do more than things they do."

My grandfather used to always tell me that. "I agree. Then in that case, I'm not sorry."

We shared a laugh, but then the quiet wrapped around us as she walked to the edge of the cave. The water was flowing over in full force and watching her stand in front of it was like being in a dream.

She sat down on a large rock and while still staring out at the water began speaking. "I've dreamt of this place ever since I can remember. I could probably find it with my eyes closed. The boobie-traps, the hidden entrance… I can't believe it's all real." Her gaze seemed to drift off into nothingness. "I wonder if it's all real…"

I touched beneath her chin, lifting her face to mine. "Tracy." Her gaze met mine. "Is what real?"

Her hand went to the pendant around her neck. "The wolves."

Did she know? How could she know? This was insane. I needed to talk to my aunt, hell maybe even my parents, but first I needed to find out what she knew. "Tell me about your dream. What wolves?"

"I knew I'd come here for a reason, but never in a million years would I have thought this place to be real. But it is. If it's real does that mean…" she rambled before drifting off.

"Babe, talk to me," I urged softly.

"I dreamed of this place and it's here. But I also dreamed of other things that cannot possible exist. Of men who turn into wolves. Ones that wear this…" She rubbed her pendant. "…on their skin. The one who showed me this place. He told me that I was his mate. And remember being happy. But then I also remember running here to hide. That part is fuzzy."

If my heart could have stopped on its own it surely would have. My wolf on the other hand was jumping around in excitement, as if he was confirming her words as truth instead of dream. "This man? Your mate. What did he look like?"

She closed her eyes as if searching and trying to grasp a fleeting memory. "I never saw his face. He had this mark on his right hand, by his thumb and index finger." She raised her pendant. "But his wolf, oh he was amazingly beautiful. He would lay here with me, keeping me warm. He was black as night with hauntingly deep blue eyes."

She'd just described me and my wolf. Would she accept me, my world, everything? Is this even possible? My head spun with the possibilities of what she'd told me.

"What if it's all true?" I asked her.