Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
Ididn’t belong at the gala.
One look at the ladies standing in the velvet-roped line to get in made that crystal clear. All of them were draped in the latest designer labels, with matching red-soled heels on their feet and a finely tailored man on their arm.
I, on the other hand, was in a dress that I’d pulled off the clearance rack at a department store three years ago for my abuelo’s retirement party. But what was perfectly serviceable for an evening at the Glendale Elk’s Lodge clearly did not pass muster at the William the emotional part wasn’t prepared. The second the photos came into view, my insides reeled.
I had to grip Felicity’s arm even tighter just to keep from tumbling over.
“You okay?” she asked, real concern suddenly showing in her clear blue eyes.
“Yeah…yeah,” I said, desperately trying to pull myself together. “It’s just…I think I drank that champagne too fast.”
She didn’t look convinced. “Come on. I see a place to sit over there.”
My eyes scanned the walls as we passed through the chattering crowd, catching glimpses of more familiar structures and landscapes.
There was a close-up of one of the stone and timber houses that I’d only glimpsed from afar. There was the bridge that arched over the stream that led to the village. And—holy shit—there was the clearing where the dream always started.
How was this possible?
I’d never seen these pictures before. So had these images appeared in my dreams?
There had to be some other explanation.
“Sit,” Felicity said, guiding me down onto the round viewing couch in the center of the room.
But I didn’t need her help. I was perfectly capable of collapsing all on my own.
“I’m okay,” I told her.
“The hell you are. You’re pale as a ghost,” she said, looking downright worried at this point. “Do you need me to call an ambulance?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I shook my head. “I’m just woozy. Give me a minute, and I’ll be fine.”
Felicity pursed her lips, skepticism written all over her face. “I’m going to see if I can get you a glass of water,” she said. “Will you be okay here for a second?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
That, of course, was a lie. Maybe the biggest I’d ever told.
I was as far away from fine as I’d ever been in my whole life. It felt like the very fabric of reality was ripping open beneath my feet, and I was about to be consumed by the abyss.
And that was before I lifted my head to see the photo hanging on the wall right in front of me.
It was massive. Anoversized print of the picture the gallery had used for the ad. Except this time, it was the whole image. Apparently, they’d had to crop out part of the image to fit the poster size, which meant I’d only ever seen a fraction of the whole.
And now, faced with the whole photo, my world started to shatter. My breath hitched as I took in the sight.
Everything from before was there. The wood pile. The stairs. The axe with the scrolling pattern carved into its handle.
But there were other details, too. Ones I’d never seen before. Ones that would have been impossible for me to know about before.
Like the fur-lined jacket slung over the side railing.
Oh my God.
My eyes narrowed, refusing to believe what they were seeing.
That…that was my dream alpha’s jacket.
The same one I slipped off his shoulders every night.
In the three minutes it took for Felicity to make her way back, I was able to compose myself. Not fully, of course. The blood still hadn’t come back to my face, and my hands trembled as I reached for the glass of water. But at least I was breathing again…and that was something.
“How are you doing?” she asked, worry still written all over her face.
“Better,” I managed to croak between tiny sips of water. I didn’t really need the hydration, but I appreciated the extra second or two it gave me to come up with a believable lie. “I just realized I forgot to eat today.”
Little lines of disbelief creased the corners of her eyes.