Chapter 8

Susan began to dream about Travis, his pack, and the full moon coming up. Susan’s dream felt so real that it made her adrenaline coarse through her veins, her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and Susan had sweat on her forehead. Susan was standing outside with a diet soda in her hand and a huge, beautiful bonfire was raging in front of her. Most people were sitting in collapsible chairs, but there were a few more standing on the gravel and enjoying the fire. Susan had never seen anyone put Christmas lights in the fire before to produce beautiful colors within the fire and it was magnificent to watch. Everyone knew breathing in the fumes wouldn’t be good, but they were in a wide open area and it appeared the smoke was going upward toward the sky. Even in the dream, Susan figures it must be unseasonably warm because no one is wearing coats and many are sitting far enough from the fire that they barely got light, certainly not heat. Looking around, this pack looked about the same size as High Ridge Pack had been prior to the threat that caused them to run. Susan tried not to dwell on that fact and prayed to her creator that she would keep all her friends safe, and eventually help them all to find their mates. Twenty one wasn’t old by any stretch of the imagination, but Susan wished she could meet her mate soon and not feel so lonely in the department. Four four wheelers drove up to the bonfire with big, bulky men on them. Parking in a line, they all shut off their machines and headed toward the bonfire. Maybe it’s colder on a four wheeler than sitting still. As she watched the men, someone put their arm around her waist and pulled Susan back against a hard chest and rested her head back onto his shoulder. Both arms slid around her waist before he began nibbling on her neck right there in front of everyone. Susan felt embarrassed but his kisses and licks felt so good. Susan moves her head to the side to give him easier access and wraps the arm on the opposite of the nibbles, up behind her and entangles in his wavy hair. No matter how hard she tried, she never did see his face in the dream. As he moved to nibble her ear, he whispered softly, “mate!” Susan bolted upright in her bed, trying to figure out why that scared her so much. Recently she had been thinking she might want to find her mate, but she is busy now, so maybe it’s better that she doesn’t have her mate yet? Since her alarm was going to go off in five minutes anyway, Susan reached over and shut it off as not to wake everyone in the house. She decided she might as well get up and get ready since it’s about that time anyway. Thankfully, Susan and Allison’s day went quickly. Besides the usual medications, personal cares, and meals, they went for a walk down by the river and then to the park to feed the geese. Allison loves animals and smiled on their walk and while at the park feeding the geese. Before she knew it, Susan was giving a quick report to Mom and heading home. Susan stopped to fill her gas tank and buy some fruit and yogurt for supper. A little unorthodox, but hey, it fills a wrinkle, so don’t judge. Walking into the gas station, Susan caught a glimpse of a man that looked familiar but she wasn’t sure where she knew him from. She tried to dismiss him, but the hair on the back of her neck stood up and she knew better than to ignore that feeling. Susan quickly paid for her items and exited the store. Once in her truck, Susan took a roundabout way to return home to make sure she wasn’t followed. Susan reassured herself she was probably just being paranoid, but gut feelings and intuition happened for a reason and she refused to ignore it. If the creator saw fit to give werewolves the ability to detect immoral or evil people, Susan would use that to her advantage to stay safe. As evidenced five years ago, there are some very evil people in the world, determined to wipe them out, so maybe it was being smart and not paranoid at all. Susan thought to herself: yeah, we will stick with that theory. After a late supper, a shower, and a small amount of reading, Susan was ready for some sleep. By 10:30 PM, she was sleeping soundly and quietly.