Chapter Two #4
“I don’t think a weapon would help in a dream.
” Probably not. Aaron had never needed a weapon in one of his dreams. He was proficient in most weaponry with his council training.
He might not look it, but Aaron had been the council’s agent.
It was just that Bas and Leo were better at the actual fighting. Aaron was the thinker in the group.
“A dream. Right.” Carter grunted as he started down the hill.
Aaron pressed his lips together, watching as Carter moved smoothly, even grabbing onto a limb from a tree close by as his feet slipped a little. He made it look so easy. It was kind of sexy how Carter just took control. Who was he kidding? Aaron thought everything Carter did was sexy.
Reaching a fallen log not far from the riverbed, Carter bent to peer close.
Aaron shuffled forward curiously. “What is it?”
Carter straightened. “Can you get down here safely?”
It was just a dream, right? Aaron nodded. “Sure.” Luckily his voice came out sounding sure even if Aaron wasn’t.
Carter bent back over the log, giving Aaron the perfect opportunity to make his way down. He was in no way as graceful as the cop had been. By the time Aaron was joining Carter, his hands were coated in mud. Yuck.
“I think these were the little guys that we heard,” Carter said.
Placing a hand on Carter’s back, Aaron leaned to see under the log. Three tiny little puppies were excitedly jumping all over each other and yipping. They were black and white and looked malnourished and dirty. The poor things! He reached to grab the closest one, but Carter caught his wrist.
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Carter advised quietly. He wasn’t looking at Aaron. Instead he had his head up with his gaze darting around.
“But—” The babies!
“I don’t think we’re alone,” Carter whispered.
Aaron knew they weren’t. But the babies!
“Don’t move.” Carter went to step around Aaron.
“Just ignore them,” Aaron told him.
“Who is it?” Carter demanded.
“I don’t know. They’ve been following me.” Okay, Aaron had a pretty good guess. Bas had buried himself in the files of the hyena pack spotted in the area. That pack moved from town to town, leaving devastation in their wake. Aaron just couldn’t prove it. And didn’t want Carter involved.
“They?” Carter asked.
Damn it! Of course Carter would ask more questions. Had to be the cop in him. “I feel like it’s more than one person. Or thing. Or something.” Aaron didn’t know how to explain without giving away that he knew much more. “It’s not important.”
“Hmm.” Carter didn’t look convinced.
Bending over, Aaron offered the closest pup his hand to sniff. They seemed like regular canine dogs. Not shifters. Aaron had been terrified that he’d been dreaming about lost shifter children.
“Can you grab them?” Carter asked. “We need to get out of here.”
And go where? Did Carter keep forgetting this was a dream? Reaching for the smallest puppy wedged in the back of the log where it lay against a tree, Aaron’s hand went right through the little thing. He sighed. “No. They’re not really here.”
“What?” Carter snapped his head toward him.
Aaron waved his hand around.
“Fuck!” Carter spat. “Then what is the damn purpose of us being here?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out,” Aaron confessed. “Why do my dreams and visions keep showing me these puppies.” It was frustrating and starting to piss Aaron off.
Grabbing his wrist, Carter drew Aaron away from the log. “Then why can I touch you?”
“I don’t know,” Aaron answered. “Like I said, I’ve never brought anyone into my dreams before.”
“Come on. We need to get out of here,” Carter said.
The puppies started to whine again.
“I don’t want to leave them all alone,” Aaron grumbled.
“They aren’t here!” Carter told him.
“But they’re somewhere,” Aaron pointed out. “Somewhere I obviously need to be!”
“Let’s backtrack our steps and see if we can figure out where we are,” Carter suggested.
It was a good suggestion. No water ran through the property owned by Axel and the family, which meant they must be inside the state park. Aaron could ask Mason if he knew any areas where the water was shallow enough where it wouldn’t have even covered his ankles.
“Let’s follow the water,” Aaron suggested.
That might give him enough clue of where to return.
His dreams and visions might be a pain in the ass, but they did mean something.
Usually, Aaron just didn’t put everything together until it was basically staring him in the face. Useless damn gift if you asked him.
Carter nodded. “Good idea. I don’t know this area well.”
“Me either,” Aaron confessed. “We’re not on the family’s property though.”
“There are a few spots that Hudson’s friend EJ camps at,” Carter said. “I could ask him.”
And that would not be keeping Carter out of this.
Carter might be a cop, but he wouldn’t be able to go up against a pack of hyena shifters.
No, it was better that Aaron figured this out on his own.
He really had no idea how Carter was even there with him.
That had never happened before. “Thanks, but Mason is a park ranger. He spends most of his time mapping out the areas in the state park. We try to keep track of any paranormal that are in the area. He has a charm made by Dean that alerts him to the presence of magic and paranormals.”
Carter stopped walking to slowly turn and look at him. “Magic and paranormals.”
“Yeah.” Aaron rubbed the back of his neck before wincing. He’d forgotten his hands were covered in mud.
Carter chuckled as he stepped close. “You all are really going in on this paranormal stuff.” He gently brushed the dirt from Aaron’s shoulder.
“It’s sort of important as it affects us,” Aaron said. “Or are you going to pretend you didn’t see Bas shift into a cat in front of you?”
“I thought about it,” Carter said with a grin. “When I was trying to drift off to sleep, I had almost convinced myself that it was all some fever dream. That I’d caught a cold or something and in reality Hudson was beside my bed telling me stories to keep me entertained.”
“Would that be better? If you didn’t know?” Aaron hated to ask. It hadn’t been his decision to tell Carter. No, his vision had sort of ruined everything. Which, yeah, that was his life.
Instead of slowly getting to know Carter and introducing him into their world carefully, Aaron had fallen right at Carter’s feet.
Or more accurately into Carter’s arms. Bas and Hudson had been planning on telling Carter anyway and that would have been much better.
Now Carter had to be aware that Aaron was broken and would in no way make a good mate.
“I don’t think so,” Carter said.
Lost in his own thoughts, Aaron frowned. “What?”
“You asked if I would rather not know,” Carter reminded him. “The answer is no. Especially not with Hudson already involved with Bastian. I’m just trying to come to terms with all this shit actually being real.”
“Sure.” Of course, Carter’s priority would be his brother.
Carter had no reason to see Aaron as anything other than the weird guy that could drag him into dreams. It wasn’t like Carter had a reason to even be involved with them other than Hudson.
Aaron was totally ignoring the fact they were mates. It was better this way. For Carter.
“What about you?” Carter questioned.
Had he moved closer? It sure seemed like he had.
Carter was taller than Aaron. Muscular and built in the opposite way that Aaron was short and pudgy.
Not fat but it was apparent that Aaron liked his sweets and disliked the gym.
Even their appearances were different from each other.
They just wouldn’t ever work. Aaron had to tilt his head to peer up at Carter. “Huh?”
Carter chuckled. “You get lost in your thoughts often, don’t you?”
“There is a lot I’m trying to figure out,” he replied honestly.
Carter cupped his face and Aaron closed his eyes from the warmth of his touch. “Is anyone helping you?”
“They’re trying,” Aaron whispered, soaking in having his mate touch him. “It’s not like anyone can do much. We have other things happening.” Too many things. Plus Aaron really couldn’t do anything about his unreliable gifts. They were just his burden to live with.
“Then I’ll help you,” Carter declared.
Aaron smiled as he forced his eyes open and pulled away. Carter was just too sweet. There would be no help for Aaron, especially from someone who Aaron should stay far away from. “I appreciate the offer. It’s not safe for you.”
“But it’s safe for you?” Carter questioned.
What else could Aaron do? Or say, to get Carter to give up on this crazy idea of helping him? “There’s that pesky little thing called fate where I’m given these confusing dreams and visions that don’t make a lick of sense.”
Determination seemed to fill Carter as he nodded. “Then I’ll help.”
What was it with this stubborn man? Aaron needed to stay far away from Carter Moore. The pull of the mate bond would not be denied. The more Aaron was in Carter’s presence, the harder it would be on him.
Humans didn’t feel the bond the same way that the paranormal partner would. Aaron might not be a shifter, but his magic or whatever it was that was inside him wanted to wrap around Carter. Which was probably how Aaron dragged Carter into his dream.
“How about you figure out how to get some real sleep?” Aaron suggested.
“What does that mean?”
“Take it from me,” Aaron said bitterly. “Dreaming does not equal sleep. You’ll wake up exhausted.” He would know. His sleep was always shit. The dreams might not make sense most of the time, but they were still nearly nightly.
“Is that why you looked so tired earlier?” Carter asked.
Aaron’s eyes burned at the concern he could hear. Yep! He needed to be far away from Carter. “It’s my burden.”
“I don’t accept that.” Leaning over, Carter brushed his lips across Aaron’s forehead.
“Carter—” He reached for the other man and fell…right onto his face.
Pushing up, Aaron peered around for Carter. Nope, nothing. He was all alone in the middle of the woods. Great. He rolled over onto his back to stare at the canopy of leaves overhead.
“Gee, thanks for that!” Aaron mumbled. He didn’t know if he was talking to the fates, the mate bond, or maybe Carter himself. It didn’t matter. Not when he had a long night ahead of him.
The thing was that Aaron couldn’t exit his dreams.
He was sort of stuck until he woke up. Not only did that mean he wouldn’t be getting any sleep, but he’d also be trying to figure out where he was all on his own. Aaron would be returning in the morning. If those pups were still out there, then he was going to find them.
Maybe in the meantime he could get some information on the pack for Bas.
It was sure to be a very long night.